Category Archives: Halo Waypoint

The Halo Bulletin 6-20-12

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The Halo Bulletin 6-20-12 by BS Angel

Or read it here:
Meat, Meat, and Moar Meat
So we meat again

Yesterday, as the sun began its customary descent, the savory smell of perfectly seared steaks wafted through the studio. Amidst the watering of mouths and rumbling of stomachs, a steady stream of 343-ers followed the smell of smoke and grilled meat out the back door and into the warm summer evening to enjoy a feast of meatacular proportions.

You see, every Tuesday evening one of the many teams that comprise 343 cooks dinner for the entire studio, and last night it was the producers’ turn. While it could be the haze from the beef-induced coma talking, I’d just like to take a second to say their meat gave me great pleasure. So much pleasure, in fact, that I’m not sure there’s anything next week’s team can do to top it. Well, I can think of one thing, actually: moar meat.

While I could easily craft 9,001 words about steak alone, Frankie just informed me I should throw you a few Halo-related bones. So, I have two rather tantalizing offerings for you this week: the return of the Halo: Reach File Share system and a cursory introduction to Crawlers. Let’s tackle the latter first, shall we?

Halo 4 Crawler

Meet Your Halo 4 Enemies– Part 2: Crawlers

The Prometheans are a powerful and mysterious element of the ancient Forerunner Warrior-Servants whose forebears fell from power following the Human-Forerunner War. Some of the remaining Prometheans appear to be tasked with defending the mysterious alien world we’ve recently shown you, along with its payload of terrifying secrets and emerging threats. Much like the Covenant, the Prometheans feature a variety of different unit types, each one utilizing unique tactics, technology, and abilities to create dynamic combat scenarios unlike anything you have ever encountered in Halo before.

One of those unit types is the Crawlers.

Promethean Crawlers are impressively armed Forerunner machines, capable of both close-quarters and long-range combat. They generally travel in large packs, are engineered to ferociously hunt down and eliminate any foreign threats, and represent the most extensive and abundant “native” enemy on Requiem.

Crawlers can be spawned by Watchers, who literally conjure the Crawlers’ raw forms from the material of the planet beneath their four little feet. While Watchers protect Crawlers, Knights treat them as fodder, relentlessly spawning them at a rapid-fire rate. Crawlers act like a skirmishing unit, harassing the player at the Knight’s bidding.

Halo 4 Crawler

While they often fulfill the role of Promethean fodder, not taking a group of Crawlers seriously would be a mistake as they work together in strategic coordination to overwhelm enemies from every possible direction. As Frankie so eloquently said at E3, killing them is like popping bubble wrap… until there’s a thousand of them. Then it’s deadly bubble wrap.

Individual Crawler types include the basic unit, a more heavily armed unit, and a deadly, long-range unit. The heavily armed variant is tougher than the basic unit and is more likely to charge in and melee attack. As far as the long-range unit goes, imagine a sniper round tearing through your visor, and you’ve got the basic notion.

The initial idea for the Crawler came from a desire to add something fresh to the Halo sandbox. We hit upon the quadruped design early on, and that visual design drove their behavior. Their movement is based off familiar quadrupeds like wolves, with a little bit of insect mixed in.

Halo 4 Crawler Animation Prototype

To get the Crawlers’ movement style nailed down on walls as well as on the ground, we did a fair bit of prototyping (as seen in the above video). The goal was to have something that felt recognizable at first look but quickly went in unexpected directions with its motion and abilities. Crawlers are fast on the ground, often bounding in as a pack. When they move around on wall-like structures, their legs spread out and they skitter on the surface like angry glowing laser-bugs.

When you see a Crawler, there is an initial sense of familiarity. Once they scurry up a tree, open their mouths, and release bullet-filled howls that pierce your soul along with your face, though, familiarity turns to fright as you realize these are alien creatures. And deadly ones, at that…

If you’d like to hear more from two of the people that had a hand in designing the Crawlers, check out the newest Sparkast where Systems Designer Matt Findley and Lead Animator Stephen Dyck chat with your velvet-voiced host, David Ellis, about bringing the Promethean enemy class to life.

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Halo: Reach File Browser

Halo: Reach File Share

Three months ago, we announced that Halo: Reach File Share access was coming to the web version of Halo Waypoint this summer. Sometimes, though, things don’t go according to plan, which was the case with this particular endeavor. We gently released it into the wild yesterday, not realizing it was 24 hours before the first official day of summer. We’d like to sincerely apologize for not sticking to the original plan. We’ll be out back, anxiously (and perhaps excitedly) awaiting our lashing.

For now, let’s go over the basics of how to use the Halo: Reach File Browser.

Halo: Reach File Browser

To access your personal Halo: Reach File Share, log into Halo Waypoint and click the down arrow at the top of the screen (the one just to the right of your super 1337 gamertag). After pulling down your Career menu, select the third box, titled File Share. There you will find the screenshots, game types, films and map variants you’ve uploaded to your File Share.

Halo: Reach File Browser

From your personal Halo: Reach File Share page, you can also view your File Sets, download history, and tag history by selecting the applicable options from the drop-down menu.

Halo: Reach File Browser

To access the general Halo: Reach File Browser, hover over Community on the top navigation bar, and then click File Browser from the drop-down menu. There you can browse the screenshots, game types, films and map variants created by the collective Halo: Reach community.

Halo: Reach File Browser

Within each file type, you can search by tag, and filter by file type, map, game mode, time, and relevancy. You can also choose to view the files in a grid, list, or gallery.

Halo: Reach File Browser

When you select an individual file, you can see the name of the file, along with the rest of its metadata (description, author, and date taken). There are several actions you can take from this page, depending on the file type: Send to Xbox, Download/View Full, Add File to your File Share, Report as Offensive (cue Rule 34), and Like. You can also email, Tweet, and Facebook the file, should you so desire (I know people totally dig seeing their feeds full of Halo: Reach files. True story).

Halo: Reach File Browser

My favorite feature of the Halo: Reach File Browser is being able to view a full-size screenshot, and then using my keyboard arrows to surf other files. To do this, click the Companion Cube-like box under the “View” choices, and then tab left and right through the files via the arrows on your keyboard.

The Halo: Reach File Browser and File Share are available on mobile, tablet, and desktop, just like the rest of the website. Comments were not carried over from Bungie.net, as that was not part of the transition, and there are no comments available for Files in this iteration of Waypoint. Recent screenshots are also not currently available, although we hope to add them in a future release.

To provide feedback or report bugs, please visit the Halo Waypoint section of our forums.

Halo: Reach Screenshot

Custom Challenge of the Week

Last week, while a Custom Challenge of the Week was active, Frankie wouldn’t stop talking long enough for me to announce it in the Bulletin. Thus, I have decided to keep the same one going for another seven days so everybody can have a shot at killing their favorite confetti-filled cannon fodder.

So, from last week (cough) until next Tuesday at 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time, setting up a Custom Challenge with Grunts as the type of kill will result in five times the usual multiplier. Between that and this week’s Weekly Challenge, that means you can get (does math quickly in head) a heckuvalotuv credits in a not-heckuvalotuv amount of time. Hooray!

Halo: Reach Screenshot

Super Jackpot Weekend

If bipedal vertebrates are not your thing, fret not because we also have a Super Jackpot weekend coming up. Starting on Friday, hopping into the Anniversary FFA and Rumble Pit playlists will present you with the chance to receive a 34,300-credit bonus. The festivities end on Sunday, so if you’re the independent, Lone Wolf type, make sure you play June 22-24. Your armory thanks you in advance.

And that wraps up yet another edition of your Halo Bulletin. Until next week, or RTX. As long as you choose one of those, I’m perfectly fine with either decision…

<3,
bs angel

P.S. I can neither confirm nor deny that I owe you several Friday Caption Fun pictures. I can tell you, however, that I happen to have several Friday Caption Fun pictures for you. Select your favorite, then hit the latest installment to contribute your witty quip. Off you go!

Friday Caption Fun Friday Caption Fun

Friday Caption Fun Friday Caption Fun

End Copy/Paste. I’m VERY glad to see the file share back. The info on the Crawlers is cool. I didn’t think it was that big. The animation of it looks fantastic. I’m not much of a Lone Wolf, so I won’t be doing this custom challenge. Speaking of captions, I’ll be starting up a caption post as well. It will be weekly, though I don’t know if it will be released on the same day, so you’ll just have to keep checking back… Thanks for reading as always.

-HFFL

We CAN haz fileshare!!!

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HaloWaypoint.com has finally added Fileshare to your Halo career! Woot, now you can once again create screenshots and download them to your computer. I’ve been waiting for this. So far it doesn’t look like you can render films though. Hopefully this will be rolled out soon.

Go to www.halowaypoint.com. Log-in, click on the tab at the top that shows your gamertag. From there click on the tab for fileshare and view.

-Sal

My Halo Reach “playdate” with 343’s BS Angel.

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I had the honor of being selected to game with Jessica Shea, none other than 343’s Blog manager “BS Angel” last night during 343’s gaming night. I got to play three games with her and had a blast.

First up was a game of Snipers on Ridgeline (for which BS Angel promises to ban all of those who voted for Snipers). I’m not a great sniper, though I managed to go 13/5. She was on my team (and we still managed to win, LOL) Luv ya Jessica…

Next up was a game of Heavies on the repurposed Ridgeline variant “Superstition.” Okay, I’m NOT a fan of heavies in Reach, and though we lost, I still have a fun time.

For the third/final game of the night with BS Angel, we played TU BTB Slayer on Hemmorrhage. I posted a respectable 10/4 K/D w/10 assists.

I wasn’t really trying to play at the top of my game. I was just having fun gaming with BS Angel and chatting her up about Halo 4 stuff. She didn’t reveal anything new (couldn’t). But did say when asked about Forge that we would be VERY happy.

I asked her what aspect of Halo 4 was she looking forward to the most and she quickly said campaign. When probed about info on Spartan Ops and it’s possible reveal of info at E3 this year, she said “mayyybeee.”

During the games I blurted out a “That’s what she said,” and realized I might have made a major faux pa. Instead she laughed. I apologized but she said she’d be more mad if I didn’t say it more. So I did. LOL. She was a great sport and a real nice person to game with. Very cheerful. She genuinely liked gaming with we fans.

Jessica, if you’re reading this, thanks again. And follow me on Twitter, puh-leeeeesss.

-HFFL

A new animated short on HaloWaypoint: Headhunters

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Just debuting on HaloWaypoint. Looks like this may be a mini-series. Go check it out.

http://halo.xbox.com/en-us/Universe/detail/headhunters-1/c3d2dcb3-ac3d-4771-a270-e55e33ae118b

A good video, though some of the dialog is a little distrubing. I don’t think the one Spartan should be talking about being the bully, instead of being bullied. While noone likes being bullied, right now in our society, bullying is a hot topic. I for one think it should be stamped out to. Having it references in a Halo cartoon isn’t a smart move.

If you can get around that though, much of the rest of the vid is good.

Halo 4 Musical Composer Revealed!

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Via HaloWaypoint.com

(Text and pics from Halo Waypoint with my commentary at the end)

“Our mystery composer… revealed!

One of the major contributing factors to a memorable and emotional video game experience is its soundtrack, and that statement rings especially true when exploring Halo’s vast and mysterious sci-fi universe. From the aggressive riff of a guitar to the powerful beat of drums to the liturgical chant of monks, there are numerous sounds that have become etched into the essence of Halo.

Following a tradition that started more than ten years ago, 343 Industries is dedicated to continuing the legacy of weaving iconic music into the very fabric of the Halo experience. It is that goal that led us to the virtual doorstep of an award-winning composer, record producer, songwriter, and musician who has made an indelible impression on the music industry.

That person is Neil Davidge.

Neil Davidge Announce

“Music has always been at the heart of what makes Halo so captivating and iconic. With Halo 4, we want to build upon the franchise’s amazing legacy and create a score that captures the awe and wonder of the Halo universe, and reinforces the deeper and more emotionally impactful journey Master Chief will embark on.”
-Neil Davidge, Composer for Halo 4

As co-writer and producer for the last three albums from pioneering trip-hop group Massive Attack, Neil Davidge not only had a hand in creating some of the most innovative sounds over the past two decades, but he also helped develop an entire genre of contemporary music. He has established a career as a film composer, scoring acclaimed documentaries and composing additional music for Hollywood blockbusters like “Clash of the Titans,” and now his focus is on Halo 4.

Enlisting a 16-person, hand-picked, male tenor/bass choir plus 10 female Bulgarian vocalists, a full 50-piece orchestra, and a whole host of other performers is just one of the things Neil Davidge and his production team has done to bring the music of Halo 4 to life. The following video, which shows a recent choir and orchestral recording session at Abbey Road and Angel Studios in London, gives a behind-the-scenes look at the creation of the haunting and compelling Halo 4 soundtrack.


Neil Davidge Bio

As co-writer and key sonic facilitator on the lauded Massive Attack albums Mezzanine, 100th Window, and Heligoland, Neil Davidge, of Bristol, England, helped birth some of the most arresting and innovative sounds of the Nineties and Noughties. He has also enjoyed a parallel career composing for prestigious film and TV ventures. To date, feathers in his cap have included “The Storm That Brought You To Me,” from Louis Leterrier’s 2010 fantasy film Clash Of the Titans, and his co-written score forTrouble The Water, a moving study of Hurricane Katrina victims that won the ‘Best Documentary’ gong at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival.

Now, though, as Neil explains, a certain hands-on experience was as vital as his musical credentials when securing the gig:

“I don’t really play a lot of video games, but I’ve always played Halo. I started when I was making 100th Window with Massive Attack; it was how I entertained myself while I was waiting for the band to show up. Even later on if I was in the studio and feeling frustrated, Halo was one of the first things I’d turn to to get my head straight.”

Neil visited our studio prior to starting work on the new music. “I came back to Bristol on a high and immediately starting writing,” says the composer. “I wasn’t even officially engaged yet, but that period generated a number of major themes that we’ve ended up keeping.”

Neil says his soundtrack is a fairly even split between orchestral and electronic elements; this a tailor-made match for him and his co-arranger Andrew Morgan, since both men are well-versed in both fields. The orchestral elements were recorded at Abbey Road, and the electronic ones were hatched at Neil’s mysterious and moniker-less studio complex in “an apartment building somewhere in Bristol.”
Neil Davidge Announce Neil Davidge Announce
Neil Davidge Announce
Neil Davidge Announce Neil Davidge Announce
“The music is very cinematic and atmospheric,” he says. “At times it can be textural while at the same time being quite grim—when someone’s running around shooting aliens, you have to know that shit’s going to happen! I was working from artists’ impressions of various scenes rather than video footage. That left things quite open, but as I’m a former graphic designer and graphic novels fan, it fired my imagination as well.”

Neil Davidge was born in Bristol, England, in 1962. As a teenager, he loved to paint, creating both fine-art works and more abstract pieces. Prior to studying graphic design at Brunel Technical College, he was enamored of the late 1970’s UK punk/reggae scene, and he began painting likenesses of the Banshees’ Siouxie Sioux and the dub poet Linton Kwesi Johnson.

Having learned guitar thanks to punk’s DIY ethic, Neil later embarked upon long hours of alchemical, suck-it-and-see experimentation as he learned the complex but rewarding art of sound-recording.

Happily, he was in situ at Bristol’s Coach House Studios when famed trip-hop act Portishead recorded parts of their debut albumDummy there between 1991 and 1994, and in 1996, he hooked up with Massive Attack on “The Hunter,” a song for the Batman Forever soundtrack that featured Everything But The Girl vocalist Tracey Thorn. That same year, Massive Attack won a Brit Award for ‘Best Dance Act,’ thus cementing a working relationship with Neil Davidge that would continue for some 17 years.

It was Massive Attack’s stately, cinematic sound—together with Neil’s longstanding affinity for visual mediums, of course—that lent his scoring for film, TV, and advertising an air of inevitability. After auteur Luc Besson came to Neil and Robert Del Naja of Massive Attack to commission music for his 2005 martial arts thriller Unleashed, a swathe of other attractively varied coups followed. Among them were scores for the films Bullet Boy and Battle In Seattle, advertising campaigns for Jaguar and Adidas, and Neil’s collaboration with Snoop Dogg while scoring music for In Prison My Whole Life, a documentary about US death-row journalist Mumia Abu-Jamal.

“I just have to concentrate on the music and hope that, if it moves me, the fans and the people at 343 Industries will get a similar feeling. If they do, I’ll have done my job.”

Before I get to my commentary, here is a vid I found on the samples of Halo 4 music:

Now for my commentary.

I have to say I like it. It’s a different feel, however, it has that epic sound to it. Listening to the samples I hear and feel a heroic theme, as well as a dark theme. The heavy pounding of the drums in some parts of the music evoke a military theme as well. I can’t wait to get the soundtrack now and hear it all for myself. I think the music of Halo is in good hands just from this little bit we have heard here. Thankfully, that’s one area we can check off our “list” of things to look out for in Halo 4.

For the man himself, I’ve not heard of him, but that doesn’t mean anything. We didn’t reallt know Marty O’Donell either before he did Halo. Neil has done work on Clash of the Titans. That’s a good thing. The other is that he is recording at Abbey Road. That’s where the Beatles recorded some music. It’s a great venue an iconic in it’s own right.

I am pleasantly surprised.
-HFFL

Halo 4 composer to be revealed today!

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According to HaloWaypoint, Kiki Wolfkill, and Jessica Shea (BS Angel), there will be a Facebook chat at 10am PST and the Halo 4 composer will be revealed. Now will this person be in the chat? Hmm, I guess we’ll have to wait and see.

Here are the Tweet’s for proof. (Click to open)

I believe the FB page we are looking for is this: http://www.facebook.com/xbox?ref=ts

Though please don’t hold me to that as none of the Waypoint folks were kind enough to relay a link on Twitter.

-HFFL

Spartan Points, Spartan Ops, and Forerunner vision..newly proposed names for each.

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A topic was made on HaloWaypoint about making new or better names for Spartan Points, Spartan Ops, and Forerunner Vision. The following is what I came up with and posted on HaloWaypoint.

——

Spartan Points:
• Resources
• Weaponry and Armory Resources (WAR)

Spartan Ops:
• Spartan Deployment Initiative (SDI) <–this was also the moniker in the 1980s for Strategic Defense Initiative, introduced by then President Reagan. It was said to be the world’s first known space defense system.
• ONI Spartan Logistics Ops (OSLO) The irony here being that Oslo was the place of the Oslo Accords which were to bring peace to the Middle East.

Forerunner Vision:
• Luminous Telemetry
• Luminous Interfering Telemetry Enhancement (LITE)
• Transparent Refractive Anomalous Calefaction Enhancer (TRACE) To explain the long name: Transparent-pretty obvious there, Refractive-the change of direction of light (or sound), Anomalous (or anomaly)-devitation, Calefaction-a heated state (think thermal vision possibly), Enhancer-intensify/magnify We would no doubt shorten this to T.R.A.C.E. vision. But at least it would have a long thought out name.

As you can tell, I’m big on acronyms. I was in the U.S. Navy and acronyms were used all the time for a myriad of things. From missions to the most mundane things. So creating a name for some of these things, using acronyms for short makes a LOT of sense, given the nature of the military as it’s been for a long time.

-HFFL

Halo Bulletin from HaloWaypoint.com 4-5-12

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Here’s the link to the full bulletin:
http://halo.xbox.com/blogs/Headlines/post/2012/04/05/The-Halo-Bulletin-4512.aspx

Here is my brief synopsis.

Every Friday 343 has a sit down to discuss the progression of Halo 4 and various aspects of the game. This past week’s discussion had some info about the new issue of gameinformer. During this discussion the gameinformer cover was shown. Here it is:

Decent enough, though I hope to gawd Cortana does NOT look like this in the final rendition of the game. She looks more Asian than her normal look. The hair is too dark and what’s up with the “arm warmers” on her arms? Hopefully this is just an artist’s interpretation or concept art and NOT some to represent the final. Back to the bulletin…

The next few paragraphs go over 343’s internal and external network test. They (343) utilized other Microsoft employees for this test. Take that with a grain of salt. At least two heat maps were shown so you can get a glimpse of how Warhouse and Wraparound are laid out. At least as of this bulletin.

From their Chris Lee, 343’s Lead Producer, chimes in, in this week’s OHI section with more info about the network test.

BS angel puts out the custom challenge for the week, this one using the Mass Driver from the end of the campaign mission Pillar of Autumn. As well, there is a special 39K credit jackpot possible in Arena.

Halo Bulletin 3/7/12

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The full bulletin Halo Bulletin 3/7/12.

Here it is in a shortened paraphrased version with some of the points of it discussed.

—
Monday was the day we officially released the first in-game look at Halo 4, in the form of a behind-the-scenes video and three screenshots featuring the Master Chief and the Battle Rifle. We answer several of your Halo 4–related inquiries.

What is your general approach to the marketing of Halo 4? Can we expect more/bigger info blowouts before release or will you keep things closer to your chest this time (compared to other Halo games)? –Sempik
We have some surprises in store. It’s a combination of genuinely wanting to surprise fans and, of course, the production reality of making sure everything is cool before revealing things. We have some ideas, traditional and not-so-traditional, that certainly embrace marketing. Expect at least a human presence from 343 Industries at many of the big events in the gaming calendar year.

When will the full game be released? –Burninhell647
In precisely 2012. The actual ship date (and other details) will be rolled out in the not-too-crazy-distant future.

Seeing how Halo 4 is the return of Master Chief, when can we expect to get some Campaign information? –Maggot081608
We’re going to be rolling out more information throughout the year, and you will certainly find out more about both Campaign and Multiplayer relatively soon. Of course, now you have to define “relatively.”

What is the difference of philosophy of visuals between Campaign and Multiplayer, and will we see a more cinematic look in the Multiplayer with different techniques usually reserved for single-player? –DemonCarnotaur
The technology for both Campaign and Multiplayer graphics is effectively identical, but the philosophies will vary depending on the game mode/map. Certainly the traditional MP stuff we’ve already shown continues Halo’s tradition of clean lines of sight and recognizable environments designed to propel and lubricate map flow and fast-paced gameplay. The technology in Campaign will be used differently to accommodate a more cinematic experience, but there are a lot of approaches we’re taking to the whole game this time that will add layers of nuance to those approaches.

With all the care being put into improving and pushing the Multiplayer and single-player experiences forward, will the same care be put into features such as Forge and Theater? What are your goals for improving community content in Halo 4? –AtlasIsShruggin
We will do our best not to disappoint fans of the existing Halo feature set. Every aspect of the game is being approached with a passion and fervor to improve, grow, or streamline. More detail soon, but I suspect most folks will be pretty happy.

How close to a traditional Halo experience will we be able to get? Will there be a place for fans of the original trilogy to get to play Halo as they remember it? –MATCLAN x MT
Every Halo game is different, sometimes subtly, sometimes radically. You can expect that tradition to continue here, but the short answer is that the core things that make Halo Campaign and Multiplayer feel like Halo will be intact and immediately available to players.

Will other characters, besides Master Chief and Cortana, from the previous games or novels appear in Halo 4? –Assassin 11D7
One of the luxuries of being in the game business is the ability to keep story and surprises completely shrouded in secrecy for a very long time. I can at least confirm that there will be some very interesting new characters joining the fray.

What stage of development are you at currently? –UnrealCh13f
We’re finishing levels. Improving perf. Finishing gameplay. Finishing UI. The Campaign is playable from beginning to end. Cinematics are being fully realized. Music is composed, final orchestra sessions are booked. Some levels are graphically polished and beautiful, others waiting their turn in the schedule. Testing and polishing of systems continues.

Are there going to be more, fewer, or the same number of guns in Halo 4 compared to Halo: Reach? Is there one gun that when you saw it you just went “WOW!” –Someone
It is not the same number of guns. I can state bluntly that we have made significant changes to the sandbox. Perhaps the most radical overhauls and additions it’s ever had in a single iteration. Fans should expect to see very new stuff. And not just weapons. Yes, a lot of guns have made me go wow.Almost every single gun sound effect makes me go wow.

The HUD shown in the gameplay clips lacks a health bar. Will this change, has this changed, or will Halo 4 use the same health system as the one in Halo 2 and 3? –Gravemind
Health has been changed. There are no health pickups, but we’ll have more news on how that system works in gameplay at a later date.

Is the music in the video that was released on Monday from Halo 4’s score? Furthermore, who is the lead composer? And if you can’t tell us who it is, can we have a hint? –Neloms
All of the music you hear from this point out is going to be from the game. We’re taking it in a different direction, but one that still, we think, fits the Halo universe beautifully. Our composer will be revealed soon enough, and as soon as a fairly dry contractual date arrives, we will be ecstatic to introduce him to you.
Will skulls be returning to Halo 4? –Negative 9
There will be interesting ways to replay Halo 4, as is traditional in the series.

Any chance we’ll be getting Forge info anytime soon? –Nuclear Taco 42
We will discuss the future of Forge later this year. It will not be sad news.

Does the BR have spread? Is it hitscan? –xBrutaIity
The BR is a three-shot burst weapon. It is hitscan. In its current tuning, it has recoil (not bloom) which causes it to rise slightly (in a predictable and suppressible way).

Will there be multiple editions like with previous Halo titles? (Standard, limited, legendary) –Revenant1988
After we announce the release date, we will announce what content will be available at retail.

Will assassinations return and if yes, will we have more unique weapon moves, for example the Energy Sword in Halo: Reach? –D4RKNESS 360
Short version, yes. Assassinations are altered, but they’re back. The weapon question isn’t something we’re going to answer today.

Will there be any other media (books, comics, etc.) released in the lead-up to Halo 4, or will we have to gather our clues and form theories about the Campaign primarily from Cryptum, Primordium, Glasslands, and the Halo: Anniversary terminals? –Monkey Bloke
At least one more Karen Traviss novel, with important connective elements, will arrive between now and launch, although the final Forerunner chapter from Greg Bear will arrive afterwards. For some pretty specific strategic reasons. As you can imagine, juggling all these things is crazy hard.

What kind of features will Halo 4 provide to the machinima community? –farmer scott21
Halo has been a cornerstone of the machinima community. It’s also a personal passion of mine (and others here on the team), so we will continue to embrace and support that community, but I honestly don’t have too many details to share at this point.

Will Halo 4 include Gravity Hammers and Energy Swords (or adequate replacements) for Grifball? –Kalbelgarion
It will be (more or less) possible to play Grifball in Halo 4.

Why the decision to use Spartan IVs in Multiplayer instead of the ol’ Spartan IIs? –randomrosso93
That will become apparent in the fiction of the game components, but the “feel” of Chief as it relates to the “feel” of a Spartan IV will be practically identical for gameplay purposes.
(I’m going to have an article on this shortly) -HFFL

Will there be a color-blind option? Even in Reach where contrast is high, people such as myself have a hard time even with Blue Team’s colors against the dark grays of Countdown. –HamboBlank
We have a lot of color-blind players in the studio, including myself (100% red/green, which is why I seldom break the Tashi Ceiling), but we will not be producing a color-blindness “mode.” However, we have considered it as an art team, in how we choose palettes and types of contrast. The Spartans and UI elements help tremendously, and so far I am doing a bit better than I’d expect in that area.

—
Some ridiculous questions follow and have no bearing on Halo itself, so I deleted them.

Points discussed about the rest of the bulletin:

Perks: Looks like instead of it being perks it will be something on the order of upgraded weapons and armor as gameplay continues. Similar possibly to how this occurs with weapons upgrades in Invasion Slayer in Reach. This is not confirmed however.
Armor Customization: Sounds like much of it is still “Cosmetic” for appearance. However, what I think MAY be going on could be something like armor upgrades, possibly in the form of equipment-like pick-ups. For Instance:
Strength: Makes your shields stronger so you can survive longer, but possibly at the expense of speed and jump height.
Speed: You can move even faster than normal, however at the possibly cost of shield strength. So you could be easier to kill, if an enemy can catch you.
Jump: You can jump higher to get to places not normally available without this upgrade. This one could be moot however if all MP Spartans are equipped with Jet pack as I think they will be.
No BETA: As I’ve already discussed, I think it’s a huge mistake to not have a BETA. I know Frank and 343 want to keep things under wraps as much as possible, however keeping the testing to even a hundred or so game testers at this point does not equate to the hundreds of thousands of players they would have during a BETA. The info and feedback they could glean from a BETA would be enormous. I suspect 343 just doesn’t have the time to build a BETA, which causes some concern, IMO.
Armor Abilities and Equipment Pick-up: Hmm, as I eluded to before, I think there will be some permanent abilities such as Sprint and Jetpack, while there will be equipment pickups. Possibly the traditional Bubble shield or Active Camo.
Multiplayer does NOT need an explanation! Grr, why does Frank O’Conner feel the need to explain this?  Red Vs. Blue. Plain and simple it’s been around for hundreds of years already in several permutations, not just military specific. Just to make note of these though:
In U.S. history, during the Revolutionary War there was Red Vs. Blue in the form of English Soliders (in Red uniforms) Vs. “American” soliders in blue uniforms.
During the Civil War The North wore Blue Uniforms while the South was represented by a mostly Red flag.
In U.S. Politics Red=Republicans while Blue=Democrats
In recent history they are gang related colors in the form of Crips (Blue) vs Bloods (Red).
In U.S. military war games teams are divided between Red and Blue teams. And yes, they play capture the flag for real.
So really there is NO need to explain this in-game. It’s just part of history.
Balance of Mulitplayer gameplay: Whew, I think 343 is opening up a whole NEW can of worms here. With abilities, upgrades, pick-ups… I have a distinct feeling battle will NOT be balanced.
Ranking system: Altered? Hmm, I await the news on this. I hope it’s a mix of Skill where you gain a numbered rank for that, while you also earn a symbol rank for prolific play and earning credits (which will in turn allow you to buy certain armor upgrades-these as cosmetic pieces only).
Slayer footage in the ViDoc: “our new implementation of Slayer will score differently than the traditional 0-50 method of yore” What? OMG, here we go again. Screwing with the already well established point system. Over the last two days I’ve played a few Big Team Heavies matches and the point system there is a pain in the ass. It’s not simply one kill one point. Looks like the point system in Halo 4 is going to go this route. Argh. That means more skilled players will be able to attain higher point kills therefore resulting in less kills needed to win a game.
Covenant returning in Halo 4: Okay this one I can confirm myself. I know from an insider that at least a portion of them will return. However, it’s been well speculated that they are not the main threat and that Forerunners will be the new/ancient threat.
No playable Cyclops Mark II: Damn! Just when my hype meter was going through the roof on this one. Well, here’s hoping Mega Bloks makes a construction set of this. (and I have GOOD reason to believe they will.
No direct answer on Voice Over actors: Okay, all I really care about is the Steve Downes is Master Chief and Jen Taylor is Cortana. Anyone else I don’t care about. If either of those isn’t in though, I’m going to be pissed. Downes has been confirmed, but Taylor not yet. Gees, this is such a simple question. By not answering it frustrates the HELL out of fans, myself included.
Halo 3 Map remakes: By stating they know what we like, I have the feeling we’ll see at least a couple of remakes from Halo 3. Now which ones? I’d like to see Valhalla at the top of that list then Standoff and The Pit.