It slices, it dices, well, it slices anyway…
Okay, so it’s not made of energy, but it is really FORGED which in itself is very cool…or is it very hot? Anyway, check out the video below.
Now quite accurate, but still I would love to have it. I think it’s interesting how metal when heated to different temperatures will produce different colors. I learned something new to me. Achievment Unlocked! LOL
-Sal
A BIG congrats to VwS Cryptic on their win.
I’m happy for them and in particular Casey “SARGOTH” Current. He’s a member of the team, as well as the fellow who won my Halo 4 FFA tournament at my LAN last year. And, I’m happy to call him a friend.
Need proof of that you say? Sure ’nuff. Here’s my LAN recap.
And a couple of pics from it (Plenty more pics at the link above):
Yeah, that’s me the big fella, wearing the blue UNSC t-shirt, next to SARGOTH. And yes, that’s Eric “Gho57ayame” Hewitt, new 343 employee, sitting next to him.
-Sal
My friend Addicted Cha0s tweeted the link to the following video regarding a new modded Flood game type called “Plague”.
This looks to be a lot of fun. As Flood you can choose to be any of three different kinds of flood. Small and fast, normal, or big and slow but powerful.
As Spartans you can heal each other from infection.
Wow, this just sounds amazing!
The only issue is that it’s modded. So PLEASE be aware of that should you download the maps/gametype. XBOX policy says no modding. This could leave yourselves vulnerable to banning. While I’d love to hear an official “okay” from 343 on this, they really can’t. Yes, I know Frank O’Conner stated ok on modded gametypes. That however was an impromptu saying as a convention and he even said he needed to be careful about this.
Now if this made it into the official Flood playlist in Halo 4, you bet I’d be playing it.
-Sal
Okay, this may not be NEW news, but it’s something I’ve been thinking about, especially in light of the Halo 2 anniversary rumor for the XBOX One.
In one form or another we have all the Halo games on the 360.
• Halo CE (Anniversary) Playable campaign in both the old and new graphics
• Halo 2. Yes, multiplayer isn’t available online, but you can still play it via LAN. As well, there’s the campaign that can still be played.
• Halo 3 Both Multiplayer and the campaign are still active
• Halo 3: ODST Campaign is still a classic and Firefight is at it’s toughest!
• Halo Wars still going!
• Halo Reach It still has campaign, multiplayer and firefight available, including customs games to online
• Halo 4 Well of course this is on due to it being the newest Halo FPS
• Halo Spartan Assault The release of this on the 360 came just last week.
So there we have it. While multiplayer playlists in some of the games have been trimmed down, or in the case of Halo 2, eliminated from LIVE servers, we still have the option to play any Halo game we want on the 360.
It’s just fun being able to switch up Halo games. On Thursday I played Halo 4, then some Spartan Assault Co-Op, then went to Reach for some matchmaking Firefight. I was able to enjoy FPS multiplayer in Halo 4, then 3rd person in Spartan Assault, then Firefight in Reach.
With the rumor of Halo 2 Anniversary possibly having a “Legacy” version that will include other Halo games and a Halo 5 Beta for the XBOX One, I now see how this could quite well be possible.
So with that said, I might be setting up HFFL community nights either specific to one of the Halo games or make it a mix of them.
I’d like your feedback on if you’d attend and which games you’d want to play and in what modes.
It’s a fun time to be a Halo fan!
-Sal
This article is reblogged from dualshockers.com.
Little is known for the moment about the upcoming Xbox One Halo game, but a couple new career opportunity ads seeking a Graphics Engineer and a Software Development Engineer give us a glimpse on what we can expect from its visuals and audio.
343 Industries is looking for an outstanding graphics engineer to complement its award-winning graphics team. This engineer will implement cutting edge features for the future of Halo, and will support other internal teams with their graphics needs and requests.
As a graphics engineer you will be responsible for writing and maintaining the systems which other 343 teams use to implement and iterate features during their daily work. The ideal candidate has a passion in this space, and loves getting their hands dirty while coding incredible systems which unlock the potential of our internal teams. Your features will be used to amaze and shock game players around the world. You are an out of the box thinker who relishes challenges, and enjoys making sure games are fast and pretty.
If rendering hot pixels and facilitating others gets you excited, this is the right job for you.
Candidate responsibilities
– Collaborate closely with internal development teams to unlock their potential
– Own and maintain various DirectX11 rendering systems
– Create new next-generation systems
You are an audio technology innovator and have strong ideas for the future of audio technology. You will help prototype, test, and create audio features through the sheer power of your masterful coding abilities. You understand the tech behind audio at a deep level – both software and hardware. Working with developing technology means you have to be adaptive and understand the constraints of working in an iterative incubation environment. You must be a capable problem solver who is not afraid of big challenges and can use your engineering skills to quickly flesh out ideas with new technologies. A strong understanding of audio technology encompasses, but is not limited to, the following: audiology, acoustic and psychoacoustics, DSP, binaural/surround/HRTF spatial audio, Wwise or similar audio engines, Unity/Unreal or other scripting technologies that allow for rapid iteration on ideas.
As an audio-focused developer, you will be working collaboratively with the Technical Design Director, Central Audio Director, team creatives and producers to drive and support the audio features/tech you help create through all stages of production. You have well balanced communication skills and are able to present your audio concepts concisely both technically and in lay terms.
You thrive in an environment of innovation and excellence. Lastly, you must rock… figuratively of course.
Both ads indicate that 343 industries is pushing the envelope of innovation for its upcoming Halo game. A lot of emphasis is put on the fact that both candidates will have to implement and work with new and cutting-edge systems and technologies.
Will the new halo really “amaze and shock” us? We’ll have to wait and see, but 343 Industries definitely seems to be stepping on the gas pedal here.
HFFL: So do YOU have the skills for one of those positions? Here’s your chance then folks. I am hopeful for the next game and absolutely want it to amaze and shock me with how good it is!
-Sal
Bravo writes this week’s bulletin.
A typical morning at the studio involves a cup (or three) of coffee, a quick game (or three) of Matchmaking, and a meeting (or three) that cover one if not all of the numerous projects we’re working on. This morning though, on an incredibly oversized 220” screen, we watched a live broadcast of the Seattle Seahawks parading through the crowded streets of downtown Seattle (strangely enough and certainly unrelated, our studio was not crowded and instead as barren as can be). While the local news coverage of the event provided more ridiculous moments than actual coverage of the parade itself, such as the news anchors’ repeated failed attempts to get the attention of the Seahawks passing by, it was exciting to witness the city’s celebration of our first world championship, and see the (and I’m quoting the local news anchor here) “Big vehicles with big people in them” cruising through the city. After one last celebration for our team, Dr. Phil popped onto the screen, and that’s when we realized it was time to turn the TV off and try to get a little bit of work done.
Speaking of football, we hope that you got a chance to partake in some Halo 4 Spartan Bowl over the weekend. We all know how the big game ended (woo-hoo!) but we thought you’d enjoy hearing about how the two teams faired in-game.
Although we know who quite handily won the real game, the Halo 4 Spartan Bowl had a slightly different result. As you can see above, the Broncos-themed red Spartans appear to have edged out the real championship team. bs angel would like me to add that if you played as the Seahawk-themed blue team and lost at all over the course of the weekend, you may be permanently banned. I think she’s kidding. But is she? Either way, if you hopped into the playlist and contributed to any of the 164,518,855 points that were scored over the weekend, we’d like to thank you, and hope you enjoyed the games.
Next up, let’s see what else is going on in the world of Matchmaking.
Matchmaking Playlist Update
Heavies went live as our featured playlist on Monday morning, and we’ve seen that thousands of you have joined the action. The playlist, which stole the top spot from Big Team Battle for three days running, is packed with heavy vehicles and large weapons and features both Slayer and King of the Hill on Wreckage, Shatter, Harvest, Daybreak, Outcast and Perdition, Longbow, Ragnarok, Vortex, Meltdown, and Exile. As we mentioned last week, the playlist is a great stomping ground to rack up vehicle and weapon commendations along with ridiculous and explosive Matchmaking memories, and also several achievements. The Crimson DLC Mantis achievements “Bigfoot,” “David and Goliath,” and “Pump Yer Brakes,” are all achievable in Heavies, so get ’em while they’re hot. The playlist, will be around until February 17th – hop in and join the action!
HFFL: I posted yesterday how much fun I was having in Heavies. I continue to believe that this should be a gametype in BTB. Hopefully 343 will be convinced by the shear numbers it’s pulling compared not only to other rotational playlist gametypes, but other standard gametypes, like BTB as Bravo mentioned. If you’re loving Heavies, tweet to @halowaypoint or reply in the feedback thread on HaloWaypoint and let them know!
We’ll have all the juicy details for the upcoming update (and the Big Rumble Playlist) next week, but first we’ve got a new Community Choice Poll that will help determine one of the game types that we include in Big Rumble.
Big Rumble will feature 12-player Free-For-All on medium-sized maps and a combination of game types at launch. One of those game types will be one of the above, and we need you to select which! Read more about each option below.
Quick Draw
A brand new game type to Halo 4, Quick Draw lets players battle it out with just Magnums, Frag Grenades, and the Dexterity Support Upgrade. In Quick Draw, the fastest on the trigger will emerge victorious.
Stickyball
Originally announced as part of the Oddball playlist last October, Stickyball equips players with the Sticky Detonator and Plasma Grenades. In an FFA setting, there are even more explosions, frantic escapes, and things getting stuck to other things. It’s messy, good fun.
Fiesta Slayer
There’s no doubt that 12-player FFA is already a party, but add in random weapons, and you’ve got a real Fiesta. Players respawn with random primary and secondary weapons.
Head here to vote on the Waypoint forums where voting will be open for approximately four days. Next week we’ll announce the Community Choice winner along with the Matchmaking Update!
HFFL: okay, I’m voting for Quick Draw. Why you may ask? We’ve had Stickball already and Fiesta Slayer is prevalent in Action Sack, even if it’s team based. Plus, I really like the idea of ONLY Magnums (and frag nades). This is totally balanced, weapons wise. SO then it’s a matter of your skill. Are you up to the task? If so, I’ll see you at high noon…
Halo eValentines
You may recall last year that we created some Halo-themed eValentines that featured a collection of pick-up lines that any Halo fan would appreciate. If you happened to share one of these cards with your “favorite Player 2,” as bs angel put it last year, there’s a good chance that you are now together or joined in wedlock, as they were masterfully written to melt hearts. This year, we’re looking for the best community-crafted Halo-themed valentines to share and woo us!
If you have an idea for a creation, send it to bsangel [at] halowaypoint.com and we’ll select our favorites for next week’s Bulletin. Whether you create it digitally, with tape and scissors, or use an in-game screenshot, those of you who submit a creation may or may not receive festive-colored Spartan armor for your Xbox 360 avatar…
Stop by next week to see our favorites, and also to grab the last minute eValentine that you’ll undoubtedly need because you once again forgot that Valentine’s Day was already here (bs angel edit: tsk tsk). Don’t worry. We got you. Actually, your fellow community members do – make sure you thank them!
HFFL: Side note, I may have some Halo themed Valentines myself to share, so stay tuned as we get closer to the day.
Gamers for Giving Preview
Coming up this weekend is Gamers for Giving, a charity gaming tournament and LAN party that happens to be all sorts of awesome. I’ve had the privilege to attend the event in past years, and we at 343 Industries are honored and excited to partner with them yet again for their fantastic, frag-filled festivities. I’ll be heading out to Michigan this weekend to check out the Halo 4 action, and whether on the live stream on in-person, you should as well!
I was going to tell you about the event and charity myself, but then I imagined bs angel making a very nervous, tense face, shaking her head, and waving her hands in suggestion that I should let our friend Zach Wigal (who may know slightly more about Gamers for Giving) give you the details. So then I decided to do just that.
Hey, Zach! Thanks for joining me today. We’ve got Gamers for Giving coming up this weekend – tell us, just how busy have you been?
Hey, Bravo! Between finishing school, handling regular work, and organizing Gamers for Giving, the past couple of months have been packed. I definitely plan on taking a little bit of a break once the event is wrapped.
Taking a step back, can you tell us a bit about the origins of Gamers Outreach Foundation and Gamers for Giving?
During my junior year of high school a group of friends and I tried organizing a Halo 2 tournament for our student body. A few days before the tournament was supposed to happen, a local police officer who belonged to a media censorship organization called The Parent’s Television Council found out about our tournament and called our school’s superintendent asking her to cancel the event. It was his opinion that Halo and other M-rated videogames weren’t appropriate for high school students to be playing. He basically ascribed to the ‘Jack Thompson philosophy’ of the time, and felt videogames were having a negative influence on the minds of youth. Our superintendent revoked our rental permit shortly after she received his call, and we had to cancel our event.
Growing up, I was always involved in the ‘normal’ school activities. I played sports, made okay grades, and was involved in music, but playing videogames was the consistent hobby. I really resented the idea that my mind was somehow being corrupted because I enjoyed playing games like Halo.
I decided the most productive course of action would be to move forward and organize a new tournament that would raise money for charity. I wanted to show the police officer that gamers were a friendly group of people, and that our event could actually benefit the local community for the better. A year after my high school tournament was canceled, the same group of friends and I hosted Gamers for Giving – a competitive gaming event that raised money for charity. We had around 400 people show up, and after covering the event’s expenses, we were able to donate $4,000 to a local chapter of the Autism Society of America. Not bad for a bunch of high school students!
I had never been involved with charity work prior to hosting Gamers for Giving, but its importance was quickly ingrained. Having done this for a few years now I’ve come to believe that’s the natural process for becoming involved with philanthropy. Unless you have a personal connection to a cause or you’re able to make that initial leap of faith to get involved, it’s easy to be inactive or unaware. Videogames were the bridge that connected the dots for me, and Gamers Outreach Foundation was created to support more activities like Gamers for Giving.
Fast forward to present day, the organization now has its own initiatives. We build portable gaming carts for kids in hospitals, and send videogame care packages to U.S. troops overseas. Gamers for Giving is the annual fundraising event which helps us kick start our work each year.
How much preparation goes into something of this scale? When and where does the work begin?
Event management is a lot of work, and as an organizer the challenge of constructing events changes with scale. Gamers for Giving has about a 10 to 12 week build window. First, we work to recruit support from partners within the industry, as well as from Eastern Michigan University, where our event is hosted. These partners provide us with the resources to actually conduct the event, and help us cover overhead so that our attendee entry fees and donations can be used to support Gamers Outreach charity programs. Receiving support from folks like Astro Gaming, Twitch.tv, and 343 plays a big role in our ability to conduct a successful event.
Once support has been lined up, we begin solidifying the details of the event. We address questions like “What activities should be at this year’s event?”, “How many attendees can we accommodate for each activity?”, and “Where will we find equipment to support the event?”
As those questions are being answered, we simultaneously begin promoting the event. Thankfully, a number of eSports personalities have become involved with Gamers Outreach over the years, so their collective voices help us get the word out to folks beyond our immediate reach. That cycle continues until the weekend of the event – and our first priority then shifts to making sure our attendees have a fantastic time. We want our attendees to enjoy gaming in a competitive, friendly environment.
Aside from all that, the purpose of Gamers for Giving is to help build portable videogame carts for kids in hospitals and send videogame care packages to troops overseas. Thanks to a company called Kona’s Korner Productions, we’re able to stream Gamers for Giving and collect donations from supporters across the internet. This year, we’re trying to raise $20,000 to kick off Gamers Outreach activities.
How can the Halo community get involved this year?
Halo is how we started, so we’re proud to be able to support another tournament at this year’s event! Halo fans are welcome to participate in our 4v4 Halo 4 tournament on Sunday, February 9th. Team passes are $100, and can be purchased online athttp://www.GamersforGiving.org. For those unable to attend, we’ll be streaming the event at http://www.twitch.tv/GamersOutreach. Donations can be made on our website, or during the live stream of our event. As of this interview, we’re only $7,000 away from the goal! Anything the Halo community can contribute would help!
Thanks for taking the time to sit down with us this week. I’ll see you this weekend for some Halo 4 action!
Any time, Bravo! It’s going to be a good one.
——————–
Stay tuned to Waypoint and our official Twitter account for Gamers for Giving updates this weekend and into next week. Next up, bs angel is back with another gallery of in-game goodness.
Screenshot Spotlight: Heavy Vehicles
Last week, we turned the spotlight on nature. This week, we decided to go with things that are large and in charge. Take a gander at the following heavy vehicle screenshots, and maybe even find inspiration to make your own.
For your chance at being in the next spotlight, take a screenshot that reflects love (KEEP IT CLEAN) and then tag it with “Love” 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
HFFL: Personally I like the one in the top left the most.
As always if you want to see the bulletin, go to Halo Waypoint. In the case of this week’s, I’ve reposted it all here. Only thing different is the screenshot spotlight is one graphic here whereas on Waypoint, you can click each one and download if you so choose.
-Sal
This is the second of my wife’s retro styled Halo characters artwork. It’s also a slight take on the Jetsons as well.
She’s asking me what character to do next. I’ve suggested Tom Lasky and Sarah Palmer. What character might YOU want to see her do in retro style? She’s thinking an alien, maybe a Jackal.
If you want to repost the graphic, please give my wife credit it your post as “Emily from HaloFanForLife.com”.
-Sal
Gallery Books and 343 have partnered for a multi-book deal that will bring us a new Halo novel in Fall of 2014.
The following is a repost from Halo Waypoint.
NEW YORK, February 4, 2014—Gallery Books and 343 Industries are pleased to announce a multi-year co-publishing program based on the award-winning and phenomenally popular video game franchise Halo. Already a massive New York Times bestselling series, all-new canonical tales in the Halo expanded universe will be published across the Gallery Books, Pocket Books, and Pocket Star imprints in a variety of print and digital formats.
Frank O’Connor, Franchise Development Director of 343 Industries said, “We’ve had the luxury of working with amazing novelists and publishing partners in the past – and we’re excited to continue that tradition and growth with the announcement of our new novel publishing partner, Gallery Books – and we can’t wait to share the worlds and wonders we’ll build together.”
“We are thrilled to be working with 343 Industries and Microsoft on these upcoming Halo books,” said Louise Burke, President of Gallery Books. “It’s a phenomenal brand that continues to grow and we look forward to continuing the ascent with them.”
Ed Schlesinger, Senior Editor at Gallery Books, and Jennifer Bergstrom, Publisher of Gallery Books, negotiated the licensing partnership directly with Halo Consumer Products at 343 Industries. The first publication is scheduled for release in Fall 2014.
ABOUT GALLERY BOOKS: Gallery Books is an imprint dedicated to publishing a variety of must-read books on a wide array of topics. Launched in February 2010, Gallery is designed to showcase established voices and to introduce emerging new ones—in both fiction and nonfiction genres. Some of Gallery Books’ bestselling titles include Tim Gunn’s Fashion Bible by Tim Gunn, Are You There, Vodka? It’s Me Chelsea by Chelsea Handler, The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky, Love Anthony by Lisa Genova, Mrs. Kennedy and Me by Clint Hill, and The Untold History of the United States by Oliver Stone and Peter Kuznick.
ABOUT SIMON & SCHUSTER: Simon & Schuster, a part of CBS Corporation, is a global leader in the field of general interest publishing, dedicated to providing the best in fiction and nonfiction for consumers of all ages, across all printed, electronic, and audio formats. Its divisions include Simon & Schuster Adult Publishing, Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing, Simon & Schuster Audio, Simon & Schuster Digital, and international companies in Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom. For more information, visit our website at www.simonandschuster.com.
HFFL: I’m curious if this means new authors or some of the same authors just a different publishing house? I’m REALLY curious about though is what stories will be told. Will they continue from where Kilo-5 left off? Will it be stories from the UNSC Infinity? One thing’s for sure, it’s NEW Halo and I’m very happy about that.
-Sal
My wife was creative this weekend and made this for me.
I think it’s pretty cool. Definitely something that says ’50s/early ’60s style or something out of the Jetsons cartoon. She made another one with a different character of which I’ll show tomorrow.
If you want to repost the graphic, please give my wife credit it your post as “Emily from HaloFanForLife.com”.
-Sal
Okay, yes, I know it went live yesterday. Point is, I was having a lot of fun playing it, I didn’t stop to write up an article about it.
So there are two main gametypes within Heavies. Team Heavies, which is what it sounds like and Kill of the Hill. Honestly, if there are others, I didn’t notice as those two were all people were voting for.
I played on Ragnarok, Vortex, Wreckage, and Shatter. Now for one, I’ve got to say, I’m happy that enough people have the DLC that I could play on those maps in matchmaking, instead of custom games.
Heavies was/is definitely needed and a VERY welcome return to Halo, in my opinion. I wish it were a permanent playlist or integrated with BTB!
Back in my Halo 3 days I used to rush the Scorpion. It was BEAST back then and could take one hell of a beating. In Halo 4 though, while it’s shots are powerful, it’s armor isn’t quite so. Instead of getting into vehicles, much of the time I was going about the map destroying vehicles by any means necessary. This included sniping, Spartan laser, sticky detonator, over-charged plasma pistol then sticking it with a nade or boarding it to melee it to death.
It was EXTREMELY FUN! This isn’t a playlist for the uber hardcore competitive players. Well, it can be, but don’t expect it to be. It definitely caters more to the casual and casually competitive crowd. Callouts help, but when you’ve got all sorts of vehicle mayhem going on, it almost isn’t needed. That said, a good Banshee pilot can be VERY pesky, which happened on a couple of occasions.
I went into the playlist with the thought that I was going to focus on killing Scorpions as I’m trying to finish that commendation. However, while that didn’t go out the window, I found that I was just enjoying the WHOLE game of carnage.
So folks, do yourselves a favor for the next two weeks and play some Heavies!
-Sal
