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Most-Asked Questions
Be sure to read the Xbox Halo FAQ, PC Halo FAQ, and Halo 2 FAQ at Bungie.net for answers to most basic questions, right from the mouths of the developers.
When I play multiplayer, my screen is split vertically. How can I change it back to the way it was in Halo - with a horizontal split?
If you want horizontal split, you'll have to disable the 'widescreen' option
before you start playing. That's how it decides which direction to split
the screen.
You do this in the Dashboard.
We have a Halo/Halo 2 Xbox/PC/Mac Clan... can you sponsor us?
For the record: HBO is completely non-profit. More than that, it's non-income-generating at ALL. We accept no advertising, we offer no subscriptions. All of the money to run this website (and it adds up to a significant amount) comes from the pockets of staff members. There isn't a lot left over for stuff like clan sponsorship - sorry.
Hey! I came back to a saved game, and two weapons got crossed! What happened?
So you were playing along on (insert level name here), and you saved your game... and when you came back to it, your (insert weapon name one here) was firing projectiles from your (insert weapon name two here) -it was using weapon two's targeting reticle, in fact except for LOOKING like weapon one, it WAS weapon two. What's going on? Well, nobody's figured out ALL the details yet - which is why it's never been added to the Tricks section, or any other permanent location. We know enough about it, though, to add this FAQ entry... and hopefully, to decrease the number of times the question gets asked. It has SOMETHING to do with switching weapons as you're saving your game; the engine seems to get confused about what weapon it's currently showing. It's not quite that simple, though, since nobody's found a way to reproduce the behavior on demand (which means we don't understand all the triggers involved in bringing it out in the first place). Suffice it to say, though, that it's been seen on pretty much every single campaign level, with an enormous variety of weapon pairs. It's not new, and unless you can reproduce it at will, there's nothing we can do with your video footage.
When Halo 2 is released, what will happen to HBO? Will there be a halo2.bungie.org?
HBO will stay HBO - just like myth.bungie.org covers Myth, Myth II, Myth III and marathon.bungie.org covers Marathon, Marathon 2, Marathon Infinity. We'll probably set up filters so that you can view only Halo 2 info, if you want (or Halo info, or Halo PC info) - check the Screenshots section for one way we might handle this.
How do I mod my Xbox, so I can hack Halo?
While we here at HBO think the results are pretty cool, this is a Halo site, not an Xbox modding site. We do not provide any information on how to mod your Xbox or how to hack Halo, nor will we in the future. There are plenty of places to get this sort of information, if you're interested - if you can't find them without our help, you probably shouldn't be looking.
Hey, my buddy/brother/neighbor says he's beta-testing Halo 2... is this possible?
From Bungie Online Team member David Candland, in a forum post:
When Halo 2 is in beta mode, it won't be on disk but will require the tester to own an Xbox debug/development kit with a DVD emulator drive. In order to beta test Halo 2, you will need to have one of these, which, consequently, will require you to be a licensed Xbox developer.
Of course, any licensed Xbox developer that is outside MS Game Studios is our competition, so you can logically assume we won't be sending out beta versions of Halo 2 outside MGS. And even inside MGS, only those with permissions set are able to prop a build from our internal server.
So- there is no way to beta test Halo 2. There is no waiting list. There is no email to apply for one. When Halo 2 nears completion, there may be internal playtest opportunities, but if anyone tells you they have a beta disk of Halo 2 you can rest assured it is complete hogwash.
It doesn't get any clearer than this. The other thing to remember is this: any beta testers for any Bungie game will be REQUIRED to sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA). Posting about their experience (or boasting to their friends) would be grounds for a lawsuit.
What's all this I hear about a Yellow Banshee in Halo?
Apologies to all the forum regulars... but this FAQ entry is now necessary. The Yellow Banshee is a mythical beast - at least in Halo: Combat Evolved. (I wouldn't put it beyond Bungie to add it as an easter egg in Halo 2, simply because it raised such a ruckus this time around.) The origin of the Yellow Banshee can be placed squarely on the shoulders of Skavenger_s7, a forum regular. It was 'created' to poke fun at some of the more outrageous claims of another forum visitor in early October. From there, its 'existence' grew in fits and starts, reaching a peak when Matt Baker did a pretty good job with Photoshop and turned out some 'Yellow Banshee Gallery Art'. The hoax was perpetuated by the forum as a whole, without any real discussion; folks just worked together to confuse the newcomers who heard about this Yellow Banshee in other places and came here to find out about it. Red Loser did a nice job compiling all the existing info about the Yellow Banshee in a single place... but the fact remains, there is no Yellow Banshee in Halo, and we're sorry if you're angry that you were taken in by the hoax. Think of the Yellow Banshee as a symbol for all that remains unfound in Halo: Combat Evolved (and I guarantee that there is still stuff to be found), and enjoy the camaraderie of a community that banded together behind this spontaneous construct.
It says 'Only on Xbox'! Why is it out on PC and Mac?
"Only on Xbox" means "Not on any other console". It does NOT mean "Never coming to Mac or PC".
Will I be able to use bots in the multiplayer maps, either to increase the competition when there are only a few of us, or to PLAY the multiplayer maps alone?
Simple answer: No. Slightly less simple answer: Bungie has gone on record as saying that bots were never an integral part of Halo. Focus is on solo play, or player-to-player net play. Bungie programmers have also explained how using bots in multiplayer mode is not the same as using them in single-player mode - and that the AI needed to have them play in any non-deathmatch mode just doesn't exist, due in part to time constraints. There HAS been work introducing single-player AI into multiplayer maps by modders, however... check sites like Halomods.com and Halocity.org for more details.
Will there be a patch for Halo? Will there be a Halo 1.5? Will there be an upgrade pack that adds new content to the game?
This rumor is occasionally started by gaming sites. Bungie has never stated that they are working on such a product, and until they do, this update is merely a rumor.
One thing Bungie has said, however, is that creating an add-on for Halo is virtually impossible due to the way the game was designed. There are no "hooks" in the engine for new content to be inserted into, nor does it have any way of looking for add-ons on the Xbox's HD (and it goes without saying that the DVD Halo ships on cannot be modified). Therefore, an add-on is extremely unlikely, even if Bungie wanted to make one.
Is it true that if you beat the game on Legendary in less than three hours, you will unlock extra guns?
No. This was invented by various cheating-related websites. It has been confirmed to be false by Bungie.
How do I use additional vehicles in a network game? You have to create a new gametype, and select the vehicle mode "all". Halo's multiplayer configuration screens are mostly self-explanatory. You can enable any combination of 2 Warthogs, 2 Scorpions, and 4 Ghosts.
How do I get certain vehicles? In general, if you find an empty vehicle you can drive it. However, there are some notable exceptions to this which may cause confusion:
- The Banshees on Halo (level 2): It is not possible to use these Banshees, even if the pilot falls out and the aircraft is found empty (this does happen sometimes). The ability to fly on that level would cause all sorts of problems with its scripts and layout, so Bungie made sure the player would never be able to.
- The Banshee on Silent Cartographer: Straight from Bungie: There is no Banshee in the final version of Silent Cartographer. The screenshot on the back of the box was taken from one of Bungie's custom internal versions of Halo, which can differ significantly from the released game.
- The Wraith: It is not possible to drive the Wraith, even if you find an empty one or eject the driver without damaging it (both can be done with a little effort).
What's with the random words that appear while gathering network games? Each Xbox has a name, which is randomly chosen from a large selection. This name is used to identify the Xbox on the network. Some games allow you to change this name, Halo does not.
You have all these cool movies on your site, but I can't see any of them?! When I try, I just get audio, and a white screen (or they don't open at all). HELP?
Most of the new videos being made use Sorenson 3 compression, and require QuickTime 5+ to view - QuickTime 4 won't cut it, nor will WMP's QTdecoder. QT 6 is free - you can get it from Apple's QuickTime page.
Where's the flamethrower?
The flamethrower was never fully implemented due to time constraints and was removed from the game shortly before release. There is a screenshot of the Chief holding a flamethrower floating around the 'net, this is a very old screenshot (at least as far back as July 2001, 4 months before Halo's release) that does not reflect the final game. Modders managed to find some resources for the Flamethrower in the Xbox game - there are no player animations (so someone HOLDING the flamethrower looks rather funny), but it's useable. Check Halomods.com for more details.
How does Bungie make those cool screenshots, with no HUD, and no gun, and how are they so clear?
They start with a beta version of Halo and an Xbox dev kit (with extra hardware).
The photographer plays Halo normally, until he gets to a place where he wants to take a screenshot.
He then freezes the action.
At this point, he can step forward at frame-by frame speeds, if it's not perfect yet. Once he's happy with the location, he can 'disconnect' the camera from where it is and fly it to wherever he likes. It doesn't even have to be a place that was visible from the original action.
Once he's happy with the camera placement, he snaps the shot. He can define the SIZE of the snapped shot - it's still in 640x480 increments, but he can define how many pieces to break it up into. A standard size seems to be 9 panes (3x3), resulting in a screenshot that's 1920x1440 pixels.
These images are then transferred over to a pc, and resized for release on the web, in Photoshop.
THAT'S why they look so sharp, and THAT'S how they get such cool angles. :)
I got this mail from someone, it had 'halo.bungie.org' in the [From:, Subject:] line - are you sending me a virus?
Yes, the message is probably virus-filled.
It didn't come from us, though...
It was the Klez virus, which has a built-in mailer, and tends to
forge the 'From' line. It pulls random addresses from the infected
user's browser cache (or, in some varieties, their address book) and
sticks one of those addresses in the 'From' line, the other in the
'To' line.
If you check the full headers, you'll see it didn't come from our mailserver.
(HBO is run off a mac, which is immune to the Klez virus - another
sign that suggests we're not behind it all. :) )
Your address likely got snagged because the infected party visited our site; they got OUR address that way, and yours, as well, if you've been in our news for anything.
It's annoying, we admit - but it's not us.
Hey, does it say 'RAT' or 'KAT' on the side of the gun in that Halo 2 screenshot?
Neither one. The screenshot in question, a still from the Halo 2 Announcement trailer, shows the Master Chief holding a new assault rifle, with some chinese and english text along the side. The first english (or, more accurately, german) word, as can be seen here (thanks, Storm Singer) reads 'Kal' - short for 'Kaliber'. This has been confirmed by sources within Bungie. (The Chinese, for what it's worth, translates to 'Monkey King' - a Google search will turn up more information about this subject than most sane minds can handle.)
Hey, when is Halo 2 due to come out? How many players will it support in multiplayer? Can you play coop on more than one screen? Can you <insert Halo2 question here>?
Halo 2 will be released on November 9, 2004. Very, very little info is known about the single-player mode now, and multiplayer information is limited to what could be gleaned from the demo shown at E3 2004. When we know more, we promise - you'll know more.
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