About Sal

I’ve got tons of experience with Halo gaming and collecting. I feel I have something to offer to the greater Halo fan community. Posts along the way will be about tips and tricks in the games as well as collecting and many more Halo related things. I’ll also repost interesting articles from the official site, Halowaypoint.com, or from fellow Halo fan sites. As I continue this blog, I hope to help gamers who want advice on the games, as well as any collectors with regards to where to find collectibles as well as deals, coupons and so on. You can also follow me on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/#!/HaloFanForLife or Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/halofanforlife11. Welcome to my blog and I hope you’ll come back again and again. -Sal

New background for HFFL. LOTS of visuals. What do you think of it?

Posted on 04/14/2014 by Sal

I was motivated today to make a “Halo Legacy” background. I wanted to show some of the vital elements of each Halo game. Since I knew I was limited in space, I really had to be picky about what images made it in.

I know it’s a bit busy with graphics. That’s deliberate though. I wanted to create a background that had lots of visuals for people to look through. My small hope is that they’ll spend some time enjoying looking at each graphic and identifying each character and remember good times playing the games.

-Sal

Halo Wars and Reach on SALE!

Posted on 04/13/2014 by Sal

Okay, yes, both games have been out for a few years. However, if you’ve either never played either games, or would like to have it digitally so you don’t have to worry about losing your disc, then NOW is the time to buy!

Halo Wars is on sale for the LOW price of $4.94!!
Here it is on the marketplace: You can buy that here: http://marketplace.xbox.com/en-US/Product/Halo-Wars/66acd000-77fe-1000-9115-d8024d530808?nosplash=1&DownloadType=Game

Halo Reach is on sale for $9.89. A pretty decent price if you ask me.\
Here is that one on the marketplace: And here’s the link to it online: http://marketplace.xbox.com/en-US/Product/Halo-Reach/66acd000-77fe-1000-9115-d8024d53085b?nosplash=1&DownloadType=Game

or of course you can buy either/both through your XBOX 360.

I’m not sure how long the sale is for, so get it while you can!
-Sal

Master Chief on a motorcycle. What???

Posted on 04/12/2014 by Sal

Okay, gotta say this is pretty cool. Though, I’d have liked a bad ass song instead of “Happy”. That’s not a bad song, just not really appropriate for Chief.

“Born to be Wild” by Steppenwolf, now THAT would be a great song for this.

Anyway, check out the vid:

Awesome custom resized Halo Mega Bloks Brute Chieftan!

Posted on 04/11/2014 by Sal

My friend and fellow Halo Mega Bloks collector “Yrkane” customized one of his Halo Mega Bloks Brute Chieftans to be taller. It’s MUCH more in scale with the human minifies now.

His words about his custom are below:

He came out great, the pose-ability added by the CoD arms is too fun.

The upper and lower arm armor is removeable, just hollowed out pieces; I tried to emulate the upcoming revised figures armor.

I can’t wait for the official MEGA version.

HFFL: Finally, here is a comparison shot of his custom next to another untouched Halo Mega Bloks Chieftan:

HFFL: I’d say that’s damn fine work there! The extension of the limbs and the added teeth really make this figure SO much better. I hope Mega Brands takes a hint from this wonderful custom and gives us Brutes (and Elites for that matter) in the taller, better articulated variety.

A Legendary tattoo to speak of!

Posted on 04/11/2014 by Sal

My friend “Dijabouti” told me a few weeks ago that he was thinking about getting a tattoo. Not just any old tattoo, but a Halo one. After doing his research and finding a reputable tattoo artist, he selected the Legendary symbol. The classic Elite one, not the Forerunner one from halo 4.

Below is the result of that:

I have to say that is one kick-ass tattoo! The lines are down well and the shading is impeccable.This was Dij’s first tattoo. I wonder if he’ll get any more now based on his experience and the fantastic outcome?

Do YOU have any halo tattoos you’d like to share with me? If so, send me an e-mail with either .jgp or .png attachments of your tattoos to: sal@halofanforlife.com and I’ll feature them here.

I have to say, i’m a bit jealous of Dij right now. I’ve never been one for tattoos on myself, but this one is making me think twice…

-Sal

The Halo Bulletin 4-10-14

Posted on 04/10/2014 by Sal

This is a reblog of this week’s bulletin. My thoughts will be highlighted in BLUE along the way.

Last week, a strange package arrived at the studio. Actually, similar to last time, it was more like a normal box and not very suspicious, but the contents were far from ordinary. Shortly after its arrival, bs angel walked over to my desk with quite a surprise. In her hands she held a battle damaged Noble Six helmet, modeled after the Mortal Dictata cover. It was sent over by Jim from Stony Props, and it is absolutely incredible.

HFFL: Wow, this is impressive. Why can’t these be made available to fans? I’d LOVE to own an official Halo helmet prop. (Assuming I could afford one of course.)

Creations like this bring us big smiles (as you can clearly see above – under the helmet, Laskan has a huge smile on his face), and we’d like to thank Jim for sending over this masterpiece, as well as each and every one of you who have ever shared your community creations with us. Not only are they super awesome, but when designers, testers, artists and producers see these creations, whether on a forum or inside the studio, it reminds us how talented and special the fans of this franchise are, and why we get to do what we do every day. Also, it’s been really fun wearing this helmet around the studio every day, and I don’t anticipate that getting old any time soon.

This week we have lots to talk about – a new Matchmaking playlist, an upcoming 1 vs. 1 tournament, a Halo: Spartan Assault update and more. Let’s get into it!

Matchmaking Playlist Update

This coming Monday, we have a brand new playlist premiering: Ninja Assassins! We’ve been playtesting the game type over the past few weeks, and it requires stealth, precision, patience, and a whole lotta Thrustin’.

Ninja Assassins is an 8-player Free-for-All game type that features Spartans decked out in custom armor, equipped with Energy Swords and Sniper Rifles, and outfitted with the Thruster Pack. Motion tracker is disabled, and ten points are awarded for each kill. Watch your back, though, because if you manage to sneak in an assassination, it will net you 30 points – the equivalent of three kills. During each life, you’ll level up – this is accomplished by getting kills in succession. One kill will bring you to level 1, two kills for level 2, and if you manage to get three kills in a row, you’ll be at level 3 – here are the details and attributes of each level:

Ninja Level 1
Shields recharge at a faster rate (2x)
Assassinations performed at a faster rate (2x)

Ninja Level 2
Shields recharge at a faster rate (2x)
Shields recharge sooner than normal (after 3 seconds)
Assassinations performed at a faster rate (3x)

Ninja Level 3
Shields recharge at a faster rate (2x)
Shields recharge sooner than normal (after 2 seconds)
Assassinations performed at a faster rate (4x)
Unlimited Thruster Pack energy

HFFL: Wow, okay, this sounds extremely cool! I stink at assassinations, but I’m going to gov ethos a go. Also, I’m VERY happy to see that there is indeed a “tiered” system for kills. I suggested something like this months ago. Not for assassinations, but rather weapon drops. In fact, here are the two articles I wrote as such:

https://halofanforlife.com/?p=12594 (posted 1/24/14) and

https://halofanforlife.com/?p=8010 (posted 5/15/13)

While not the same as players attribute adjustments, I wonder if this is possible?

Ninja Assassins will be available as our featured playlist through April 28.

Big Team Battle Refresh

We know many of you are suckers for 8 vs. 8 vehicular combat, and this is probably part of the reason why Halo 4’s Big Team Battle typically holds the number one spot across all playlists. We’re actively adding to the playlist (including recently added Big Team Snipers) and this week, we’re back with more maps and game types in order to keep the experience fresh and new. Here’s what’s coming on Monday:

Neutral Flag

Nothing says “Tug O’ War” more than Neutral Flag. The game type will be played on the following maps:

• Ragnarok
• Exile
• Longbow

We also added two brand new community maps with help from the Community Cartographers. The maps are:

Excavation by Flying Shoe ILR

Excavation is a rotationally symmetrical map set in an abandoned mining area. The most important asset on Excavation is the Mantis, which is a powerful tool for controlling various parts of the map.

Panic Station by The Psycho Duck

Panic Station is a large map with vertical gameplay elements. This map provides unprecedented freedom for Warthog and vehicle play while still offering plenty of options to players on foot.

The new maps and Neutral Flag will be available in Big Team Battle on Monday morning – hop in and check ‘em out!

HFFL: More objective based gameplay in BTB is fantastic for me. Neutral Flag can be fun, especially if you’re got a cohesive team that makes great call-outs and moves with the objective as necessary. I’ll be looking forward to playing these additional game types and maps.

Community Choice: Proving Ground

Last week, we asked which objective game type you wanted to see included next into the Proving Ground playlist, and Oddball edged out Capture the Flag to win the community vote. As a result, Oddball will also be available as an option in Proving Ground on Monday. We’ve got more planned for this playlist, so be sure to get in on the action, which features Battle Rifles starts, and no Armor Abilities or Personal Ordnance.

HFFL: Are any of you playing in the Proving Ground playlist? I stay away from it as it’s WAY to competitive for me. Or rather I should say chock full of skilled players who are better than me and I know I won’t get an evenly matched game, due to the ALWAYS low population of this playlist. Whew, a mouthful…. You get the idea.

Team Slayer Top 200: Season 2 Final Rankings

Last week, we posted the final rankings for Season 2 of the Team Slayer Top 200. As we mentioned at the beginning of this past season, we’ve been keeping an eye on the leaderboard for players using exploits to make their way to the top, and have removed any suspicious players from the leaderboard. Below, you’ll find a preview of the top ten players:

We’d like to congratulate these players who battled with integrity and determination. To see the full Top 200, head here. To see the latest Proving Ground standings, head here.

Community Meld Coming to Halo: Spartan Assault

Over the past few weeks, we have been working with the Xbox team to integrate the Community Meld, a new Xbox One feature that you may have seen on Killer Instinct, into Halo: Spartan Assault.

We’re excited about the potential of the Community Meld and want to let you in on how we’re thinking about this feature for our games. You shouldn’t have to leave the game to get the latest news and information about new products and more. We realize that you don’t always want to open up a website on your laptop or mobile device, and that it might be easier to skim through news and upcoming projects and watch new videos right in the game itself. As more news is released this year, we are excited to bring you details about future projects, game updates, and all the latest information in the Community Meld.

The feature will launch for Halo: Spartan Assault on April 15. Here’s a preview of the Community Meld below:

Halo Waypoint Store Weekend Sale

From April 10-14, we’re having a sale at the Halo Waypoint store! All tees will be discounted to $15, and all hoodies will be dropped to $45. Head over to the official store this weekend to pick up some apparel!

Beyond Entertainment Spring Showdown

Our friends over at Beyond Entertainment have announced their Spring Showdown Halo 4 1v1 tournament! The free-to-enter tournament will use the official Halo 4 Global Championship settings and be played on Haven, Skyline, and Onyx. The tournament is limited to US residents and will run on April 26. We’ve teamed up with Beyond Entertainment to provide some prizes for the event, including a Polk Audio Melee Gaming Headset and more for first place.

Screenshot Spotlight: Pink

Last week, we turned the spotlight on grenades. Take a gander at the following Pink screenshots, and maybe even find inspiration to make your own.

HFFL: Of the ones shown, I like “Colorful” by Azpekt297.

For your chance at being in the next spotlight, take a screenshot on the map Adrift and then tag it with “Adrift” and “Halo Waypoint,” and maybe, just maybe, yours will be featured in the next Halo Bulletin!

And with that, this week’s Bulletin comes to a close.
Until next week,
Bravo

To see the bulletin on the official site, go HERE.
-Sal

The Science of Halo, Fact VS Fiction: Railguns

Posted on 04/10/2014 by Sal

I happened upon some amazing news about a new Railgun that the U.S. military is testing. I had known that railgun technology had been around for a few years, but now it’s on the brink of actual use and not in the development stage.

During this article we’ll explore the fiction side of Railguns and their tech in the Halo universe, versus the real-world application of this technology, as well as their similarities and differences.

Disclaimer: I’m not a scientist or engineer. I may state some things incorrectly.

Now on with the article!

Fiction:

The railgun in Halo was introduced to us in Halo 4. Let’s not mistake this with the MAC (Magnetic Accelerated Cannon) on starships, nor the gauss cannon found on some Warthogs.

The Asymmetric Recoilless Carbine-920 or Railgun is a “compact-channel linear accelerator that fires a high-explosive round at incredible speed, delivering kinetic and explosive force to both hard and soft targets alike”. Alternately, it can also be described as an electro-magnetic projectile weapon.

Some technical specs for the Railgun are:
Manufacturer: Acheron Security
Ammunition Type: M645 FTP-HE 16 mm x 65 mm
Ammunition Size: 16mm x 65mm
Size:
Length: 110.8 centimetres (43.6 in)
Height: 31.9 centimetres (12.6 in)
Width: 7.4 centimetres (2.9 in)
Weight: 14.9 kilograms (33 lb)
Charge Time: 2 seconds, lesser charge time will cause less damage

The Halo 4 Railgun has no zoom feature while shooting. The projectile follows along dual channels (metal “rails”). These are charged by an electric current that flows through the magnetic rails. This interaction is what fires the projectile at high speed.

Though the handheld Railgun in halo 4 is labeled as “recoilless”, it actually has recoil, likely to show the weapon’s destructive force.

Fact:

In a report from CBS news/Reuters by David Alexander, it’s stated that the U.S. Navy is planning trials for it’s railgun in 2016. This version of the railgun can fire a 23 pound projectile at seven times the speed of sound and can travel well over 100 miles. To break that down, the speed of sound is 1,125 feet per second or 767 miles per hour. Seven times that is 7875 feet per second (just slightly under 1 1/2 miles per SECOND!) or 5,369 miles per hour. That is some POWER!Rear Admiral Matthew Kluder, chief of Naval Research has stated that the railgun has already gone through testing on the ground. The above picture shows a prototype of the current version of the railgun set up in a testing lab to test it’s firepower.

Part of the reason for developing railgun technology is technical superiority as well as cost. The planned 23lb projectile for the sea-based railgun will cost about 25,000. This is vastly cheaper that the average 500K to 1.5 million dollars (US) per conventional missile in use today.

Above shows the lab railgun’s length (in a fishbowl view).

“Railguns use electromagnetic energy known as the Lorenz Force to launch a projectile between two conductive rails. The high-power electric pulse generates a magnetic field to fire the projectile with very little recoil, officials said.”

“Current projectiles leaving a railgun have a muzzle energy of about 32 megajoules of force, said Rear Admiral Bryant Fuller, the Navy’s chief engineer. He said one megajoule would move a one-ton object at about 100 mph” Again, the current projectile is only 23 pounds versus the stated 2,000 pounds. So that’s just over 1% of the weight and 32 times of force. POWERFUL!!!

To illustrate this, the picture below shows the destructive force of an even smaller real-world projectile through a railgun. Though not said, the smaller projectile looks to be no more than a few pounds in weight. This is relative to the Halo 4’s projectile.

What you’re looking at above are SIX 1/2 inch thick steel plates that have had a several inches wide hole PUNCHED through them.

Check out this video of the real-world railgun in action! (link submitted by Kevin Armstrong-Thanks Kev!)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHS1ZiFJjB8

Summation
The technology for the real-world railgun is very similar to the tech represented in Halo 4’s railgun. The major difference being that we in present time have not yet reduced the size of the gun itself for individual use.

Given the size of the projectile in the Halo 4 railgun, coupled with the power associated with the electromagnetic current, it is quite evident that the destructive force of the Halo 4 railgun is accurately depicted in game.

So not only is this tech possible, it’s REAL and right NOW!

Fact SOURCE LINK

-Sal

Windows in the Car to put Cortana in the dashboard!

Posted on 04/07/2014 by Sal

I found out that Cortana will indeed be available for Windows in your car. The following is an excerpt from slash gear.com.—

Quietly demonstrated at Build 2014 this past week, in concept form at least, Windows in the Car pares back the standard Windows Phone interface to suit center console touchscreens and safer use while on the move thanks to features like Cortana.

Microsoft’s new Cortana virtual personal assistant is also name-checked, potentially tagging along as an intelligent co-pilot of sorts. As we saw on Windows Phone 8.1, Cortana can locate nearby businesses and give navigation directions, as well as use geofencing to trigger reminders and alerts when you’re near a specific place, all features with applications in automotive.

Right now this is all still in the realms of demo-tech, and Microsoft isn’t saying when Windows in the Car might make it out of the labs and into your dashboard.

Source Link

HFFL: I hope this is affordable. I’d love to have Cortana for my vehicle and smart phone. Now imagine if this would also be integrated with existing HUDs for cars? We could potentially have an actual “hologram” of Cortana speaking to us….Yes, it’s a dream, but VERY possible. (Don’t judge me. LOL)

HFFL’s Spirit of Fire podcast for 4-6-14: A PLETHORA of Halo topics!

Posted on 04/06/2014 by Sal

It’s been awhile yet again since we last had a podcast. This show brings a LOT of news and topics discussed. From the Halo 2 Anniversary rumblings and rumors, to lots of Halo swag coming this month, to Halo music deals, swag, other collectibles and MORE!

We’ve got 2 hours and 16 minutes of discussion waiting for you to listen to. Beyond listening to it here or downloaded from the blog, you can also search for us on iTunes under podcasts as “Spirit of Fire”.

SoF 4-6-14

or download below to listen to at your leisure:

SoF 4-6-14

Please enjoy and let me know what you think of this cast!
-Sal

Halo Toy Review: Mega Bloks UNSC Offworld Cyclops

Posted on 04/06/2014 by Sal

Mega Bloks UNSC Offworld Cyclops: Set #97214

Technical Specifications:
Build Time: 1 minute sorting time, 3 minutes build time.
Set Piece Count: 51
Minifigs: UNSC Marine (Halo 4 style mold w/non-game paint application)
Weapons: Shotgun (Black)
Accessories: Backpack (Green)
Price: $15-17 depending on where you buy from (In USA market)
Special Features: 12 points of articulation not including the cockpit hatch that raises and lowers also

And on with the pics! (Click pics to make BIGGER)

The packaging for this set is just as good if not better than it’s preceding cyclops. As you can above, the front shows the set very well. It looks built in the package. However, it’s not, so be aware of that when you open it so as not to have pieces fling about.
The back of the package shows the set off very well as well as the previous 4 incarnations of the cyclops. The new painted Halo 4 style Marine is seen on both sides as well.
The text blurb on the back says the following of this particular Cyclops:
“Many UNSC and Covenant vessels were destroyed during the course of the war, their remains left hanging in orbit high above the surfaces of human colonies. In order to recover valuable assists and technology, the UNSC deploys Offworld Cyclops into the harsh conditions of space, giving the operator access to these harrowing debris fields.”
The right side of the above pic shows the card without the bubble. Nice little piece of graphics there.

Here are the contents. Hidden behind the lower insert of the package are the directions and that little bag of parts.

Here are those parts from the bag sorted out.

The directions on the front are in and of themselves a mini-poster. I wish this came flat instead of folded. Ah well, no biggie there.

Above shows the limbs assembled then attached. This build is extremely easy and fast. You should have it out of the package and complete in 3 minutes or less.

Given the description on the back, I’m going to assume this is an arc welder. Since it’s a construction type cyclops and not and war type cyclops, that fits in.

Above shows the better way of putting the hose on. It may seem odd that the longer side should go in the back, however…

When you see it attached and then how it easily stretches down to fit into the arc welder it makes sense. I tried it the other way to be sure and it doesn’t really work well the other way, with the short side inserted into the back.

Here is the marine’s gear in the set.

The marine minifig. It’s not a game accurate paint job. However, given the task of this marine and it’s uniqueness, I’m perfectly fine with it being painted differently from other marines. I can immediately identify it as the Offworld Cyclops’ pilot.

You can easily fit the marine into the cockpit. There is a pin that protrudes from the seat back once you’ve attached that, that inserts into the whole in the back of the minifigure. This keeps it in place. As you can see in the middle above, you can also place the backpack and shotgun inside the cockpit. At right shows you can close it with all of that in there too.

For easy storage, I put the cones on the back of the cyclops. It also (kind of) looks like jets that would propel it around the area of space it is working in.

And finally here is the end action pose! No the arc welder doesn’t glow. I added that touch. As you can see, the cyclops is indeed well articulated.

Summary: This set is VERY quick to build. It’s the same base set as the other cyclops, but with different attachments and paint scheme. At $15, it’s reasonable. I wouldn’t want to pay more than that, so shop around. Target and Wal*Mart would have these for that price, while Toys R Us has it for about $2 more.

Overall Rating: I give this set 10 out for 10 medals. This is by far my favorite of the 5 versions of cyclops that have been released to date. The arc welder is neat, but for me, it’s really the paint scheme.

As a native Pittsburger, I’m partial to these colors since all three of our major sports teams use black and yellow (which we say is gold and not yellow…). In fact, this cyclops looks much like an older uniform worn by the Pittsburgh Steelers from the top up (see below).

So yeah, there’s that.

I highly recommend this set, especially if you have all of the other 4 cyclops. If you’re from Pittsburgh, then yeah, most definitely get it for the colors!!! LOL

Thanks for reading and let me know what you think of the review. If you have this set yourself, please give me your thoughts on it too!

-Sal

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Author Archives: Sal

About Sal

New background for HFFL. LOTS of visuals. What do you think of it?

Halo Wars and Reach on SALE!

Master Chief on a motorcycle. What???

Awesome custom resized Halo Mega Bloks Brute Chieftan!

A Legendary tattoo to speak of!

The Halo Bulletin 4-10-14

Screenshot Spotlight: Pink

The Science of Halo, Fact VS Fiction: Railguns

Windows in the Car to put Cortana in the dashboard!

HFFL’s Spirit of Fire podcast for 4-6-14: A PLETHORA of Halo topics!

Halo Toy Review: Mega Bloks UNSC Offworld Cyclops