|
Spoilers are currently disabled. (All newsposts are visible.) |
||
View the Archives: |
||
 | August 2001 |  |
August 2001 Archived News
News August 31 2001
Xbox comes online
Temjin caught an article over at IGN Xbox which trumpets the arrival of online capability for the Xbox. Is it too late for games like Halo? Probably, since the game's release date is now just over 2 months away; adding major new features at this stage would be pretty reckless... but until you hear it from Bungie themselves, nothing's for sure! (Louis Wu 16:14:14 UTC) (permalink)
Priceless headshots
Filling a void that we didn't even notice until we saw this artwork, Nathan Giem submits the first (but maybe not the last) parody of the famous Mastercard 'Priceless' ad campaign. You can find it in our Miscellaneous Art section. (Please - this one is very well done, but if we get a bunch of shoddy copies, we may start rejecting some.) (Louis Wu 16:06:29 UTC) (permalink)
Still MORE Wallpapers 4 U
The recent remarkable Wallpaper production trend continues - today we got another from Mike Price, called 'From Concept to Reality', and another from Siva, enhancing his Curves collection. Check 'em out in our Wallpaper section! (Louis Wu 15:55:27 UTC) (permalink)
News August 30 2001
Wallpaper hits the 200 mark
Two more desktops for you today - another from Siva, who started this latest trend and continues to send in attractive images, and one from FunkyJ, who... um, is sending in original artwork. Sort of. Check 'em both out in the Wallpaper section. (Louis Wu 23:23:47 UTC) (permalink)
Halo Literature... coming up
Sometimes, you just luck out. Adam Daniel took it upon himself to learn a bit more about the Halo Guide he discovered earlier - and he came up with more than even he realized. First, he called Prima Games, and learned these facts:
Expected in stores November 11th
Software platform: Xbox
Media rating: Teen
Media grade: AA
ISBN: 0761537449
144 pages
(Neither Adam nor the Prima representative he spoke with have any idea what that 'Media grade' means.) Then he followed up this call with a search of Random House's website... and discovered that it's a paperback. (Not really suprising, given the content.) What he seems to have missed, but which jumped out at me when I hit that search link, was the OTHER Halo-related title at Random House: 'Halo: The Fall of Reach', to be available in both eBook and Del Rey paperback format by October 2001. A full-length Halo Fan Fiction, published by Random House, out before the game is? WOW! Kudos to Adam for uncovering all this - both the details of the Strategy Guide, and the existence of the novel! (Louis Wu 22:57:44 UTC) (permalink)
And the submissions roll on
A day for impressionists... we received two new desktops today - one from Uriel, editor at Halo Network, and the other from [SE]X-Com, editor at Socket Error - both take an artsy approach to image modification. You'll find both in our Wallpaper section. (Louis Wu 16:15:37 UTC) (permalink)
New is old, in blink of an eye
Yesterday, Siva created an original wallpaper in an attempt to inspire folks to move away from modified Bungie creations. Well, Mike Price took him up on it - and our first new submission is a modified Siva creation. Check it out in our Wallpaper section. (Louis Wu 15:50:16 UTC) (permalink)
Halo Guide listed at Bestprices.com
Adam Daniel noticed that Bestprices.com has a listing for a 'Halo Guide', by Prima Publishing. There's almost no info at Bestprices, and none at all at Prima... anyone feel like digging? (Louis Wu 15:24:58 UTC) (permalink)
News August 29 2001
Moving away from the old
Eric 'Siva' Salzman, in an effort to encourage more innovative desktop design, has sent in a gorgeous new Halo desktop for our Wallpaper section. Grab it... then be inspired! (Louis Wu 22:33:25 UTC) (permalink)
More retro-style Wallpaper
Continuing with the rash of old-style images in desktops, Colby Campbell sends in a new composition for our Wallpaper section. Take a look... (Louis Wu 14:48:44 UTC) (permalink)
News August 28 2001
Amazon.com says Yes to Halo
Thanks to Noctavis, who noted (on the R.net forum) that Amazon.com took a look at the hottest Xbox titles... and their number one pick was Halo.
However you choose to hero your way through Halo, the action should break in your new Xbox in explosive style.
Nice! (Louis Wu 21:06:58 UTC) (permalink)
Zartman and Bungie - working together
Hmm... curiouser and curiouser. Last week, Matt Soell mentioned the name of Doug Zartman in his Halo Update... and Hamish Sinclair wondered out loud about it on the Marathon's Story Page. Well, today Matt clarified the comment - seems Doug, in his capacity as part of Microsoft's Intellectual Property group, is doing quite a bit of Halo-related work these days... nice to see old names come together. (Check the What's New section for August 28th for full details.) (Louis Wu 20:58:33 UTC) (permalink)
End of drought in sight
Matt Soell dropped by our forum recently to explain a bit about the dearth of new Halo material (screenshots, videos, etc). Bottom line - there's stuff coming... soon™. (Louis Wu 06:10:19 UTC) (permalink)
Marine in Grey
Ashley Power sends in another desktop image for our Wallpaper section - this one in shades of grey. Take a look! (Louis Wu 05:55:57 UTC) (permalink)
In your face
Uploaded to our ftp site, a German clan site called Socket Error modifies a Halo screenshot for our Miscellaneous Art section. Check it out! (Louis Wu 05:44:39 UTC) (permalink)
Gaming Age looks at Halo
op-ivy noticed a new Halo preview at Gaming Age. There's nothing new in it, and in fact there is some incorrect info (nothing major)... but press is press, right? (Louis Wu 04:37:41 UTC) (permalink)
Bullet to the brain
Death and destruction on the Halo, in NevinNiven's new story, 'Sniper's Paradise'. You'll find it in our Fan Fiction section. (Louis Wu 04:03:39 UTC) (permalink)
News August 27 2001
Is it in you?
He squeezed his eyes shut, blood pounding behind them. His fists clenched, fingernails biting into his palms and drawing up blood.
But he knew. He knew.
Lieutenant Hibbins finds the strength to go on in Vector40's latest story, 'A Reason for Fighting'. Check it out in our Fan Fiction section. (Louis Wu 17:38:59 UTC) (permalink)
Fun with Photoshop
Marcel Baert sends in three variations on a theme for our Wallpaper section. Enjoy! (Louis Wu 17:36:17 UTC) (permalink)
Mmm... vehicles
The Watcher writes to let us know that the results for last week's Question of the Week at the Online Universe have been posted. Check it out! (Louis Wu 17:23:46 UTC) (permalink)
Halo SETI Team 7 day stats posted
Dink!... Dink!... The Halo SETI Marines get slammed down two slots, to 52nd in the Battle of the Teams, due in part to the meteoric rise of Team Russia. Even with the timely addition of -horn- and Bjlake, they're slipping - can you help? 7 day team stats show who's pulling their weight, and who's letting the Covenant slip in under the radar screen. (Louis Wu 17:19:53 UTC) (permalink)
Covenant pr0n
It was an interesting lesson in anatomy, seeing a fully grown Covenant elite standing naked before them. Restored to his natural state, he seamed nothing more than a wild animal that somehow evolved to walk on two legs. But now the awesome power of his muscular structure was fully realized, as well, and Tsheac did not seem any less intimidating.
The humans get more than they bargained for in the latest installment of 'Sea of Steel', in our Fan Fiction section. Thanks to Omniscient for sending it along! (Louis Wu 05:30:40 UTC) (permalink)
News August 26 2001
More Desktop variety
Ashley Power sends in another Wallpaper for our Wallpaper section - old shots, but a nice desktop image in any case! (Louis Wu 21:50:10 UTC) (permalink)
halo-war.de comes online
Christoph Lipp writes to say he's started up a new Halo fan page - halo-war.de. Check it out! (Louis Wu 15:33:06 UTC) (permalink)
Lens flares and Marines
Lucas McFaul sends in a new Wallpaper for our Wallpaper section. (He was under the impression we only had 3 wallpapers in our collection - for anyone else under this misimpression, check out the navigation arrows at the top of the page - they'll allow you to scroll through the collection, three backgrounds at a time.) (Louis Wu 15:25:47 UTC) (permalink)
News August 25 2001
Xbox != PC, in plain english
Bryan Kaufman sends in a pretty interesting link from The Enquirer, called "Inner Secrets of X-box Revealed". There's quite a bit of information from an anonymous Xbox developer - a goodly chunk of the technical points have been independently confirmed by Mat Noguchi in various posts on our forum, and it's nice to see it all in one place like this. Definitely worth a read, for anyone who thinks that 'the Xbox is just a PC with some custom stuff'. (Louis Wu 15:07:56 UTC) (permalink)
Fan Fiction - incoming
"Jeneril, I come in piecess . . . no, peace, I mean . . ."
Omniscient's Sea of Steel saga climbs to chapter 10 - and non-lethal contact is made. You'll find it, and the other 9 chapters, in our Fan Fiction section. (Louis Wu 15:00:24 UTC) (permalink)
Marty hasn't stopped screaming
Musashi's Book of Five Rings? Matt's Weekly Halo Update has arrived... and Matt sounds in definitely better spirits. (He's also playing Halo, to the detriment of Update deadlines...) Lots of tweaks, several tantalizing tidbits... read it for yourself! (Louis Wu 01:21:33 UTC) (permalink)
Rolling Stone screenshot scanned
Thanks to Jesse Simko, who scanned in the new screenshot seen in a recent Rolling Stone issue... and to Stephen Laughlin, who pointed it out to us. (Pet peeve - and this isn't directed at Jesse, it's a general thing - if you run across a screenshot of Halo in a magazine, PLEASE - give more information about the location than 'the current issue'. There have been at least 4 threads discussing this Rolling Stone issue, and NOBODY has stated anything about the issue involved (beyond a mention of 'the issue with all the Nirvana interviews' - which still requires searching what's on the newsstand for content). Saying "The August 3rd issue of Newsweek, on Page 45" would be FAR more useful to others attempting to buy the magazine for scanning purposes.) (Louis Wu 00:41:48 UTC) (permalink)
News August 24 2001
New layout for Halo's Universe
Bosskiller 51 writes to say that Halo's Universe has a new layout. Spartan, but readable - we like that! (Louis Wu 06:04:09 UTC) (permalink)
News August 23 2001
Bob cleans up a big mess
He came upon the first body while still in the trees. It lay there with a huge hole in its torso like it had been shot with some sort of explosive weapon. Blue blood had soaked into the ground beneath it, washing into its face as it lay on a slight decline.
Tursas sends us Chapter 9 of the Hermes Trismegistus story, wherein Bob contemplates death from a few angles. Check it out in our Fan Fiction section. (Louis Wu 06:03:00 UTC) (permalink)
News August 22 2001
Calling all Seattle-ites...
Not Halo related at all - but an emergency is an emergency. Matt Soell is having a rather critical laptop problem, and needs very fast advice from Seattle-area techheads - check out the details, and if you can help, do so. He writes his weekly Halo Updates on that Powerbook! (Louis Wu 23:18:51 UTC) (permalink)
You can't have it
Sikora (alias Bsotizz) sends in yet another image for our Wallpaper section. Harsh concept... (Louis Wu 14:46:07 UTC) (permalink)
Wallpaper section updated
Sikora sends us another reworked Halo image for our Wallpaper section - 'Iceblue' is icy and blue! (Louis Wu 01:55:29 UTC) (permalink)
Halo Launch Party, Baby
Matt Soell dropped by our forum to ask folks to vote in the latest Bungie.net poll - they're considering holding a Halo Launch Party in either Chicago or New York, and are wondering how many folks would be interested in coming. Make your opinion count! (Louis Wu 01:38:41 UTC) (permalink)
News August 21 2001
Halo SETI Team 21 day stats posted
The Halo SETI Marines, neglected these past weeks, are finally accounted for again - these stats were collected yesterday, but not posted. A number of new members, and solid crunching by existing members, have held the Marines in position 50 in the Battle of the Teams. We've lost a couple - are you doing YOUR part? Check the 21 day stats page to find out! (Louis Wu 09:30:33 UTC) (permalink)
Perfect Cowboy rides a burro
Followup: Yesterday, we posted a news bit about some interesting info over on the TeamXbox forums, presumably from the Halo Product Marketer, Steve Fowler. Jonki, another team member, has now confirmed that this was NOT, in fact, Steve Fowler... but a poser. Nice try... we're back to not knowing about co-op limits, frames-per-second, or water craft. I suppose that's a good thing. (Louis Wu 01:58:44 UTC) (permalink)
News August 20 2001
Halo Update Database recentified
The last two Weekly Halo Updates have finally made it into the Halo Update Database - now you can check up on what Matt's said over the last 6 months about glass. Go on - you know you want to. (Louis Wu 02:29:45 UTC) (permalink)
What do YOU want from Halo?
The Online Universe has posted its results for last week's Question of the Week, having to do with level types. There's a new Question, along with an editorial about platform supremacy - you can find most of the links on the News page. (Louis Wu 02:26:59 UTC) (permalink)
Wish you were here...
raVen sends us a Halo Postcard - we've put it in our Wallpaper section. (Louis Wu 00:37:48 UTC) (permalink)
News August 19 2001
Mmm... little green men
Thanks to TomeOne, who noticed these two little images over on Mehve's Aerie, the personal site of Lorraine Reyes, a Bungie artist currently working on Phoenix.
 |  |
Apologies to Mehve for any image degradation introduced in the quest for fast-loading pages - the originals can still be found on her site. (Louis Wu 19:36:10 UTC) (permalink)
MREs never tasted so good
The retribution of the AR was swift, cutting into the grass and causing four dead Covenant to spill out from it.
NevinNiven sends in Part 3 of his 'Down In Flames' story - the Fan Fiction section continues to balloon. (Louis Wu 19:16:57 UTC) (permalink)
Perfect Cowboy holds court at TeamXbox
Char the Pirate writes exuberantly to point out that Perfect Cowboy, who may be Steve Fowler, Product Marketer for Halo, jumped onto the TeamXbox Forums with a boatload (interesting choice of words, that) of info about Halo last night. High points: Halo is now locked at 60 FPS; Watercraft/water battles seem to be out; Co-op mode is 2-player only (why?); the first Halo commercial should be out in October. There's quite a bit more - read the entire thread! (Thanks to Jonki, Product Planner for Halo, for a tentative confirmation that Perfect Cowboy indeed sounds like Steve Fowler. We're still waiting for official confirmation, though.) (Louis Wu 18:44:42 UTC) (permalink)
Another (slightly old) Halo preview
Last week, we mentioned that FunXbox had put up a picture of the Xbox development kit from the Bungie Webcam... what we forgot to mention was they'd also put up a Halo preview. It's a little funky on the hard info (I'd question the weapons count, for one thing), but it's pretty dang positive. Always nice to get good press! (Louis Wu 18:28:16 UTC) (permalink)
Pregnancy on the Halo
"It must be here. The humans know it, too. We must find it first, brother. I know you know."
Omniscient sends in part 9 of his 'Sea of Steel' saga - family tensions mount. Check it out in our Fan Fiction section. (Did I mention I was back? A HUGE round of applause for Count Zero, who proved I'm nowhere near indispensable.) (Louis Wu 14:11:43 UTC) (permalink)
I think we all know the answer to that
Been a while since I've seen one of these: Elbert D. Wall points out that GameFAQs has a new poll: Which X-box game are you looking forward to? You know what to do... (Count Zero 04:37:11 UTC) (permalink)
Everybody wants a look
New site EDBIS has thrown up a Halo preview. Not bad, except for the old screenshots... (Count Zero 04:34:08 UTC) (permalink)
News August 18 2001
Halo Update found
This week's Halo Update has surfaced on Rampancy.net. That's a whole lot of music... (Count Zero 05:01:57 UTC) (permalink)
News August 17 2001
Halo: Tagline Explained
This was somehow passed over during the week: Matt Soell has (again) clarified the "Halo: Combat Evolved" issue on Rampancy.net. See what he has to say here. (Count Zero 23:11:59 UTC) (permalink)
Further down the flames
The humans lay motionless, with blood spattered on them. The fire burning nearby, smoke climbing into the sky in a hopless attempt to reach other humans. Several of them were high in the trees, freshly cleaned in a river. And looking about nervously.
The Covenant bite off more than they can chew in Part 2 of NevinNiven's Down in Flames (Count Zero 03:07:54 UTC) (permalink)
News August 16 2001
Buy the farm
A Covenant Banshee sailed high overhead. The Marines crouched in a cave winced as the shrill noise reached their ears.
The Covenant strike back in Matthew Massey's fan fiction, Down in Flames. (Count Zero 23:16:10 UTC) (permalink)
In space, no one can hear you write
General William Aaron, United Earth Marine Corp, awoke to the harsh ringing of the telephone next to his bed. He picked it up, "General Aaron," he said in a groggy voice. "Sir, sorry to wake you, sir, but you'd better come to the Control Station."
Matt Joseph sends in a space-based tale named The Last Stand. (Count Zero 23:01:48 UTC) (permalink)
What about Bob?
Roughly two days later according to time on the Halo, Bob found himself sitting under a large tree, boiling before him in the cooking pot the flesh of a member of one of several species of herd animals that he had found resided on the ring construct.
Bob continues his strange journey in Chapter 8 of Tursas's ongoing story, Hermes Trismegistus (Count Zero 21:20:40 UTC) (permalink)
Mmm... gore
Matt drops in on the forum again to expound on the ESRB rating process and explain what a T (Teen) rating really means. (Count Zero 18:58:48 UTC) (permalink)
So how about that Halo box?
Official Bungie double whammy on the forums today: First David "candyman" Candland gives us the straight dope on the Halo box, and puts some rumors to rest for the umpteenth time. Then, Matt "Matt" Soell further explains the Halo box art. (Count Zero 02:28:18 UTC) (permalink)
News August 15 2001
The further adventures of the Silver Hawks
ÊÊÊÊHis train of thought was derailed as the intercom on the table started beeping. He entertained notions of ignoring it, setting it with a charge of plastique, or dropping it in the "Out" bin- filed the ideas for future reference, reached over and activated the com.
The Silver Hawks indulge in a little electronic espionage (among other things) as Vector40 sends in the next chapter of his Hawk Chronicles. Once again, this very long fanfic was posted as Part 1 and Part 2. (Count Zero 22:07:48 UTC) (permalink)
Sea of Steel continues
"Ar, hey thar matey. Mission successful. We met up with our marine comrades. We took zero casualties, but I'm afeared I can't say the same for the marines. We're returning to the ship. These boys need some new hardware bad."
The plasma hits the fan as Omniscient sends in Part 8 of his ongoing Sea of Steel. (Count Zero 22:02:21 UTC) (permalink)
War is hell
ÊÊÊThe pitch black came apart. Carbines fired in sloppy automatic belches. Tracer fire richochetting wildly off the local terrain. Then the cluster of mines burst. Submunitions scattering shards of metal and explosive into the air at over a hundred miles and hour.
Jon Chang sends in a short, violent story entitled War Hero. (Count Zero 21:49:50 UTC) (permalink)
That magic number again
Thanks to Evil Bastard, who was the first to tip us off that Xbox.com has Halo listed at $49.99 US. Get those preorders ready... (Count Zero 03:15:27 UTC) (permalink)
Look for this on the shelf
A number of people have written, via mail and the forum, to inform us that IGN has come up with what appears to be Halo's box art. It is visible here, along with several other Xbox games. (Count Zero 03:05:36 UTC) (permalink)
News August 14 2001
Cyborgs make great bartenders
Mark Levin points out that our favorite cybernetic soldier has appeared on humor site The Conversatron. Mmm... plasma. (Count Zero 17:37:54 UTC) (permalink)
Sea of Steel continues
"There were twenty-one elites, not twenty. The twenty-first dropped off last. And it was not just an elite. He was a Red, sir. I'd never seen one before, but - damn - I'm sure of it."
Sea of Steel continues as Omniscient sends in Part 7. (Count Zero 03:04:23 UTC) (permalink)
News August 13 2001
We are Beached
"This is Captain Prindle! Covenant have boarded the ship. All Marines and capable hands, equip yourselves and prepare to hold back the enemy forces until all hands can be safely evacuated."
NevinNiven sends in Beached, a look at the troops' arrival on Halo. (Count Zero 23:49:16 UTC) (permalink)
TOL QOTW MB
The results of the latest Question of the Week have been posted at The Online Universe. (Count Zero 02:28:37 UTC) (permalink)
News August 12 2001
Fade to red
Michael gives us a cool new wallpaper . Mmm... red. (Count Zero 21:56:34 UTC) (permalink)
News August 11 2001
FunXbox points out that the Bungie guys have put up a picture of one of their Xbox development kits on the Bungie Webcam. They have posted an enlarged image here. (Count Zero 22:53:25 UTC) (permalink)
Halo: Combat Rusted
Justin Brimm sends in the first of a new generation of logos, based on the new "Combat Evolved" image. Check it out here. (Count Zero 19:31:16 UTC) (permalink)
Sea of Steel, Part 6
"Commander, drop zone is near. I humbly suggest that you prepare to drop," said the sensor operator. Tsheac walked over to him and peered over his shoulder at the screen.
Sea of Steel continues as Omniscient sends in Part 6 of his ongoing story. (Count Zero 19:17:47 UTC) (permalink)
Halo Update
This week's Halo Update has surfaced at HaloPlayers. (Count Zero 18:40:47 UTC) (permalink)
More Halo Warriors
M B sends us a wallpaper based on another wallpaper sent in a few days ago. Does this make it 4th party content? (Count Zero 01:38:39 UTC) (permalink)
Don't miss this chance!
Matt Soell dropped in on our forums to give an update on the status of the Halo playtest. Looks like if you want in, you'd better move fast. (Count Zero 01:23:04 UTC) (permalink)
News August 10 2001
Wallpaper Evolved
Evan Sharp sends in two wallpaper variations on a theme, which may be found here and here. (Count Zero 14:05:40 UTC) (permalink)
News August 9 2001
The REAL Chapter 1, Part 2
The air snapped and flashed, three times. Banning closed his left eye reflexively. When he opened it again, there were six pock marks all along the metallic walls. Wilder grinned, holstered, walked up, and gave the door a kick.
Vector40 sends the next part of his Hawk Chronicles. Find out more of what really happened on that fateful day. (Count Zero 21:47:27 UTC) (permalink)
You don't need to see my ID
Steen Neilsen sends in a new piece of art named Classified Info. (Count Zero 21:43:30 UTC) (permalink)
News August 8 2001
Cyborghood isn't all fun and games
I was hollow in my dream, a ring, yearning to be satisfied enough to live in peace. I think that is a brillant metaphor for who I am now isn't it? Hollow, a hole in my soul that I can't quite fill. I wonder if they did this to me when they made me a cyborg, or if I was like this to begin with.
The adventures of Virgil the despondent cyborg continue in Mad Dog - CFH's Beginning of the End: Avatar (Count Zero 21:28:08 UTC) (permalink)
The charge of the desktop brigade
Nekio sends in a new wallpaper featuring the Cyborg in action. (Count Zero 02:53:59 UTC) (permalink)
The end is the beginning is the end
ÊÊÊÊ I feel something is here waiting for me, guiding me, telling me something. But I want nothing to do with some kind of higher power, or intelligence. I never was a religious man, perhaps that was half the reason why I became a mech in the first place.
From Mad Dog - CFH comes Beginning of the End, the dark tale of an unwilling soldier. (Count Zero 02:16:26 UTC) (permalink)
Return of ye olde poll smash
Gamespot has thrown up a new poll: Which Microsoft-published game are you looking forward too? I think we all know the answer to that... (Count Zero 02:04:45 UTC) (permalink)
Nope, still the same name
Team Xbox has investigated the new Halo logo spotted recently, and gotten this reply from Matt himself:
It's just a tagline, not part of the title (i.e. the game is still named "Halo" not "Halo: Combat Evolved").
(Count Zero 01:57:30 UTC) (permalink)
News August 7 2001
Halo Update archived
Last week's Halo Update has been added to our database. Did the Bungie crew survive? (Count Zero 21:07:54 UTC) (permalink)
Car 54, where are you?
Tom Van Sinden points out an interesting post by Bungie d00d Ferrex to the Rampancy.net forum. I've been wanting that since day 1! (Count Zero 02:26:59 UTC) (permalink)
TOL QOTW MB
The Online Universe has posted the results of the latest Halo Question of the Week (Count Zero 02:22:44 UTC) (permalink)
My kingdom for a plane ticket!
From Bungie Sightings: Bungie is about to hold a series of semi-public Halo playtest days! More information, and instructions on how to get a piece o' de action can be found on Bungie Sightings. In short: You must reserve a spot ahead of time, you must be in the Redmond, WA area, you must sign an NDA. And, like Freewill sez: Report on what you can! Please! (Count Zero 01:50:39 UTC) (permalink)
News August 6 2001
The mother of all fan fiction
Hoo boy. Vector40 sends in more - a lot more - of his epic Hawk Chronicles. First, there's Hawk Chronicles: Prologue, to set the scene. However, Hawk Chronicles: Chapter 1 took a bit of work to post: The database behind the scenes at Halo.bungie.org can only handle fan fiction in 32K chunks, so Chapter 1 had to be split into Part 1 and Part 2. Sorry, Vec ol' buddy... (Count Zero 18:28:04 UTC) (permalink)
Halo Warriors
Charles Powell sends in a new wallpaper. Look at those two... You can cut the tension with a knife. (Count Zero 15:23:35 UTC) (permalink)
Halo: Combat Evolved
An interesting thread on the TeamXBox forums points out that Microsoft's Halo page is now sporting a brand new logo. Combat Evolved? Sounds good! Thanks to Andrew Paul for pointing it out to us. (Count Zero 14:22:41 UTC) (permalink)
News August 5 2001
Violent mispelled Covenant death
The Group on Elites were walking along the hillside, headed due east.There were about five of them, maybe 6. It was hard to tell from 1300 meters.
Koontzy sends in a short, action-packed story entitled "Silent Assasians". (Count Zero 16:23:12 UTC) (permalink)
News August 4 2001
Sea of Steel continues
"Hang on, sir, I'm moving a little closer," said another voice. Louis heard the rustle of leaves and sticks cracking on the radio. Thirty seconds later, the voice returned. "Affirmative. Repeat, affirmative contact. I think it is the clearing, sir."
The crew of the Alcatraz investigates mysterious goings-on as Omniscient sends in another chapter of 'Sea of Steel'. (Count Zero 15:00:00 UTC) (permalink)
Louis takes a break
Your friendly neighborhood maintainer is off for a bit - gonna do some cycling in eastern Canada. Count Zero, who showed up briefly a few days ago, will be filling in for the next couple of weeks... so if anything gets badly screwed up, blame him. (Or blame Crux, who should be whipped soundly for slacking off as he's done recently - even Ding is off for the summer.) Mail to halo@bungie.org will continue to reach the appropriate people... so keep writing, keep painting, keep trawling the net for Halo tidbits! Enjoy yourselves - I know I will. (Louis Wu 05:30:38 UTC) (permalink)
Isn't Brian the dead one?
Short and sweet - that's this week's Halo Update, to be found over at Battleground: Halo. Lots of improvements in weapons, AI, spit and polish... and "Vehicles blow up real good now." Go read all the details over at BGH! (Louis Wu 02:34:13 UTC) (permalink)
You might wanna swap weapons... NOW
A week and a half ago, Young Gwasshoppah posted scans of a Halo spread in this month's PC Gamer (they were later made more accessible by Andrew Roberts). They induced a flurry of discussion on our forum... and then they faded away. They popped up again in Rampancy.net's forum yesterday... and this evening, Ferrex (Dead), part of the dev team, chimed in with some pithy observations about one particular shot. Nice to get Bungie confirmation that this guy is known as a Hunter, which strengthens the Marathon/Halo link (Hunters in Marathon are immune to flame as well)... and Ferrex's assessment of the player's chances made me laugh. Check it out. (Louis Wu 02:26:06 UTC) (permalink)
News August 3 2001
Open Source comes online
It's not clear to me whether this is a sign of the times in the gaming industry, or just an improbable alignment of the stars... but there have been an awful lot of instances recently of people wanting to help gaming companies realize what gamers want to see. The Online Universe is a site devoted to this topic - we've mentioned it a few times recently. There have been several threads on our forum (and others) devoted to features folks would like to see - here's a big one. Well, now there's a new player on the scene - Open Source. This is a site aimed at giving fans a voice - you can submit ideas for new games, ideas for how features in existing (or upcoming) games should work, concepts for new features, and so on... as well as the standard fan-created submissions - artwork, stories, and the like. Check it out - it's pretty hard to explain in a paragraph; you need to explore the site to see what's available and what can be done. Without fan input, the site is nothing - with fan input, the sky's the limit. (Louis Wu 01:34:37 UTC) (permalink)
Covs meet their doom
"What's happening?" yelled the leader. He looked behind him, to see the limp body of his sensor officer lying lifeless against the back wall.
The action heats up in Part Four of Omniscient's 'Sea of Steel' saga. You'll find it (and the rest of the story) in our Fan Fiction section. (Louis Wu 00:59:45 UTC) (permalink)
News August 2 2001
When Covenant Go Bad
Razorback sends in a modified screenshot - we've added it to our Miscellaneous Art section. The funny thing about this screen is, it's possible to get into this sort of a position in a net game! (Louis Wu 12:29:37 UTC) (permalink)
One Dollar Gets You Three Tries
Whoa - a blast from our past. stan, who provided substantial entertainment on our forum (as well as digging up fascinating tidbits, like what Matt eats for breakfast), has resurfaced, with the beginnings of a piece of Fan Fiction. ('Tis the season, apparently.) Death of a Hero even brings up an interesting philosophical point... take a look. (Louis Wu 09:07:02 UTC) (permalink)
Is it a drill?
The loud speaker sounded, "All crew to your respective briefing rooms. Repeat, all crew to your respective briefing rooms."
Omniscient sends in Part Three of his 'Sea of Steel' story - and the action heats up. Check it out in our Fan Fiction section. (Louis Wu 08:50:29 UTC) (permalink)
Spam - it's not just for breakfast any more
// About twenty years before you were born, the powers that were decided to send probes into space in the hopes that they would be picked up by an intelligent alien race. These probes had the pictures of naked members of your species scrawled in gold on the side. They hoped that the other race would then travel to Earth and share the wonders of interstellar travel with humanity. //
"Did anybody find the probes?"
// Did your mom bake bread? //
A Douglas Adams-inspired AI, porn, and Monty Python flashbacks - the Hermes Trismegistus saga (now on Chapter 7) continues to surprise. Check it out in our Fan Fiction section. (Louis Wu 01:08:17 UTC) (permalink)
News August 1 2001
Halo Zone comes online
Thanks to Haloplayers, who got word that a new Halo site has started up - Halo Zone, part of the Total Gamer Network. Nice layout (though the text is a bit small for Mac NS) - they've managed to leave us off their links page... but other than that, a good-looking site! (Louis Wu 22:11:19 UTC) (permalink)
Stranded on the Halo
It will be my greatest offering, my finest work. When I return to Kholai and his shallow subordinates bearing the head of this machine being, the name Galkosh will no longer be spoken with contempt.
Chris Cox submits his latest piece of Fan Fiction, 'The Wanderers', replete with title art from Jason O'Brien. (Future chapters should have more artwork.) The Fan Fiction section continues its rampant growth. (Louis Wu 21:44:41 UTC) (permalink)
New poll at Online Universe
The Online Universe has a new poll up: 'What version of Halo are you planning on buying?' Go and make your opinion known! (Louis Wu 14:52:25 UTC) (permalink)
Fan Fiction section updated
In rapid succession, Koontzy sends us two installments of his latest story, 'Death before Dishonor'. It looks like it could really benefit from a bit of proofreading... but the action's pretty fast-paced. Check them out in our Fan Fiction section. (Louis Wu 14:46:33 UTC) (permalink)
| August 2001 | |
