While we don’t get to see a LOT from H5G, there is still enough in there to extrapolate information. I’ll be posting another article breaking down the vid later. For now enjoy the trailer!
I’m LOVING it!!!
-Sal
Monthly Archives: June 2014
The OFFICIAL Halo Master Chief Collection trailer from E3!
Whether you’ve seen it or not, it’s most definitely worth a viewing or a couple of dozen…
I’ve already watched this about 2 dozen times now and keep seeing more things in it.
SOOO good!
What was your favorite part of this trailer? Did you like the tie in with Halo 5?
-Sal
Halo 2 Graphics Comparison New/Old
Below are several pics of the NEW Graphics for Halo 2 vs the OLD (or original if you prefer).
Ascension. WOW does the new graphics make this map POP or what? Beautiful!
Cairo Station. Definitely a lot more color to it. Not so bland and the shadows are well done.
Just take a look at these two. The difference is amazing! Newer model Grunts, and the extra lighting freely makes these scenes come much more to life!
How can you NOT appreciate the green glow and eerie lighting? I am SO excited for this!!!
The Arbiter looks SO BadAss! More like the Arbiter from Halo Wars. This is just amazing!
Wow, now this space scene is incredible! Much more vibrant than the original version! 
Sgt Johnson has NEVER looked better! This is VERY realistic! And from what was said during IGN’s exclusive interview with Frank O’Connor and Dan Ayoub, both of 343, Johnson will look like the new version throughout all of the cutscene. Not sure if that means Halo CE:A and Halo 3 as well. Man, if so..faints.
Never been a fan of the Prophets, but this upgrade in graphics give me a whole other level of appreciation for them. Those eyes are so much more believable.
Now look at the comparison here… Like day and night. One so RICH in color while the other so bland. 
We all found Halo 2 to be fantastic when it first came out, but GAWD it looks SO much better now!!!
What do you think of these comparisons?
-Sal
So the new Spartan for Halo 5 Guardians is called…
His name is Agent Locke. As in Marlowe Locke the character in Ridley Scott’s Halo production.
That certainly quashes lots of speculation. The fact that he’s called an Agent is something, rather than Spartan. Definitely the ONI way.
I’m still going to go with the possibility of this new ‘Spartan’ being a clone of Master Chief.
His designation number is: 00-8221-3. The ’00’ portion you’d have to think is the first batch. The 8221 COULD be the date of creation. August 2, 2521. This would make the new Spartan roughly 10 years 5 months younger than Master Chief (Who’s birthday is March 7, 2511). Which would mean he’s had the time to grow naturally, instead of being a ‘flash clone’. The ‘3’ at the end would be the specific clone number. He’s the third clone from the batch on that day.
Yes, cloning is deemed illegal in the UNSC, but we all know ONI plays by it’s own rules…
At this point, it’s anyone’s guess.
-Sal
Forge WILL BE IN Halo Master Chief Collection!
Just confirmed by Dan Ayoub, Executive Producer of 343, Forge WILL be in the Master Chief Collection.
You will be able to Forge in Halo 2 Anniversary (AWESOME), Halo 3 and Halo 4!!!
This just keeps getting better and better.
This was via IGN’s live feed.
-Sal
The Master Chief collection CONFIRMED!
100 maps multiplayer maps, campaigns from Halo CE Anniversary, Halo 2 Anniversary, Halo 3 and Halo 4.
Also, Halo Nightfall, the confirmed title for the Ridley Scott Halo production.
4,000 Gamerscore to get!
AND….
Halo 5 BETA!!!
HOLY SHI…..
If you were on the fence about getting a XBOX One, this should definitely push you over the edge to get one.
-Sal
XBOX E3 2014 Set-up. GREEN everywhere!
Empty of people at the moment, and SO full of GREEN!
And MORE Green!
Below is Certain Affinity’s view of XBOX E3:
another view:
And if you were there, you’d get a cool light up wrist band!
343 Arrives at E3 2014
From left to right: Frank O’Conner, Franchise Development Director; Bonnie Ross, Studio Head; Â Dan Ayoub, Executive Producer; Kiki Wolfkill, Executive Producer; Josh Holmes, Executive Producer.
While this is neat, isn’t it curious that some of these folks only show up when there is new game info? I’d really like to hear from them more often to show how vested they really are in the Halo franchise.
No problem with Frank. He’s always visible. Josh to a smaller point. The other three though need to be more public, in my opinion.
-Sal
Today is the day. E3 is HERE!!!
Finally after what seems like forever, E3 is HERE!
I along with Zach, one of my co-hosts of the Spirit of Fire podcast will be casting and streaming LIVE today starting at 1pm EST! We’ll continue for as long as necessary to bring you all the Halo news of the day and any other fun and important XBOX One games and console news.
You can listen to us live on Zach’s Twitch stream at:Â http://www.twitch.tv/thehaloarray
Again that starts at 1pm EST.
I’ll be tuned into E3’s live feed as well as watching the action on SPIKE TV.
If you miss all the good stuff live, don’t worry, I”ll be posting the Podcast very shortly after we’re finished.
Now let’s see, all it be Halo 2 Anniversary or The Master Chief Collection? Both? Or a mix of the two in the same game?
Hmm, will we get a Halo 5 Guardians Trailer or gameplay video???
So stay tuned to HaloFanForLife.com for all the great reveals and our reactions to them, starting at 1pm Eastern! <—Have I mentioned the time enough? LOL
-Sal
Thanks to all who came out for HFFL Community Night
I had a really good time gaming last night. Without promoting it much, we still had 10 people show up. We played a lot of customs. Various games including race, “Duck Hunt” (A flood variant), CTF (on a map I made) and more. After a bit we went into matchmaking. Lots of BTB then Heavies when the group got a little smaller.
Met a couple of new people during the night. “D Vice” and “RoyVic“. Thatnks to Roy for streaming the games through his twitch account:Â http://www.twitch.tv/royvic/b/536125870
It was great to have most of the HFFL gaming group fellas there, including two who hadn’t played with us in awhile. Welcome back to ExR Impacts and Tetrahedrite!
I’ve decided since we had a great time and a good turnout to once again have this every Friday. So count on a HFFL Community Night every Friday from 8pm-Midnight EST. You can show up whenever and don’t have to stay the whole time.
We’ll likely start with some customs for some variation and fun, then move on to matchmaking.
-Sal
What NEW and/or old vehicles would you like to see in Halo 5 Guardians?
I’ve likely asked this question before here. However, with E3 right around the corner, I figured I’d raise the question again.
So let’s consider what vehicles already exist in the Halo cannon that might be possible for Campign/Multiplayer (NOT huge ships mind you, just troop transports and smaller):
First up the Covenant craft:
• Ghost (you can be this will be back)
• Banshee (same here)
• Wraith (yep)
• Spectre Hmm, might be nice to see this one come back.
• Prowler Unlikely as 343 has gone away from Brutes.
• Chopper Read above…
• Space Banshee This would be an interesting prospect. Easier in the campaign. But what if there is a special aerial assault or space assault matchmaking playlist? (BTW, I’d LOVE to see that happen)
• Vampire See above
• Seraph See above also
• Shadow This Covie troop transport vehicle is very unlikely. If it were to show up, I’d imagine it to be in the campaign only.
• Phantom Again, I think campaign might be possible. I’d love to have this in customs though.
• Scarab Campaign? As something in a custom map? Maybe a stationary element on a map? One way or another, I’d love to see this back in Halo.
• Locust Essentially a smaller version of the Scarab. Hmm, this might be fun in matchmaking, or at least in customs.
• Revenant I really liked this vehicle. It would be a shame if it was only ever used in Reach.
• Anti-Air Wraith Campaign sure. I do not think it would make it to MM.
Those in mind above, would you like to see a NEW Covie vehicle?
On to the UNSC:
• Mongoose Of course
• Scorpion Yep
• Mantis Hmm, will it make a return? I hope so. At least in customs if not anywhere else.
• Warthog (Chain Gun, Rocket, Gauss) Yep to all three. The troop one however?
• Elephant This was SO much fun on Sandtrap back in Halo 3. Many times I’d steal the enemy’s Elephant and bring it back to my team’s Elephant for the quick and easy win.
• Hornet Another ship many of we fans would like to see back. Hopefully in MM or at least customs.
• Falcon This was a fun craft to pilot. Given that chronologically in the story it’s before the hornet, I wouldn’t count on it, but still, it would be awesome to have back, IMO. Make a version that pilots can shoot with too!
• Pelican Maybe in campaign again. If not pivotable in MM, then as a stationary element. Not like the damaged one on Vahalla/Ragnarok though. An upright one.
• Vulture This Halo Wars craft would be extremely fun to pilot. Campaign? Maybe. MM, nope, though I’d love to have it in customs even if it too were a stationary element.
• Grizzly A suped up version of the Scorpion with TWO barrels. Would be great for BTB!
• Cobra A two-pronged Gauss cannon that can convert to a more powerful united gauss cannon. This too would be a great BTB vehicle.
• Wolverine Man, I’d love to see this in the campaign. Not something likely to show up in MM though. Customs?
• Gremlin Not really a vehicle I think we’ll likely see in Halo again, except a Halo Wars 2, if made.
• Rhino This is a 6-tread super scorpion. Hells yeah, I’d like to see it in the game!
• Shortsword I’d definitely like to see this as a playable vehicle somewhere in Halo.
• Longsword This would be nice. Hmm, maybe as Chief’s ship in H5G?
• Broadsword It was fun in Halo 4, if underused. Wouldn’t mind seeing it back, especially if there dis that space battle map I’m hopping for!
• Sabre Another fun ship to pilot in. Sadly, I think it’s lost for good. So enjoy it in Reach…
• Mammoth This has just GOT to be in the next game! I wouldn’t expect it to be drivable, but dang, wouldn’t it make for a great base to protect? Imagine having two of these on the map, one blue, one red bases? CTF would be awesome! So too Bomb game types.
• Sparrowhawk Now this one needs to be known more in Halo. Those who played Halo Wars know this ship. It would be very fun in MM or at least customs!
Any NEW UNSC vehicle you’d like to see made?
How about some human civilian craft?
• Gold civilian Warthog Why not?
• Various tractor trailers?
• Forklift YES please!
Now here’s one more category that hasn’t even been touched… Forerunner. At the least, I’d like to see one ground and one aerial Forerunner ship. Mind you, these would be a little oversized for humans and even Spartans, but that could be scaled down to make fit for Spartans.
Okay folks, that’s a decent sized list. What of these would you like to see in Halo 5: Guardians?Which in Campaign? Multiplayer? Customs?
I’m of the mind that if we can’t have certain vehicles in matchmaking that we should be able to have them in customs. Man, the absolute fun that could be had with them. Not to mention LOADS of potential for fan-made vids!!!
-Sal
Has IGN let the cat out of the bag??? Master Chief collection real?
If you hop on over to IGN.com, you’ll see that they’ve listed the games for E3 2014. In that list are Halo 5 Guardians (pre-order) and Halo: The Master Chief Collection, both for XBOX One.
Here’s a clipped part of their table of games:
So is this for real or are they also speculating?
I for one this is real. If so, I really hope 343 spills the beans on what all is included with the HMCC. (Halo Master Chief Collection)
-Sal
Should there be a DLC playlist in Halo 4 (and Halo going forward)?
This article is my response to that question posed on the Halo Waypoint forums:
I didn’t read all the replies in that thread, but one thing I kept noticing was people griping about potential low population for a DLC playlist…..
Folks, Proving Ground ALWAYS has a low population, yet it’s in. DLC most definitely should have it’s own playlist.
If it’s not going to be required to play in other playlists then gamers start questioning why they ever bought DLC in the first place. We see this mentioned all the time in the Waypoint forums.
343 needs to steer clear of that by providing a DLC playlist. Yes, it won’t be one of the higher populated playlist, but it WILL give all of us who DID buy those map packs a 100% chance to play on maps we bought.
To do this, I’d say ALL DLC would have to be required to play in that playlist. Otherwise you’d still run into the problem of people having some but not all DLC.
Honestly, I think the way playlist management has been handled in Halo 4 has really HURT the population. Not having a DLC mandatory playlist has killed desire by many to even buy them for the next game.
To sweeten the pot so to speak for DLC, 343 could include gametypes that are not currently available within it. For instance Regicide. Also, instead of having a rotating playlist, get rid of that and put DLC in it’s place. Include King of the Hill (Yes, I know it’s currently available but only for those two weeks during it’s rotation). Other gametypes like Dominion *light, Oddball, Extraction, etc., would be included.
So why do that? Well most of those have commendations attached to them. For those folks who want to work on their commendations, they’d have a playlist in which to do so. The caveat being they’d need to have all the DLC to play in it. This would garner funds for 343 (not much likely but some) and provide gamers with many more options not currently available or available on an ongoing basis.
end copy/paste
So what are your thoughts folks? Did you buy DLC for Halo 4? Would you want to have an ALL/ONLY DLC playlist? Please reply below and let me know.
-Sal
Halo Waypoint’s Fan Art Focus 6-6-14
Waypoint posted up the following fan art. It’s pretty nice, I must say.
This was done by ‘By Ms AnnThrope’
Looks like they used their SIV spartan from their service record as the base for this, then added in their emblem at top right and a bunch of hexagons.
-Sal
Fan Made Ragnarok Diorama using Halo Mega Bloks
I came across a thread on a Halo Mega Bloks fan site that showed a Ragnaok diorama.
The following was made by “Scott ‘warmaster’ mckie“. From here, I’m going to let him use his own words as they were in the original thread.
Hi guys, i started this project for bloksfest2014. I never thought it would get to the size or quality that it turned out, its was massively liked at the show and won me first place in the diorama competition and won me a pelican set signed by mega themselves!
The build.
Time: 6 weeks
Weight: 45kg
Length: 5ft
Width: 2ft
Cost: around £100, £200+ inc figs.
So heres the start
I then added paint and details
HFFL: From here he doesn’t give any more text, so I’ll fill it in.
Above a close-up of Chief
A comparison of the diorama pelican scene with the actual scene from the in-game map.
Above shows the detailing of the ground very nicely.
A very cool scene of a warthog being hit and taking damage.
Some added firing effects on the Mantis.
This is a nicely done diorama using realistic element with Mega Bloks as well. Being a diorama builder myself, though it’s been some time, I can certainly appreciate the work and detail that went into this project.
So what do you folks think of this? Did you like the diorama? Do you like the mix of realistic and Mega Bloks? Would you have preferred it to be all realistic or all Mega Bloks?
-Sal