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 | July 2001 |  |
July 2001 Archived News
News July 31 2001
Details from poetry
Joseph Staten shows off his poetry-writing skills (or should that be his future-channeling skills?) with this post on the R.net forum. It suggests some more parallels with the Marathon storyline - there, 10 Mjolnir Mark IV cyborgs lived on Tau Ceti, but only one (through an accident of fate) was offplanet when disaster struck - here, there are 50 cyborgs ('the ones that need no name'), but only one (the player) survives the destruction of Reach (the last human outpost to be destroyed - 700 million dead). It also places the events of Halo roughly 200 years before the events of the first Marathon... or 100 years AFTER the Marathon is launched. You gotta love those crunch breaks... (Louis Wu 09:16:48 UTC) (permalink)
News July 30 2001
Random Musings
More fire started coming from several directions and all we saw was the setting sun and a few clouds as the pilot traded speed for distance in what was becoming a desperate attempt to break contact.
Newcomer John Oreskovich sends in a story apparently titled Halo, Random Musings. The Fan Fiction area continues to grow. (Count Zero 22:12:27 UTC) (permalink)
New QOTW at Online Universe
The Online Universe has put up the results of last week's Question of the Week: 'What weapons would you want to use in the game?' Some answers were predictable, others less so. The next question is up, as well: 'What features would you want in the Halo map editor?' Navigation has been improved at the site, but the owner continues to look for feedback - visit, and give him some! (Louis Wu 17:15:08 UTC) (permalink)
Halo SETI Team 7 day stats posted
The Halo SETI Marines hold position this week - welcome to Timberwolf, who comes in bringing 113 units. Are YOU keeping up with the advancing Covenant horde? Check the 7 day stats to find out! (Louis Wu 14:16:05 UTC) (permalink)
Halo Developer Diary, Part Three
PlanetXbox has put up part three of its Halo Developer Diary series (part one and part two were mentioned earlier), an interview series with Jaime Griesemer about the process Halo is going through on its way to release. This installment is a fascinating look at interactive scripting, and shows how Bungie's working on getting you to forget you're playing a game:
The communication system constantly monitors the game, looking for any of the dozens of hooks it can use to call combat dialog. Just to give you an idea of the complexity of the system, it knows who damaged who, what their respective races were, what weapon was used, how bad the damage was, and what the other characters in the encounter were doing when the damage was dealt, and it can call different lines of combat dialog based on all of these parameters. This means we can have someone say "Eat lead" and be sure he's not firing a flame-thrower. Sometimes they even laugh at each other's jokes or comment on something somebody else said in the heat of battle. This gives our characters real personality and believability.
There's also a little snippet that answers a longstanding question:
The entire first level revolves around the defense and eventual abandonment of the Pillar of Autumn...
It's been speculated that we'd see the PoA only in a cutscene at the start of the game; when the Halo Updates started mentioning some modeling of the ship itself, folks wondered if that meant it would be a battleground instead of a movie - this seems to confirm that it will be. Go read the whole thing - it made me tingle. (Louis Wu 12:27:57 UTC) (permalink)
News July 29 2001
HQ HALO moves to a new host
Andreas den Hertog writes to say that HQ HALO has moved to a new host. We've updated our Links page accordingly. (Louis Wu 20:12:07 UTC) (permalink)
I get the SplashZooka, man
What happens when it gets too hot to fight? Why, the tough pick up Super Soakers, of course! Steen Nielson sends in a doctored (no, really?) image showing just how cool the Halo inhabitants can be. You'll find it in our Miscellaneous Art section. (Louis Wu 00:02:26 UTC) (permalink)
News July 28 2001
Wallpaper section updated
Johannes Gunnar Thorsteinsson sends in a new Wallpaper for our Wallpaper section. In his words,
and what is the main colour in it, of course the fantastic and the great "b.org" color
(I think he's talking about the shirt.) Soothing... so soothing... (Louis Wu 15:35:40 UTC) (permalink)
Let's hope there are oceans...
A message flashed across the computer screen in the EUD Roswell headquarters: IT IS SUCCESSFUL. NO FURTHER COM.
Omniscient's 'Sea of Steel' saga continues with Part Two in our Fan Fiction section. (Louis Wu 10:10:32 UTC) (permalink)
A day playing Halo
Sometimes, being part of a big organization means that things happen you don't plan on. This message was posted on the Usenet newsgroup comp.sys.mac.games.action yesterday - apparently, someone got into the beta testing lab, but wasn't required to sign an NDA, and took the opportunity to pass along the info he learned. It's an interesting read. (Thank goodness Google has DejaNews up and running again...) Thanks to TomeOne for the heads-up. (Louis Wu 09:55:05 UTC) (permalink)
Matt's got a secret...
Heh - the gooey green stuff is a big-enough surprise that even being on the Halo Dev team doesn't guarantee you know what it is - Chris Butcher (over on the R.net forum) says even HE can't answer the question Matt asked yesterday. (Louis Wu 09:44:38 UTC) (permalink)
Better Gaming Through Physics
This week's Halo Update is here - and while it's mostly bugfixes and tweaks, there's a bit of provocative stuff in there. What's green and gooey and eats through the ground? (Happy Birthday, Other Mehve!) Go read all the goodness for yourself - it'll be in the Halo Update Database in a few minutes. (Louis Wu 02:15:21 UTC) (permalink)
News July 27 2001
PC Zone says PC yes
Thanks to fate, who found the link at Blue's News... PC Zone has put their Halo Preview online. They're looking forward to the PC Multiplayer, obviously... and they think that the Xbox version is being badly rushed. Hmm. Read the preview for yourself! (Louis Wu 14:26:39 UTC) (permalink)
Are you tired of this yet?
You know... there have been a LOT of specific occasions where Matt Soell has stepped up and explicitly confirmed that Halo was DEFINITELY coming to the Mac and PC. There was this one... and this one... and this one... there was even this one (recently) from Alex Seropian, co-founder and current manager of Bungie Studios. Well, it doesn't seem to matter - folks are STILL popping up with rumors to the contrary. So once again, Matt steps forward, and confirms that yes, Virginia, there WILL be a PC version. Take note. (Again.) (Louis Wu 03:34:25 UTC) (permalink)
News July 26 2001
Photoshop is cool.
Aginor started with the flamethrower pic from the new OXM preview, did a bit of judicious pixel pushing to remove the text (and fill in the remaining space), added a Halo logo... and ended up with this bit of Miscellaneous Halo Art. Nice job! As he says, it's a shame the original pic was low-res, or this would make a pretty nice desktop pic. Pax. (Crux Fidelis 19:58:25 UTC) (permalink)
Bob gets a gun
The reality, or rather the surreality, of the situation began to sink in. Bob put his other hand on his knee and leant heavily on it. His breathing quickened and his vision blurred momentarily. "Talking to a plant. How foolish."
Tursas sends along chapter 6 of his Hermes Trismegistus saga - you'll find it in our Fan Fiction section. (Remember, the 'more by this author' link allows you to catch up on the last chapter, if you've forgotten where you were...) (Louis Wu 09:03:08 UTC) (permalink)
Gamespot poll needs smashing
It's that time again... Id points out (over on R.net's forum) that Gamespot's got a new 'Which Xbox title are you most looking forward to' poll up; Halo's currently in fourth place, behind WWF Raw is War, Metal Gear Solid X, and Matrix. See if you can help... (Louis Wu 08:46:12 UTC) (permalink)
New flash intro at clan NAVCON
=NAV=Shadow writes to say that clan NAVCON has created a new (4.3 MB!) flash intro for their website, showing the various members of the clan. They're looking for new members, and clans that would like to become allies. Visit the site, or drop =NAV=Shadow a note if you're interested! (Louis Wu 00:49:58 UTC) (permalink)
News July 25 2001
Still MORE Fan Fiction for you
Vector40 sends in the introductory piece of a multipart story in the works - Hawk Chronicles. The Fan Fiction section overfloweth! (Louis Wu 13:30:55 UTC) (permalink)
I want one of those...
"At an unknown time, your ship is going to disappear and reappear somewhere else. If all goes well, that is."
Part 1 of Omniscient's story 'Sea of Steel' has been added to the Fan Fiction section - it's a night for reading. Check it out - aircraft carriers on Halo... (Louis Wu 01:26:49 UTC) (permalink)
The Marine comes alive
'If I do this procedure you will be giving up your humanity. You were briefed about this?'
'Yes Sir.'
A nameless one undergoes a critical operation in Brent Anderson's fan fiction, 'Halo'. Check it out (along with 146 other pieces) in our Fan Fiction section. (Louis Wu 01:08:24 UTC) (permalink)
Halo links for sale... cheap
Interested in starting up a Halo fansite, but don't have a cool domain name? Looks like Halo-World.com is about to be released (its registration expired last week, and the URL now forwards to this informational page). This suggests that maybe it's time to prune some of the entries on our Links page... (Louis Wu 00:38:19 UTC) (permalink)
News July 24 2001
Phoenix != Myth III
"Is That A Talking Head In Your Sack Or Are You Just Happy To See Me?" Matt Soell chimes in on our forum, stepping into a debate on whether Phoenix and Myth III were ever one and the same. Seems they weren't. (Louis Wu 01:24:26 UTC) (permalink)
Airborne Rangers get a major overhaul
Mock writes to say that the totally revamped site of airbornerangers.org is up and running. A bumped up forum, an online store (!), and Community news from... wait for it... US! Very snazzy, overall. Nice job, guys! (They've served the Myth community for 2 full years now, and they're branching out into Halo.) (Louis Wu 01:09:11 UTC) (permalink)
News July 23 2001
Online Universe dishes up answers
A week ago, we posted a note about a new site called Online Universe, that was aiming to provide game developers some insight into what their fans want. At the time, they'd put up a Question of the Week, "If Halo has online support, what features would you want?" Well, the week's gone by, and the answers are up. They're buried astoundingly deeply in the site - I think I had to hit 7 or 8 links to find them - but you can go straight to the results. No single-word answers for these folks... no, they actually summarize each response. Take a look - and then go answer this week's question. (Louis Wu 19:59:40 UTC) (permalink)
Another link to the PCG scans
Thanks to Cesar Berardini, of Team Xbox, for another link to the hi-res PC Gamer scans mentioned this morning. (Same scans, easier to get to.) Picky noticed on our forum that the scans Young Gwasshoppah put up are low-res not because that's how they were scanned, but because he told the server to scale them - individual links can be found in this post. (Alternatively, use the link above, and get them all in a framed document.) (Louis Wu 18:35:01 UTC) (permalink)
Ringworld HALO comes online
Zineas writes to let us know about a Swedish Halo site, Ringworld HALO. I can't read it... and the text is pretty dang small on a Netscape browser... but the Gallery is pretty slick! Nice work, overall. Check it out! (Hey... some of those weapons shots look AWFULLY familiar...) (Louis Wu 18:15:04 UTC) (permalink)
Logos section updated
Fanatic sends us another logo for our Logos section. Pretty! (Louis Wu 17:58:47 UTC) (permalink)
PCZone UK looks at Halo
Barak, over at Haloplayers, noticed that this month's PC Zone (UK) contains a one-page article on Halo - mostly recent screens, but also some interesting info. See what Barak has to say... and then go look for the mag! (Louis Wu 16:51:44 UTC) (permalink)
Halo SETI Team stats posted
Blam!... The Halo SETI Marines climb one notch to number 50 in the Battle of the Teams... nice increases by a slew of crunchers helped the effort. Can YOU do better? Check the 7 day stats to find out! (Louis Wu 14:17:54 UTC) (permalink)
Better PCG scans
Young Gwasshoppah has scanned in the entire PC Gamer article, albeit at pretty low resolution. While we don't know whether PC Gamer would actually like seeing this before the issue leaves the shelves, you can get a look for yourself, and decide whether you'd like to buy the dead tree version. Looks like it has a lot of pics not seen before - I particularly like the shot of the Banshee. (Louis Wu 12:39:01 UTC) (permalink)
More HU goodness
Last week's Halo Update has been added to the Halo Update Database - this week's focus is on Chris Hughes. Marine heads, Cortana, female pilots... and now signal batons. One of these things, is not like the others... (Louis Wu 01:36:16 UTC) (permalink)
News July 22 2001
Shades of Ender...
"Hey," said one of the men after receiving the cigar. "I can't possibly die of cancer from smoking before the Covenant kill me. Unless we win."
Omniscient drops us a new piece of Fan Fiction - the prologue ot a multipart story he's working on. Sea of Steel can be found in our Fan Fiction section. (Louis Wu 15:53:50 UTC) (permalink)
Fan Fiction section updated
At first, he thought there was an injured man in the cylinder. He was wearing a large green armoured suit with a wide reflective visor. But as he looked more closely, he saw that although the suit was slightly pitted and scarred, there was no trace of injuries bad enough to warrant a stasis tube. Then he noticed how thick the armour was, and thought how heavy the suit and its accompanying backpack must be. Then he realised what he was looking at.
The latest Fan Fiction from Chris Cox ties Marathon to Halo, overtly. More on the way... check our Fan Fiction section for 'Before The Storm'. (Louis Wu 01:31:08 UTC) (permalink)
News July 21 2001
PC Gamer pics posted
Thanks to CrimsonT, who pointed out that a fan has posted shots from the PC Gamer spread over at the TeamXbox forums. (If you just want to see the pics themselves, CrimsonT did a nice job of extracting just the links.) Check out that flamethrower! (And the tank... and the turret gun... mmmm.) (Louis Wu 19:52:20 UTC) (permalink)
London Sunday Times mentions Halo
Red Fox TX scanned an article from the London Sunday Times about the Xbox - Halo gets a tiny mention as an expected debut title. A fine read, though there's nothing revolutionary. Always nice to see mentions in major mainstream newspapers! (Louis Wu 14:39:33 UTC) (permalink)
T3 looks at Xbox (and Halo)
Fernando notes on our forum that this month's T3 magazine (UK edition) contains a piece on the Xbox, and a small mention of Halo:
"Halo (bungie)
First-person shooter meets armoured vehicular combat. With its deformable terrain, awesome squad AI, and incredibly expansive visitas, Halo is sure to offer a single and multiplayer experience that will be out of this world."
Hmm... that deformable terrain bit seems unlikely, since it's never been mentioned before... (Louis Wu 07:28:02 UTC) (permalink)
It's your Alamo
Joseph Staten surfaces on our forum to pass along a few tidbits about the Pillar of Autumn... in addition to the nice description of its purpose, we now know that the Pillar of Autumn is a Halcyon-class ship. (Details... it's all in the details.) (Louis Wu 07:06:19 UTC) (permalink)
Wallpaper section updated
Aehrick sends us a new Wallpaper that incorporates the new Covenant model visible at the almost-open Bungie Store. You'll find it in three resolutions in our Wallpaper section. (Louis Wu 07:06:19 UTC) (permalink)
Mullins is back
Rampancy.net got this week's Halo Update, and it's quite a bit longer than last week's - it really sounds like they're moving along nicely. Lots of artwork bits, lots of gameplay tweaks (grenades can now set off other grenades - you can use this to effectively multiply your available ammo), and some fun tidbits - congrats, Jay and Heather Weinland, on your Bungie-day baby! Welcome, also, to Adrian Perez and Adam Tews, the two newest members of the Halo team. Check out all the details at R.net. (Louis Wu 06:56:48 UTC) (permalink)
News July 20 2001
Lots and lots and lots
Matt showed up on our forum to answer some logistical questions about Halo - I particularly like his answer to the "how many copies will be printed?" question. (Louis Wu 06:46:25 UTC) (permalink)
New pics in September's PCG
Thanks to cubanB, who noticed that TeamXbox has a report about the September issue of PC Gamer - apparently, it will include a 16-page 'mini-magazine' preview of the Official Xbox Magazine, which includes a large Halo article.
First off, the magazine shows some really stellar images from Halo, which show off the flamethrower in action, the sniper rifle, new alien creatures and vehicles, and the brand new human tank which holds up to six marines. The tank features a giant turret controlled by the driver and a manned chain gun for extra firepower. The OXM team got to play a recent build of Halo and their thoughts of the gameplay, graphics, and AI were overwhelmingly positive.
Mmm... as soon as we get our hands on it, we'll pass along what we can! (Louis Wu 06:36:37 UTC) (permalink)
News July 19 2001
ieMag looks at platform convergence
Ph.D., our field agent in Japan it seems, sends in a link to an article at ie Magazine called 'Has Gaming Finally Crossed the Line?' It discusses how the world of console gamers is merging with the world of PC gamers, and mentions Halo specifically, in a quote from Steve Bauman, EiC of Computer Games Magazine:
"...The Microsoft Xbox is trying something new by introducing Halo, an Xbox exclusive shooter that was originally software designed for the PC."
Well, except for the 'Xbox exclusive' bit there, it's a reasonable read - check it out. (Louis Wu 03:47:26 UTC) (permalink)
News July 18 2001
Covie Sculpture, up for grabs
Nice catch by Kalis - there's an image of a Covenant sculpture (and a closeup of its head) at the Bungie Store. Funky! (It's a work-in-progress; if you want to win the final product, you'll need to register on the newly-overhauled store.) (Louis Wu 15:22:26 UTC) (permalink)
Gamasutra on Level Design
Ph.D. sends in a pretty interesting link - Gamasutra has put together a series of articles (seven, in fact) on game level design - The Level Design Resource Guide. Definitely worth a read. (Louis Wu 05:26:11 UTC) (permalink)
Waiting for the flatscreens
Here I sit, in the basement of Freewill's New York abode, wearing a spiffy new b.org t-shirt (they arrived today!) and waiting for TomeOne's train to get in from Toronto... MacWorld begins tomorrow, but the chances of Halo news are pretty slim. Nonetheless... if something comes up, we'll bring it to you. (Louis Wu 02:31:35 UTC) (permalink)
News July 17 2001
Fan Fiction section updated
Vector40 sends in 'Iam Tandem', a poem that looks at the battle that is Halo. You've seen the end (it's included here, with additions), you've seen the prologue... now you get the whole shebang in our Fan Fiction section. (Louis Wu 08:43:14 UTC) (permalink)
News July 16 2001
Halo SETI Team stats posted
The Halo SETI Marines have still not climbed back into the top 50 in the Battle of the Teams... but our chances are improving. Adam, who joined the team last week, blasted his way up the charts this week, snagging both La Crunch Honneur (172 units) and the Frogblast Award (an astounding 352 positions climbed) - the added crunching power puts us within striking distance of the Austin Shaggers, who hold the position above us. Are you doing YOUR part? Check the 7 day stats to see! (Louis Wu 14:15:54 UTC) (permalink)
thirteen feet of meat and bone
We've added last week's Halo Update to the Halo Update Database (which is now easily searchable from our forum, btw). The most-discussed entry is the 'thirteen feet of meat and bone' entry, discussing the penetration capacity of the sniper rifle... but Marcus' hormone therapy gives a new insight into the lovely gorgeous waterfalls he was working on a while back... (Louis Wu 12:04:33 UTC) (permalink)
News July 15 2001
Online Universe is... well, online
The Watcher writes to let us know that The Online Universe is up and running. This is a site devoted to giving game publishers and developers some insight into the needs/wants of the gaming public - so it needs YOU, the gaming public, to visit and make your needs/wants known. (Louis Wu 01:34:01 UTC) (permalink)
News July 14 2001
Hormone Therapy at Bungie Studios
This week's Halo Update is over at Haloplayers... lots of bug fixes and art stuff. Marty and Jay auditioned some potentially surprising actors for voice parts... and oh, yeah, Marcus got a sex-change operation. Check out the details at HP. (Louis Wu 01:01:47 UTC) (permalink)
News July 13 2001
Gaming Site Interviews continue
Ack - we missed it! Adam 'Barak' Perfect, of Haloplayers, was interviewed for the Junkyard's continuing Gaming Site Interview series yesterday. Go check it out! (Louis Wu 16:50:34 UTC) (permalink)
Counterstrike meets Halo
Stephan from Germany sends us this link - we tried Babelfish, but it choked on the translation, so we have no idea what it says... but hey, a composite is a composite, right? (They should have added a shadow, I think.) Update: Nick Rolfe informs us that Babelfish works just fine if you remember the umlaut - the translation is something like 'Terror Fight in the year 2098'. I think I liked it better when I didn't know... (Louis Wu 16:02:59 UTC) (permalink)
Poetry... but it's short
The shortest Fan Fiction in our archives, I think... Vector40 starts the poem he finished a week ago. You'll find it our Fan Fiction section. (We'd give you an excerpt, but it would probably be the whole thing...) There's more to come, we hear. Take THAT, Ape Man... (Louis Wu 15:56:58 UTC) (permalink)
News July 12 2001
Grunt manhood rituals?
Lorraine Reyes (currently of the Phoenix team) weighs in with an explanation of those large protrusions found on the backs of the grunts. Maybe there needs to be more inter-team communication at Bungie Studios... or maybe Lorraine needs to cut back a bit on the coffee. (And before we get too much earnest mail from well-intentioned fans... yes, we know she was joking.) As theories go, though, it's as good as anything out there right now... (Louis Wu 10:26:15 UTC) (permalink)
More Fan Fiction for you
Tursas sends in the next installment of his ongoing fan fiction saga, Hermes Trismegistus. This is starting to get... weird. Just read it. (Louis Wu 00:02:03 UTC) (permalink)
News July 11 2001
The Roman Guard now recruiting
Haloplayers brings word of a Halo clan, The Roman Guard, that is currently actively recruiting for new members. If you're interested, stop by and sign up! Update: Thomason writes to tell us that the Halo Guard is not a Halo clan - it's a division of the Roman Federation, which is a Halo clan. So a Halo clan division is recruiting - apologies for the misrepresentation. (I guess this means that if you're accepted, you're not a full member of the Roman Federation, or something... you'll have to check with them.) (Louis Wu 13:31:22 UTC) (permalink)
Black Ops gets 2 more chapters
Battleground: Halo has put up two more chapters of its fan fiction opus, 'Black Ops' - it's up to 12 chapters now. If you haven't read it, go check it out. (As far as I know, it's the only Halo-related fan fiction on the web that's NOT in our Fan Fiction archive.) (Louis Wu 13:27:21 UTC) (permalink)
News July 10 2001
Raise your glass to Tru7h!
Marginally Halo-related, definitely bungie.org-related: just in time for MacWorld, bungie.org has unveiled its first t-shirt, featuring many of your favorite Bungie characters (including the Halo Marine). It's pretty, it's high-quality, and it costs between $5-17, depending on how you pay for it - go take a look! (Louis Wu 13:59:05 UTC) (permalink)
News July 9 2001
Halo SETI Team 7 day stats posted
The Halo SETI Marines have a new top cruncher today - Niklas Brunberg processed 150 units to claim La Crunch Honneur. This pulled him within 11 spots of the top 100 team members, and gave him second place in positions climbed, as well - beaten out by Croz, who leapfrogged 61 teammates to take the Frogblast Award. And who is that new guy on the team... 'msoell'? Why does that name sound familiar? Check all the details on the 7 day stats page. Pax. (Crux Fidelis 14:38:09 UTC) (permalink)
Halo Update Database made current
Last week's Weekly Update has been added to the Halo Update Database - go play with the search page. How long from conception to finished map? Ask Hardy. It's like a jar of Ragu; it's in there... (Louis Wu 01:52:55 UTC) (permalink)
News July 8 2001
Dang, Louis - open that mouth!
The Junkyard Gaming Site Interview series continues... and today's contestant is our own Louis Wu. Looks like he's been taking brevity lessons at the monastery... his answers are pretty short. You can tell how old he is, though.. just check out question 15. Pax. (Crux Fidelis 16:58:37 UTC) (permalink)
Unreal 2 Designer looks to Halo
Ph.D. points out (thanks to MSXbox) that GameSurge has interviewed James Parkman, Senior Level Designer for Unreal 2. At one point, he's asked what games he's looking forward to... and the answer is amusing:
As for FPS games, I'm looking forward to playing Red Faction and Halo, as much to analyze as to have fun (maybe more ;-).
Nice to see that the competition isn't saying they're ignoring Halo... (Louis Wu 14:56:07 UTC) (permalink)
Fan Fiction section updated
Blossoming open into a surreal starburst of fire and smoke, the blast sent the Wraith wheeling off towards the sea, and its concussion bowled over the Elite and most of the Grunts alongside the tank. Jackals flew into the air, screaming and spinning, discharging their plasma rifles in random directions, before they were lost in the billowing cloud of dust and sand thrown up by the explosion. "SPNKR, get back up!"
Ape Man's latest fan fiction, 'The Mantled Wings of Angels', puts a good chunk of the Halo dev team (and even part of the Phoenix team) into a battle for their lives... check it out in our Fan Fiction section. (Louis Wu 14:50:29 UTC) (permalink)
News July 7 2001
Dogs of War have been let loose
William Malmi writes to say that the Dogs of War squad has changed servers, and updated their site. There are some new rules of behavior, designed to improve performance of the squad... stop by and check it out. (Louis Wu 14:38:49 UTC) (permalink)
Mirroring can be painful
MichiganJ.S has asked us to pull his server's listing (CitrusV) from the GameStar movie mirror list, because the huge demand caused him to go way over his bandwidth limit (9.5 gigs in 2 days). Folks - it's not unusual for a new Halo movie to be downloaded by 10,000 people or more. At 30 megs a pop, that's more than 250 gigs of downloads... if you add your server to a mirror list that contains 10 other sites, you can count on traffic increasing by AT LEAST 10 gigs almost immediately. (I bet FilePlanet served over 100 gigs of that movie.) As much as I hate the idea of discouraging folks from volunteering with mirror space... PLEASE be aware of what you're getting into before you do so. Thanks. (Louis Wu 14:08:07 UTC) (permalink)
Let's get that bitch in there...
Matt's Weekly Halo Update surfaced at Battleground: Halo this week - and it's tasty. Lots of Sin-O-MaTiXXX stuff, some good multiplayer morsels, and the Shadow is out again. (Oh, and Jason's listening to some scary stuff.) Go check it out! (Louis Wu 01:06:27 UTC) (permalink)
FAQ updated - GO READ IT
Mark Levin, walking repository of Halo knowledge (and other infectious stuff), dropped a note on our forum to let folks know that he's updated the HBO FAQ. Always nice when we're up-to-date! Thanks, Mark. (Louis Wu 00:32:31 UTC) (permalink)
News July 6 2001
Tchaikovsky + Halo = Fun!
What do you get when you put a great battle scene to great battle music? A little diversion, that's what. Freedom, from Garden of War, started with the E32000 Halo movie, and spliced and diced it to Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture. The result is a pretty nice clip. Check it out. (1.7 megs, WMV format.) (Louis Wu 04:19:25 UTC) (permalink)
And some full-blown Fan Fiction
And as she jumped, reality falling away into memory, Einstein's laws vanishing as seeds of millet upon a fierce wind, the talons of a mad empire raked across her skin, and the gods of this empire were still not satisfied with the bloody massacres occuring on five worlds. Defensive cannonry fell from Pillar of Autumn as she danced through a timeless realm.
A wonderful writer from the early days of Halo's Fan Fiction comes back on the scene, bringing with him last year's E3 movie, and some homage to Iain Banks. While the GAME might not be this way any more... the STORY sure is fun to read. Check out 'Bracelet of Gods' in our Fan Fiction section. (Louis Wu 04:12:44 UTC) (permalink)
Some almost-Fan Fiction...
"Who are you?!"
"Destiny,"
and shot him too.
That's all we got from vector, who says it's the beginning of another Fan Fiction... and the end of a poem. It's called Lineatemp. And when we get an actual story, you'll be able to find it in our Fan Fiction section. (Louis Wu 04:12:25 UTC) (permalink)
News July 5 2001
Fan Fiction section updated
He walked to the table and ran a hand across the smooth surface, avoiding the plant that seemed to expand and contract, as though breathing, upon closer inspection. Putting his ear near to one particularly large creeper, he thought he could make out a barely perceptible rhythm of air sounding from pores too small for him to see. It was moving though; his experience upon arriving told him that.
Bob's history becomes clearer, though his future is still murky. Tursas' latest installment of the Hermes Trismegistus saga is posted in our Fan Fiction section. (Louis Wu 11:58:35 UTC) (permalink)
News July 4 2001
GameStar movie translation at Mac Halo
Mac Halo has put up a translation of the voiceover on the Gamestar E3 video - if you don't speak German, this is a good way to find out what's being said. Pax. (Crux Fidelis 23:22:23 UTC) (permalink)
Las Vegas? Yah, could be fun...
Tom Van Sinden noticed that the newest Bungie.net poll asks, "If Bungie were to support a FanFest in only one of these US cities, which would you choose?" Go check out the choices. Pax. (Crux Fidelis 23:17:16 UTC) (permalink)
Acrappa featured at the Junkyard
Ryan 'Mhaddy' Matthews lets us know that Day 3 of their Gaming Site Interviews series highlights Matt 'Acrappa Martinez, newshound for Rampancy.net and maintainer of bungie.org's own OniRes. Check it out! Pax. (Crux Fidelis 19:24:32 UTC) (permalink)
Halo Calendars at Xbox Japan
Ph.D. writes to point out that the Xbox Japan calendar for July features Halo - it's available in 800x600 or 1024x768. (Thanks, MSXbox.) There's more Halo stuff listed here... but it's hit and miss if you don't read Japanese. Pax. (Crux Fidelis 14:02:39 UTC) (permalink)
And more movie mirrors
You guys are amazing. While we slept (okay, Crux wasn't sleeping, he was zoning out), news of three more mirrors for the GameStar movie appeared in our inbox:
- Wireplay Australia and
- AusGamers (thanks, trog)
- CitrusV (thanks, Michigan)
There are now enough mirrors out there that EVERYONE should have access to this movie, one way or another. What a fantastic community! (Louis Wu 13:37:07 UTC) (permalink)
Still more mirrors for the Gamestar flick
Two more mirrors for the GameStar movie - Dan Kristiansen, of Xbox Movies, has added the file - when I tested it, I got VERY fast transfer rates... and Clayton Hernandez notes that Multiplayerzone.com has the movie up, though you need to log in to get it. Thanks, guys! (These have been added to the full mirror list.) (Louis Wu 01:19:56 UTC) (permalink)
News July 3 2001
Mac Halo awakened?
Oops - we missed this a few days ago. Mac Halo, an Inside Mac Games affiliate that has had on-again, off-again webmastering over the past several months, seems to have been revived. Welcome to Matt Malinowski, the 'new guy who will be bringing you the news now, only several days later'. Let's hope they're back for good! Pax. (Crux Fidelis 19:03:10 UTC) (permalink)
Mirror, mirror, on the net...
Pete Cooner, admin of the bungie.org Hotline server, dropped us a note to say that the GameStar movie is up on the BorgHL server, plus a couple of personal servers - folks should check the news and user list for details. He reminded us that Hotline might be a better choice for modem users, since the downloads are resumable. A full list of mirrors has been compiled here (and will be added to the Movies page momentarily). (Louis Wu 13:51:38 UTC) (permalink)
More mirrors for the Gamestar movie
Thanks to AcidBurn, for making two new mirrors for the GameStar movie (these both in Germany) available:
Also, thanks to Yosr, who made the movie available on his mac, using MacOS Web Sharing - a grand gesture, at the very least! Go get 'em! (Louis Wu 12:11:19 UTC) (permalink)
The meat behind the matter
Noctavis spun out one of his trademark-length posts, explaining in quite a bit more detail what's going on with Rampancy.net - definitely worth a read. (Louis Wu 09:23:09 UTC) (permalink)
Mirrors up for the Gamestar movie
More apologies, this time for actually going to sleep. In the last 5 hours, though, 4 mirrors have popped up for the GameStar movie - we're supremely grateful to the folks who helped out here.
- Fileplanet mirror (2 download links - thanks, Bounty!)
- tornado.omnicon.net (thanks, B-Sharp!)
- ghalidrim.2y.net (Hotline server - thanks, ghalidrim!)
Hopefully, one of these will get you the file you're looking for - we'll add new mirrors when we hear of them. (The HL server, by the way, has been throttled to 10 downloads - be gentle.) (Louis Wu 08:52:17 UTC) (permalink)
Fansite operator interviews at the Junkyard
Ryan 'Mhaddy' Matthews writes to say that the Junkyard has put up the first of 13 interviews with fan site personnel, exploring why they do what they do and what it takes. This one is with Manveer 'Eidolon' Heir of VoodooExtreme. Check 'em out! (Louis Wu 08:43:53 UTC) (permalink)
Gamestar down - pipe too small
Apologies - our puny T1 just couldn't handle it. The server hosting that GameStar movie died under the almost 600 simultaneous connections you folks threw at it - I've (regretfully) pulled it until we can get some mirrors going. If you can mirror this, let us know (preferably with a place we can upload it to) - until then, it's gotta be offline again. Sorry. (Louis Wu 01:50:42 UTC) (permalink)
News July 2 2001
Gamestar E3 video available - for a little while
With great trepidation, we're making the E3 Halo video included with last month's GameStar magazine available. If the pipe fills up, we're going to have to pull it down - ideally, others will mirror this quickly, and make our lives easier. You can find it here - it's 32 MB, in MPG format. We'll keep it up as long as we can - but again, if you can mirror it, let us know as soon as possible with a mirror link. Thanks! (Louis Wu 20:16:23 UTC) (permalink)
PC Gamer says Planetside kicks Halo's butt
Lophan writes to say that PC Gamer has finally published their E3 impressions, in the August issue. Halo gets mentioned... in the Planetside blurb.
The demo of this persistent-world first-person shooter had snipers picking off opponents from long distances, and duos taking lethal vehicles out for spins with one man at the wheel and the passenger at the controls of a fearsome minigun. It blew the pants off the Xbox Halo demonstration.
- DM (Dan Morris) Verant, Summer '02
Ouch. Unfortunately, I didn't get to play with the Planetside build at E3 very much - it was crashing quite a lot. Guess the PC Gamer guys had a different experience. (Louis Wu 14:35:21 UTC) (permalink)
Halo SETI Marines 7 day stats posted
Dink!... Dink!... The Halo SETI Marines fall two notches in the Battle of the Teams this week. YOU'RE SLACKING, MARINES! Tharkhaad takes La Crunch Honneur, despite a 15% reduction in crunching... WereTiger continues to leapfrog teammates to take the Frogblast award again... but as a team, you're slipping. Time to step up the crunching! Those aliens are coming for YOU! Full details can be found on the 7 day stats page. (Louis Wu 14:31:54 UTC) (permalink)
Rampancy.net to shift focus
Wonga. Buried deep in a thread about various data-delivery systems, Noctavis, of Rampancy.net, delivers his clearest (to date) description of the (near) future of Rampancy.net. This site, which has been around since the very beginning of the Halo fan scene, looks to be shifting to a community discussion area, without the news section they have now. A good place to hang and talk... but not one, specifically, for Halo fans. We're gonna miss you guys! (Louis Wu 13:22:28 UTC) (permalink)
News July 1 2001
Only the Shadow knows...
This week's Halo Update mentions that 'the Shadow is back in the game.' This line instigated a sizeable amount of discussion, both on our forum and at Rampancy.net, from folks who weren't sure what the Shadow is. (It's a Covenant vehicle.) Ian McConville, our resident Mad Artist, has posted another of his entertaining speculations on our forum - you might not be any closer to knowing what the Shadow is, but you should at least have a smile on your face. (Louis Wu 22:42:26 UTC) (permalink)
Edge loves Halo
fAt1, of MPZ Halo, sent in such a nicely written description of the Edge article mentioned a few days ago on our forum that we're just gonna post it.
Edge, the most respected videogaming journal in the UK, had their E3 feature in the latest issue (99), and it had a lot of Halo in it... and they were highly impressed looking relatively at what they said about other games:
"Bungie's Halo Project Manager, Joe Staten, follows and showcases XBox's other potential killer app.ÊUnoptimised framerates aside (Which Edge is later informed is due to an autosave feature not fully implemented), this retains massive potential. Time restraints cut short an immersive looking demo, even if Statens foolish fireless attack on a gun-toting Covenant alien sees him get killed quickly. At least the crowd gets to see the intelligent autosave feature in action."
Also, in a later Halo preview they add that "Also adding to the overall atmosphere is the way the game has been designed so that it plays continuously - there are no loading screens once the action begins"
They also note the framerates in split-screen "suffered massively", and that the XBox controller feels like a "chunky quaterpounder" but Halo's control system makes this less of a problem.
This is a glowing report from the likes of Edge who are made up of games designers turned journalists. This mag is more of a journal for the videogame industry more than a games magazine so I think Halo did well to impress them as much as it did.
Thanks, fAt1! (Louis Wu 14:00:11 UTC) (permalink)
Xbox vs. PS2
Neil Grattan points out a short article he's written on the relative merits of the Xbox vs the PS2. His conclusion - the Xbox is gonna wipe the floor with the PS2. Check out his points. (Louis Wu 13:49:35 UTC) (permalink)
Jjaro Boxers to the rescue!
Apologies for the slacking yesterday - I was out of town, and the rest of these clowns? Who knows... anyway, time for some catch-up. In a recent thread on our forum, it was pointed out that the underwear the player's character wears can be of utmost importance - Ian McConville's graphic depiction says it best. One can only hope that Bungie is listening. (Louis Wu 13:45:29 UTC) (permalink)
| July 2001 | |
