The Halo Bulletin 3-12-14

Posted on 03/13/2014 by Sal

Bravo brings us this week’s bulletin:

Just two nights ago, the 343 team bravely hopped onto Xbox Live to play with and against some of you in Medal Madness custom games. Naturally, the evening’s activities included lots of needles, explosions, Gravity Hammer smashes, and yelling in various languages. One of my favorite things about these online adventures is learning things (both Halo related and entirely non-Halo related) from community members. For example, I learned that “Snapshot” in Spanish is instantánea, and if you’re going to say the word, you darn well better pronounce it with the emotion it deserves. Also, my final team in the community playdate taught me a thing or two about Medal Madness strategy. Most notably, we decided that in order to succeed in the “Hail Mary” round, where the objective is to get long-distance grenade kills, it’s best to target one player. For consistency, we decided that player would be bs angel. Every time. Oh, and there may or not be a file in my File Share titled “EVERYONE GO FOR BS ANGEL!”

HFFL: Oh, I bet she enjoyed that! (not)

Speaking of epic multiplayer strategy, let’s dig into what’s coming to Halo 4 Matchmaking next week!

Matchmaking Update

Last week, we announced that the Proving Ground playlist was on the way. The new playlist will feature BR-start gameplay, an increased variety of power weapons, the removal of Personal Ordnance and Armor Abilities, and the addition of the Motion Tracker. The settings are similar to Legendary Slayer BRs, and will allow for fast-paced, precision weapon gameplay. We’ll be keeping a close eye on player feedback regarding relevant settings, the map pool, and more… Which reminds me! We should talk about maps.

The following maps will be available in the Proving Ground playlist at launch:

Abandon
Adrift
Haven
Onyx
Orion
Pitfall
Shutout
Simplex
Skyline
Vertigo

You’ll notice the above list includes a new map that you may not be familiar with: Orion. Designed for both Slayer and Extraction, this Forge Island map was designed by community Forger SecretSchnitzel. Take a peek at the below screenshot:

Once the playlist launches, head over to the War Games Feedback section and let us know what you think.

Community Choice: Proving Ground

In last week’s Community Choice Poll, we asked which objective game type you wanted to see included in Proving Ground at launch. Extraction was the decisive victor, grabbing over 50 percent of your votes. Because we are designing the playlist from scratch (including maps, weapon placement, and game types) the design, build, and test time required to get this playlist to you by Monday required that we launch with one Slayer game type and objective game type of your choosing. That said, we do have plans to introduce more objective game types to the playlist in the near future, and at launch, both Slayer and Extraction will be playable on all 10 maps.

Lastly, as stated last week, the Top 200 will move to the Proving Ground playlist, and the Team Slayer Top 200 will conclude with season 2. The final rankings of season 2 will be posted next week, and the Team Slayer CSR will not be regularly reset moving forward.

We hope you enjoy the Proving Ground playlist and look forward to hearing your thoughts!

HFFL: This is one playlist I likely won’t be venturing into. I can easily admit I’m not a stellar slayer and don’t want to go against 2.0’s and higher. I’ll stick to the many other playlists were I have a fighting chance.

Extraction playlist

If you’ve been missing Extraction in Halo 4 Matchmaking, this weekly update is about to get even better. Extraction is our featured rotational playlist from March 17 to March 31, so if you’re all about initiating Extraction processes and defending beacons (no, not bacon, stop it) then grab some friends and hop into the playlist while it’s available.

HFFL: Now this one I may just check out. It’s a shame that this 343 created game type isn’t always in matchmaking. This and Dominion as a 6v6 playlist would be a nice alternative when you don’t have a full 8 for BTB.

Come work on Halo: Environment Artist

Back in January, we profiled our then open Franchise Writer position and received many résumés from passionate fans.The last “Open Position” feature received a great response, so we figured it’d be nice to shed some light on a new position in the studio. An Environment Artist role is currently available.

To get an idea of what the position and team are about, I sat down with RJ Ranola, a Senior Environment Artist at 343. Read below to find out what he loves about creating Halo spaces as well as tips for those who have dreamed of working in games.

Hey, RJ! What attracted you to working here on the 343 Industries team?

It was really the talent pool that 343 was establishing. When I was brought on board, it seemed like 343 was grabbing artists from all sorts of studios to create this giant all-star team. I was and am a big fan of Sparth and his work, and it’s incredible that he’s now our art director. This was really something that I never imagined happening. I knew I had to go for it, and I got it. It was definitely the talent. They were putting together an amazing team and I had to get in.

What is the best part about working on the environment art team?

Definitely the people – that’s the top thing. I love the group of guys and girls that I work with. Everyone is so talented and comes from different backgrounds and studios. I feel like we’re always growing as artists and never plateauing. We really feed off of each other in terms of both talent level and enthusiasm. It’s been really great.

Also, the really special thing about Halo is that we’re able to create stuff that doesn’t exist anywhere else. There is a ton of room for creativity, and not all games give an artist this luxury. However, with the Forerunners, there’s nothing you can reference – no photos, no past work. You can’t look up “what does this alien race look like?” We had to take the limited info available and create the Forerunner look, and make it awesome. With the UNSC, we are somewhat limited in creating things that have to be functional, but we still have creative liberties in designing them. We ask ourselves questions like “500 years in the future, what will the piece of military machinery look like?” The UNSC tech and machinery is functional, but we still get to have a lot of creative liberties on determining the look and feel.

What have been some of your favorite Halo environments to create?

Working on the Mammoth was really incredible. Being the largest land vehicle we had ever created, the Mammoth fell on the environment art side because it was really a moving environment. Being able to create a moving vehicle was the coolest opportunity. It also became a Mega Bloks set, so it was pretty special to give it to my kid and say “Dad made this!”

HFFL: And that Mega Bloks set is AWESOME! You can read my many part review of this set at the following links:

• Halo Toy Review: Mega Bloks UNSC Mammoth; Part 1 Packaging and Sorting
• Halo Toy Review: Mega Bloks UNSC Mammoth; Part 2 Lower and Second Levels
• Halo Toy Review: Mega Bloks UNSC Mammoth; Part 3 Removable Roof Panels
• Halo Toy Review: Mega Bloks UNSC Mammoth; Part 4 Weapons, Wheels, Minifigs and more!

What is the biggest challenge of working as an environment artist?

For Halo 4, it was really pushing the Xbox 360 to its limit. It was a big challenge, trying to push the graphics. Now the challenge is to set the bar for next gen, and try to deliver on what the Xbox One is capable of handling.

What advice would you give to an aspiring artist who wants to work in environment art?

My best advice is to be passionate and focus on what you enjoy creating. If you like sci-fi, really set up your portfolio that way. If you want to work on real world designs, focus on things that exist, things that people can associate with. If you want to work on medieval and fantasy worlds, do it. Just specialize your portfolio to showcase what you love doing, and be very passionate, not only about art and games, but also about why you want to be an environment artist. It’s important to be passionate about creating worlds that help sell the story and shape the player’s experiences. A lot of environment art is telling the story beyond the script and characters – through your art, you can tell the story of what a space is all about.

HFFL: Sounds like some very sound advice!

Thanks, RJ! I had a blast picking your brain, and will now let you get back to designing some spaces that we’ll be running around in soon.

Thanks for having me!

Screenshot Spotlight: Majestic

Last week, we turned the spotlight on FOTUS. This week, we decided to go with a rather majestic map. Take a gander at the following Skyline screenshots, and maybe even find inspiration to make your own.

For your chance at being in the next spotlight, take a screenshot featuring fire and then tag it with “Fire” 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

-Sal

Color Me This: Halo 4 Weapons series; Battle Rifle

Posted on 03/12/2014 by Sal

Last week I posted a line art rendering of a Halo Assault Rifle for anyone to color in and send to me. Unfortunately, I didn’t get any responses. So I’ll try this once more with a different weapon. If I get no responses again, I’l drop this line of articles.

So last week was the Assault Rifle:

I did create two inked in versions myself. First to commemorate the Titanfall release just yesterday, here is my Titanfall skin for the AR, I call the skin “Atlas”.

Next, I wanted to something a bit radical. When I was done with the Titanfall one, it made me think Halloween. I didn’t want to completely repeat Orange and Black, so I added in a lot of bright green and purple. I call the one below “Hallowed”.

This week’s subject is the Battle Rifle. Feel free to download the below graphic and color it in. Then send it to me at [email protected] and I’ll feature it next week.

-Sal

Of the future of gaming / consoles / Halo

Posted on 03/12/2014 by Sal

I’ve suppressed the urge to write about the “console war” up tip now. I just find it mostly ridiculous that fans of either PS or XBOX flame each other over the respective console. I’m not going to do that here.

What I am going to look at is this supposed decline in game sales, how it has possibly affected console gaming and what that might mean for Halo.

First off, I’ll admit I’m not an expert in the goings on of sales numbers of games and consoles. This is just my observation from reading many articles on the net, as well as conversations with friends over LIVE and people in Gamestop. So you might say this is an everyman’s point of view. Or at least mine anyway…

Gaming sales are on the decline? Why is that? Well, we have gone through a long economic recession that lasted for years. For some of us (yes, I mean me), it continues to linger on. So of course people in general may not have as much money to buy games. Add to that the increase in the price of games several years ago, and you’ve got another factor. Another reason is perceived incomplete games. What do I mean by this? Simple…

Games that come out with a basic campaign and/or multiplayer, but then VERY quickly come out with DLC after are really grinding on gamers. We already are paying a high cost for the gem itself. We do NOT want to have to pay for DLC just a scant few weeks after. WE feel burned by any developer that does that. In most cases we feel that DLC should have just been included on the disc.

At the very least, developers need to understand that and hold back on DLC until several months later. This will at least give the perception that they were working on the DLC after the main release of the game. Halo 4 and Borderlands 2 did this, as examples. When you got the game, if you bought a limited/special edition, it came with a code that enabled you to download the DLC the moment it became available and at a slightly lower cost that if you bought it through the marketplace.

Even before I was laid off from my job, I didn’t purchase a ton of video games, though I certainly bought more then. Now I have to be very picky about which games I by. So I want those games to be top-notch! Knowing that DLC will be coming with those games means more cost for that one game and less chance to buy other games. Yes, it increases the longevity of a particular game, but decreases peoples funds for other games.

Games that have lots of DLC are the norm now. It’s one way developers can recoup/make more money. AND, those are things the likes of Gamestop can’t really sell. Well, maybe codes, but even that may be lost to Gamestop eventually.

In one report I read, it said gaming time has been doubled in the past few years. However, it says that additional time is not console time, but rather cell phone/tablet games. Ugh, I loathe to put those kinds of games in the same category as console games. Here’s why phone/tablet games are doing better than ever though… For one they are CHEAP. You can buy a 99 cent app for your phone/tablet and get hours of “fun” out of it. More and more of these games are becoming pay to play games, meaning you are nearly forced to buy some in-game currency to advance or have to really GRIND it out to get anywhere in the game. Knowing how many people nowadays want that instant gratification and the relative low cost of the in-game currency, people shell out those additional dollars. What has happened though is some of those games become “addicting” to the point where people are paying, in the long run, as much as if not MORE than console games. It’s easy, I’ve done that in the past myself on a Facebook game. (NO, not Farmville…rolls eyes) LOL.

So with phone/tablet games now being considered part of the gaming market, it’s easy to see why console games by comparison have been on the decline. High initial cost of console games, plus too quickly after launch DLC eats away at one’s funds. The phone/tablet games are cheap, even the in-game money is too. Just look at the numbers “Flappy Bird” was pulling in. It’s said the guy who developed the game was making $50K a DAY….let that sink in. And he pulled the game. That I’ll never understand.

Another thing that’s becoming bigger and bigger is digital sales of games. Many of us balked at that as we want that physical disc. As well, since digital purchases mean no cost for printing of the cover art of cases, or the directions, shouldn’t we expect some reduced cost for purchasing digitally? I certainly do expect that. It’s only now being considered. But if it’s not instituted, it will be just another thing that ruffles many a gamer’s feathers as a perception of greed by the gaming industry.

Okay, so let’s move on to the consoles themselves. Regardless is you like one over the other, the fact is, they ARE expensive. PS4 is $400, XBOX One is $500. Either way, it’s a LOT of money for a console system. What makes it worse is when there are issues with these systems after launch. We gamers DO expect them to work, and darn near flawlessly. If I’m going to pay several hundreds of dollars for something it MUST work. Now, I don’t know much about Playstation anymore (haven’t had one since the PS2), the following is going to be solely regarding XBOX.

Not only is the cost high for the XBOX One, but of course we also have to pay a yearly membership for the privilege to play multiplayer. More and more games are requiring an internet connection for them to work. I take a look at Defiance as an example. When I got it, I was excited for it, since I’m a huge fan of the game. Once I put the disc in and started it up, I quickly realized that there was no offline campaign and everything was online MMORPG. I played it twice and haven’t played it since. So I got burned for the money I paid for that game. We needn’t go over the horrible PR mess with the XBOX One’s reveal, just keep it in mind. As well, we don’t need to go into detail about the additional $100 over the PS4, just keep that in mind. It made matter worse with the whole NSA thing and the XBOX One having an “always on” Kinect…keep that in mind. The XBOX One made a system that from what I read was what Sony was trying to initially do with the PS3. And we all know that the PS3 lost the previous console war to the XBOX 360. Why would Microsoft think releasing a console that has similarities to the previous PS gen console would work? They were met with much backlash and Sony just sat back and watched what unfolded.

Microsoft is being tightlipped about sales numbers of the XBOX One. Why? If their numbers were even close to Sony’s they would likely have said something. This air of secrecy with Microsoft has worn on me and many of my friends. Not just with their console, but with games done by in-house developers. This is were I look to Halo. Yes, the franchise has never fully revealed everything about it’s next game. That’s understandable. But it’s pretty evident that Halo 4’s trickle of information hurt it, not to mention the perception of being a pseudo Call of Duty clone (perks and such). Microsoft has hedged a lot of it’s bets on a new franchise in Titanfall. What does that say for it’s belief in the Halo franchise? If Titanfall sales are flat, what will that mean for the XBOX in general? Destiny is coming out in September. It’s NOT exclusive to XBOX. In fact by all accounts from what I’ve read, the PS will have MORE content than the XBOX version.

We then come back to Halo. The rumor is a “new” game in November. Is it Halo 2 Anniversary? A wholly NEW Halo game? What? yes, we gamers are impatient when it comes to news of our favorite games. However, I think it’s fairly safe to assume that 343 needs to promote the hell out of the next game and can not afford to shroud it in secrecy. If it is Halo 2 Anniversary, we already know much of what we can expect. So no biggie. In fact at this point I hope it IS Halo 2 Anniversary as I don’t think there was enough time between Halo 4 and this coming November to develop a wholly new Halo game for the XBOX One.

With the plethora of games out there, the market for games has become diluted. Even games like Call of Duty have seen a decline in sales. Last year’s Grand Theft Auto saw MASSIVE sales, the likes of which we may not see again. Why? For one, it had been 5 years since it’s previous game. Quite a long time. Not just for development, but to hype up that franchise. When it came out, people were clamoring for it. Sure, not a ton of news came out about it, but what did blew people away (figuratively…). Just enough and just the RIGHT kind of info about the game came out.

So where does this all leave Halo? Well, I’ve said it before. The next fully new Halo game needs to knock it out of the atmosphere, not just the park. Any public speaking of the game by 343/Microsoft needs to be darn near flawless. Any controversy stemming from leaked info needs to be addressed and QUICKLY. If not, it leaves us to wonder and worry about the next game. If we’re to pay the $60 (or more) for the next Halo game, it MUST include all of the classic stuff that it’s predecessors have. Theater for Campaign for one. Ranked and Social Playlists another (and WELL managed to boot). Personally I’d love to see Firefight come back. I’d also want Spartan Ops, but with 343’s killing that one after just one season when we expected more to follow, well, it’s probably best to let that part die (unfortunately).

Regarding DLC for the next NEW Halo game, PLEASE for the love of gawd, do NOT have it come out soon after. Rather include a LOT of stuff on the disc at launch, then maybe 5-6 months after release the first DLC and every 5-6 months again there after. However, if this happens, DLC MUST have it’s own playlist ALWAYS included in the active playlists.

I have hopes that 343 has learned from it’s mistakes with Halo 4. But with sales of the XBOX One already hurting, more and more games coming out, not just for consoles, but cheaply for phones/tablet, they’ve got one heck of a huge hill to climb. This is why I keep saying the next new Halo game MUST be the absolute best of them all. The franchise can not afford even a perceived lackluster game. I think we all know that perception greatly influences our realities. A lot is riding on the next Halo game, especially if Titanfall doesn’t pick up sales for the XBOX One.

At this point, I’m cautiously optimistic.

Finally, one thing I really do NOT want to see anymore are developers (ANY OF THEM) having parties, often with lavish spreads of food. Often with them drinking gawd knows what, but alcohol to be sure. To the all developers I say this, regardless that that money is but a very small portion of production costs, it does give the perception of arrogance and thriving off of your consumers. I personally don’t want to see that. When I do, it pisses me off even more that I’m forced to pay $60 for a game, continued costs for DLC, and often for games that aren’t fully done. Knock that crap off. There are some things that you SHOULD keep secret. THIS is one of those things. If you’re holding these parties, then the game comes out and it’s flat, unfinished, etc., that makes we gamers wonder why you weren’t harder at work finishing the game, rather than partying it up. Yes, you deserve a party for the game being certified and released, just don’t make it public. There are some of us (again I mean me), that struggle for every dollar. I don’t want to see your boisterous parties.

So how do you feel about all of this? Do you buy lots of games? Do you play console/cell phone/tablet games? Are you disgusted with the cost of games and/or consoles? How have these things affected your buying power and your choices of what you buy? Has or will this affect your thoughts and future plans to buy further in the Halo franchise?

I know this was a long article, but I felt the need to write it.

-Sal

Halo Toy Review: Mega Bloks Brute Prowler Attack

Posted on 03/10/2014 by Sal

Okay, this set isn’t new per say, as it’s been out at retail for some time. However, it is the first time I’ve purchased the set, so it’s new to me from that perspective.

Mega Bloks Brute Prowler Attack: Set #97004

Technical Specifications:
Build Time: 20 minutes including sorting time.
Set Piece Count: 205
Minifigs: 3X Brutes (Brick Red), Spartan Mk V (Black/Grey), 2X Marine – full mask, (Black/Grey)
Weapons: Assault Rifle, Battle Rifle, 2 Magnums, Plasma Rifle (Brute Red), Brute Mauler, Brute Spiker, Frag Grenade
Accessories: 2x Grey Backpacks
Price: $33-36 Wal*Mart Exclusive
Special Features: Rotating Gunner pod

And on with the pics! (Click pics to make BIGGER)

Again, this is an older set, that I hadn’t yet picked up. That’s why it has the older packaging look to it. Still, it’s very nice. The box window shows the figures off very nicely, as does the back of the box.

Above shows the contents of the box.

Here are the pieces sorted out.

Now we’ll move on to the build of the Prowler. The body in it’s initial first 10 or so steps. I like those translucent purple pieces. Then again, you folks already know I probably would.

From there the body’s shell is added. Already it’s looking like a Prowler.

Here we see both skids. To the left in their first few steps and to the right they are completed. I actually built these at the same time. Knowing the skids were mirror images of one another, it was very easy to assemble from the directions, but in mirrored fashion for the second one.

The skids are added to the body. Far right shows the addition of the plasma turret and drivers seat. Of note, that drivers seats is easily removable as it plugs in via a cylinder on the seat that is inserted to a hole at the back of the body. At this point the ship is done.

Let’s take a look at the minifies that come with the set.Here we see the three UNSC minifigs. The Black Mark V spartan is flanked by two Black/Grey Marines. I REALLY like this color scheme. The marines look like ONI troopers and Spartans in the black armor color just look totally cool!

Hi, I’m Larry, this is my brother Daryl and my other brother Daryl… It’s okay if you don’t get that reference. It was from a comedy show on TV some years ago. Anyway… Here are the three brutes that also come with the set. They’re all the same, so this makes for some great army building!

A look at the three different figure styles in orthogonal views. (Click pic to make bigger)

This set come with a nice assortment of weapons and a couple of accessories. It’s nice to see that MEGA paid attention to detail here and gave us a Brute version of the Plasma Rifle, as indicated by it’s color.

There are plenty of pieces left over.

So of course I made a mini prowler out of them. Well, as close as I could come to one with the left over pieces provided.

One last shot of the whole set. Will those Marines get shot down and/or splattered? By the looks of the Spartan aggressively boarding the Prowler, I think the Marines will be quite fine, but those Brutes though….LOL

Summary: This is a quick build. I think it’s the same build as the previous Prowler set that came out before it. Though I could be wrong. The brick red highlights while not accurate for the multiplayer version of the Prowler are actually a nice accent to the ship. It makes it pop out more due to the added color.

Overall Rating: I give this set 9.5 out for 10 medals. The ever slow slight .5 taken off is only because I would have preferred one of the brutes to be different. That’s not a knock on the set though, just my personal preference.

I definitely recommend the set. Since this is an older set and a Wal*Mart exclusive as well, if you want to get one, I’d suggest checking them out soon as they are out of production. In stores these cost about $36, while on Wal*Mart’s website they cost $33. I got mine in store and had them price match the website. Normally they don’t do that, but made an exception in my case.

[Addendum] I meant to break down the price during this review. While $36 might seems big for a set that consists of 205 pieces, consider that it has 6 mini figures. When you take into account each mini figure being about $3 each, that’s $18 of the price there. That means the vehicle is between $15-18. That’s pretty reasonable, IMO. [/Addendum]

Thanks for reading and let me know what you think of the review. If you have this set yourself, please give me your thoughts on it too!

-Sal

Cheer on team “NRG” in the Ricochet Hub tournament!

Posted on 03/09/2014 by Sal

PensHalo, a friend of mine and one of the longer term readers here has enrolled a team for the Ricochet Hub tournament starting this week. He asked fellow HFFL forum users if they wanted to participate and several of us jump in on it.

Besides Pens, I’m one of the other team members, along with HFFL Big Cheese, TheHal0Array, and Dijabouti. The fact that all five of us are also in the HFFL gaming group is pretty cool, but not so necessarily coincidental.

I came up with the name of NRG. It stands for National Ricochet Gamers. However, if you say the letters “N’ “R” “G” together quickly, it sounds like Energy. That’s what I was going for.

I’ll keep you all posted on our standings in the tournament. Our first game is on Saturday night. In this league you play a best of three each tournament night you game. We’ll earn one point for a win, none for a loss.

Ricochet is a 4v4 game type, so one of us will be an alternate. This will shift to each of us so everyone has a chance to play in the tournament.

Cheer us on folks!

-Sal

The Science of Halo, Fact VS. Fiction: Space Tethers/Elevators/Platforms

Posted on 03/07/2014 by Sal

Wow, it has been some time since I wrote one of these Science of Halo articles. Well, in a way, I’m glad I waited. The topic in this article is one that I wouldn’t have thought possible during our lifetimes, yet may very well be.

Space Tethers, Elevators, Platforms. Whatever you want to call them, they are incredible constructs that provide easy access to goods shipped via cargo vessels in space as well as a means to transport people to and from the planet and space. We’ve seen them in various Halo games. Could they be real in the future? Let’s explore this fascinating subject and look at both the sci-fii nature of it and the real possibilities.

First up, let’s look at the in-universe space tethers of the Halo franchise.

FICTION

Corbulo Academy Space Platform

We got to see this platform in all it’s glory in Episode 3 of the Forward Unto Dawn miniseries.

It stretches from the planet Circinius IV starting from the Corbulo Academy of Military Science (CAMS) into space.

It came under attack on a fateful day in which nearly all of the students and staff of CAMS were killed.

The destruction of the tether proved costly as not only did the people in the tether at the time of it’s destruction lose their lives, but it also meant nearly everyone else on the ground were trapped on the planet during the Covenant invasion.

Quinto Space Tether

Above is the map layout for the multiplayer map in Halo 3. It’s still one of my favorites.

A view of the Quinto space tether as seen from the ground.

A view from space looking down towards Earth. A fantastic and dizzying site at the same time.

New Mombasa Orbital Elevator

A conceptual rendering of the New Mombasa Orbital Elevator (NMOE) from Halo 3: ODST

Another look at it, in it’s finished form.

This is a great view of the NMOE from the ground. Note the sturdy construction at the bottom and the tapering of the tether as it goes skyward.

The NMOE at the moment of it’s destruction, due initially form the slipspace rupture created by the Prophet of Regrets flagship as it entered splispace next to the tether. It’s quite evident that humanity has not been able to protect their tethers in the Haloverse. This is something we as humanity now need to take into account (should we ever be invaded by an alien race).

The NMOE has fallen…

It spewed a path of debris that stretched thousands of miles long.

The tethers are said to be made of carbon nanofiber.

The following is an excerpt from halo wiki regarding the positioning of the tethers relative to their planets:

The base concept of a Space elevator consists of a cable attached to the surface on the equator and reaching outwards into space. By positioning it so that the total centrifugal force exceeds the total gravity, either by extending the cable or attaching a counterweight, the elevator stays in place in geosynchronous orbit. Once moved far enough, climbers are accelerated further by the planet’s rotation.

The most common proposal is a tether, usually in the form of a cable or ribbon, that spans from the surface to a point beyond geosynchronous orbit. As the planet rotates, the inertia at the end of the tether counteracts gravity and keeps the tether taut. Vehicles can then climb the tether and escape the planet’s gravity without the use of rockets. The engineering of such a structure requires an extremely light but extremely strong material (current estimates require a material ~2 g/cm³ in density and a tensile strength of ~70 GPa). Such a structure could eventually permit delivery of great quantities of cargo and people to orbit, and at costs only a fraction of those associated with current means with little of the danger of conventional sub-orbital travel.

The obvious reason for construction of these tethers is cost. Building a sustainable tether using gravity as a base of movement is much cheaper than conventional booster rockets.

FACT

So now that we’ve taken a look at the fiction of space tethers in the Haloverse, let’s see the fact of today and the possibilities of the future in real life.

To start, instead of building one on Earth, scientists are first looking to the moon as the site of the first space tether. For one, it offers protection for humanity incase of a catastrophic collapse. As well, the reduced gravity of the moon makes this easier to construct and keep aloft.

As mentioned, a space tether would be far less costly. The possibility of sending materials from the moon’s surface to Earth’s orbit is quite possible.

The LiftPort Group of Seattle, Wash is working on one such tether. They are calling it the Luna Space Elevator Infrastructure (LSEI). At present the project would use off-the-shelf technology. That’s quite impressive in and of itself.

Their tether would use a vehicle that would move via the tether. The Seattle group sees the use of a rocket traveling from Earth to a station in space. Then it’s transferred to the robotic lifter attached to the tether and delivered to the moon as a soft landing. They have run tests to determine that the tether could transport up to 36 people to the moon per year in the early years of it’s use.

NASA’s newly announced Lunar Cargo Transportation and Landing by Soft Touchdown (CATALYST) program makes it quite possible that the tether would be used in this capacity.

Jerome Pearson, president of STAR, Inc, has said that a tether from Earth while tough, is not impossible. It would require huge quantities of carbon nanotubes (see that fact vs fiction connection). The biggest issue is the large amount of low Earth orbit debris that could destroy the tether.

To counter that, Pearson’s ElectroDynamic Debris Eliminatro (EDDE) project, a space craft, could remove debris from 4 inches and up from low orbit in 10-15 years from now. He reiterates that the danger of space debris around Earth and the potential for catastrophic collapse are the main reasons for first attempting this on the moon. Another reason is that high strength carbon nanotubes wouldn’t be needs for the lunar tether, again due mostly to it’s greatly reduced gravity.

The following is a diagram from Liftport that shows the basics of where the position of such a lunar tether would be in relation to Earth.

By transporting materials from the moon to the end of the tether, the need to capture an asteroid for a counter weight (an ambitious and dangerous prospect indeed) would be nullified.

The materials from the moon that we would be able to gather could include lunar regolith as well as lunar polar water and potentially Helium-3 for nuclear power. Helium-3 costs millions of dollars per ounce where it’s rare on Earth. However, it’s abundant on the moon, which would dramatically reduce the costs of nuclear power.

Pearson believes that the lunar tether is quite possible by around 2025. Just over ten years from now!!! That in turn if successful would open the way for an Earth tether. The cost of sending materials from the moon to Earth would become essentially free as it’s expected to pay for itself after about 19 payload cycles.

Much of the above in the “Fact” section was paraphrased here from an article on space.com.

So as we can see, not only is a space tether possible, but probable AND in our lifetimes!

-Sal

The Halo Bulletin 3.5.14

Posted on 03/06/2014 by Sal

Bravo writes this week’s bulletin.

Community Playdate
Just a few days ago, Medal Madness made its way into Halo 4 Matchmaking. We’ve gotten some great feedback on the game type (thank you!) but if you haven’t tried the playlist, we suggest you do so immediately. To help you start slaying with style (and prep you for the upcoming community playdate – details below), here’s a crash course:

At the start of the game (and each mini-round), one of Halo 4’s medals will be displayed on screen with a 1:00 timer. Your goal is to get more of the specified medal in the time period than the other team.

Your player traits will change with each mini-round. Sometimes, this means only your primary weapon will change, but other times, this may mean turning invisible with Active Camo, which is the case for the Assassination round. The team that wins the mini-round will get one point. First team to seven points wins!

If you think you’ve got what it takes to rack up some medals, join us for next week’s community playdate.

HFFL: I have played four games of Medal Madness. While the first game was great for me, the second one not so much, then the third and fourth were pretty bad. So your “mileage may vary” with this game type. It will play to some of your strengths, but also your weaknesses as well.

If it feels like we just did a playdate last week, then you are indeed feeling very right. It just so happens that we really like to play Halo and play with you, so we’re comin’ back for more.

This Monday, March 10, we’ll be running some Medal Madness matches in custom games. To further contribute to the madness, we’ll be inviting community members at random, so just send a message to one of the gamertags below:

B is for Bravo
bs angel
TTL L askan

We’ll be mixing up teams and players regularly, so if you don’t receive a response or invite right away, just keep spamming us. No, just kidding. Please don’t do that.

We can’t wait to play with you, and hope to see some of you then!

Matchmaking Playlist Update

Our March 17th Matchmaking Update will bring with it some goodies, one of which is Extraction. If you haven’t had a chance to check out one of Halo 4’s exclusive game types, hop into the playlist – Extraction is a unique blend of attack / defend gameplay that often results in tug o’ war matches, last second conversion, and nonstop action. It will be available as our featured playlist through March 30th.

Last week, we announced that an update was on the way for the Team Throwdown playlist. As I write this, our sustain team is designing a fresh experience for players. This update will take the form of new settings, a new map pool, and a new playlist name – Proving Ground.

The Proving Ground playlist will be the new arena for Halo 4 players to enjoy BR-start gameplay that will feature an increased variety of power weapons, the removal of Personal Ordnance and Armor Abilities, and the addition of the motion tracker. The settings are similar to Legendary Slayer BRs, but do not include the Assault Rifle as a secondary weapon, and instead focus on precision weapon gameplay. Additionally, the Team Slayer Top 200 will be moving to the Proving Ground playlist, ranking the top players in this new playlist each week, which is specifically designed for a new competitive experience in Halo 4.

HFFL: Whew boy. Will this really help Throwdown? Changing a name doesn’t help all that much. Fixing features for those who play that playlist will benefit them. However, Throwdown has never had the kind of population that warrants this much attention. Moving the Team Slayer Top 200 to this playlist is going to be the telling point for the soon to be renamed Proving Ground playlist. If it doesn’t see a marked improvement in population, I highly suggest 343 just remove it and give the majority of the community a playlist they’ve been asking for. What might that be? Team Objective would be excellent, as would Team Heavies. Heavies saw the HIGHEST population by a rotational playlist game type since it’s inception. And I know a lot of my friends and I want Objective to come back. So I guess we’ll have to wait and see.

We’re excited about the playlist, and will have additional details for you next week regarding the map pool and more. This week, though, we want to know which objective game type you want to see included at launch in Proving Ground!

Community Choice Poll: Proving Ground Game Types

In Proving Ground, objective game types will be fast paced, competitive, and in general, pretty awesome. Before we launch this new playlist, we want to know which objectives you want to play first. Check out the choices below and vote on your favorite option!

Capture the Flag
Proving Ground CTF will feature symmetrical gameplay with a mix of on-disc, DLC, and community-made maps.

Extraction
Proving Ground Extraction will feature Battle Rifle gameplay coupled with strategically placed and timed power weapons that results in a fast paced, teamwork-oriented experience.

King of the Hill
Proving Ground King of the Hill will feature time-based sequential hill movement. This means that the hill will move along a set path on set time intervals, providing structured gameplay that promotes map control.

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: For once, I’m actually not voting. Though if I were, I’d vote King of the Hill. I again point to the fact the CTF has a dedicated playlist, while Extraction (a fun game type) has NO commendations attached to it. King of the Hill doesn’t have it’s own dedicated playlist and DOES have commendations attached to it. So, IMO, it makes the most sense and benefits more gamers than the other two.

New Halo 4 Marine Armor Avatar Items
If you didn’t catch it last week, the Xbox Live Marketplace just got a bit more UNSC armor in stock. The Halo 4 Infantry Armor and Space Armor variants are now available for your protective pleasure.

If you’d like to armor up, head over to the Xbox Live Marketplace where you’ll find these new items as well as all Halo 4 avatar items.

Knowledge Drop: Community Questions
Every once in a while, we receive some awesome questions from you across the forums, Twitter, Facebook, or while walking to lunch in the rain (you know who you are). Sometimes, we can’t answer these questions because they deal with future projects or adventures, or we may just be trying to get a sandwich at the local sandwich shop. Other times, we can answer them, and that’s when I run over to our Franchise team and ask if they can provide me with some juicy info for the weekly update. Luckily for all of us, this is one of those times.

Our very own Jeremy Patenaude and Brian Reed stopped by and answered a few of your fiction questions from Twitter over the past week. Check ‘em out below.

Q: The Minister of Discovery seems to think his people squandered the Mantle. Was it “given” to them until Humanity was ready? – @AncientHistoryx
A: Despite his heavy critique of the Covenant, Discovery’s perspective is not entirely objective, so it’s important to take everything he says within the framework of his skewed worldview.

Q: Mortal Dictata was great! What happened to Sav Fel? Along with Endurance, there is no more info about his fate. – @ShadowDRAC086
A: Right now, Mortal Dictata’s events are the most details we’re giving out about our bird buddy Sav Fel. We’re just glad we’ve got a Skirmisher among the ranks of named characters.

Q: DeMarco was born on Aug 24, yet he says his birthday is Mar 5th in Issue #3. Can you clear this up? – @Mr_Admirals
A: Clearly someone in the UNSC Paperwork Filing Corps filed the wrong paperwork.

If you’d like to ask a question for a future Bulletin, be sure to drop us a line on Twitter or via the discuss link at the bottom of the article!

Next up, bs angel is back with another Screenshot Spotlight!

Screenshot Gallery: FOTUS
Last week, we turned the spotlight on the color purple. This week, we decided to go with a mythical and magical creature. Er, helmet. Take a gander at the following FOTUS screenshots, and maybe even find inspiration to make your own.

HFFL: I like two of this week’s screenshots. The first being Erosion by DELUCA34. I like the way it seems to be calling out to me.

The other being Static by SPEXIL. The electro static charge the Spartan is putting out is pretty cool, IMO!

For your chance at being in the next spotlight, take a screenshot on the map Skyline and then tag it with “Skyline” and “Halo Waypoint”, and maybe, just maybe, yours will be featured in the next Halo Bulletin!

The see the bulletin on HaloWaypoint, go HERE.

-Sal

HFFL’s Forum Rank Emblems revealed!

Posted on 03/05/2014 by Sal

The HFFL forums have been open for about 10 days now. While the ranks were available to see on the forums first day, I haven’t showcased them here. So without further ado, here are what the ranks emblem look like and the name of each:
(Click to make graphic bigger)

These rank emblems and names closely follow the current U.S. Navy rank emblems.
Starting from the top left to right. Recruit being the lowest rank with no emblem.

The red striped emblems are Petty Officers, then the gold strips are chiefs, followed by gold bars for officers, then large bars with stars for Admirals. The last three are special ranks. VIP Admiral is just that. Someone within either 343 or one of their partners gets this rank. Note that there dis a capital “V” on the top star. Moderators get the same ranks but with an “M” instead of the “V”. And finally, the rank reserved for myself…yes, I know, but I am the owner and admin of the site. Fleet Admiral.

Come on over and join the forums and get in on a lot of Halo discussion. We talk about everything Halo, from the current and previous games; to Halo merchandise, including Halo Mega Bloks; to novels and comic books; and much more!

You can register here for free: http://halofanforlife.freeforums.org

I look forward to your participation!
-Sal

Color Me This: Halo 4 Weapons series; Assault Rifle

Posted on 03/05/2014 by Sal

Hello there folks. It’s been quite some time since I posted a “Color Me This” article. With a bit of a lull in Halo info I figured this would be a good time to resurrect the series. This time we’ll look at some of the Halo 4 weapons. This week’s “Color Me This” project is the Assault Rifle.

Your mission is to color in the below artwork of the AR AND add in your own “skin” design to it. Nothing vulgar folks and no text used for the skins. I want to see what you may come up with! And give it a special name that denotes the skin you’ve added to it.

You have until next Wednesday, March 12 at Noon EST. Send your artwork to [email protected]. Please only .jpg or.png formats.

Feel free to color this in as you want, again nothing vulgar. For example, if you want to make a PINK AR, that’s your choice.

I’ll show all the ones submitted and feature the one I like the best when I post up the next Color Me This article, next Wednesday.

-Sal

Halo 4 new temporary game type: Medal Madness

Posted on 03/04/2014 by Sal

This game type just went live yesterday. If you haven’t had a chance to play it yet, I definitely recommend it.

I played a couple matches of this last night and had fun.

The first game I went +13. The second game only +3. Still, it was fun both games.

If you haven’t heard about the game and what it entails, then let me be of assistance.

There are 1 minute rounds. You don’t know what the next round is going to be as it’s random. Rounds are ongoing with no stoppage in between, unlike say Grifball. Each round gives you a different medal to get. The team that scores the most of that medal in that given round gets a point. Game ends when a team reaches seven points first.

In the first game, rounds switched between Rockets/Fuel Rod kills, to Supercombine kills with the Needler, to Double Kills (using a BR with no radar, to Melees, to Hail Marys and so on. It can be quite fast paced and a bit frenetic. That’s actually part of the fun of it. It’s kind of a mix of Fiesta with different weapons, and objective where you have to get certain medals. If you’re NOT one for this type of gameplay, I’d still say give it a shot. The rest of you, jump in before the gametype leaves the rotational playlist in two weeks from now.

I hope that Medal Madness returns to the playlists as a game type within Action Sack. It’s PERFECT for that playlist!

-Sal

Friendly reminder folks, HFFL now has a forum!

Posted on 03/01/2014 by Sal

Opened on the 26th of Feburary, HFFL now has a forum. I invite you to register and participate in discussions about all things Halo.
Registration is free. You’ll have to register separately for the forums even if you’re a subscriber to the blog as that’s a different site altogether. It’s just link to here.

Here’s the link for the forums: http://halofanforlife.freeforums.org

I and the current members of the forums look forward to YOU joining us!

-Sal

HaloFanForLife

A site by a Halo fan for Halo fans

Monthly Archives: March 2014

The Halo Bulletin 3-12-14

Color Me This: Halo 4 Weapons series; Battle Rifle

Of the future of gaming / consoles / Halo

Halo Toy Review: Mega Bloks Brute Prowler Attack

Cheer on team “NRG” in the Ricochet Hub tournament!

The Science of Halo, Fact VS. Fiction: Space Tethers/Elevators/Platforms

The Halo Bulletin 3.5.14

HFFL’s Forum Rank Emblems revealed!

Color Me This: Halo 4 Weapons series; Assault Rifle

Halo 4 new temporary game type: Medal Madness

Friendly reminder folks, HFFL now has a forum!