27 February 2013 Link to this bulletin Original Waypoint link Return to main page

<<

6 November 2014 30 October 2014 23 October 2014 16 October 2014 8 October 2014 2 October 2014 24 September 2014 17 September 2014 5 September 2014 27 August 2014 21 August 2014 6 August 2014 30 July 2014 23 July 2014 16 July 2014 10 July 2014 2 July 2014 25 June 2014 19 June 2014 4 June 2014 28 May 2014 21 May 2014 14 May 2014 7 May 2014 30 April 2014 23 April 2014 16 April 2014 9 April 2014 2 April 2014 26 March 2014 19 March 2014 12 March 2014 5 March 2014 26 February 2014 19 February 2014 12 February 2014 5 February 2014 29 January 2014 22 January 2014 15 January 2014 8 January 2014 18 December 2013 11 December 2013 4 December 2013 27 November 2013 20 November 2013 13 November 2013 6 November 2013 30 October 2013 23 October 2013 16 October 2013 9 October 2013 2 October 2013 25 September 2013 18 September 2013 11 September 2013 4 September 2013 28 August 2013 21 August 2013 14 August 2013 7 August 2013 31 July 2013 24 July 2013 17 July 2013 10 July 2013 3 July 2013 27 June 2013 19 June 2013 5 June 2013 29 May 2013 22 May 2013 15 May 2013 8 May 2013 1 May 2013 24 April 2013 17 April 2013 10 April 2013 3 April 2013 28 March 2013 20 March 2013 13 March 2013 6 March 2013 27 February 2013 20 February 2013 13 February 2013 6 February 2013 30 January 2013 23 January 2013 16 January 2013 9 January 2013 12 December 2012 6 December 2012 29 November 2012 21 November 2012 14 November 2012 8 November 2012 1 November 2012 25 October 2012 17 October 2012 10 October 2012 3 October 2012 26 September 2012 19 September 2012 12 September 2012 5 September 2012 29 August 2012 22 August 2012 15 August 2012 8 August 2012 25 July 2012 18 July 2012 13 July 2012 6 July 2012 28 June 2012 20 June 2012 13 June 2012 9 June 2012 30 May 2012 25 May 2012 16 May 2012 9 May 2012 2 May 2012 26 April 2012 17 April 2012 11 April 2012 5 April 2012 28 March 2012 21 March 2012 15 March 2012 7 March 2012 1 March 2012 23 February 2012 15 February 2012 8 February 2012 2 February 2012 25 January 2012 18 January 2012 12 January 2012 4 January 2012 28 December 2011 21 December 2011 14 December 2011 8 December 2011 30 November 2011 23 November 2011 17 November 2011 9 November 2011 2 November 2011 26 October 2011 19 October 2011 12 October 2011 5 October 2011 28 September 2011 21 September 2011 14 September 2011 8 September 2011 31 August 2011 24 August 2011 17 August 2011 10 August 2011 3 August 2011 27 July 2011 20 July 2011 13 July 2011 6 July 2011 28 June 2011 22 June 2011 15 June 2011 7 June 2011

>>

The Halo Bulletin: 2.27.13

Majestic Map Pack

To me, Sunday is about sleep and Halo (not necessarily in that order), and if you were one of the over 55,000 people that joined us for our Majestic Map Pack live stream last weekend, we have at least one of those things in common. While I had to forgo the former to participate in the latter, the sacrifice was worth it, as maps were previewed, matches were played and a love for one particular inanimate object was born. Oh yes, I'm talking about dat tarp.

If you missed our Majestic Map Pack live stream, you can watch it in its entirety here. Included are tips and tricks for nabbing the 10 new Achievements, along with flythroughs, free-for-alls and team games on Landfall, Monolith and Skyline. There is also an abundance of David Ellis facial hair, if you happen to be into that sort of thing. And really, who isn't?

Should the watching of previously recorded events that were at one point live but are no longer happening in real time be excluded from your usual list of preferred activities, you should instead check out screenshots of the new maps in the Halo 4 File Browser. The hyperlinked search is for Skyline, but simply change the top filter available on the left sidebar to see the other two maps.

Oh, did I mention that the Halo 4 File Share is now available on web? You can get a quick run-through of its features in this article, or you can just dive right into the browser itself. I recommend both but not before you read the rest of this Bulletin, because we've got Matchmaking updates, Spartan Ops summaries and a collection of amazing screenshots captured by your Halo brethren to read, reflect upon and ogle. So let's get started, shall we?

Next Week's Matchmaking Playlist Update

Extraction is a word with many meanings. For the dentally unlucky, it's the removal of a tooth. For Isaac Clark, it's a prequel to his first game. For Halo 4 players, it's as follows:

Extraction is a 5 vs. 5 objective-based game type where opposing Spartan teams are tasked with extracting assets from various sites around the map. Once a team has found a site and is in position, they must plant their beacon and protect it from the opposing team while the extraction process occurs. If the defending team remains in control of the beacon, they receive one point, however if the opposing team overtakes the site before extraction is complete, the point is theirs. Once a site has been extracted, a new site becomes available. The first team to extract five points wins.

Why am I making you read a description of this particular game type? Read the latest Matchmaking update, penned by none other than Bravo himself, for the specifics.

Week of 3.4:

Bravo here with the Matchmaking update! On Monday, Spartan Ops continues with an encore of episode 6. In War Games, we're proud to premiere Extraction in its very own, brand new playlist. While the variant is currently available in both Team Throwdown and Majestic Team DLC, this new playlist will provide you with the opportunity to extract all day, every day.

Here are the settings that will be featured in the playlist:

Mode	Extraction
Team Setup	5 vs. 5
Score to Win	5
Loadouts	Custom
Instant Respawn	Disabled
Death Cam	Enabled
Motion Tracker	Enabled
Personal Ordnance	Disabled
Active Sites	Map Dependent
Site Location	Sequential
Site Movement	On Extraction
Arming Time	3 Seconds
Extraction Time	45 Seconds
Conversion Time	3 Seconds
Timer Pause	Enabled

We're very happy to offer this new game mode as a standalone playlist, and hope that you check it out this week. Afterwards, head to the War Games Feedback section and let us know what you think!

We'll also be updating the Capture the Flag playlist with two new maps: Simplex and Settler. Simplex, an arena-style map from community forger SaLoT, has seen the spotlight in both the Community Forge Test and Team Throwdown playlists. Settler is a fast paced, semi-symmetrical on-disc Ravine variant that rests atop a verdant cliff side - it will be appearing in Matchmaking for the first time, slightly tweaked for 5 vs. 5 CTF. Also, as you may have seen on the forums, motion tracker is currently disabled for Rumble Pro, and we'll be correcting this with Monday's update.

We are currently evaluating the join-in-progress window across all playlists, and we'll be updating this window for Majestic FFA DLC on Monday - be on the lookout for the specifics of this update in the Matchmaking section. Lastly, we'll be revisiting the respawn times in the Majestic Team DLC playlist to ensure that they provide an optimal gameplay experience.

If there's no Matchmaking Update next week, it's because I'm at home playing Extraction and following up by posting my constructive feedback on the Waypoint forums. Man, I'm awesome. [bs angel note: And humble as well. ;) ]

Spartan Ops Update

Episode 10 of Spartan Ops premiered on 2.18, and with it came the dramatic end of Season 1. Just as he did for episodes 1-8, Brian Reed, franchise writer and author of Spartan Ops Season 1, is back with two more fiction summaries, this time for episodes 9 and 10. As previous abridgements are scattered throughout four different Bulletins, we'll be publishing the fiction summaries for all 10 episodes next week in one handy-dandy article. Until then, here are the final two pieces of Season 1's puzzle, sprinkled with in-depth insight only the author of Spartan Ops can offer.

Episode 9: Key

This was, in a lot of ways, one of the hardest episodes to write, because we had so many moving pieces. Palmer's in one place, Majestic in another, Halsey in another - but we have to get them all in the same place at the same time and do it convincingly. For days and days it drove us nuts as we tried to make it make sense that Thorne and Palmer would get to that room at the same time. And then it clicked - Lasky was just standing there telling Palmer he disagreed with the order from Osman. But he wasn't doing anything about it. A quick re-write, a last second pick up shot on the mocap stage in Los Angeles, and suddenly Lasky was sending Majestic on another mission - a mission that he's going to have to answer eventually.

I'm really happy we finally got to put Palmer in the field in these two episodes. I wanted her down there much earlier than this, but the duties of command mean you don't always get to go run around on the planet shooting bad guys with your friends.

Episode 10: Exodus and Episode 11: Exodus Conclusion

We couldn't figure out how the story ended. Room full of smart people, all with storytelling skills and the resumes to prove it, and we could not tie a bow on this story in the outline stage. Then Frank O'Connor says, "Maybe Jul just drives Requiem into the sun." And we all laughed, because that was so wonderfully absurd. A half hour later we still didn't have an idea of how the Requiem adventure ended. Eventually we let Jul drive Requiem into the sun because, come on. That's pretty awesome, throwing planets into suns.

Poor Catherine Halsey. Don't get me wrong, she's a monster. A war criminal. A woman who kidnapped and killed children because she thought the ends justified the means. But then we come along and chop off her arm simply because we wanted a spot of ambiguity in her final line. In the original draft, she was shot, but in one piece. Jul asked her what she wanted, she said, "Revenge" and everyone knew she meant on Palmer and the crew of Infinity. But we didn't want that. Halsey is a woman who is always saying two things at once. To end on a note from her that was so clearly defined just felt wrong.

So I chopped off her arm. Now she glances at her shoulder before answering Jul's question and you have to ask: Who does she want revenge on? Palmer? Jul? Everyone?

I wrote the words late one night around 2am. The next day in the office I pitched the idea to Halo 4 Narrative Director Armando Troisi.

"Get out of here," Arm said. "She's gonna be so mad."

Yes, Armando... yes she is.

While I can neither confirm nor deny that Halsey is mad, I can tell you that if you missed the second half of Spartan Ops Season 1 or if you want to replay it now that you have several morsels of tantalizing insight at your disposal, we'll be rerunning episodes 6-10 starting March 4. So tune in on Monday, Tuesday or any day next week to have another shot at episode 6. Halsey, Thorne and Glassman thank you in advance.

Halo 4 Screenshot Spotlight - Wallpapers

The Halo 4 File Browser hit Waypoint web yesterday! To celebrate, we will be featuring Halo 4 screenshots and the artists that capture these amazing images today and also in future installments of the Bulletin. This week we're shining the spotlight on screenshots that work perfectly as wallpapers. So ogle the following collection of images and perhaps even set one (or all!) as your background.

For your chance at being in next week's spotlight, take a screenshot of an Armor Ability. Then tag it with "Armor Ability" 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. I'll see you next week, same time, same place, assuming I don't see you through the scope of my Battle Rifle first...

<3,
bs angel

P.S. Discuss.