Halo 4: The Essential Visual Guide coming VERY soon!

Halo 4 The Essential Visual Guide Hardcover Book

The Halo 4: The Essential Visual Guide is coming soon! As in Sept 16!! <–click title to go to Amazon to check out the listing.

Here’s the text blurb from Amazon:

The Master Chief returns to fight the Covenant and his new foes, the Prometheans, in his next epic quest. Created in collaboration with developers 343 Industries, Halo 4: The Essential Visual Guide celebrates the release of Halo 4, one of the biggest video game releases in recent history.

Featuring detailed, annotated artwork, Halo 4: The Essential Visual Guide fleshes out the Halo universe with a vast collection of facts from the first installment of Halo’s epic new “Reclaimer Saga.” Fans of the series will love immersing themselves in the perilous world of Halo 4 with detailed sections about the characters, factions, weapons, vehicles, equipment, armor, ships, and locations.

Halo 4: The Essential Visual Guide engrosses readers in the rich lore with in-depth profiles focusing on the roles and significance of the many things which inhabit the vast, mysterious, and dangerous Halo Universe.

At $12.86 from Amazon, that’s a great deal. The MSRP for this is $16.99. So you’re saving a few bucks. Granted shipping may knock that out if you aren’t an Amazon member. Still, good price.

I’d like to thank Cody JR Smith for pointing this out on the HaloCollector facebook page. I knew it was coming, just couldn’t recall when. Nice to know it’s right around the corner!

-Sal

Halo Fan Friday League Tonight!

Okay, so I’ve been slacking mentioning this. Tonight and every Friday is Halo Fan Friday League.

Starting at 8pm til 10pm EST, I invite you to come game with me. We’ll be playing matchmaking. The size of the party will determine the playlist we’ll participate in.

So if you’re looking for fun, mature, team play, shoot me an invite tonight @ HaloFanForLife1.

See you then!

POST GAME REPORT! Thanks to all who showed up. At one point we had 11 people so we went into custom games for a solid hour. Lots of laughs ensued. Fun all around. Got to make two new friends tonight, Shout out to “BigCheese” and “Tetrahedrite”. As well got to game with a fellow PAer whom I’ve only game with once or twice before. Shout out to “Liquid”!

Big shout out to Addicted Cha0s and her crew from HaloDiehards.net for joining in on the fun.

Folks, I can’t say enough how this brightened my spirits tonight. This and the great response so far to the HFFL LAN coming up made today a very good day!

-Sal

HFFL’s first ever LAN Party! Details!!

To commemorate HFFL’s 2 year anniversary in September I will be holding Halofanforlife.com’s first ever LAN party. The date is Saturday, September 14. It will be a 3 hour event, from 5-8pm. This will be a Halo 4 LAN, though we may also play Halo Reach.

The cost is $15 per person. This will include pizza and a drink as well as use of the gaming equipment. I will also be holding a FFA tournament within this LAN for prizes. Prizes TBD. (More on that soon.)

The location will be at Game On Party Planners LLC. They are located at:
1105 Rochester Road
Pittsburgh, PA
15237
(Across from Sir Pizza, behind Fischer)

We will be STREAMING the LAN, specifically the FFA tournament within on Twitch. Link for that to come shortly.

For more information of the gaming center please check out: http://gameonpartyplanners.com/

If you plan on attending, I will need a few things:

E-mail me at sal@halofanforlife.com with your intention to come to the event.
You must be 21 years of age. ID will be checked. If you don’t have ID you will not be allowed in.
Payment must be in cash at the event location.

Since this is a 21 and over event, you are permitted to bring alcohol, however you MUST sign a waiver absolving both the gaming center and myself from any alcohol related actions. This is mandatory. If you don’t/won’t sign it, then please do not attend. Neither the business nor myself can afford a lawsuit, which I hope you all understand.

I do ask that if you say you’re going to come, PLEASE make certain that you do. I need to give the gaming center a clear specific number of attendees no later than 8/23. So you do have time to plan for this.

If you have ANY questions, comments, or concerns regarding this event, PLEASE dont’ hesitate to contact me. Either reply below or send me an e-mail. Pass the word and let’s make this a successful first ever HFFL LAN!

P.S. I’ll be bringing along some of my Halo Mega Bloks customs and sets to view. This will be the FIRST time outside of my family that anyone will see these.

Sets I’m planning on bringing are:
Forward unto Dawn
You can see the build and review of it here:
Part 1 Unboxing and Sorting
Part 2 Aft Body Section and Base
Part 3 Aft Roof
Part 4 Front Section
Part 5 Front Roof
Part 6 Stickers, Final Assembly and Extra Parts, OH MY!

I may bring more official Mega Bloks sets. If you have a request to see a specific one, let me know and I’ll see what I can do.

Customs I’m bringing are:
CSO Cruiser as seen here.
CCS Cruiser (both Big and Small versions)

-Sal

The Halo Bulletin 7.31.13

halobulletinheader_7-31-13

First up is the progress of the third week of the Halo 4 Global Championship.

gcoq-logo

As of the bulletin’s writing, here are the top ten so far this week:

Screen shot 2013-07-31 at 11.49.41 PM

This week is Rumble Pro, BTW. In the meantime, 343 is still working to verify the winners from the first two weeks of competition.

As expected (not even a secret) the finals will take place at PAX this year.

Next up is the Matchmaking Playlist Update

Here’s a look at week 4 of the Halo 4 Global Championship gameplay, which is aptly titled “Rumble Grab Bag.”

Screen shot 2013-07-31 at 11.50.11 PM

 

Here are the loadouts for the slayer variants of the above games:

UNSC Slayer

Loadout Pro BR
Primary Weapon Battle Rifle
Secondary Weapon Assault Rifle
Grenades 2x Frag
Armor Ability None
Tactical Package Resupply
Support Upgrade Explosives

Covenant Slayer

Loadout Pro Carbine
Primary Weapon Carbine
Secondary Weapon Storm Rifle
Grenades 2x Plasma
Armor Ability None
Tactical Package Resupply
Support Upgrade Explosives

Forerunner Slayer

Loadout Pro LightRifle
Primary Weapon LightRifle
Secondary Weapon Suppressor
Grenades 2x Pulse
Armor Ability None
Tactical Package Resupply
Support Upgrade Explosives

Here are the settings for the Objective based games of the Halo 4 Global Championship:

FFA Oddball

Game Settings
Score to Win 150
Time Limit 12 minutes
Oddball Options
Ball Count 1
Ball Spawning Static
Carry Points 1 point
Carrier Kill Points No Points
Automatic Pickup Enabled
Hot Potato Timer Disabled
Random Potato Timer Disabled
Carrier Visibility Enabled
Loadout Usage Personal
Respawn Settings
Respawn Time 5 Seconds
Suicide Penalty 3 Seconds
Death Cam Disabled
Infinity Settings
Personal Ordnance Disabled
Equipment
Motion Tracker Enabled
Sensor Range Unchanged

FFA KOTH

Game Settings
Score to Win 150
Time Limit 12 minutes
KOTH options
Hill movement Progressive
Number of Hills 1 Hill
Scoring Style Score One
Hill Movement Condition Time
Hill Time Limit 30 seconds
Hill Point Limit 25 points
Drain on Hill Move Disabled
Trespasser Kill Points Disabled
Hill Spawn Penalty Disabled
Vehicles on Hills Disabled
Loadout Usage Personal
Respawn Settings
Respawn Time 5 Seconds
Suicide Penalty 3 Seconds
Death Cam Disabled
Infinity Settings
Personal Ordnance Disabled
Equipment
Motion Tracker Enabled
Sensor Range Unchanged

Since week for of the competition has objective based games, I may finally throw my hat into the ring here. Do I expect to do well? Hell no. But it’s the week that I would mostly likely have my best showing.

Next is the part that is likely to upset some of you. It does me…

Global Championship Invites

(Text directly copied form Halo Waypoint)

When we announced the Halo 4 Global Championship, we stated that some competitors would be invited to compete in the finals event. We had to jump through some additional legal hoops to announce the specifics, and are now able to share the details of the first invites.

The goal of the first group of invites is to reward top Halo 4 competitors who have performed well over the past few months at regional tournaments. We’ve teamed up with Arena Gaming League (AGL) to invite the following players to compete in a semi-finals bracket against other invited players. The players who emerge from the semi-finals bracket will face-off against the winners from RTX, Gamescom, and the online qualifier in the final bracket of the Halo 4 Global Championship. The winner will take home $200,000.

The players will be contacted directly in the near future. Here is the current list of players that will be receiving invites:

Tournament
Invited Players
AGL 3
1st place 4v4
AGL 4
1st place 4v4
AGL 5
1st place 4v4
AGL 6
1st place 4v4
AGL 7
1st place 4v4, Top 16 FFA
AGL 8
Top 4 4v4 teams, Top 16 FFA

After RSVP’ing, players who receive an invite will be given admission to the Halo 4 Global Championships and a spot in the semi-finals bracket. Invited players are responsible for providing their own travel and lodging, but will be given a PAX badge so that they may compete in the invite bracket. Also, we’ll be keeping a very close eye on the AGL 9 tournament on August 9-11 in Atlanta, GA, so best of luck to all of the 4v4 and FFA players!

HFFL: So you few non-pro players who snuck in through RTX and who might get lucky through the weekly competition…forget it. The cards ARE being stacked against you. Personally, I feel that only those people who have actually played in the official Halo 4 Global Championship and placed in the convention events and online competition should be allowed to compete for the big money in Seattle at PAX. With respect to whomever made this decision, those gamers you’re inviting into this competition already have AMPLE opportunity to play and win for money. Let them fend for themselves like the rest of us in the official contest. It really is a slap in the face to those who put in a crap ton of time online now seeing that they will have to face pros, even more so than those who qualified at RTX. My comment above about playing next week. NIX that. This competition has not been worth my time, especially given the special treatment to pros, who again have and continue to have their chances to win money playing Halo otherwise.

Lastly, the screenshot spotlight shines on the Majestic Map pack. I can’t wait until Castle comes back. I still need just ONE achievement for Halo 4 and it’s specific to that playlist/maps.

Want to read the whole bulletin? Go here.

 

Champions Bundle Pack Achievement graphics.

Champions Bundle Pack cheevo header

While I’ve already posted the list of the achievements for this bundle pack, Waypoint has finally released the achievement graphics for each. So this gives me a chance to revisit them again.

Champions Bundle Pack Achievement graphics

Shocking Shocking In Bullseye DLC matchmaking, activate both electrical surge systems during a match on Vertigo. 10 points

Got It Got it! In Bullseye DLC matchmaking, acquire the Rocket Launcher at the start of a match on Pitfall. 20 points

Protect This House Protect This House In matchmaking, assassinate the ball carrier within five meters of your own goal in Ricochet. 30 points

Hat Trick Hat Trick In matchmaking, score three times in one round of Ricochet. 33 points

From Downtown From Downtown In matchmaking, score by throwing the ball from 30 meters in Ricochet. 25 points

Can't Catch me Can’t Catch Me In matchmaking, score a goal in Ricochet while taking damage with the Resistor active. 25 points

Just A Scratch Just a Scratch In matchmaking, recover full shields from low health with both Resistor and Recharge active. 20 points

Pitchin' a Tent Pitchin’ a Tent In matchmaking, effectively camp one location without dying for a full 60 seconds. 20 points

One-Man Army One-Man Army In matchmaking, get four consecutive kills with the Rocket Launcher without dying. 40 points

Repeat Survivor Repeat Survivor In matchmaking, survive three vehicle explosions in a row with the Survivor package. 27 points

Champions Bundle pack bonus EXTRAS through Halo: Spartan Assault

I finally have had the chance to watch the “Building Halo Worlds Panel” from SDCC this year. Within is a key piece of information regarding the crossovers between Halo: Spartan Assault and Halo 4.

There are a couple of EXTRA Bonus items you can unlock with the Champions Bundle Pack, should you have played Halo: Spartan Assault as well.

As teased in a leaked graphic, there is a “Tiger Stripe” DMR. This was NOT shown as part of the Bundle pack bonus you would get by purchasing through the XBOX. Rather it is an item you get through having bought Spartan Assault and also buying the Champions bundle pack. There is also a stance as well.

I’m kind of bummed by this. I pride myself on having it all… yet, I’m never going to be able to get this unless Spartan Assault is released for the 360. I just don’t have the money for a Surface and can’t justify buying it anyway for a $7 app, much as I love Halo.

Anyway…

Here is what you get as EXTRA Bonus items for the Champions Bundle pack should you also have Spartan Assault:

Spartan Assault Champions bonus-hfflWMHere is the leaked image, below, of the bonus weapons skins where you can clearly see the Tiger Striped DMR:
Bonus Weapon Skins v2

Mind you the names given to the above graphic were my own. It’s a bummer that we got to see the Tiger Stripe, thinking it would be part of the bundle pack, now to find out it’s only available if you also have Spartan Assault.

With respect to 343/MS, this is yet another way you are alienating your CORE fans. Yes, it may seem small and trivial to some. But for some people, like me, these little things are what add up to the overall and continued enjoyment of the franchise. To be left out of a relatively easy way to get these is…well, there’s lots of words I could use to describe how I feel. I’ll just leave it at “very disappointing.”

I’d like to thank Blog subscriber Thomas Bradford for sharing the video link above and letting me know about the additional bonus content.

-Sal

Champions Bundle pack BONUS Armor Skins info

championsbundle_660

First, I’d like to thank fellow Halo fan, Deltagenesis, for e-mailing me this news.

Just a few hours ago, BS Angel replied via Halo Waypoint to a question regarding the Bonus Armor skins coming with the Champions Bundle Pack. We knew the names, IIRC, not the shortened nomenclature.

BS Angel armor postSource Link

Here is a reminder of the base armor for which the skins can be applied:

Champions bundle pack armor for skinsWow, I can’t wait to see what the skins look like!!!

-Sal