|
Spoilers are currently disabled. (All newsposts are visible.) |
||
View the Archives: |
||
 | January 2001 |  |
January 2001 Archived News
News January 31 2001
Wallpaper page updated
Whew. Forum regular Razz has submitted 5 new desktop images to our Wallpaper page (a couple are based on existing wallpapers, others are variations on submissions he's made previously), and a 2.1 MB movie, showing a 500-frame animation of a Halo-like landscape. (You'll need the divx decoder to watch this.) Take a look! (Razz is also looking for a 3D model of the jeep, or other Halo vehicle. If you have something that he might use, in .3ds format, drop him a line!) (Louis Wu 19:56:37 UTC) (permalink)
Xbox demoed at MSU
Wow. Microsoft demoed the Xbox at Michigan State University this evening, and we got not one, but two reports on what was said! There are some interesting tidbits in there... you should read both reports. And thanks to ironhorse and Fred Sharp for sending 'em in! (Louis Wu 05:30:03 UTC) (permalink)
News January 30 2001
Jaime Griesemer on Halo editing
Hmm... info from Jaime Griesemer, Halo designer - you'll have to make your own sense of it.
Q: Which game does Halo most represent when it comes to modifications (ease of use, how much they change the game etc.)?
A: Well, since the tag system is similar, Myth II, with some restrictions since we don't create environments in the editor like we did in Myth II.
So... Halo editing will be tag-based... but not the environments? Something like that. Thanks, Jaime! (Louis Wu 21:04:22 UTC) (permalink)
LW at HHQ
Heh... Louis talked. Go check it out at Halo HQ. (Wirehead 13:53:57 UTC) (permalink)
Bungie Store reopens
The Bungie Store is open! Seems not to work for Mac users (and God help those who call the 888 number listed - I'm on hold as I write this, while the rep tries to find out if they actually SELL Oni - update; he thinks they don't, I'm going back on hold)... but hey! It's open! (Louis Wu 01:45:53 UTC) (permalink)
non-repetitious repetition
"The fun part in terms of the music playback in the game is that it won't play the same way twice."
With this, Marty O'Donnell had me hooked. He's a sucker for a free beer, though, so I eventually got more of the story from him:
So it's a little something I've been working on for years now. Just some simple ways to keep music looping in a non-repetitive way. The start and stop are caused by the player's actions, and the middle looping areas will play random sections that go together in musically acceptable ways. So each time you hear music play, if you pay close attention, it will be a variation of the last time you heard it. I even did it to all the techno tracks, as repetitive as they are, they aren't predictable.
He's been using this technique for a while now - the win screen music and loss screen music in the Myth series were the first experiments with it, and it's used extensively in Oni.
Almost all of Oni's in-game music uses this technique, even during the scripted cut-scenes.
I think it'll been even better in Halo, but it works pretty well in Oni.
Pretty slick - the same old, same old, without being the same old at all! Thanks, Marty. (Louis Wu 01:15:42 UTC) (permalink)
Fan Fiction section updated
Thanks go out to Chris Cox, who sends in a chapter of a new work, The Prisoner, for our Fan Fiction section. He leaves ya hangin... go read it! (And remember, if you like it, follow the "more by this author" link to read the rest of his work!) (Louis Wu 01:04:12 UTC) (permalink)
Simultaneous? Definitely not.
We were gonna let this pass, but we started getting mail about it - Ding's comment yesterday, on the possibility of a simultaneous US-Europe Xbox release, was off the mark. As we noted last month, Microsoft has officially stated that there WON'T be a simultaneous release... Ding had just forgotten to take his medicine. It won't happen again. (Louis Wu 01:01:30 UTC) (permalink)
News January 29 2001
Playable demo confirmed
Clarification from Matt - at the Bungie Fanfest, he was quoted as saying
The next time you see Halo, it'll be playable.
This immediately led to a rumor that a demo would be released, which Matt quickly shot down... but it wasn't until today that someone pinned him down as to what he DID mean. According to the questions and answers in this thread, he meant
At the next E3/expo/whatever we will have a playable halo thingo on a stand, with a line so long you will need to bring food and sleeping bags, with a little 10 year old who seemingly wont get off in the next few years playing it.
(The words are Bongo's, not Matt's... but the sentiment fits.) Where's my press pass for Gamestock? (Louis Wu 20:27:04 UTC) (permalink)
Halo SETI Team 7 day stats posted
The Halo SETI Marines continue to crunch along at their reduced pace, hampered by the higher processing demands of the latest SETI client. DarthFlounder, however, seems to be unaffected, continuing the 200+ units/week output that has garnered la Crunch Honneur for so many weeks. Iden, too, is shooting up the charts, leaping past 74 competitors to take the Frogblast Award with his 84 units for the week. Full details can be found on the 7 day stats page. (Louis Wu 17:57:51 UTC) (permalink)
Seven Deadly Xbox Rumors
Seven Deadly Xbox Rumors. Thanks to Ash whopoints out on our forum that DailyRadar have a feature article on dispelling Xbox rumors. Here's rumor #5
The Xbox is going to be launched simultaneously in the U.S. and Europe.
Smoke or Fire? Red hot flames
How'd it Start? Sony recently pushed back the release date for theEuropean launch of the PS2, to the chagrin of many huffy Brits. People don't seem to like waiting for their goodies while othercountries fire up the new games. Word began to spread that the Xboxwill be launched on a single day throughout the U.S. and Europe (andperhaps Japan.) The developers we spoke to said thay hadn't beengive a specific date (only that it will be available before Christmas2001), but they did point out that Microsoft has traditionally launchedtheir products simultaneously worldwide. So this one seems like a solidbet.
Hey good news for all non-US Halo fans. :) (Ding 13:29:39 UTC) (permalink)
Got 3DS Max?
Nice spotting by Forensic, who noticed a new job listing on Bungie's Jobs page:
3D Environment Artist (Redmond)
Mold majestic mountains, carve cavernous canyons, form fantastic forests... and then coat them in the blood of your enemies! The natural environments you create with the Halo team will serve as the backdrop for sophiticated combat and an epic story, so apply today!
Nice work, if you can get it... (Louis Wu 03:08:15 UTC) (permalink)
Naked Superbowl
Well, the Giants got creamed, so that was good... but there was no Halo commercial after all during the Superbowl. Ah, well. So it goes. (Louis Wu 03:06:58 UTC) (permalink)
News January 28 2001
AdCritic's sponsor list incomplete?
Halo commercials aren't COMPLETELY ruled out yet - Massa, from Halonetwork.de, writes:
I read over at gamestar.de that Paramount is going to show a trailer for their upcoming Tomb Raider movie. I was quite sure that they weren't on the list and so I checked back at superbowl.adcritic.com - I was right, they aren't.
So... if the list at AdCritic isn't complete, then all hope isn't lost yet for a Halo ad. No promises... but we'll know for sure, one way or the other, later today. Thanks, Massa! (Louis Wu 12:13:00 UTC) (permalink)
Things are afoot at cortana.org
Thanks to Allenthar, who noticed that cortana.org is gone... or going... or something. Also, the text for the error page now matches the title of the front page .gif... which makes one wonder a little bit.
...all things change. We all knew it would come to this...
Come to what? Don't ask us... (Louis Wu 10:36:41 UTC) (permalink)
Wallpaper page updated
$erial-ki!!A sends in a desktop for our Wallpaper page... Dr. Dre and Cortana - who'da thunk it? (Louis Wu 01:20:27 UTC) (permalink)
News January 27 2001
Wallpapers page updated
Thanks to Raino Priha, who sent in a brooding desktop for our Wallpapers page. Check it out! (Louis Wu 21:06:51 UTC) (permalink)
Matt's Halo update for January 26
Eep - sleep, the enemy of the site updater. Matt Soell sent in his weekly Halo update... but we were slacking. Here, then, is the latest and greatest - or make use of our new Halo Update Database! There's some good stuff in there today - the jeep has a new gun, there are now sleeping alien models, the programmers play an R-rated version of 'horse' (what IS that word, anyway?)... go check it out! (Louis Wu 10:55:04 UTC) (permalink)
News January 26 2001
Culture Shock moves
Not DIRECTLY Halo-related, but relevant, nonetheless: seems Culture Shock, a website devoted to the works of Iain M. Banks, has moved - the new URL is http://www.schmeul.com/. Thanks, Chuckg (on the R.net forum). (Louis Wu 20:46:28 UTC) (permalink)
Wallpaper page updated
Thanks to Spike, who sent in another desktop image for our Wallpaper page. Check it out! (Louis Wu 18:16:09 UTC) (permalink)
News January 25 2001
Halo Command comes online
--=MAC=-- writes to say that Halo Command is online. Warning: DO NOT look at this site on a mac. (IE continually reloads the page, and NS and iCab spew out raw html.) On a PC, though, it looks okay - still needs fleshing out, but it's getting there. (Louis Wu 22:50:43 UTC) (permalink)
BGH hiring
Battleground: Halo is hiring - they need a video person. If you've got the skills, and the interest, stop by their Jobs page. (Thanks, Mike Patton, for the heads-up.) (Louis Wu 15:49:48 UTC) (permalink)
Weekly updates - made searchable
About 3 months ago, Matt Soell started a weekly update tradition - on Friday evenings, he'd post a concise (or rambling, depending on how much drinking was involved) catalogue of halo-related items to a random fansite. There was a lot of interesting info that entered the Halo knowledgebase this way... but it wasn't always easy to find. Well, we've lightened the effort needed - all of the weekly updates so far (and future ones, to be added a few days after their release) have been compiled into a searchable database for you to peruse. Read them in their entirety, scan for particular categories, or simply search for a specific term - it's your choice. Hope this helps fuel some good Halo speculation on our forum! (Louis Wu 01:10:11 UTC) (permalink)
Wallpaper collection updated
A couple of days ago, we noted that Wade Clisby had won the Wallpaper competition at Halo HQ. Today, we received permission to add some of his artwork to our Wallpaper collection... take a look! (Louis Wu 00:38:46 UTC) (permalink)
News January 24 2001
Cheap tactics...
Ben Evan Lewis writes to say that a Halo-themed comic has been posted at Shmuck the Kneerubber. Well, yeah, sorta... (Louis Wu 22:09:22 UTC) (permalink)
Haloless Superbowl, mb
No Halo Superbowl commercials? Lophan (who, for some bizarre reason, posted this on R.net instead of telling us), says that he's seen a list of major advertisers for Sunday's game... and Microsoft wasn't among them. Ah, well... guess we'll have to wait until Gamestock after all. (Or was that E3?) (Louis Wu 21:02:19 UTC) (permalink)
That European thing...
Interesting info from Maddog=RN= on our forum - surprised Wirehead didn't follow up on it. (He's like that, though.) Maddog says he's a tester for MS in Ireland... and hasn't seen any Xbox material at all yet. This may mean nothing - if there aren't any region-specific features of the Xbox, there's no need to use Irish beta-testers over US ones - but you never know. How far behind the US release will the European Xbox release be, finally (Q1 2002, as planned, or later?), and will this affect the PC/Mac releases? (We said no a month ago... but there is a real possibility that the PC and Mac versions could be finished about the time of the European Xbox rollout... how will MS handle this?) (Louis Wu 16:18:44 UTC) (permalink)
Miscellaneous Art section updated
Cortana in German? Huh. Ryan Wilcox submits an interesting picture to our Miscellaneous Art section... now if only I spoke Latin... (Louis Wu 04:16:18 UTC) (permalink)
News January 23 2001
German Halo sites explode
The German update: Seems Massa and the crew at Halo Network.de respond quickly to problems - the viewing problems I mentioned yesterday have been fixed, and the site is quite nice to look at. (I still can't read it very well - it's in German, after all - but it's nice to look at.) And thanks to them, I now know of a new German Halo site - halogamers.de (also nice to look at), and of a German Wallpaper competition at Halo Orbit. If you speak German, check these sites out! (Louis Wu 21:37:34 UTC) (permalink)
Story page says "No Halo: A Case Study" presentation
As noted on the Marathon's Story page"Halo: A Case Study" is no longer listed as a presentation at this year's Game Developers Conference. Jason Jones & John Howard of Bungie Studios were originally scheduled to give thistalk under the Game Design category. See our earlier news item on this. (Wirehead 09:07:50 UTC) (permalink)
IGN's Gone With the Wind
We hope you like to re-read. IGN Xbox have posted a Halo article which traces the development of Halo. Actually it's a collection of old Halo previews dating from 1999. The screenshots are really old too. Here's a piece of the intro:
The whole development cycle has been more akin to Gone With the Wind than your average game, thanks to "less is more" philosophy that Bungie has taken about revealing information on the game, not to mention the changes the company has been through. So let's begin at the beginning -- E3 1999.
(Wirehead 07:52:32 UTC) (permalink)
HaloNetwork.de gets a major facelift
Pille writes to say that HaloNetwork.de, a German Halo site, has been completely overhauled, and several sections have quite a bit of info (screenshots are explained, graphical features are outlined, etc). I wasn't able to make the site work on Mac NS or IE, but it looks great on IE on Win98. (Louis Wu 01:47:20 UTC) (permalink)
News January 22 2001
Bungie Pr0n
There's been some speculation about our sister site, phoenix.bungie.org, on our forum today. Bachus did some image analysis... and the results may surprise you. (Louis Wu 21:01:14 UTC) (permalink)
Miscellaneous Art page updated
Thanks to Jerry Nummi, who sent in a new piece of artwork for our Miscellaneous Art page. Looks like it could be a nice web front end! Check it out. Pax. (Crux Fidelis 20:51:57 UTC) (permalink)
EBWorld - full of something...
For those who missed this the first time (or the second, or the third, or...) Matt Soell, Community Guy, has gone on record yet again on the issue of the PC version being cancelled:
It's a load of bollocks. There WILL be a Mac/PC Halo.
(Read the rest of the post for further elucidation.) As we said... if it didn't come from Bungie, you don't know it. (Louis Wu 19:09:43 UTC) (permalink)
Halo SETI Team 7 day stats posted
Blam!... The Halo SETI Marines climb their way back up to 48th in the Battle of the Teams, despite lower yields from the latest SETI client. DarthFlounder pushes up the output even more, taking la Crunch Honneur yet again... but Iden, a newcomer to the team, blasts out 104 units, putting him in second place for the week (and with the 202 positions he leapfrogged, the holder of the Frogblast Award). And we couldn't have done it without Andrew Moll, an the 505 units he brought in this week. You can read all the gory details on the 7 day stats page. (Louis Wu 16:26:44 UTC) (permalink)
Halo HQ's wallpaper competition is over
eldar-colonel writes to say that Halo HQ's wallpaper competition is over, and the winner has been chosen - Wade Clisby, who submitted more than 10 different desktop images. You can see Wade's entries here, and some other competitors here. (Louis Wu 03:26:59 UTC) (permalink)
News January 21 2001
VE rumor - PC Halo cancelled
Oh, man... it's starting again. Eric points out that VoodooExtreme has a report that EBWorld is no longer accepting preorders for Halo... because the PC version has been cancelled. Look, folks... if the PC/Mac versions get cancelled, you'll hear about it from Bungie, not from some tipster to a big gaming site. (Louis Wu 06:36:53 UTC) (permalink)
News January 20 2001
Halo Information Network moves
DRAVEN writes to tell us that the Halo Information Network (or HaloNet) has moved to gamesweb.com. Check out their new digs! Pax. (Crux Fidelis 15:47:07 UTC) (permalink)
Indoor vehicles!
Matt's weekly Halo update is back up and running, and it's over at Rampancy.net tonight. Alien unit variations (we wanna see that energy shield!), indoor vehicles (jeeps on stairs? The mind boggles), and THE HALO TEAM WON THE PENTATHLON! Go Halo! Go read the gory details for yourselves. (Louis Wu 03:45:43 UTC) (permalink)
Miscellaneous Art and Wallpaper sections updated
Wow, we hit the motherload. Jay Faircloth, who burst onto the Bungie art scene only a couple of weeks ago, has submitted an enormous Halo piece (we've only posted his scaled-down version) to our Miscellaneous Art section, and three desktops in the same theme to our Wallpaper section. These are truly gorgeous... check 'em out. (Louis Wu 01:12:18 UTC) (permalink)
News January 19 2001
Wallpaper page updated (again)
Diogo Barbosa sends in another pair of desktop images for our Wallpaper page... the theme today is blue. Check 'em out! (Louis Wu 20:18:39 UTC) (permalink)
Video Games and Violence
Seen at the Marathon's Story page: seems there was a front-page article in the Los Angeles Times a couple of days ago discussing the links between video games and violence. Marathon 2 was mentioned by name - a study cited in the article claimed that students who played the game generated 43% more agressive responses in later tests than those who played a nonviolent game. This isn't just another newspaper puff piece - the US Surgeon General is behind the report, and the ramifications for the entertainment industry might be far-reaching. Will Halo be targeted, because of the singling-out of an older Bungie game? (The immediate Bungie response would suggest they aren't taking it very seriously...) Pax. (Crux Fidelis 19:16:27 UTC) (permalink)
Who's gonna win?
The Annual Bungie Pentathlon takes place today... and the new QuickPoll at bungie.net asks who you think is going to walk away with the prize this year? The Halo team is currently tied for first (with the 'CinemaOnline' team, made up of the Cinematixxx crew and the Online crew) - go see if you can bump up their lead! Pax. (Crux Fidelis 19:01:55 UTC) (permalink)
Wallpaper page updated
Andrew Paul has submitted a new desktop for our Wallpaper page - this one's a real work of art, and came close to getting put into the Miscellaneous Art section, instead, but it looks great on an 800x600 desktop, and that's what it was submitted as... Check it out. Great battle scene! (Louis Wu 13:30:06 UTC) (permalink)
News January 18 2001
Miscellaneous Art section updated
Thanks to Miguel Santiago, who sent in another Halo drawing for our Miscellaneous Art section. We like the marine a lot... but what's that dog doing in there? (Louis Wu 17:49:49 UTC) (permalink)
News January 17 2001
ROAMing the plains of Halo
Lloyd Wright popped onto our forum to ask how Halo handles terrain. Since we didn't know, we asked Bungie. Jaime Griesemer, Halo Designer, pointed out this article at Gamasutra, published last April. Warning: this is a pretty technical read. (Louis Wu 18:37:59 UTC) (permalink)
Halo using Lightwave
Kudos to Appleicious (heh - he said 'kudos'), who points out (on the R.net forum) that NewTek lists Halo among game titles that use their Lightwave product. The press release that contains this information was put out on November 28... we're a little slow sometimes. (Louis Wu 02:34:36 UTC) (permalink)
Bungie Fan Trivia Contest comes online
As noted on the bungie.org news page, the Trivia Contest that was held at the Fanfest last week has been converted to a web-friendly format, so you all can go test your knowledge of Bungie lore. Go take the test, and see how much you really know about the team behind Halo! (Louis Wu 02:17:02 UTC) (permalink)
News January 16 2001
Fan Fiction section updated
An apocalyptic conclusion to the Firestarter Squad series was submitted by Iden to our Fan Fiction section. Hit the "more by this author" link to read all three installments in order. (Louis Wu 10:23:07 UTC) (permalink)
Demo doesn't mean downloadable
Matt Soell raises his head from a San Francisco gutter (wow, those fanfests can be corrupting) long enough to squash a "Halo Demo coming soon" rumor that's been floating around since last Friday night. And to clarify what "three weapons finished" means. Thanks, Matt. You can pass out again now. (Louis Wu 09:42:36 UTC) (permalink)
News January 15 2001
Halo SETI Team 7 day stats posted
Dink!... The Halo SETI Marines fall another notch in the Battle of the Teams, as Overclockers UK pushes them down to 49th. The mandatory switch to the 3.0.3 client has hit totals hard - in fact, if not for the addition of twostar, and the influx of those 621 units, the team's weekly unit increase would have fallen off by over 30%. You can see all the gory details on the 7 day stats page. (Sorry for the delay in processing - blame Martin Luther King, Jr.) (Louis Wu 19:39:11 UTC) (permalink)
Halo Screensaver at Halo Marine
Freedom writes to let us know that Halo Marine has put up a Halo screensaver. It's PC-based, a bit under 7 megs, and contains screenshots theme music. You can find it here. (Louis Wu 19:00:20 UTC) (permalink)
More fanfest pics
Thanks to Noctavis, who mentioned another cache of fanfest pics on the R.net forum - this time from Tobin. (Who's Tobin?) Go check 'em out! (Louis Wu 00:22:45 UTC) (permalink)
News January 14 2001
Miscellaneous Art section updated
Damn, that man's good. First, Jay Faircloth showed up on the scene over at the Marathon's Story page, with a stunning piece of Marathon artwork. Then, he entered the Gathering of Developers' Oni Art Contest, and placed second, with this image. Now he's turned his sights on Halo... and though the final product isn't available yet, he's released a teaser for a larger piece for our Miscellaneous Art section. Jay says that this is
a "sneak preview" of a Halo piece I've been working on. It's a wallpaper-sized (1152*870) jpeg snippet of a larger piece I hope to finish by the end of Monday, which shows the full Marine, a couple of "regular" troopers, and an actual background. I still have some cleanup of the image to do...
'Cleanup'... hmm. Looks pretty spiffy from here. Thanks, Jay! (Louis Wu 20:05:53 UTC) (permalink)
Halo Stronghold comes online
Pheonixmiser writes to say that the Halo Stronghold has come online. Go check it out! (Louis Wu 19:53:57 UTC) (permalink)
News January 13 2001
Serious details from a Sili guy
And more - SiliconDream weighs in with a pretty nice roundup, posted to the R.net forum here. (Where are all the b.org reports, that's what I wanna know?) Separate pistols for the player and the standard Marine, visual character variations between unit classes, evasive dives and rolls as part of the engine AI... and a playable build the next time we see it (maybe at E3). Wow. (Louis Wu 14:34:43 UTC) (permalink)
First pics up at R.net
Woohoo! Cunbelin has sent R.net a whole passel of images from the fest... including 5 of those "exclusive" Halo shots! (Yeah, they're the old engine... but hey, it's the only engine we know!) Plus a tidbit of artwork that um... is PROBABLY Halo-related... Uh, oh, I'm drooling again.
Update:Harry Al-Shakarchi clarifies that that image was Bungie's Halo Christmas card, drawn by Shikai Wang. Thanks, Harry! (Louis Wu 11:27:21 UTC) (permalink)
First fanfest reports come in
Thanks to Appleicious, who posted a Fanfest report to our forum. Halo details included:
- In [the] keynote, we got to see about ten exclusivescreenshots from the "old" Halo engine (exclusive = never before seen).
- the Halo multiplayer design doc is almost finished and work on the network code will begin in February.
There's lots more, so read the whole thing for yourselves! Also, codetoad posted another report over at R.net, with these tantalizing tidbits:
- there's 3 weapons finalized in halo
- there will be a "halo invasion of the media" (due to MS money) very soon, and we won't have to worry about getting info on halo, because it will be ALL AROUND us. (Could this mean perhaps there is truth to the superbowl wild rumor? :-P)
Again, there is much more to that report, as well. As mentioned in both, Phoenix was officially announced... though there isn't much info about it yet, and won't be for a while. Ack. Why are you reading this? Go read those reports! (Louis Wu 11:09:28 UTC) (permalink)
How I wish...
... And the fanfest is under way. No, we don't have any information about it right now... I just thought I'd wish all the lucky festers the best, and remind anyone who HAPPENS to be in San Francisco this evening but DIDN'T know about the Fanfest to stop by the West Bay Conference Center between now and 9 pm PST! Have a blast, folks. (Louis Wu 02:03:39 UTC) (permalink)
News January 12 2001
No live broadcast tomorrow... dang.
Ack. No sooner posted than refuted. Matt dropped another note to our forum a couple of minutes ago, shooting down the possibility of a live broadcast from the Fanfest.
That was the initial plan but it fell through for a variety of reasons.
All hope is not lost, though... check the rest of his post for a teaser! (Louis Wu 02:24:03 UTC) (permalink)
A webcam from the fanfest?
Woohoo - nudie pics from Macworld! Well, okay, not really... but it looks like we might get live pics from the Bungie Fanfest tomorrow night. When asked how difficult it would be to bring a camcorder to work, he replied
We are SO far ahead of you on this one. :-)
Of course, this could be post-fanfest info... but our money is on SF, in less than 24 hours. (Louis Wu 02:13:32 UTC) (permalink)
German look at MS imageering
Thanks to Tantalum-=SUN=-, who passed along notice of this Telepolis article (in German) discussing the Xbox, and Microsoft's attempt to use it to change its image. "Crossing a Steam Locomotive with MTV - the Xbox and the Microsft image"... seems about right to us. :) Nice take on the whole spin thing... and anyone who calls Bungie "Game Gods" gets two thumbs up in our book. (Louis Wu 02:07:53 UTC) (permalink)
Halo Information Network comes online
Before we forget - there's a new German Halo site on the scene - Halo Information Network. I thought i was visiting a german version of Battleground: Halo when I first hit the link, but things got clearer after the splash page. Check 'em out! (Louis Wu 01:43:58 UTC) (permalink)
News January 11 2001
Made in the per-pixel Shade
More clarification from Timothy Wilson about some of the technical aspects of graphics rendering:
Pixel Shaders are a little bit of code that runs per-pixel. They combine textures and may compute lighting. Vertex Shaders are a larger bit of code that runs per-vertex. A vertex shader can move vertices, in addition it may 'shade' them. This is not a requirement, as I have written vertex shaders that do no shading at all, but instead let the pixel shaders do the lighting calculation.
Vertex shading is primarily what we have now in current hardware, each vertex is "shaded", and the values are interpolated across the polygon. Also known as Gouraud shading.
Per-Pixel shading just means each pixel is 'shaded' separately, ie the light calculation is computed in one-way-or-another for every pixel.
Just a lot of confusion as to whats-what. Many of the names are similar, and somewhat misnamed even.
In addition, he sent along an example of per-pixel shading, so you can see what he's talking about. Hope you all read this carefully... there'll be a test on Wednesday. (Louis Wu 21:17:34 UTC) (permalink)
Matt Soell sets the record straight
Matt Soell popped into our forum yesterday to clear up questions like "who is behind cortana.org?" and "when will www.bungie.com be updated?" (Read the whole thread for more nuggets - it starts here.) Where's my Big Mac? (Ding 10:05:54 UTC) (permalink)
My brain hurts...
Okay, we're seriously confused. We misinterpreted John Carswell's comments a little bit, it seems... he wrote to point out the nVidia PR Director interview that MSXbox held this week. There were two quotes that stood out for me:
MSXbox: What is the difference between these 2; Per-Pixel Shading and Bump-mapping?
Derek: Bump-mapping is kind of a hack, for lack of a better term. Per-pixel shading and Vertex shading are more accurate ways of doing texture and coloring. No more helmet head, like in sports games, you always look in the back of the head and [the hair] stands still, but in real life hair bounces. It'll give images personality, and it'll give scenes more personality. It'll make scenes more organic and give it more ambiance.
And then later on:
MSXbox: When are the developers going to get final Xbox development kits- we've heard around March?
Derek: That sounds about right.
(That second one was exciting because it means that the final card will probably be in the playable Xbox folks will get their hands on at E3.) Okay, I thought I had a handle on this per-pixel shading/bump-mapping thing, until we got a note from Timothy Wilson (warning - heavy on the geek-speak), which suggested that John was wrong when he said there was no bump-mapping in the Malice shots. NOW who do we believe? (Louis Wu 02:07:39 UTC) (permalink)
News January 10 2001
Pixel THIS!
John Carswell, from MSXbox.com, sends in an intriguing observation:
If you have taken a look at the Malice screen shots you might be interested in knowing there was no bump mapping used. What appears to be high quality bump mapping is in reality per-pixel lighting. Thought you might be interested because of Matts "per-pixel everything" comment.
Those Malice shots look fantastic. So we wanna know... what happens when you have per-pixel lighting AND bump mapping? Oops, we're drooling again... (Louis Wu 21:19:58 UTC) (permalink)
Playable Xbox at E3
fAt1, from MPZ Halo, writes to point out that Upwire.com has a story about a playable Xbox at E3:
David Hufford, PR manager for the Xbox revealed that "E3 in May will be the real coming out party for Xbox,the machine will certainly be playable and you'll be able to get your hands on lots of the games."
fAt1 wants to know if we're gonna see Halo running on that Xbox... (Louis Wu 21:16:08 UTC) (permalink)
PC gaming on the way out?
Thanks to Ph.D. who pointed out (on our forum) an editorial at Gamespy.com discussing the possible death of PC gaming at the hands of the Xbox, and consoles like it. Now, it has a few problems (as one of the arguments for the Xbox, it discusses the mod community, and how easy it will be to download new mods, created on a PC, for your Xbox game - if the thesis is correct, and PC gaming dies, who's going to be making those mods?), but in general, it's a decent read. And it has a gratuitous Halo screenshot, to boot. (An old one... but it's one of three games mentioned by name.) (Louis Wu 14:16:58 UTC) (permalink)
Matt says no Halo ad
Apparently, in a thread over at Battleground: Halo, there was some speculation that a commercial involving Halo characters has been showing on TV. Yesterday, Matt Soell stepped in and squashed it:
No, there is no ad for Halo running on TV. Not even Californian TV. ;-)
You can read the entire thread here. (Note: This doesn't address the 'Halo to be mentioned in an Xbox Superbowl commercial' rumor floating around...) (Louis Wu 13:54:19 UTC) (permalink)
Wallpapers page updated
Thanks to Chris Newhall, who sent in another Halo desktop pic for our Wallpapers page. Brings back the old days... Pax. (Crux Fidelis 13:41:04 UTC) (permalink)
Fit to be Thai-ed
Thanks to David Bricker, who posted a snippet from the Bangkok (Thailand) Post over at the R.net forum. It does a decent job of summarizing the amazement with Halo, fear that Microsoft would crush Halo, and interest in the 3rd/1st person debate thathas manifested in the past year or so, all in one paragraph. While there's really nothing new here, the source is interesting enough to warrant a mention. The next question is... where in heaven's name did David get his hands on a copy of the Bangkok Post? (Louis Wu 02:23:59 UTC) (permalink)
News January 9 2001
Halo SETI Marines to take a beating
The Halo SETI Marines received a challenge last evening from the Overclockers UK team... and it looks like we're not up to it. They're crunching at a rate of almost 900 units/day, compared to the Marines' 250 units/day. We'll be dropping another slot, it seems, by week's end. Got a few machines you can spare for the war effort? (Louis Wu 14:29:16 UTC) (permalink)
Miscellaneous Art page updated
Thanks to Dispatcher, who sent in a rather... odd piece of artwork for our Miscellaneous Art page. Check it out! (Louis Wu 14:20:50 UTC) (permalink)
News January 8 2001
Halo SETI Team 14 day stats posted
The Halo SETI Marines have a new top cruncher! For the first time in 17 weeks, DarthFlounder has been displaced at the peak spot... congratulations, Lacrymosa! Details can be found on the 14 day stats page. (Louis Wu 16:34:51 UTC) (permalink)
"We actually modeled the black off of a Glock 9mm."
"We actually modeled the black off of a Glock 9mm." In anIGN Xbox interview J. Allard, Xbox General Manager, describes how the Xbox casing is made from left over German munitions. No wait I think I read that wrong. ;) (Wirehead 13:44:14 UTC) (permalink)
D'em buttons are gonna pay
Bob which button did you press? MSXbox has put together a Xbox controller design spec image to help clarify what button does what. It's the red one...no blue... wait it's... (Wirehead 13:34:00 UTC) (permalink)
Halo at Gamestock?
Thanks to gen for the heads-up on the R.net forum... Gamecenter interviewed Ed Fries, Vice President of Games Publishing, on Saturday at CES. The quote of interest:
Jason Ocampo: So what are the upcoming plans here? We've got Gamestock coming up, E3, GDC…
Ed Fries: Yeah, for me at Gamestock I'll be unveiling our first-party portfolio, which I'm really excited about.
First-party portfolio... that should include Halo, no? Gamestock comes up this March, and is press-only... but we're betting there'll be new Halo material to see before April rolls around. (Louis Wu 05:21:15 UTC) (permalink)
News January 7 2001
NAVCON redesigned
Shadow writes to say that the new NAVCON design is complete. Stop by and take a look! Pax. (Crux Fidelis 02:12:01 UTC) (permalink)
News January 6 2001
MSXBox IRC log available
Okay, we're not an Xbox site (thought we DO put the 'X' in 'BO'...). This will be the last Xbox-related item today, we promise. However, some of you might be interested in the IRC chat that MSXBox hosted today concurrently with the CES keynote speech. There were at least 4 major players from Microsoft taking part in the chat... and while much of what was said was simple verbal back-slapping, there were a few nuggets. Warning - the log is 72K. (Louis Wu 20:39:44 UTC) (permalink)
The Xbox, for all to see
For those who want a good look at the Xbox, the official site now has a Flash Tour of the console. Check it out! (Louis Wu 18:48:28 UTC) (permalink)
Know what's coming, before it comes...
Dontcha just love it when the PR folks get a little ahead of the demonstrators? As I write this, I'm watching a live webcast from the Computer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas - the Xbox will be unveiled here this morning. However, on Microsoft's web site, you can find this press release about the show... describing in detail what's going to happen, even in parts of the keynote that haven't been shown yet.
A highlight of Gates' keynote address came when he revealed what Xbox will look like when it hits stores in fall 2001. Gates unveiled the Xbox console and controller and showed demos of two games being developed exclusively for Xbox: "Malice" by United Kingdom-based Argonaut Games PLC and "Munch's Oddysee" by Oddworld Inhabitants Inc. and published by Microsoft. Gates later was joined on stage by professional wrestler The Rock to promote an Xbox wrestling game.
Well, at least this saves us the trouble of waiting to see if Halo will be demoed today... (Thanks to Christoph Schmidt for the press release heads-up.) (Louis Wu 17:53:43 UTC) (permalink)
Gamesmania interviews Nathan Bitner
Not really Halo news... but Nathan Bitner has appeared in the news here quite a bit, so we figured it was worth a mention. As noted on the Marathon's Story page, Gamesmania has an interview with Nathan up at their site, in which he discusses Island Four Software, his new company, and his philosophy of game development. Except for Gamesmania twice referring to the Marathon's Story page as 'the Marathon.org message board' (with no correction from Nathan), it's a fun read. What does Nathan want?
Oh, yeah, and most importantly, I want a cult following.
Are we helping here? (Louis Wu 01:28:16 UTC) (permalink)
News January 5 2001
It goes back to 1986...
Thanks to Nicolò Tosi, who reminded us that BOTH the Halo dropship and the PS2 dropship mentioned earlier today owe more than a nod to the UD-4L dropship first seen in the movie 'Aliens'. We've added some backup to our Dropship comparison. (Louis Wu 22:04:28 UTC) (permalink)
Where have we seen that before?
Visor points out on our forum that an upcoming Playstation2 game, Dropship, uses a ship that looks vaguely familar... (The upside - even if the Halo version isn't user-controllable, this one is.) (Louis Wu 18:04:14 UTC) (permalink)
Cortana.org updated
Cortana.org gets another update... astrology, new furniture, and a pointed shot taken at those who mock. The game continues... (Thanks to black flag and a red star for the heads-up.) (Louis Wu 15:29:32 UTC) (permalink)
News January 4 2001
Symbol analysis resumes
Symbols, revisited. Starting back in October of 1999 (yeah, a long time ago), there was a bit of discussion about symbols found on various surfaces in Halo. Steve Campbell found some Marathon symbols... Hitman =PN= thought they might be something else... There was much speculation about Marathon logos, and flagstaffs. There was a lot of discussion of Covenant logos, both here and at the Marathon's Story page. It all sort of died out, though, because we got very little new information. Well, it seems to be resurfacing. Halo HQ has put up a Research Center, and they're currently reexamining these same logos. Interestingly enough, this was cause for Haloplayers to put up an image of their own... and this one, as far as I know, is new. (Well, new in the sense that it hasn't been discussed before.) Are the floodgates opening again? (Louis Wu 15:50:01 UTC) (permalink)
xbox.ign.com talks to Seamus Blackly
Seamus Blackley speaks out in response to some of the fears expressed by fans about the downgrading of the Xbox specs - you can read his words at xbox.ign.com. Spin control in advance of the CES unveiling? You decide. (Wirehead 10:55:58 UTC) (permalink)
Halo at CES MB?
Halo demoed at CES? MSXbox reports that Bill Gates will not only unveil the Xbox during his keynote, but will show off some game demos. Here's hoping we'll see our favorite Marine in action! (And for those wondering why the Xbox scans floating around the internet haven't made it here, read this.) Pax. (Crux Fidelis 01:55:22 UTC) (permalink)
Halo clan AoD comes online
Mike Patton writes that he's put up a Halo site for the Halo clan AoD (Angel of Death)... check it out! (The site might be moving soon, so no guarantees about the link.) (Crux Fidelis 01:44:00 UTC) (permalink)
Blam! now recruiting
wod`asini writes to tell us that he's formed a new Halo order called Blam! Right now, you can find info on his personal page... but they're putting up a new site soon. They're looking for players "who will really want to participate in the Halo community and at the same time dominate ranked halo." If you fit the bill, stop by! (Louis Wu 00:07:16 UTC) (permalink)
News January 3 2001
New Halo mailing list at theglobe.com
$erial-ki!!A writes to let us know that a new Halo mailing list has been started up at theglobe.com. Swing by and take a look! (Louis Wu 17:14:41 UTC) (permalink)
Halo Center says not nice
fire phoenix of Halo Center sends word that the XBox 365 site which ran the "Halo commercial during SuperBowl 2001" news item is using a third party image of Halo rather than an official one. What's wrongXBox 365? Don't have an official one?
HBO Spin: We're probably going to see alot more of this given the present lack of new'official' Halo material and alot of fan created material. Only yesterday we reported that Compuexpert.com were passing off a fan-created, Bryce-based piece of original art as a Halo screenshot. (Ding 07:46:11 UTC) (permalink)
News January 2 2001
XBO365 dishes up Xbox commercial rumors
Hawk, from Halo Center, sends along an interesting rumor from XBO365. Seems one of the commercials for the Xbox to be shown during the Superbowl (January 28, 2001) will focus on Halo:
The second commercial pushes a lot of Promo for Halo but I don't have the details on that one yet. I'm told they do half of it as if the viewer was actually in the game and looking around at the action around. Stuff crashing and blowing up all around - characters talking to you and getting shot etc.
There's been no official confirmation of this, so it's easily just a rumor... but hey, January 28 is less than 4 weeks away! (Louis Wu 22:03:42 UTC) (permalink)
Logos page updated
Thanks to Phalynx, who submitted a nifty new logo for our Logos page. Check it out! Pax. (Crux Fidelis 19:16:50 UTC) (permalink)
Second Covenant rifle, revisited
Wow... you think you've gone through every screenshot ever released a million times... you think there's nothing left to find. You're wrong. :) Khaine pointed out to us that the second covenant rifle, which has been discussed recently on our forum, has, indeed, been seen fired... almost 8 months ago! We've put together a quick page to show what's currently known about this gun (minus the four frames in the Incite movie - check our Weapons Rundown for details on that). Thanks for the heads-up, Khaine! (Louis Wu 16:02:38 UTC) (permalink)
Halo Orbit redesigned
Xerxes writes to tell us that Halo Orbit (the German one) has been totally redesigned. It's utterly broken in NS... but looks quite nice in IE. Go and take a look! (Louis Wu 11:04:29 UTC) (permalink)
Bungie hires a fan artist?
Rony Sanchez writes to tell us that Compuexpert.com, a software retailer, lists a Halo release date of 5/29/01. While this would normally not be worth a mention (release dates that don't come from Bungie aren't worth the pixels it takes to display them), this one's intriguing because of the Halo page itself. In the bank of 10 screenshots used to display the glory of Halo, they've used 9 of the original screenshots... and this image, a fan-created, Bryce-based piece of art originally visible on our Miscellaneous Art page! Guess Ken should feel flattered... (Louis Wu 09:49:33 UTC) (permalink)
News January 1 2001
Wallpaper contest at Halo HQ
eldar-colonel writes to say that Halo HQ is having a wallpaper contest. Stop by and read about it. (Wirehead 21:18:10 UTC) (permalink)
cortana.org updated
As noted on Islandfour.org and the Marathon's Story page, there's been another update over at cortana.org. Scorpio and Orion... (Wirehead 21:15:55 UTC) (permalink)
Fan Fiction section
Thanks to Chris Cox, who dropped in yet another chapter in the ongoing Warrior saga, told from the Covenant perspective. You'll find this latest intriguing work in our Fan Fiction section. Remember - you can always read the entire saga, in order, by following the 'More by this author' link in the entry. Chris got this to us before the clock rolled over... but we were out. Congratulations, then, on the first post of the new millenium! (Louis Wu 01:54:57 UTC) (permalink)
| January 2001 | |
