Wow, Sparth has really been rolling out the concept art. Here we have the engine room of the Infinity. I love how much of the piece is grayscale, with the background really popping in blue swathes of color. The contrast between the dark workable area of the engine room and the bright “heart” of the ship is striking. 
And a close up.
For a piece of concept art, this view has some incredible detail.
-Sal
So Silentium just came out yesterday and there is a code you can get to use on Halo Waypoint with it. This code will unlock XP as well as the video below.
If browsing HaloWaypoint.com you’re going to want to click on the “classified” tab (see below):
From there you will get a screen that gives you a tab to enter a code. Click on that, then enter in the code (to the right of the next pic).
Enjoy the video!
You also get 20,000 XP as well when you enter the code.
-Sal
Last night I once again co-hosted Podtacular with POD Dust Storm. We talk about Spartan Ops Episode 8 and it’s subsequent chapters in detail as well as have some fun along the way with other tangents.
You can download the full episode here:
-Sal
OMG, this map is AWESOME! I love the realistic visuals.
Also, this is going to make for one hell of a great machinima map for my “MAC ROUNDS” web series.
What do you think of it by this preview?
-Sal
HFFL reader “GeneralDiaz” has answered correctly. There were 9 new pages added. They are as follows: 1 (New front cover), 122 (Dedication and Thank You page), 214 (Majestic Map Pack ad), 252 (Castle Map Pack ad),the following 5 pages are all character profiles: 295, 296, 297, 298, 299.
A set of McFarlane series 2 Halo Avatar figures will be coming your way, once you send me your address.
Thanks to all who downloaded the graphic novel. I hope you enjoyed the comics as well as the graphic novel.
I hope there will be a season two so we can do this all over again.
-Sal
Sparth posted a piece of concept art showing what the Forerunner jungle on Requiem could have looked like.
And now for a close-up.
Wow, I really wish we’d have had the floating Calamari/Jellyfish creatures in the game.
-Sal
It’s here! Whew. This is the OFFICIAL article for replying to the Spartan Ops Graphic Novel contest. See this link for contest rules.
Download the full resolution Spartan Ops Season One Graphic Novel. The file is in PDF format. (This file is nearly 160mb, so it’s going to take some time to download.)
My thanks and a dedication:
First and foremost, I’d like to thank my wife for putting up with my many late night and well into the morning hours I put into this project. Secondly, thanks to BS Angel for her kind responses to the series. Thirdly, POD Dust Storm of podtacular.com. He and I spent many hours playing and replaying missions in Spartan Ops.Sometimes for fun, but mostly for research. Over the course of several months I co-hosted on his podcast with regards to Spartan Ops episodes and missions. Thanks Dust, it was a BLAST. Fourthly and most certainly not least, you the readers. I loved getting messages from you with nice things to say. There were times when I was wondering if people were reading these comic books. Through BS Angel’s promotion of them on HaloWaypoint.com as well as the previously mentioned podtacular.com, I think I can call this a success.
I want to dedicate this graphic novel to 343 in general for developing Halo 4. Specifically the team of folks who worked on Spartan Ops, including David Ellis and Chris Haluke. (Apologies that I don’t know all of the Spartan Ops team or they would have all been mentioned.)
This 300 page graphic novel is brought to you free by HaloFanForLife.com. If you have enjoyed the individual comic books and/or this graphic novel and would like to donate to the blog, please feel free to send a donation via paypal to: sal@halofanforlife.com. Any and all donations are graciously accepted.
I had a lot of fun creating this comic book series and graphic novel. Along the way I Photoshopped more than 1500 screenshots, not all of them making the final cut. The total time spent on the 10 episode series of comic books and graphic novel was over 200 hours.
While I started off fairly new to comic book design, I’ve been a graphic designer and production artist for more than 15 years. I’d like to think that over these past few months I was able to improve the design of each successive comic book. You be the judge of that though by leaving a reply below.
Now bring on Season TWO!
-Sal
I’ve finished everything but the front cover. This is proving more difficult than I had thought it would be though as I want the cover to knock your socks off. Once I get this done, the graphic novel will be complete and I’ll post up the link and contest article.
Whew, I’ve put in a ridiculous amount of hours on this series. The final page count is 300 pages. No, it’s not a coincidence that it’s 300, same as the amount of Spartans at the battle of Thermopylae. I’m hoping for a season two, but I am glad for a break for the moment.
Hopefully, this gets done today! Stay Tuned!!!
-Sal
Once again, we are treated to more awesome concept art by Nicholas “Sparth” Bouvier, Halo 4 Lead Artist.
WOw, can you imagine if one of these made it into the game? Such a departure from the original blocky Bungie version. Sleek and stylish these concepts pieces are.
They kind of remind me of future rifles as well.
I’d love to see these designs used somewhere. They are just TOO awesome to be kept as concept ships.
-Sal
Wow, this is a visually stunning map. Lots of places to get to, hide behind, explore, etc.
I can’t wait to get the Castle Map pack (coming out April 8)!
-Sal
