Wow, unexpected concepts!!!

Posted on 05/08/2014 by Sal

After tweeting a little with former Halo Environment Artist, Paul Russel, I was graced with the following concept art. Some of which has NEVER been seen before!

First up is this sweet “poster” of various ambient creatures, enemies and ships.

After looking each up, it appears that the Threeleg, Vulpard, Thorax, and Tankbeast have never been written about before. Hmm, HFFL SCOOP???

The Drinol I’ve heard about long ago. As too the Thornbeast. I really dig the Covenant Bomber.

I as yet can not confirm an official name for this beast. So, for now, I’m calling it a Murex. That’s a splice of the words mutant rex as in mutant tyrannosaurus rex. Possibly the Guta from Reach evolved from this???

An early sketch gives us land and air creatures. Again no names for either. For the bug, I’m going to make an assumption this turned into the Yanme’e. (Though I could be wrong, so don’t quote me there.) The other I’m going to call a Sand Dog. Again, not official names.

Finally we have this most awesome concept. The “Kestrel”. While the ship is known (barely), this particular design of it has NOT been seen before by the general public. Well, at least none that I can find that predates today.

Once again, I need to thank Paul Russel as well as Marcus Leto (Yes, THE Marcus Leto) for sharing these concepts.

I hope you’ve enjoyed these surprise concept pieces. Please share them and let people know where you saw them first. Right here on HaloFanForLife.com

-Sal

The Halo Bulletin 5-8-14

Posted on 05/07/2014 by Sal

Years ago, I remember sitting in the comfort of my East Coast home, with a not-so-comfortable N64 controller in hand, repeatedly playing GoldenEye 007’s third mission, Runway. It was the shortest mission in the game, and while I would sometimes roam around in the tank waiting for wave after wave (Firefight, anyone?) of fly-swatting guards to slowly kneel down and take aim, other times I’d look to beat the level as quickly as I possibly could. I’d cut every corner, grab the ignition key from the front of the table, and make a beeline run to the single-engine propeller plane at the end of the asphalt. My (not-so-well-executed) pursuit of the 0:22 world record for the mission was one of my first attempts at speed running, and I loved the intricacies and particulars of how players shaved off a second here and there. Reading tips, tricks, and top times from the world’s quickest runners (and then trying to get those times myself) gave me a real respect for the art that is speed running.

Just this past week, we watched Andrew “goatrope” Halabourda take some time off of his Halo: Combat Evolved Legendary world record speedrun, and set a new 1:38:57 world record. We’d like to congratulate Andrew on his new time, and also thank him for sharing the stream with the world. goatrope’s commentary is insightful, brilliant, and funny, and the gameplay is full of countless tricks, triple grenade jumps, backpack reloads, and much, much more. To see the latest Halo speedrun world record, check out the video below – you won’t be disappointed.

Matchmaking Playlist Update

This Monday, we’ve got a brand new Matchmaking update coming to Halo 4. The first of these is the Dominion playlist, which is making a lean and mean return to Halo 4 Matchmaking as Dominion Light, which features 4 vs. 4 gameplay. The updated game type will feature a faster pace, modified scoring, smaller resupply drops balanced for smaller teams, and a new custom map list. Here are the maps that will be included in the playlist:

The Ark
Black Site
Graphite
Hekau
Honeycomb
Inheritor
Onyx
Serenity
Shutout
Station 9
Plaza
Procedure

We’re excited about this new twist on Dominion, and hope you are too. We’ll see you in the playlist!

HFFL: Man, I’m SO happy Dominion is back, if even for just two weeks. I LOVED this game type. I hope it plays as well at 4v4 that it did as 6v6.

Community Choice

Last week, we asked which Action Sack game type you’d like to see added to the playlist, and we weren’t too surprised to see Team Ninja Assassins take the win. This means it’ll be available in Matchmaking in just a few short days – hop into the playlist to sharpen your sniping, sword-ing, and Thrust – er…Thruster Pack skills. Thanks for voting in last week’s poll, and be on the lookout for a new poll next week!

HFFL: Ugh…well, I know I’ll be by-passing that one. I really wasn’t a fan of Ninja-Assassins, other than having BLACK armor!

Halo 4 Playlist Flags

We’re always looking to optimize your online experiences within Halo 4, and starting Monday, Halo 4’s playlist selection screen will have a bit more color. Moving forward, any time a playlist is updated, it will be indicated by a corner flag over the playlist’s image. Whether a playlist is featured, new, or has new maps or game types, we’ll be letting you know by marking the playlist accordingly. Take a look at some examples below!

This new information will allow us to quickly communicate which playlists are updated, when they’re updated, and also what’s included. If you want to know if any of your favorite playlists have been updated recently, just simply scroll over to the playlist and see what’s new – we’ll display these flags for four weeks after each Matchmaking update. We hope this new information helps you discover and get into Halo 4’s new playlists, maps, and game types quicker than ever before.

HFFL: Okay, this is a nice idea.

Element 117, My Dear Spartan

A long-standing experiment dedicated to the synthesis of a new chemical element at the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (JINR) in Dubna, Russia was recently successfully completed. For no reason other than our own love of all things science and the advancement of knowledge all of us at 343 Industries were thrilled to hear about this most auspiciously numbered of elements: Element 117 aka John “Ununseptium.”

According to JINR, “The decay properties of the isotopes of element 117 and its daughter products- the isotopes of elements 115, 113, 111, 109, 107, and 105 together with the formerly synthesized … isotopes of elements 112-116 and 118, are a direct experimental evidence of the existence of the ‘islands of stability’ of super heavy nuclei. The discovery of the superheavy elements considerably expands the limits of the Table of elements; the enhancement of nuclear stability makes it possible for the first time to explore their unusual physical and chemical properties.”

In other words, we’re officially mere centuries away from faster than light travel and MJOLNIR armor.

HFFL: Were it so easy… (I love using that quote whenever I can!)

Screenshot Spotlight: Multi-team

Last week, we turned the spotlight on the Wraith. Take a gander at the following Multi-Team screenshots, and maybe even find inspiration to make your own.

HFFL: The only one I like of this bunch is “Rainbow” by Z6NITRO. For one simple reason…It shows all four team colors that multi-team has.

For your chance at being in the next spotlight, take a screenshot featuring the Sticky Detonator and then tag it with “StickyDet” 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
p.s. If you’re on Twitter, you may want to enter into this week’s #FreeStuffFriday. Stay tuned to our official account on Friday morning for details on how to enter!

HFFL: Dang-it! I keep forgetting to submit an entry for the screenshot spotlight. One of these weeks I’m going to submit something. I just hope it gets picked.

Will the next Halo game have new armor for Master Chief?

Posted on 05/07/2014 by Sal

This was a topic of conversation I got involved with. Will there be new armor or the same Halo 4 armor for Chief in the next (chronologic) Halo game?

By not showing Chief in his full armor and only the helmet, his hand and a little forearm in the trailer for Halo XBOX One, it allows 343 to go in either direction. Either keep the armor from Halo 4 or all new armor sans helmet. As for the helmet being damaged, that could be from much later in the game (if anything from the trailer will actually be in the next game).

I’m hoping for some new armor, though I’ve grown a little attached to the armor he has in Halo 4.

The fact that his armor is taken off at the end of Halo 4’s campaign also allows 343 to go either way. Give him back his armor or update him with new. I’d think that the Infinity would have new armor for Chief.

It’s certainly fun to speculate on.

So do you folks want to see new armor or are you fine if 343 sticks with the armor from Halo 4?

-Sal

Halo 4 DLC free (without achievements)?

Posted on 05/07/2014 by Sal

So I was perusing Halo Waypoint’s forum and came upon a thread asking for the DLC in Halo 4 to be free. If you all didn’t know, Microsoft has a policy against giving DLC away free that is attached to achievements. However, the forum poster below came up with a pretty nifty idea. My thoughts after his response.

MZealous;2899401 wrote:

At this point I couldn’t care less about the fact I payed money and others didn’t. Just remove the ability to gain achievements through the DLC (until purchased) and release the DLC to all making it a requirement for necessary playlists. I’m even starting to dislike Haven now I’ve played it so much. I’ve probably played more games on Haven than I have played game in total on Reach…We may even see a population spike.

Now THAT’s a novel idea. It might actually work. Essentially, everyone can play. For those that really want to go for the achievements, they pay a modest “fee” to unlock the opportunity to get them. As for what that fee is, since the DLC has been out over a year now, make it $1-2. Then make all the DLC mandatory (free), with achievements accessible for that fee.

I’ve paid for all of them. I really wouldn’t mind if they were made free. At this point, it can’t hurt anything and as said, might actually give a bump up in population.

What do you folks think? Want to see free DLC, if the achievements weren’t attached? Would you then pay that modest fee to unlock the ability to get them?

Hit that reply button and let me hear from you!

-Sal

Halo Concept Art: Reach Civilian vehicles/ships; Covenant ships

Posted on 05/07/2014 by Sal

In the second of this series of concept art, I take a look at a few civilian vehicles and ships as well as a few Covenant concepts. As always, click on pics to make them bigger.

Let’s start with the Spade. The Spade is a mix between a dune buggy and pickup truck. It’s a utility vehicle for various tasks on Reach. In fact it can even be seen in Halo 4, via the multiplayer map “Landfall” in the garage area.

In the above pic we see multiple early concepts for the Spade. I gotta say, those are pretty darn cool. The designs (other than top right) look like they have great suspension and could handle a varied array of terrain. Perhaps though, they looked a little to futuristic or advanced beyond the previous games which take place LATER than Reach. Still, I’d love to see some of these designs make it into a future Halo game. The one at top right would make for an excellent civilian car.

This pic shows the Spade in a much more advanced stage of concept closer to the in-game version. The biggest difference being the absence of the engine area in the front of the vehicle. Note though that the color scheme is on par with the final version.

And here we have a concept that was perhaps the latest concept before the final design. It’s VERY much like the Spade seen in the game. It’s missing the front wheel guards shown in the previous pic.

We were fortunate to also have variants of the below industrial cart. These can be seen in the campaign at Sword base. Did you know these are drivable? They can’t do much, but it’s kind of fun to tool around in them (for a few seconds).

Next up we come to the civilian transport. This craft was seen during the campaign as you come around an area being attacked by wraiths and banshees. Several on seen on the landing platform while one tries to get away, only to be hit and take a nose-dive into the water below.
These look a lot like our modern large airplanes. Though these are capable of VTOL (vertical take-off and landing) and space flight. When you play that campaign level, make note of the different color schemes on the same ships on the landing pad.

Now here we have a concept that looks like nothing seen in the game. Perhaps this was the early design for what would become the airplane design. The top design is somewhat reminiscent of a Pelican. The bottom design is quite a departure from any other human craft seen in Halo game. The top one looks more practical, while the bottom one is definitely more futuristic. Either would have been neat to see in the game.

Now we move on to the Covenant ships.

This was posted as a concept, though I have a feeling it was the final. This Covenant Corvette looks exactly like the one in the game. Regardless, the design is very alien. You can view this in the campaign as well as on the multiplayer map “Corvette.”

While this wasn’t given a name, it seems to be a concept for the Revenant. It’s thin profile and overall shape make this ship seem like it could out race any UNSC ground vehicle. Unfortunately it wasn’t included.

Finally, we have why would seem to be a near-final design for the in-game version of the Seraph. This is much more “flying-saucer” like than any other ship seen in Halo. I thought these were kind of clunky looking. Indeed, in the game, they do not seem to be built for speed, but rather power. I find them easy to take down, even though they have shields.

See any concepts that you like? Are there any you would have liked to see in the game, or preferred over what made it into the game? Let me know. Reply below!

Tomorrow we’ll take a look a Halo 4’s ships and vehicles. I think I’m going to stick to that format. Show a subject topic from Reach, then it’s counterpart in Halo 4. This will let you see the progression from Bungie’s last Halo game (that chronologically happens first), to 343’s first Halo game.

-Sal

Halo Concept Art: Reach UNSC Vehicles/Ships

Posted on 05/06/2014 by Sal

Today marks the first of many articles to come on the concept art of Halo Reach and Halo 4. Today, I’ll be posting pics of and talking about the vehicles and ships of Halo Reach. Enjoy! (As always, click pics to make BIGGER)

First up is a curiosity. It’s a UNSC boat. To date, we’ve not had a dedicated watercraft, for battling with.

Here are some concepts of what the boat might have looked like. I like the top and bottom ones of this pic. haloreach_vehicles_unsc_boat_01_by_isaac_hannaford Above we see a much more finished version of the UNSC boat. It definitely reminds me of the Warthog. You could say it would have been the Warthog of the seas! I would have absolutely loved to have seen this in the game. I wonder if this would have also led to a Covenant style watercraft? Imagine battles over water!! Missed opportunity.

The pic below shows a concept of a Pelican redesign. It looks sleeker than the original. Problem is, it looks MORE advanced than the original, which comes chronologically AFTER this design. Strangely enough, I see the Broadsword from Halo 4 in this concept. Hmmm….

Now we come to a nice series of concepts for the Falcon. Undeniably, the best new addition to the UNSC’s arsenal of air ships.

The sketches above give us a nice array of potential designs for the Falcon.

In the series of pics below we see what looks to be the final or near final design of the Falcon that would be put into the game.

This is a fantastic design. Though honestly, this looks like something that could exist today. (And I’d love to see that happen!) More shots below of the near-finished design.

That last pic gives us a great view of the inside troop area of the Falcon. Many times, I’ve gone into theater and taken shots of this awesome craft!

Now let’s take a look at the Sabre.

An early draft of the Sabre looks similar to the SR-71 (below).

Perhaps that’s why that idea was canned, in favor of something more original. Still, this would have been a fun ship to pilot.

More sketches above show the Sabre getting closer to the in-game model. I like both of the ones on the left. I suppose because they are colored in. However, the design is great and again, close to the in-game model.

Now we come to the near finished concept for the in-game Sabre. This design is VERY sleek. It just looks like it’s going to be FAST.

More shots and detail of the Sabre below.

I definitely think Bungie got this design right. It feels like a natural progression to me from current military craft to what could be in space, in the future.

Above we see a concept for the Scorpion. I wish this was on the battlefield today! I think I know another person that would have loved to have operated this. Right PensHalo?!

Finally, we come to a concept for a troop Warthog.Removing the gun mount and adding a simple roll bar definitely gives this Warthog a different vibe. Personally, I’d still would rather be in a gun mounted Warthog. But on base, when things are quiet, this would still be fun to drive around in.

One thing I can say about Bungie’s concept art is consistency. Everything looks like it would belong in the Halo-verse. The concepts are well thought out and rendered.

So did you see any concepts you hadn’t seen before? Like the article? Please reply below. I want to read your comments on this.

Tomorrow we’ll look at concepts for civilian and Covenant vehicles/ships of Halo Reach.

-Sal

New series of articles: Concept Art

Posted on 05/05/2014 by Sal

Thanks to a tweet by HaloBungie.org, I found a link to a whole slew of new (and old) concept art from both Reach and Halo 4.

For roughly the next two weeks, I’ll be exploring different elements and aspects of the concept art for each of those two games. These will be image heavy, so I’ll likely be posting them as thumbnail galleries to help with loading. They of course can be made bigger by clicking on them as always.

For both games, articles will be posted on:
• Characters
• Equipment
• Places
• Vehicles
• Weapons
• Other Spartan Armor (than Master Chief/Noble Team)

Articles won’t necessarily follow that line-up though. So stay posted to HFFL for a bunch of very cool new articles on the concept art of Reach and Halo 4!

-Sal

New Halo Pinterest pins!!! 5-2-14

Posted on 05/02/2014 by Sal

Every so-often I check out Pinterest to see if there are Halo pins that I haven’t seen yet. Then I add those to the HFFL Pinterest page.

Here are the ones I found today (click on each to make bigger!):

You can see these and MUCH more at the HFFL Pinterest page HERE.

Do you like any of these pins? If so which ones?

-Sal

The Halo Bulletin 4-30-14

Posted on 04/30/2014 by Sal

As loyal readers know, the weekly Halo Bulletin has typically released late on Wednesday evening, around the same time that the sun can be seen setting over Lake Washington. Recently, I’ve been working with the community team (which includes many talented, fancy individuals who fix all of my typos and create pretty graphics) to get the Bulletin out to all you earlier for several reasons. One is that although the third floor multiplayer lab provides a beautiful view of the neighboring snow-capped mountains during the sunsets, we like to, when possible, leave work while the sun is still up. More importantly, though, is the fact that we like to get you each week’s update as early as possible, especially because we know many of you live to the right of us, and are reading from the Midwest, East Coast, or even – gasp – the UK, where Bulletins were typically published in the wee hours of the morning. Moving forward, we’re looking forward to bringing you each Bulletin at a most reasonable time. We hope this will be helpful as we begin to discuss future adventures, as we’d like for the Bulletin to disrupt the fewest sleep schedules possible.

HFFL: As a fan and blogger, I’m grateful that the bulletin is coming out a bit earlier. Previously, most often, I reported the bulletin the next morning. Now I’m able to get it reblogged the same day it was posted by Waypoint.

One of the added benefits of pushing out the weekly update earlier was the ability to occasionally join the 343 indoor soccer team in their battles at the local sports-dome-complex-facility. Week after week, I’d receive emails about the team, and I’d always have to explain that Wednesday was Bulletin day, and that I wouldn’t be able to make it. Last week, though, we got the Halo Bulletin out early in the afternoon, while the sun was still high in the sky, and I made my way over to the game and prepared to defend the 343 goal with honor, integrity, and 343 spirit. The good news is that after 40 minutes of play, the team had done just that, while also scoring quite a few goals of our own, and we went home with a win. The bad news is that I had my elbow stepped on in the process, and also took home an injury along with the win. As such, I sit here now typing away with only my left hand, and my right arm in a rather uncomfortable sling. It is difficult and time consuming, as is eating lunch and brushing my teeth, but the hardest thing is not being able to playtest future Halo experiences that are being built within the studio walls. That part sucks.

I’ve got a full month before I can pick up a controller again, but was it worth it? Yes. The 343 team was victorious, and that’s really all that matters. AXIOS!

This week, we’ve got a few cool things to talk about, including Spartan Lasers, tournaments, and more.

Matchmaking Playlist Update

Just this Monday, we released the Heavies playlist, which returned due to an overwhelming community response. After its return on Monday, we weren’t surprised to see it immediately take the #1 spot over Big Team Battle, and as I check the Matchmaking playlists now, this is still the case. We’re glad to see that so many of you are enjoying the explosions and heavy machinery. We’ve also seen some questions regarding why Heavies wasn’t rolled into Big Team Battle, and there were a few reasons why we gave Heavies its own dedicated slot. First and foremost, Heavies is a 6 vs. 6 playlist and game type, while Big Team Battle exclusively hosts 8 vs. 8 game types. Additionally, we’re confident that Heavies is popular enough to sustain a healthy population, and also provides an area where we can host all of the maps from the Crimson and Castle Map Packs, which are also optimized for 6 vs. 6 game types. Lastly, having a home for 6 vs. 6 game types also allows us to look at additional options, such as Dominion. In short, we’ll continue to monitor the health of each playlist to ensure that we’re offering an optimal Matchmaking experience in Halo 4 across all playlists and voting options. Keep an eye on each Bulletin to read about what we’re seeing in Matchmaking and thinking about in terms of playlists updates.

Multi-Team will also be available until May 12, when Dominion will return as our featured playlist. We’ll have some additional update details next week, but this week, we want to know which new game type you’d like to see added to Action Sack!

HFFL: Before I get to the vote, I have to once again say that I really REALLY want Multi-team to be a permanent playlist!

Team Ninja Assassins
A 4 vs. 4 version of Halo 4’s most popular Free-For-All game type! All of the sniping, sneaking, slicing, but this time, you’ve got ninja teammates who will (hopefully) assist with the assassinations.

Stickyball
Sticky Detonators, Plasma Grenades, and an Oddball. Side effects may include explosions. Sticky ones.

Shotgun CTF
Similar to Shotgun Ricochet, Shotgun CTF equips players with Thruster Packs, Plasma Grenades, and a standard issue M45D Tactical Shotgun.

Head here to vote on the Halo Waypoint forums, where voting will be open for approximately four days. Check back next week to find out which game type is the winner!

HFFL: My vote goes for Stickyball. Why? Well, we just had Ninja Assassins, even if it was FFA. Also, we have a dedicated CTF playlist. However, we are severely lacking with Oddball, for which Stickyball is an offshoot of. So if you need those Oddball commendations, THAT is the game type you should be voting for. It’s my vote!

The Spartan Laser Will Be quite Operation When Your Friends Arrive

A post on r/halo led us to this completely astounding fully functioning airsoft Spartan Laser.

Our highest admiration and awe go out to Redshirt over at 405th.com. He’s spent four years crafting this stunningly detailed and surprisingly functional replica of Spartan Laser terror that is not just beautiful, but ready to fire 2200 BBs per min at anyone foolish enough to cross his path in open battle.

Check this bad boy out below!

HFFL: I reported on this earlier in the week. You can see a video of this in action HERE.

Spring Showdown Recap

This past weekend, our friends at Beyond Entertainment hosted the Spring Showdown, a 1 vs. 1 Halo 4 tournament over Xbox Live that featured the Halo 4 Global Championship settings. Hundreds of competitors entered the tournament, and after a full day of matches, one winner emerged. Fighting to the final game on Onyx, GUNPLEX managed to win the match by one kill and become the Spring Showdown champion.

This week, I had a chance to sit down with GUNPLEX and chat about his history as a Halo player, and also bothered him for some head-to-head tips. Read on below for the details!

Hey, GUNPLEX! Congrats on winning the Spring Showdown 1v1 tournament. Tell us, did you expect to win going in?

Thank you! To be honest, I would say I expected to win because I felt confident going in – I knew I could win it all if I took it one round at a time.

There were 128 total players in the bracket. Who would you say was your toughest competition?

I would say my rival and runner-up Dramis. I was undefeated throughout the whole tournament and didn’t drop a game until game 2 of the Finals, and then only won by 1 kill in the final game. He was definitely my toughest opponent.

How long have you been playing competitively? Have you always enjoyed 1v1 matches throughout the Halo series?

I started playing Halo competitively back in Halo 2, and haven’t looked back since. Competitive Halo has always been my greatest passion. And absolutely, 1v1 matches have always been my favorite alongside 4v4s in all the Halo series.

What are your favorite 1v1 maps from all of Halo multiplayer? Are there any maps you could play over and over again?

Some of my favorites are Lockout, Midship, The Pit, Guardian, Narrows, Zealot, Sanctuary, Onyx, Pitfall, and Haven. I would say Midship and The Pit are maps I can play over and over again.

What tips would you give to aspiring competitive players who want to improve their 1v1 game?

Relocate a lot during the game, and don’t stay in the same spot – it will keep your opponents guessing. Timing the Powerups and Power Weapons is also a big key to winning. Patience is important and can give you an upper hand over other players, so don’t rush out to into unnecessary deaths. In Halo 4 you need to “creep walk” or crouch walk here and there – it’s the best way to be sneaky and not be heard by your opponent. Another big thing is knowing respawns and trapping opponents when they respawn. If you don’t have the hang of the main respawn locations, watch your game films and learn where opponents can respawn in various situations.

Anyone you’d like to thank?

I definitely have to give a shoutout to my 4v4 team “Empowered” which consists of: PreSchool Slays, The Impulsion, Toxic KM, and myself. Also, my montage editor Riley Hastings who has been putting together a sick montage for me recently – look for it in May. Lastly, I want to give a shoutout to Tom “T2” Taylor who was my inspiration in competitive Halo and the player I looked up to.

Thanks for joining me today, and best of luck in future tournaments!

Thank you!

Screenshot Spotlight: Wraith

Last week, we turned the spotlight on melee attacks. Take a gander at the following Wraith screenshots, and maybe even find inspiration to make your own.

HFFL: Hmm, I like the “14 wheels” one for fun and the “Abyss” shot for dramatic effect.

For your chance at being in the next spotlight, hop into the Multi-Team playlist (or grab some friends for a Multi-Team custom game) and take a screenshot featuring multi-colored teams and then tag it with “multi” 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

HFFL: Well, not as exciting as last week’s bulletin. Hurry up E3!!!

Heavies and Multi-team LIVE!

Posted on 04/30/2014 by Sal

Just in case you didn’t play Halo 4 yesterday or have read it here prior, Heavies is now a permanent playlist and Multi-team is the playlist for the 2-week rotational playlist.

Both are LIVE! So go get those vehicle kills! And have fun in the chaos and mayhem that is multi-team!

-Sal

The Science of Halo, Fact vs Fiction: Heads Up Display (HUD)

Posted on 04/28/2014 by Sal

We all seen this type of technology in Halo for nearly a decade and a half. This technology does exist today, albeit in a slightly different form.

Disclaimer: I am not an expert in this field. This article was in part written and reflagged from existing articles that I’ve included references for near the end of the article. Any facts I may get wrong are not intentional. This article is for entertainment purposes only and is by no means exhaustive with the information herein. I highly suggest you click on the links contained throughout the article if you want to get a fuller understanding of this real-world tech.

Fiction

In Halo, we the gamers use the heads up display for motion tracking, ammo and grenade counts as well as health, shields and targeting. As with all technology, the HUD has changed from Halo CE through to Halo 4.

Halo CE’s HUD
Halo 2’s HUD
Halo 3’s HUD
Halo 4’s HUD

The HUD in Halo can also detect what weapon the bearer has in their hands, switching targeting reticles to match that of the weapon in use. The term HUD is actually incorrect and should be call HMD or helmet mounted display. The difference being that in HUDs you have to look up to see it and it’s fixed into place. Whereas, the HMD is shown on the visor and thus moves with the user’s head movement.

Fact

Since Halo CE, we gamers have enjoyed the use of a heads up display or HUD. The technology shown in the game from the start up to the present game for a singular soldier on the battlefield was something that only a decade ago was science fiction.

The earliest for a HUD tech can be traced back to pre-Wolrd War II. HUD tech evolved from “reflector sight,” a parallax free optical sight tech for military jet fighters. Below shows an early German schematic of this tech.

Gyro gunsight was the first tech to use reflector sight. As this tech advanced, the early HUDs started displaying computed gunnery solutions. An example of this is the British AI Mk VIII air interception radar. The radar display was projected onto an aircrafts windscreen also showing an artificial horizon. This allowed pilots to now dogfight without having to look away from their windscreen to check their radar.

HUD tech evolved in 1958 by the Royal Navy. This HUD had an attack sight that provided nav and weapon release info for low level attacks. This HUD tech faced strong competition from those who supported the older electro-mechanical gunsight. In the ’60s French test-pilot Gilbert Klopfstien created the first modern HUD and a standardized set of symbols for HUDs so pilots only needed to learn one system. The ’70s brought HUD tech to commercial aviation. In 1988 the Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme was the first car to have a HUD. (1)

HUD tech for soldiers’ helmets have been around for a few years now. In 2004 at the Soldier Technology (convention) in Belgium, a new system for the time was shown. It was the NA-OR Advanced Integrated Soldier System or AISS. This personal HUD improved situational awareness, target identifcation, bidirectional communication of data and an early “Friend or Foe” tag system. An example of this HUD is shown below on the soldier’s helmet. (2)

Fast forward to 2013 where HUD tech is now not only looking like the HALO HUD on a small screen, but is now incorporated into a full face visor on a helmet that looks VERY much like an early Spartan Helmet.

Just last year, Sept. 2013, this new tech was shown at the Association of the U.S. Army’s annual meeting. The helmet not only has enhanced protective measures, but also embedded technology that includes a see-through, heads-up display and communication capabilities.

With 72 percent of all combat injuries impacting the face, the engineers sought to bridge a “technology gap” with a mandible and visor on the helmet.

The helmet includes cushioning to meet a 14-feet-per-second impact requirement, which will help reduce cases of traumatic brain injuries that translates to protection for a rifle round threat. (3)

This Halo-like helmet has not yet been adopted into the military yet.

Take a look at these videos by Revision Military, the makers of the above helmet:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFFtCU7tcsI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQKV43WAx_c

With the advent of Google Glass and the developing bionic contact lens, people from all over the globe will be able to have personal heads up display. The new Augmented-reality contact lens is touted to be “human-ready” at this year’s CES (Consumer Electronics Show).

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Head-up_display
2. http://www.gizmag.com/go/3042/
3. http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/10/25/the-armys-futuristic-halo-like-helmet-that-can-take-a-14-feet-per-second-impact/

While the HUD of the present as yet can not detect what weapon the soldier is currently holding, can that tech really be far behind? Bio-scan technology is being integrated into current HUDs to alert the soldier as well as their base of the vital signs.

Summary

The HUD of Halo isn’t science fiction anymore. While current tech does not yet include all of the aspects of Halo’s HUD, it most certainly is close. It’s very predictable that in the very near future, current technology will have the rest of Halo’s HUD incorporated into single soldier use.

Did you enjoy this article? I’d like to know what you think of it and the tech talked about within. Please hit reply below and share your thoughts.

-Sal

A real life Spartan Laser???

Posted on 04/27/2014 by Sal

Saw this on twitter this morning. Fann-made Spartan Laser. (BB gun)

Pretty cool. I just wish we could have seen more of the weapon. Hopefully they’ll make another one showing off the weapon in better lighting.

-Sal

A pretty cool Halo stop-motion video using Halo Mega Bloks.

Posted on 04/27/2014 by Sal

As you all likely know, I’m a big fan of Halo Mega Bloks. So when I found out about this video and after having watched it, I contacted the filmmaker to see if they wouldn’t mind me sharing their vid here.

Fo a fan made stop-motion, I think he did rather well. I love seeing stuff like this. Who knows, it could lead that person to become a film maker in Hollywood. It all starts somewhere…

So what do you think of the above vid? Reply below and let me know!

-Sal

Cool new Fan-Made Halo song: Master Chief by Shane Blair

Posted on 04/25/2014 by Sal

Shane sent an e-mail to me today, providing the link to his new Halo song.

Give it a listen. I think it’s pretty good. LOTS of visuals in the video spanning the first three games, a little bit of Halo 4 and other clips from around the Halo-verse.

Give him a like if you don’t mind.

-Sal

To like or not to like Sarah Palmer, that is the question…

Posted on 04/24/2014 by Sal

I came upon a thread on Halo Waypoint’s forums that was discussing the merits of Spartan Commander Sarah Palmer as she is being portrayed in the comic book, Halo Escalation.

The discussion goes on for 9 pages, so I’ll save you that. I came in on it when the discussion turned toward her making the decision that would allow for the Human/Elite/Brute delegation to escape, yet having to sacrifice Demarco and other Spartans as a result of that decision. What follows is my reply from that point:

I think it was a waste to kill off DeMarco. However, given that it seems 343 wants Thorne to take over after Chief, it makes sense.

As for Palmer, she’s the Spartan IV’s commander because she is one of the first and has the most experience as a Spartan IV.

Recall the lines she says to the Spartan VIs who had just come onto the Infinity. It seems most of the Spartans on the Infinity are pretty new at being Spartans, with a few other having actual experience.

So in that respect, 343 defaults to Palmer as their leader.

Now, regarding her outbursts, female chauvinism, etc., THIS is why Halsey did NOT want to use adults. They come with “baggage”. Decades of real world experience follows you, no matter what. Taking the Spartan IIs as 6 year old kids, they have had little experience. This allows for them to be “brainwashed” into being the perfect (or as close to it as possible) solider. They follow orders, they work as a team, they do not belittle each other and for the most part keep their emotions in check.

Having adults become Spartan IVs smacks all against what Halsey’s Spartan program was trying to accomplish. Otherwise, Halsey could have just searched for and recruited the best of the UNSC into service as Spartans.

This all said, I do like the direction that Palmer is going in Escalation. I would really like to see her have a proper novel. One that really fleshes out her origin. Initiation tried to do that, but had to hurry through it due to page count of the comic itself.

What I’d like to see written in a novel is how she came to be in the UNSC in the first place, how/why she became an ODST and any specific events that might have made her a hardass. From there, tell the story of Initiation, but much more fleshed out.

Should she become Chief’s new sidekick? No. She’s already a leader of Spartans. If she became Chief’s sidekick, that would be a demotion of sorts. We also have to consider, is Chief ready to have another person in his life, so soon after Cortana’s death? Going by the Halo XBOX One trailer, I’d say no.

/end my reply on Halo Waypoint

So to pose the question again… To like or not to like Sarah Palmer?

At this point, I’m still on the fence, but now leaning much toward liking the character. I’d have preferred her character to have been sorted out through the games, rather than comic books or a novel, but we can’t go back now. So telling her story in a novel would be a decent way to let we Halo fans get to know her better.

If you want to have a read of all the NINE pages (and massive walls of text), feel free to go the the thread on Waypoint HERE.

-Sal