{"id":23602,"date":"2015-10-10T23:12:12","date_gmt":"2015-10-11T04:12:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/halofanforlife.com\/?p=23602"},"modified":"2015-10-10T23:12:12","modified_gmt":"2015-10-11T04:12:12","slug":"halo-community-update-forging-ahead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/halofanforlife.com\/?p=23602","title":{"rendered":"Halo Community Update Forging Ahead"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is a reblog from Halo Waypoint:\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

This week, you learned more of what\u2019s to come in Halo 5: Guardians, and saw new sneak peeks at Halo: The Fall of Reach. You\u2019ve listened as Maya\u2019s situation rapidly escalated from bad to worse in the latest episode of Hunt the Truth. You\u2019ve joined us in the celebration that Halo 5 has gone gold, which means that everything is just beginning. Not just for you, but for us as well.\u00a0This week, we\u2019ll take a closer look at Halo: The Fall of Reach \u2013 The Animated Series, more new Forge tricks, the upcoming MCC update, and more. Let\u2019s get into the details.<\/p>\n

THAT\u2019S OUR BOY<\/h2>\n

\"halo-5-the-fall-of-reach-1a3785acbd614b46bd7ea0cb73e9dd0b\"<\/a><\/p>\n

If you aren\u2019t yet familiar with Elysium City Primary Education Facility No. 119, or the origins of subject Number-117, you\u2019re in luck, and you\u2019ve come to the right place. As we announced at E3, Halo: The Fall of Reach \u2013 The Animated Series (which tells the origin story of the Master Chief and the SPARTAN-II program) is on the way and will be included with the Digital Deluxe, Limited Edition, and Limited Collector\u2019s Edition of Halo 5: Guardians. The animated epic releases on launch day, and since we\u2019re getting awfully close to that date, I grabbed some time from Executive Producer Kiki Wolfkill to get the latest.<\/p>\n

Bravo: Hey, Kiki! The last time we had a chance to talk with you about The Fall of Reach was\u00a0<\/strong>July<\/strong>, and lots has happened now that we\u2019re less than three weeks away from launch. First things first \u2013 where are we at? Are all aspects of post-production wrapped up?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Kiki Wolfkill: At this particular point, the edit is final, the sound mix has been final for a little longer, and on an animated project, the concept of color balance and IQ \u2013 that is – image quality finalization is a little different so as far as the picture\u2019s concerned, tiny tweaks and fixes and improvements. But that doesn\u2019t mean it\u2019s all done \u2013 the team has to work on materials to support the launch, like trailers, images for the menus and so on. So I\u2019m hesitant to say it\u2019s 100% finished, but it\u2019s pretty close.<\/p>\n

The latest trailer\u00a0<\/strong>just dropped yesterday<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 can you tell us about a few of things we get a sneak peek at?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Honestly you\u2019re seeing the main themes and tone of the film. Folks who\u2019ve read the book or the comic book adaptation will be familiar with the main elements of the plot, but the fact is many Halo players haven\u2019t, so we tried to make sure we saved some surprises for them. You do get a glimpse at Sequence\u2019s distinctive animation style, a combination of highly stylized imagery and sophisticated 3D CG is unique, and it\u2019s evolved specifically for this project. The 3D CG actually uses a combination of hand built and heavily modified assets from the game, but you\u2019re also seeing a lot of the custom work \u2013 like seeing Chief\u2019s Mjolnir armor design \u2013 a design that\u2019s modeled to be authentic to the original game, but without the fidelity constraints the original Xbox had to endure. In fact, you\u2019ll see that armor evolve in the series\u2019 chronology.<\/p>\n

\"blog1-1bad856bbe10480d80f6a458b00eb939\"<\/a><\/p>\n

What have been some of the key steps in the collaboration process with Sequence? How do you ensure we get everything right?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sequence has been an incredible collaborator, and the process has basically been us joined at the hip for much of this year. The first step of course was a script. Heath Corson did a remarkable job capturing the essential elements and characters for this radical new way to look at a beloved story. After that it became very much an evolutionary process of storyboarding, iterative improvements, and of course, performance. We captured our actors first and Sequence animated to those performances. Hardly unique but we feel it\u2019s the best way to get the essence of the performances into the animation. The sheer amount of data shuttled between Sequence\u2019s Vancouver studio and 343 here in Kirkland has been astounding. Reviews, edits, suggestions for changes and improvements, cuts \u2013 and even the odd \u201cEureka\u201d moment \u2013 those have come constantly from both sides as we work together to get it across the finish line.<\/p>\n

As with any book, we\u2019ve all got our own versions of how each scene from the story looks. When watching early review cuts this summer, I loved seeing how some of the early scenes from the book are depicted. Were there any specific parts of the story that you were really excited to tell?<\/strong><\/p>\n

We\u2019ve added a moment or two in the service of the story, but you\u2019re right, there are tons of scenes I wanted to see \u2013 the fight in the gym, the assault on Watts\u2019 compound, but the stuff when they\u2019re kids. It has an emotional undercurrent that can really be elevated with simple things like eyes and music. I think newcomers to the story will sometimes be shocked by some of the prevalent themes.<\/p>\n

\"blog2-30fd3b4d6c1b47fc9ae056cf27f6c7e1\"<\/a>\"blog3-4e6750c4bab7406ba3a33c2fa3f09157\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve also heard murmurs about some really good music. Can you tell us anything about the score?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Tom Salta scored this for us, and we\u2019ve worked with him before on Spartan Strike and Spartan Assault \u2013 and fantastic as those pieces were, I think he\u2019s really outdone himself and created something really special here. Some of it is quite moving. But he also knows how to capture action perfectly.<\/p>\n

Before we go, let\u2019s talk about launch day. Would you recommend that fans fire up the Halo Channel and watch before pressing \u201cstart new campaign\u201d in the Halo 5 main menu? I mean, that\u2019s the only way to do it, right?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Absolutely. Fans should feel free to engage in any order, but I think if they watch this first, they\u2019ll have a profoundly different appreciation for the nature of Blue Team\u2019s relationship in the game.<\/p>\n

Thanks for chatting with us, Kiki!<\/strong><\/p>\n

—<\/p>\n

Halo: The Fall of Reach \u2013 The Animated Series will be available on the Halo Channel on October 27. We\u2019ll see you then.<\/p>\n

HFFL:<\/strong> While I’ve read the book a couple of times, I am excited to see it in this cartoon-like medium.<\/span><\/p>\n

FORGING AHEAD<\/h2>\n

\"halo-5-forge-96872bf893a1423aba687fcec86268a4\"<\/a><\/p>\n

This week, Josh Holmes and Lead Designer Tom French gave you a\u00a0sneak peek at Halo 5\u2019s brand new Forge mode, which has been truly ripped apart and built from scratch to allow you to build faster and easier. Watching the Forge feature set come together has been quite special \u2013 the team pored over years and years of community feedback to re-think Forge \u2013 the tools, the controls, the objects, lighting, colors, surfaces, terrain, selecting, grouping, and so much more. The true test of these efforts, though, was when we brought in some of the world\u2019s finest Forgers, a select few from our Community Cartographer group. These five gentlemen (The Fated Fire, Psychoduck, Nokyard, Ducain23, and Warholic) were the first people outside of 343 walls to get hands-on with the new Forge and give us their uncensored feedback. Getting used to the new controls took a day or so. It was a blast having these guys join us for a full week – building late into the night day after day, and providing real-time feedback, which resulted in our dev team making code changes and kicking off new nightly builds that incorporated the updates. Their feedback on all aspects of the new Forge will ultimately help us deliver an even better Forge in December, and we\u2019re also looking forward to your feedback that\u2019ll shape the future of Forge updates and improvements post-launch.<\/p>\n

I personally wanted to see some more of what\u2019s on the way in the new Forge, so this week, I grabbed some time from the legendary Tom French and producer Mike Byron, who showed us a closer look at some of the new features.<\/p>\n

Take a look below,\u00a0and\u00a0click on each of the images to view the full-size GIF<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

COLORS<\/strong><\/p>\n

With over 100 colors, up to three color locations on most objects, and level reference colors, you have complete control over how you want your map to look.<\/p>\n

\"forge_color-2bfd632fa1ff4beb9ae0e61513e43ba1\"<\/a>HFFL:<\/strong>\u00a0This is fantastic! Something I’ve been wanting and asking for, for awhile.
\n<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

FX<\/strong><\/p>\n

With fire, smoke, sparks, and more, you can add personality and storytelling to any map.<\/p>\n

\"forge_fx-ed4fdd9d7af44c93a630183578dab53e\"<\/a>HFFL:<\/strong> YES! Visual affects like this have been another one of those things the community has been wanting. Hmm, I’m curious what the ‘more’ is…
\n<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

GROUPING<\/strong><\/p>\n

Grouping objects allows you to work with collections of objects faster and easier than ever. Build it, group it, dupe it, and then you have two or more!<\/p>\n

\"forge_grouping-d4a8b76456534ec4b956d82dd8551b30\"<\/a>HFFL:<\/strong> Without a doubt, this is one of the top things asked for, for forge. This is going to make forging duplicate structures immensely easier. No longer do we have to try to remember each piece we created for one structure to make a duplicate of it as well as it’s exact placement in relation to the other pieces of the structure. Now, it’s as simple as grouping and duplicating the structure (or other items) and moving the whole thing where you want it to be!
\nIn theory, if you want to make a symmetrical map, you only need to make one half of it, group all of that, then rotate 180 into place. Though I think there is an object limit in group duplicating, IIRC.<\/span><\/p>\n

MAGNETS<\/strong><\/p>\n

Revised magnets give a live preview of what they will snap with when the object is released, creating a fluid experience with them. Magnet selection can even be influenced by targeting them. Cartographer tested, cartographer approved.<\/p>\n

\"forge_magnets-40f299728fb941c8b9d9fcee45443be3\"<\/a>HFFL:<\/strong> Okay, this is helpful.
\n<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

PROJECTED TERRAIN<\/strong><\/p>\n

So magical we don\u2019t even know how it works (it just does)! Seamlessly blend terrain, rolling hills, and sweet jumps into the canvas or use them to build your own floating level above the ground.<\/p>\n

\"forge_terrain-ef30520201b14ae7ad03ce16b5b93305\"<\/a>HFFL:<\/strong> Now THIS is a HUGE improvement! Hmm, I wonder if we have the option to make the object projected terrain or if we can keep it with it’s original texture??
\n<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

LET\u2019S GET PHYSICAL<\/h2>\n

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Over the summer, we heard feedback that some of you who were thinking about grabbing the Halo 5: Guardians Limited Collector\u2019s Edition prefer a physical disc instead of a digital copy, and we let you know that we\u2019d provide an option for fans to exchange their digital copy for a physical copy at no additional cost. This week, with help from our friends over at Xbox, we announced the details of this program, which can be found\u00a0here<\/a>.\u00a0The offer is good from October 20 through November 1, requires that you don\u2019t redeem your digital code right away, and that you follow the instructions in the above link. To set expectations, arrival times of discs will vary, and while teams at Xbox will be making every attempt to deliver by October 27, it is not guaranteed. If not being able to play at midnight is a bummer, it\u2019s worth the reminder that the code that is included with the LCE will allow you to pre-download the week prior to launch to ensure that you\u2019re ready to rock on launch day.<\/p>\n

REQONOMICS<\/h2>\n

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The next blog in our series of REQ content by\u00a0Josh Holmes discusses REQ economy and tuning. You\u2019ll get an overview of your starting REQ bundle, how to earn REQ packs, average REQ Points (RP) earning rates, REQ Pack cost, and of course, a new sneak peek at nine new REQ Cards, including the Breach stance, Ruptive Assault Rifle skin, a Legendary rifle, and more.<\/p>\n

HALO: THE MASTER CHIEF COLLECTION<\/h2>\n

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Earlier this week, the latest content update for MCC entered certification. We\u2019re anticipating that the update will be available early this coming week, and ahead of the update, are providing patch notes for what\u2019s on the way. Take a look below.<\/p>\n

UPCOMING HALO: THE MASTER CHIEF COLLECTION CONTENT UPDATE NOTES<\/strong><\/p>\n