Sparth, the awesome concept artist at 343 tweeted the following link of A.J. Trajan’s Halo 4 concept art. Some amazing stuff there.
Here are the concept art pieces you can find there (click to make bigger and see more of the pics):
This is some fantastic work.
I’d love to see a complete concept art of Halo 4 book out there to buy. So many great pieces by various artists.
-Sal
I’ve been chasing this for a bit. Overnight, myself and a few friends went on a nearly 30 game win streak. This solidified my mastery of CTF and I’m now the proud owner of a new emblem and armor!
Thanks to all of you who played CTF with me over these past several months in Halo 4, especially SpiderManning and his crew, as well as my old gaming group mates from RatedMature.net.
I don’t know what it is, but I really like the secondary color’s pattern on the helmet and chest plate for this armor.
-Sal
Waypoint put up this screenshot of the map Forge Island.
Here you can see all three islands ranging from large to medium to small.
I’ve added in some numbers here to signify teleports you should think about setting up if you want to transport quickly between islands.
The big island is marks as number 1, medium is 2, small is 3. So the cyan colored numbers signify the teleport’s number you should assign to it to make it simple to port back and forth between.
Now this is really only needed if you plan on trying to link the islands in someway.
Otherwise, might I suggest saving the map three ways? Put an initial spawn on the big island and call it something like that: Big Island Spawn. Do the same for the medium and small islands so that you have maps that will immediately spawn you on whichever island you want to forge on. This way you’re not wasting time traveling to a different island. Simple and effective.
-Sal
Lots of good swag to get and now at a discount. Click below to find the deals on some awesome Halo Swag!
-Sal
Okay, well I thought the islands would be flush with the water. However, that’s not at all a deal breaker. In fact, it’s BETTER that these islands are formed the way they are. We can forge from the sides of the islands if we want. Also, via BS Angel from the panel at PAX, we can forge right near the water. Hmm, now if only that large island had a hidden cavern inside that we could forge in…
Thanks to Ducain23 for posting the link to this on Twitter.
Coming out of PAX East, we have news that there will be a “Forge Island” map to be released on April 11 and it’s FREE!!!!!
The map will include THREE large islands that you can forge on. Oh did I mention, it’s FREE!
Here are three screenshots of it (I cropped them in Photoshop to straighten them out):
These are directly from the panel at PAX so apologies for the low resolution/fuzziness of the pics. Still, it’s enough to get a glimpse at what is to come. I for one can’t wait!!!
-Sal
The meeting was scheduled for March 30. I completely forgot that was Easter weekend and will be attending to guests and wont’ be available. So I’m changing the meeting date to April 6. Apologies for any inconvenience this may have caused.
-Sal
Firestream (of HaloCharts fame) created this fantastic fan-made poster.
I like the colors. Though I would have liked to see Cortana blue and Chief Green. Still VERY cool design!
-Sal
I did a quick Photoshopped version of what a Halo 4 Skirmisher might look like. I took the base Jackal and added the fuller plume of head and elbow feathers. Both in the more abundant black feather version as well as the lesser red feather version. Darkened the armor.
What do you think? Would you like to see Skirmishers back in Halo? I would. Just another cool enemy to fight!!!
-Sal
A poll was put up in the HaloWaypoint forums about what we’d like to see in terms of new and returning enemies (ones that didn’t make the cut in Halo 4) being brought into Spartan Ops season Two. (If there is a season two)
Below are the choices that were presented as well as my “For and Against” discussion. Read on and PLEASE leave a reply letting me know which of these you’d be for or against and why.
Here’s a for and against for each:
• Brutes
For: Big and bulky, these guys were feared in Halo 2 and 3. They were easily a match for an Elite.
Against: That’s one of the problems…they were a match against elites. 343 wants Elites to be the main Covie enemy
• Drones
For: We definitely need an aerial Covie enemy and the Yan’Me fit this nicely. Coming in swarms they could be a real pain in the arse.
Against: Potential lag? IMO, they do resemble smaller versions of Promethean Knights. Not exact, just similar.
• Engineers
For: Okay, they are NOT an enemy class, but they do bolster the shields of enemies. They look cool as hell.
Against: They take up a true enemy slot that we could be killing otherwise
• Skirmishers
For: Nasty and fast
Against: 343 would have to recreate them to look like their Halo 4 Jackal cousins.
• New Promethean Types
For: Having only 3 Promethean types was kind of slim for a new enemy class. Would be great to see something else.
Against: With Requiem gone, are there any Prometheans left?
• New Covenant Species
For: Definitely would love to see a new race found by the Covies.
Against: People like what they know. Plus this would have to be explained. Maybe Halo 5? Also, would they be part of the storm faction or the original covies?
• Flood
For: Lots of people want to fight them again.
Against: I’m not one of them…
• Sentinels
For: Flying enemies can always be a pain since they can find you anywhere from any angle
Against: We now have Promethean Watchers
• Drinols/Sharquoi http://halo.wikia.com/wiki/Drinol
For: WHO? Okay, a new race. Given their description though, they sound much like Hunters and we already have them.
Against: WHO? See above. Besides, they were cut from Halo 2 for a reason. Whatever that reason is, let’s just let sleeping dogs lye.
• Insurrectionists
For: It’s about time we see the UNSC put these guys down!
Against: Killing your own kind? EWWW
As far as these choices, I’d personally like to see the following back Halo:
–Brutes I’d LOVE to see what a 343 designed Brute would look like. I miss those guys!
–Drones Pesky yeah, but they were darn fun to shoot apart in previous games.
–Engineers (though not as enemies) Come on, who doesn’t want Virgil back? (If you need to ask, then go play Halo 3: ODST first)
–Skirmishers Another race I’d love to see 343 evolve. Since they are direct relations to Jackals, can you imagine a Halo 4/343 version?
–Insurrectionists They are on the rise again now that the Covenant war is over. Would be one heck of a direction to move into. Perhaps the Innies might have their own super soldier(s)?
-Sal
Before I get started with some of the breakdown of what will happen in the following few weeks, I suppose I should briefly go over again what MaC Rounds is.
MaC Rounds is an on-going web series based off of the further adventures of Spartan Fireteams Majestic and Crimson. Currently I’m in the development stage, casting roles, adding writers as well as editors. This series is a “serious” dramatic approach to Spartan interaction. Actors will be cast in roles of both Majestic and Crimson as well as extras as needed. The goal is to have a 20-30 minute episode once a month. As the production evolves we may produce more episodes based on a number of things.
• First and foremost are we having fun making MaC Rounds
• Acceptance into the Halo community. I don’t expect this to be an overnight success (though that would be awesome), so I’m going to give this a period of time to see if we garner enough fans to warrant continuing the series.
• Are we able to maintain the production schedule of one episode a month.
Okay, so now on with breakdown of what is being planned.
For all of you who have signed on to participate in this as well as others who may want to join in, I’ll be holding a discussion via XBOX on Saturday, April 6. Time to start will be 3pm EST (U.S.A.) time zone. I’ll repeat this discussion as needed throughout the day if there are more than 16 people joining in.
Topics to be discussed in further detail are:
• Casting for roles
• Filming times
• Duties of Actors, Writers, Editors
• Signing an NDA form (non disclosure form) if you are selected to be in the production
• Additional software you may need – This will be Skype for sure. I’ll detail this below.
• Anything else not yet announced that I may think of between now and then…
Casting for roles – During this discussion, I want to get a feel for who you are, what your voice sounds like and see where we can fit you in. I’ll set up individual times for casting roles per person and may need to have further casting calls with 2 or more people at a time to get a sense of camaraderie between potential cast mates. Since I want to move the production along, casting calls must be completed no later than April 14. If you can’t make it before then, you won’t be selected for the production. Also, during the casting call, you will need to show via Halo 4 that you have the Spartan armor needed for specific roles.
Filming times – We will film on Saturdays. Time to start will be 3pm EST. How long we shoot will depend on the amount and length of scenes. I will schedule scenes to be shot in order of the highest number of people needed first so that we can allow those who aren’t in smaller scenes to finish up early so you can go about the rest of your day.
Duties of Actors, Writers, Editors – This is a long topic to be discussed later. However the nuts and bolts are
• Understanding the NDA you signed
• Conduct while on set
• Availability – times and through what tech (Skype and XBOX360)
• Writers will need to have more time availble to devote to the production as you and I will be using Skype to discuss ideas and do mini read throughs. As well, you’ll need to have the ability to edit your text quickly and get it back to me. This via e-mail.
• Editors – This includes those who will capture video, edit video, edit sounds, etc. I’ll need to discuss with you folks what software you are using, compatibility with the software I’m using, resolution of final film, turn around times on capturing and editing and so on. Since this will be one of the more detailed discussions, I will likely need to have a separate discussion with you folks helping me with editing.
The NDA – I will need to get this from everyone involved in writing, not just electronically. In order to do that, I will send you a PDF of the NDA for you to print out. You must then sign and date it and send it back to me via physical mail. If you choose not to sign and date the NDA, you will not be selected to be in the production.
Additional Software needed – Regarding Skype: Anyone selected to act in the production must have Skype. It’s free to join/download. The reason for this is that when the time comes, we will have a live read through of the script. That will be a lot more difficult on XBOX and can get a bit crowded with voice chatter. Also, by having Skype, this is an opportunity for you to meet me virtually as well as your other cast-mates. If you choose not to have Skype for whatever reason, I understand, however that means you will not be able to participate in MaC Rounds.
Scripts will be e-mailed to the cast in the form of a PDF, so you will need Acrobat if you don’t already have it. Though you can also view PDF pages in various other programs. Feel free to print these out for yourselves when you get then, or just read from the screen. However, you are NOT to transmit the script to anyone else. This will be part of the NDA that you must sign first before participating.
If there is anything else that I think of that I haven’t covered, and/or if you have questions about anything discussed, after I go over everything else, then would be the time to ask.
Okay, so now that that’s all laid out, if you haven’t yet contacted me about your desire to participate in this production, please feel free to e-mail me at: [email protected].
Please include you Name, Gamertag, desired position (actor/writer/editor) and anything else you think is pertinent, regarding your potential participation in MaC Rounds.
Now all this being said…I have a potential job opportunity that I hope to see come to fruition soon. Should I get the position, MaC Rounds won’t happen. Yes, I know, I’m putting in a lot of effort up front here. The point is, if I don’t get the position, I want to have a good head start and be ready to move forward without wasting weeks of potential prep time.
What is that job? Well, I actually can’t say right now. When the time comes, selected or not, I’ll reveal it then. Well actually, if selected, the company will likely want to make the announcement. So we’ll play that by ear.
The good news is, this prep time won’t take up much of your time at all. So should MaC Rounds not move forward due to the job, you hopefully won’t feel like time was wasted. And who knows, I might still be able to produce this. If not selected for the position, then it’s full steam ahead on MaC Rounds!
-Sal
Points discussed in the bulletin are:
• PAX East
• Matchmaking Playlist update
• Title Update
• Screenshot Spotlight
PAX East
• BS Angel announces the contest winners who get a ticket to an exclusive pre-PAX party.
• There will be a Halo 4 multiplayer panel: Past, Present, and Future that will take place Friday, 5-6PM.
• PAX East floor experience Friday-Sunday 10am-6pm.
-This allows folks to play on the soon to be released Castle map pack. The first several hundred people will receive some swag. T
-There will be a Majestic themed FFA competition. Last person standing will get a GAEMS Halo UNSC Vanguard Personal Gaming Environment. (How cool is THAT!) There will actually be three given away, one each day.
-If you can’t make it to PAX, follow HaloWaypoint on Twitter and Facebook. They’ll be giving away a GAEMS case for their “Free Stuff Friday.”
-Along with that possibly posting vids on the official HaloWaypoint YouTube channel.
Matchmaking Playlist update
Bravo let’s us know that the Majestic FFA playlist will be replaced by a temporary “Community Forge FFA” playlist. The maps featured are the finalists from the Halo 4 Forge Contest. They are as follows (which you can download early and check out for yourself!):
Black Site by The Fated Fire
Bloodthirst by iiHopp
Edifice by Redemption1272
Malice by AgentPaperCraft
Opus by SHIFTY time
Plaza by Smexi Bilzo
Assault by NLTROOO
Serenity by DG Intensity
Be sure to head to the War Games Feedback section to let 343 know how you feel about these maps. After a short time this playlist will be replaced by another FFA playlist that will include regular maps, Majestic DLC and possibly one or more of the maps above.
There is a large update for “Team Throwdown.” (Too much to repost so check the link at the end to the full bulletin for all the specific details.)
Title Update
Here is a list given by Bravo of the updates:
• Enabled “X-Markers” on the HUD to designate when and where teammates are killed.
• Updated Active Camo to fully reveal players when they fire all weapons.
• Reduced the auto aim, magnetism and damage on the Gauss Warthog.
• Fixed an issue in which some players at SR-130 did not see their Specialization on their in-game Player Card.
• Fixed various issues with ordnance navigation markers.
• Fixed various join-in-progress issues with Flood.
• Added the ability to make weapon adjustments via backend tuning.
(I’m VERY happy the “X” is making a comeback. This is SO vital when calling out tactics in-game.) Camo users get nerfed! YEAH! I’m glad they are fully revealed when shooting. It’s a pain in the arse being shot from who knows where and not having much of a chance to retaliate. Thanks for fixing that 343. The last bullet point, Bravo says will come in handy in the future, should 343 want to make subtle changes on the fly without having to have a full-on title update.
Screenshot Spotlight
Various fan made screen shots are given a chance to shine in the bulletin. Check out the link below to the full bulletin to see them all.
With that, BS ANgel wraps things up and is headed to PAX East.
-Sal
The third and final map of the Castle map pack, Daybreak get’s it’s opportunity to shine.
By the looks of this map, it does have a more classic Halo feel to it. I just wish the person doing the touring of the map would have gone inside the bases a little more. We did see Blue base a little, but barely got to see red base. Still from what I saw, there may be some machinima opportunities there for my MAC Rounds series.
I’m betting the Banshee will PWN of this map. (But for the sniper that is…)
Okay, so mouth is sufficiently watering now for all of the maps of Castle. We still have 19 days until the Castle map pack is available for the masses. Look for it on April 8.
-Sal
Wow, Sparth has really been rolling out the concept art. Here we have the engine room of the Infinity. I love how much of the piece is grayscale, with the background really popping in blue swathes of color. The contrast between the dark workable area of the engine room and the bright “heart” of the ship is striking. 
And a close up.
For a piece of concept art, this view has some incredible detail.
-Sal
So Silentium just came out yesterday and there is a code you can get to use on Halo Waypoint with it. This code will unlock XP as well as the video below.
If browsing HaloWaypoint.com you’re going to want to click on the “classified” tab (see below):
From there you will get a screen that gives you a tab to enter a code. Click on that, then enter in the code (to the right of the next pic).
Enjoy the video!
You also get 20,000 XP as well when you enter the code.
-Sal