{"id":27228,"date":"2016-06-27T16:12:16","date_gmt":"2016-06-27T21:12:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/halofanforlife.com\/?p=27228"},"modified":"2016-06-27T16:12:16","modified_gmt":"2016-06-27T21:12:16","slug":"canon-fodder-buzz-generating","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/halofanforlife.com\/?p=27228","title":{"rendered":"Canon Fodder: Buzz Generating"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

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BY\u00a0GRIMBROTHER ONE
\nISSUE 80<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Welcome friends, and thanks for joining us for another edition of Canon Fodder.\u00a0Last week, we highlighted some heavy-hitting fiction features that spanned both our\u00a0Halo Wars 2\u00a0<\/em>announce at E3 2016, as well as our upcoming free content release for\u00a0Halo 5: Guardians.\u00a0<\/em>That content release of course, is the beefy and beautiful Warzone Firefight update, which releases on June 29, and will undoubtedly become a favorite of\u00a0this<\/em>\u00a0particular feature\u2019s regular readers. Earlier this week, our friends at Polygon gave the world\u00a0their first glimpse\u00a0of the all new Grunt Goblin and UNSC Wasp. We\u2019ll be taking another look at them today here, but with \u2013 as one would expect \u2013 a fiction-focused lens, along with a few other cool aspects of the upcoming additions to the Halo universe sandbox. Let\u2019s get started!<\/section>\n
<\/section>\n
AV-49 WASP<\/strong><\/section>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n
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\"canonfodder-6-24-16-b555c32a0c5d45c1bc4aaf4ba4797183\"<\/p>\n

Small VTOL attack craft have been a staple of the UNSC\u2019s military inventory for centuries due to their maneuverability and lack of developed infrastructure on many worlds. Using powerful ducted fan engines pioneered on the AV-30 for lift, the AV-49 Wasp is surprisingly nimble for its level of armor protection and armament, and can reach mission areas quickly with the use of air-cooled vectored-thrust fusion thrusters in forward flight.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Designed for expeditionary usage, Wasps can be easily prepped \u201cfrom box to sky and back\u201d with minimal tools, and their hardened storage containers have identical dimensions to NAVLOGCOM-standard flat containers, simplifying interstellar transport logistics. The AV-49 Wasp supplements existing stocks of AV-14 and AV-22 aircraft in Marine service. Close air support VTOL armed with heavy machine guns and twin rocket launchers.<\/em><\/p>\n

GOBLIN<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"cfgruntgoblin-947925f7109d4e538503a93c2ff7beb5\"<\/p>\n

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HFFL:<\/strong> Before you go further, know that I’m trying to get the community to call this the Gruntbuster. Soon, I’ll show you exactly why I’m nicknaming it that…<\/span><\/p>\n

The Goblin is a Balaho-born battlesuit that embodies the pillars that Unggoy themselves universally agree their species is known for: ruggedness, agility, and lethality. Created in the likeness of the Forerunner\u2019s pre-ascension form (as popularized by famous Unggoy theologian Ang\u2019napnap The Enlightened), the Goblin combines exotic engineering acumen (so that it doesn\u2019t explode upon activation), Covenant manufacturing technology (for push-button assembly), and Unggoy user interface design (so the operator can hit lots of buttons) into a bipedal mech that UNSC forces universally agree is deadlier than an entire combat lance of unsuited Grunts (but a little less than a file, if you want to get technical). All agree the Goblin can handle even the most dire combat experience, with the Grunt jockey inside cowering\u00a0\u2013 er,\u00a0protected by a dedicated energy shield and thick plates of armor.<\/em><\/p>\n

The Goblin mech suit is armed with a Needle Cannon that can fire off swarms of heavy explosive crystalline shards and a back-mounted Shardstorm launcher that unleashes entire clouds of Needles that is an impressive sight \u2013 even if it doesn\u2019t actually hit anyone\u00a0\u2013 and is equipped with\u00a0a Power Wrist and Furious Feet for close-quarters combat, though \u201cGoblin jockeys\u201d prefer to keep enemies far away, preferably on different battlefields, if possible.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n

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BALAHO HERO<\/h2>\n

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In the spirit of the aforementioned methane-mech, I caught up with Nick Ardizzone from our Narrative department to pick his brain about his favorite party guests. Let\u2019s see what he had to say!<\/p>\n

GRIM: So who are you anyway? Why do we keep letting you in the building?! Tell us about your writing background and how you ended up here at 343 Industries.<\/strong><\/p>\n

NICK ARDIZZONE<\/strong>: I came over from Microsoft Studios\u2019 Central Services, where I did writing and editing work on titles like\u00a0Ryse: Son of Rome<\/em>,\u00a0Killer Instinct<\/em>, and\u00a0Forza: Horizon<\/em>. The last pre-Halo<\/em>\u00a0title I wrote for was\u00a0Sunset Overdrive<\/em>, although there isn\u2019t much overlap between\u00a0Sunset<\/em>\u2019s manic energy and\u00a0Halo<\/em>\u2019s deeply realized mythology. Following my stint on\u00a0Sunset<\/em>, the planets aligned and an opportunity arose to write some combat chatter for 343 Industries. They must have liked what I delivered because they brought me on for the last leg of\u00a0Halo 5: Guardians\u2019<\/em>\u00a0production. The timing was perfect; the decision had just been made at the time to have the Covenant speak English (they spoke their native languages in\u00a0Halo 4<\/em>), which meant that there were now all these great enemy characters who needed full suites of dialogue. So I got to work and haven\u2019t stopped since.<\/p>\n

GRIM: Speaking of some of those characters, you seem to have a certain affinity for the Unggoy. What makes the methane-breathers so appealing to you?<\/strong><\/p>\n

NICK<\/strong>: It\u2019s hard not to root for the little guys, the downtrodden cannon fodder [Hey wait a sec\u2026 – Grim<\/em>]. Sure, they\u2019ve participated in their share of war crimes, but you\u2019ve got to think about where they came from – they\u2019re staring down the UNSC\u2019s toughest super soldiers while standing shoulder to shoulder with the Elites who enslaved them and the Jackals who tried to sterilize them, and what do they do?<\/p>\n

GRIM: Say funny things and run?<\/strong><\/p>\n

NICK:\u00a0<\/strong>Well som-<\/p>\n

GRIM: They get shot?<\/strong><\/p>\n

NICK:\u00a0<\/strong>They try their best, dammit! They\u2019re some of the scrappiest little bastards in the universe \u2013 equal parts ambitious and terrified, desperate to prove themselves as worthy fighters and nearly as desperate to wander off and take a nap. What\u2019s not to love?<\/p>\n

GRIM: I mean, when you put it that way, I actually feel more of a kinship with them myself. Now, whether fans realize it or not, you are one of the key reasons why the Grunts have reclaimed their comedic crown. Do you have any particular methods or inspirations for creating lines for the various perspectives within their ranks?<\/strong><\/p>\n

NICK<\/strong>: That was an order from 343i\u2019s top brass.<\/p>\n

GRIM: Ah yes, the horn section.<\/strong><\/p>\n

NICK:\u00a0<\/strong>Indeed. They wanted the Grunts in\u00a0Guardians<\/em>\u00a0to recapture that essential Gruntiness from earlier Halo games, so I went full immersion and listened to the combat chatter from\u00a0Halo 3\u00a0<\/em>endlessly. Grunts have this really great mix of cowardice, braggadocio, and curiosity. They don\u2019t have much of a filter, so they\u2019re likely to voice whatever thoughts are running through their minds in the middle of combat (\u201cThey\u2019re shooting our heads?! I keep all my brains in there!\u201d). Of course, a lot of the credit has to go to the great voice performances given by Anthony Hansen and Donovan Patton, as well as the legendary Joe Staten as the relentlessly talkative Dimkee Hotay.<\/p>\n

GRIM: OMG Hotay is my spirit animal, I\u2019m pretty sure.<\/strong><\/p>\n

NICK:\u00a0<\/strong>Right? And speaking of ol\u2019 Dimkee, all his inane babbling was originally a single stream-of-consciousness monologue. I wrote that first draft in one go, like a bargain-basement Jack Kerouac obsessed with tiny aliens who love to yell and can\u2019t remember if humans lay eggs.<\/p>\n

GRIM: Oh yes, I remember\u00a0those\u00a0<\/em>brain-storming sessions. It\u2019s no accident that Mr. Hotay muses about alien aesthetics amidst his delightful diatribe. But speaking of beloved story-corners, you also had a hand in crafting many of the collectible intel pieces found scattered throughout\u00a0Halo 5: Guardians<\/em>. Can you tell us a little bit about the process of crafting these bite-sized narrative nuggets? Sorry, I\u2019m hungry.<\/strong><\/p>\n

NICK<\/strong>: I took on about half of the intel in\u00a0Guardians\u00a0<\/em>and 343\u2019s Morgan Lockhart tackled the rest. Although I wrote entries for the human settlers in Meridian Station, I really like doing the intel for Grunts and Elites. That\u2019s where you get to dig a little deeper into the characters and see how they behave when they\u2019re\u00a0not<\/em>\u00a0getting shot at. In battle, the Elites can come across as simple warriors obsessed with honor, but there\u2019s much more to them than that; they\u2018re a species who finds themselves at the tail end of a civil war, with the Arbiter\u2019s Swords of Sangheilios fighting the remnants of the ruined Covenant. And, yes, their society places great value on honor, but I wanted to explore situations where Elites found their loyalties tested, or where they were standing uneasily at the intersection of tradition and progress. They have to make their own choices and move forward as individuals, in the same way the Sangheili must move beyond tribalism and find new identities as familiar factions crumble. Some choose one path (the medic Cham \u2018Lokeema), some another (how Dham \u2018Mashatt dealt with Bibjam) \u2026and some of them yearn desperately to write love poetry to Commander Palmer.<\/p>\n

GRIM: I\u2019m sure he\u2019s not alone\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

NICK:\u00a0<\/strong>That\u2019s what being an individual is all about!<\/p>\n

GRIM: Do you have a particular favorite character or moment within the Halo universe from\u00a0before<\/em>\u00a0your time here?<\/strong><\/p>\n

NICK<\/strong>: This shouldn\u2019t be surprising: I have to go with the Unggoy Rebellion terminal from\u00a0Halo 2 Anniversary<\/em>. When that tear runs down that Grunt\u2019s ugly little face\u2026<\/p>\n

GRIM: Indeed, I think we\u00a0all\u00a0<\/em>sacrificed a little memorial methane that day.<\/strong><\/p>\n

NICK:\u00a0<\/strong>Wait, what?<\/p>\n

GRIM: Anyway, thanks so much for joining us today! Do you have any final words for Halo story fans?<\/strong><\/p>\n

NICK<\/strong>: We have a lot of really exciting stuff in the works (and I\u2019m thinking of one chunk of\u00a0especially<\/em>\u00a0really exciting stuff that I\u2019m\u00a0particularly<\/em>\u00a0especially excited about), but I shouldn\u2019t really talk about any of it. Just keep reading Grim\u2019s stuff here and bothering Bravo on Reddit and see if you can squeeze some juicy details out of them. And if we get to the end of the series and Master Chief finally takes his helmet off and he\u2019s just a Grunt standing on another one\u2019s shoulders, well, now you know who to blame.<\/p>\n

GRIM: Hey, stranger things have happened. Thanks again, Nick.<\/strong><\/p>\n

HFFL:<\/strong> I love those little Grunties! So glad they speak human again!<\/span><\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n

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BEAM WEAVER<\/h2>\n

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Included in the Warzone Firefight release will be the addition of the classically-styled Halo 2 Beam Rifle. Let\u2019s take a look at the in-game fiction strings for each variant, along with some developer-drawn design contextualization for their gameplay effects, provided by 343 Industries Senior Systems Designer, Daniel Wiksten.<\/p>\n

T-50<\/strong>: The T-50 Beam Rifle is a Covenant long-range directed-energy weapon used by raiders, snipers, and scout-executors. Long-range semi-automatic energy rifle with variable-zoom optics.<\/p>\n

Balanced like the regular beam rifle that players are used to. – DW<\/em><\/p>\n

T-50\u03b1<\/strong>: Kig-Yar snipers assigned the Fleet of Particular Justice displayed uncharacteristic bravery in their valiant defense against the Flood onslaught on Installation 04. This Alpha variant of the T-50 is an improved Beam Rifle with faster rate of fire and increased hipfire accuracy.<\/p>\n

Intent was to make a Beam Rifle that is a bit more forgiving to use, therefore this rifle allows players to not necessarily go for the headshot and instead do a quick double tap to the body without overheating. – DW<\/em><\/p>\n

T-50\u03b4<\/strong>: The Prophet of Truth employed an elite team armed with powerful master-crafted weapons to hunt down his political enemies during the Great Schism. The T-50 Beam Rifle\u2019s Delta variant creates an unstable gravimetric vortex at point of impact.<\/p>\n

One of my personal favorites and also a big favorite in playtests here at 343, this rifle fire a beam that causes a singularity effect at the point of impact. That causes damage and pulls targets towards it for a short duration and eventually collapses into an explosion that pushes object away. A hit anywhere on the body will kill a Spartan, but the fire rate is really slow, so make sure you hit your shot. There has been some spectacular looking shots where enemies have been stuck in the singularity mid-air and later thrown far away when it collapses. – DW<\/em><\/p>\n

HFFL:<\/strong> Oh? Now that sounds particularly fun and deadly! LOL<\/span><\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n

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THE YEAH YEAH YEAHS WOULD BE PROUD<\/h2>\n

Last week, we gave you a sneaky little fiction taste of the upcoming Sangheili-set Warzone map, Attack on Sanctum. We continue playspace parade this week with three\u00a0more\u00a0<\/em>new settings to get your game Halo 5 on, in Arena, Warzone Assault, and Forge mode, respectively.<\/p>\n

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MOLTEN<\/strong><\/p>\n

Many worlds were glassed by the Covenant, though some suffered worse than others. The world of Ruthersburg was a minor Outer Colony famed for nothing and barely charted before the Covenant fleets arrived to burn what few humans inhabited the surface. The alien armada had scarcely begun their bombardment when a section of the planet\u2019s fragile mantle buckled, tearing the only inhabitable continent apart in a rippling series of pyroclastic explosions. The barren husk that remained would have remained a footnote in history were it not for slipspace routes discovered after the War, which placed Ruthersburg in a spur of the new Sol-Epsilon Eridani trade route. Megacorporations quickly sited resource extraction and refining operations on the planet\u2019s ruined surface dedicated to feeding metals and rare earths to shipyards building the next generation of UNSC Navy vessels above Mars and Tribute.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"cfprospect-ec3163864a1742c79c52437814c1b65c\"<\/p>\n

PROSPECT<\/strong><\/p>\n

Jorta Station was an important cog in Liang-Dortmund’s operations on Meridian, as the site was a central hub for the megacorporation’s seismographic network and labs devoted to solving the hard problems of “deglassing” the planet.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Due to the sensitive nature of the task at hand, Jorta Station also served as the command center for Liang-Dortmund\u2019s private security forces, housing a fleet of Warthog utility vehicles, Pelican dropships, Scorpion tanks, and Mantis walkers in case of intrusion by Kig-Yar raiders or rival corporations seeking to conduct kinetic espionage.<\/em><\/p>\n

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TIDAL<\/strong><\/p>\n

In the centuries that followed humanity\u2019s ascent into the heavens, and dispersal through the stars, life has been rife with conflict. Whether it be through the internal descent of insurrection, the bloody years of the Covenant War, or even the harsh realities of colonial homesteading, interstellar expansion has not come without cost.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Discovered by Dr. Whitt Raglee while on a private scientific expedition, this distant moon remains a nameless paradise \u2013 a symbol of both serene simplicity and boundless potential, upon which lives can be rebuilt, and hope restored.<\/em><\/p>\n

HFFL:<\/strong> This is going to be SO fun to forge on!!! Glad to have a water canvas now!<\/span><\/p>\n