Category Archives: Spartan Ops

Podcast w/Podtacular re: Spartan Ops Episode 9 Key

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Last night I recorded a podcast with POD Dust Storm of Podtacular. This is the next installment of our review of each episode and a break down of each playable chapter. This time we talk about episode 9, “KEY.”

You can download the podcast

      here
. You can also listen to it at Podtacular without having to download it here.

Beyond talking about the episode and chapters, during the podcast, I also briefly talk about the Janus Key and it’s real world correlation. Look for an article about that shortly.

New/Returning enemies for Spartan Ops season Two and future games?

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A poll was put up in the HaloWaypoint forums about what we’d like to see in terms of new and returning enemies (ones that didn’t make the cut in Halo 4) being brought into Spartan Ops season Two. (If there is a season two)

Below are the choices that were presented as well as my “For and Against” discussion. Read on and PLEASE leave a reply letting me know which of these you’d be for or against and why.

Here’s a for and against for each:
• Brutes
For: Big and bulky, these guys were feared in Halo 2 and 3. They were easily a match for an Elite.
Against: That’s one of the problems…they were a match against elites. 343 wants Elites to be the main Covie enemy
• Drones
For: We definitely need an aerial Covie enemy and the Yan’Me fit this nicely. Coming in swarms they could be a real pain in the arse.
Against: Potential lag? IMO, they do resemble smaller versions of Promethean Knights. Not exact, just similar.
• Engineers
For: Okay, they are NOT an enemy class, but they do bolster the shields of enemies. They look cool as hell.
Against: They take up a true enemy slot that we could be killing otherwise
• Skirmishers
For: Nasty and fast
Against: 343 would have to recreate them to look like their Halo 4 Jackal cousins.
• New Promethean Types
For: Having only 3 Promethean types was kind of slim for a new enemy class. Would be great to see something else.
Against: With Requiem gone, are there any Prometheans left?
• New Covenant Species
For: Definitely would love to see a new race found by the Covies.
Against: People like what they know. Plus this would have to be explained. Maybe Halo 5? Also, would they be part of the storm faction or the original covies?
• Flood
For: Lots of people want to fight them again.
Against: I’m not one of them…
• Sentinels
For: Flying enemies can always be a pain since they can find you anywhere from any angle
Against: We now have Promethean Watchers
• Drinols/Sharquoi http://halo.wikia.com/wiki/Drinol
For: WHO? Okay, a new race. Given their description though, they sound much like Hunters and we already have them.
Against: WHO? See above. Besides, they were cut from Halo 2 for a reason. Whatever that reason is, let’s just let sleeping dogs lye.
• Insurrectionists
For: It’s about time we see the UNSC put these guys down!
Against: Killing your own kind? EWWW

As far as these choices, I’d personally like to see the following back Halo:
–Brutes I’d LOVE to see what a 343 designed Brute would look like. I miss those guys!
–Drones Pesky yeah, but they were darn fun to shoot apart in previous games.
–Engineers (though not as enemies) Come on, who doesn’t want Virgil back? (If you need to ask, then go play Halo 3: ODST first)
–Skirmishers Another race I’d love to see 343 evolve. Since they are direct relations to Jackals, can you imagine a Halo 4/343 version?
–Insurrectionists They are on the rise again now that the Covenant war is over. Would be one heck of a direction to move into. Perhaps the Innies might have their own super soldier(s)?

-Sal

Latest Spartan Ops Podcast with POD Dust Storm.

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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: 

      http://www.podtacular.com/media/podtacular/podh4so8-expendable.mp3

-Sal

We have a winner! (Spartan Ops Graphic Novel contest)

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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

Spartan Ops Season One Graphic Novel completed! (all 10 episode comic books in one document)

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It’s here! Whew. This is the OFFICIAL article for replying to the Spartan Ops Graphic Novel contest. See this link for contest rules.

Spartan Ops Season One Graphic Novel COVER_sm

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

Spartan Ops Graphic Novel, final update!

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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

Spartan Ops Season one Graphic Novel update.

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It’s been a BUSY weekend here at HFFL. Work is progressing on the complete season one graphic novel. I’m about 95% of the way done (literally, not just pulling that number out of thin air). Sunday’s HFFL community Playdate did cut into the time I could have spent working on the Graphic Novel, however, I wanted to have that time with friends and fans alike. To which, I do want to thank all of those who came out for the playdate. I had some great fun, especially being GREEN!

Back to the Graphic Novel and contest for a minute. The contest as stated before is for blog subscribers only. You need to register here to be eligible for the prize packet of McFarlane series 2 Avatar figures. While normal retail would be around $30 for the set, since they are blind packaging, not to mention there are two rare ones within the eight made for this series, you’d be hard pressed to pull all eight in on shot. The Gold Master Chief and Warthog prop from the first series of Avatar figs from McFarlane are hard to find.  The Gold Master Chief goes for around $17-20 on eBay, while the Warthog isn’t even listed as of this writing. Suffice to say the Gold ODST and Banshee will also be hard to come by and for cheap, let along FREE. Again, this is the chance to win the whole set of eight minifigures and prop vehicle.

To win, you will need to download the Spartan Ops season one graphic novel. From there, you will need to identify how many NEW pages I put in the graphic novel versus the original ten comic books. As well, you will need to identify which pages they are by page number.

For example, the cover will be all new, so that would be one page and page one per description. Another example would be (and this is NOT the correct answer)

5 new pages – page numbers 1, 7, 30, 35, 60

The above is how I’d like for you to format your answer for the contest. To enter, you must reply to the official contest article that I will be posting soon. It will be labeled as the official contest article, so it won’t be hard to miss. Shipping for the prize packet is at the winner’s expense. If you are under 18 years of age you must have written permission to enter. (I will need to see a hand written note (can be sent as a scan by e-mail) by your parent or guardian giving permission to enter. Over 18 no note needed, LOL. (Well, unless you want to…)

Any questions, please either reply to this article or e-mail me at: sal@halofanforlife.com

-Sal

Spartan Ops Season One High Res PDF coming soon! and Contest to go with it…

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Now that all 10 episodes of season one are out and I’ve made the comic books for each, I’m now making a graphic novel of all ten comics. The final result will be about 300 (yes three-hundred) pages long. Needless to say the file size is going to be “ginormous.”

I have to finish compiling all the pages as well as create a new cover for the full season graphic novel. I hope to have this completed over the weekend, if not by Monday. The file will be as a PDF. Again, it will be HUGE. I’m talking nearly 200mb possibly.

This file will be of better quality than the individual comics I’ve released as those were only 72dpi per page. The new file will be 200dpi per page. I could push it to 300dpi, but that would make the file size that much more massive…

So stay tuned to HaloFanForLife.com over the weekend. There will be a contest associated with the file. (So yes, you’ll need to download it) The prize will be…

A complete set of McFarlane series 2 Avatar figures! (Yes, with the Banshee AND Gold ODST included.)

Only blog subscribers will be eligible for this prize packet. So if you want a shot at this, you’ve got to register! Twitter followers and Facebook subscribers, register on the blog. Responses to the contest via Twitter and/or Facebook are not eligible to win.

More info on the graphic novel and contest VERY SOON!

-Sal

Spartan Ops Episode 10: EXODUS comic book

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We’ve come to the end of Spartan Ops season one. Infinity is locked with Requiem, Jul is sending it crashing into the local star. Halsey is whisked away by a Promethean Knight and Jul M’dama. And Halsey wants something…what is it? Read til the end to find out.

Also, please pay special attention to the last four pages. Included in those four pages are the full credits for the CG vids, my thanks to you all, and a special announcement on my new Machinima project.

What do you think about this episode? The comic book itself? DId you like the whole series?

Please reply below or tweet me @HaloFanForLife.

-Sal

Spartan Ops Episode 9: KEY comic book

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Palmer goes after Halsey, Laskey sends Majestic to save Halsey, Halsey get a KEY piece of Forerunner technology. All this and more in “Spartan Ops episode 9: Key” the comic book. (Click thumbnails to make bigger.)

What do you think about this episode? The comic book itself? Please reply below or tweet me @HaloFanForLife.

-Sal