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September 2003

September 2003 Archived News

News September 30 2003

Good lookin' stuff.
Been a little while since we've updated the Wallpaper section... got 13 desktops for you, some real doozies. Check 'em out! (Louis Wu 19:40:54 UTC) (permalink)

Screenies at WorthPlaying, too
While I was over at WorthPlaying, I found a whole bunch of screenshots (54 of 'em) posted about a week and a half ago. They're interesting, because they've got lots of graphic features turned off; you can see what the game looks like with no specular reflections, low textures, etc. Warning to those who haven't played yet - they're full of spoilers. (Louis Wu 15:29:43 UTC) (permalink)

Wow. Patched before most even have it.
Speed is everything. The Halo v1.01 patch is already available for download from WorthPlaying.com. It's 3.6 mb, but WP doesn't know what, exactly, it addresses. Thanks to Tocki, of Halo Orbit, who's already put up a mirror. More details when we have them. Update: It's mirrored at Halo Universe (in Germany), as well. Thanks, Marc! (Louis Wu 14:35:01 UTC) (permalink)

It's Official.
The official Halo PC Press Release has hit the wires; get ready to start fragging. (Louis Wu 13:39:16 UTC) (permalink)

High-quality music... coming
More info from Neo Alucard X about the Bonus DVD coming from Bungie (Soon™). It's going to have 5.1 versions of both Halo 2 trailers, plus a suite of music from the E3 demo (also in 5.1). Plus a new image. Info comes from the Marty Army chapter of the 7th Column. (If your response is 'huh? WHAT bonus DVD?' - you haven't been keeping up. Neither have we, really... it's been mentioned at that chapter a few times, but I don't have any other info for you.) (Louis Wu 09:17:20 UTC) (permalink)

GamePro reviews Halo PC
GamePro has put up their Halo review... and they were REALLY unhappy with the framerate issue. (They gave Halo a 3.5/5 on Graphics partly because it's dated... but partly because (in their opinion) you have to turn everything off in order to play the game.) Thanks to KP for the heads-up. (Louis Wu 09:05:30 UTC) (permalink)

Flaming Love
Very nice. Gearbox has put up a new screenshot - this one shows Dave Mertz getting toasted crisply with the flamethrower. Thanks to comcipher for the heads-up. (Louis Wu 08:33:22 UTC) (permalink)

The End Of A Legend.
Today's Guest One One Se7en was submitted by forum regular Simpsons Rule... and it expresses a heartfelt sentiment shared by most forumgoers. (Louis Wu 02:18:12 UTC) (permalink)

Video review, too, from Gamespot.
As KP pointed out, Gamespot has updated its coverage to include a 10 minute video review for Gamespot Complete members. (Louis Wu 02:13:42 UTC) (permalink)

No rest for the workers
Serious tasty bits from Dave Mertz, lead designer of Halo, over on the Gearbox forums this evening. Highlights:

• The first bugfix for Halo PC is already almost finished, and will be ready soon after the game's release. Two more patches/updates are in the pipeline.
• Additional features are coming soon.
• Game tweaking to conform to the needs of the CPL (and tournament play in general) is underway.

Check out the whole post (and, indeed, the whole thread, if you've got an hour to kill) - rest assured, Gearbox is VERY aware of the issues being brought forward by the community (even though most of the vocal ones right now have stolen the game), and are working hard to make things better. (Louis Wu 01:51:30 UTC) (permalink)

[HOH] is looking for members
Hell on Halo, another Halo clan, is also recruiting. Check 'em out. (Louis Wu 01:45:29 UTC) (permalink)

Putting a new face on... something.
HaloJuggaloProductions has another new design. Go take a look. (Louis Wu 01:43:29 UTC) (permalink)

News September 29 2003

Gamespot reviews Halo PC
More new Halo PC content - this time at Gamespot. There's a review (they gave it a 9/10; complaints were repetitive level design, high hardware requirements, unvaried multiplayer - what?) and a couple of dozen screenshots. (It DID get an Editor's Choice award.) Thanks to Strato for the heads-up. (Louis Wu 22:01:55 UTC) (permalink)

Killtacular Classic results posted
Eep - came in late last night, I forgot to get back to it. The iGames Championship Killtacular Classic took place on Saturday in Tempe, Arizona... and once again, The Dream Team walked away with cash. $2000, in fact, in the 2v2 Championships, beating out The Assault Rifles. In FFA action, Zyos beat Sheppard in a 1-capture CTF match for $500. (He also won the Royal Rumble elimination match and took home a 42" HDTV.) Full details can be found at Killtacular.com. Thanks, Andy. (Louis Wu 19:07:14 UTC) (permalink)

Project 117 looking for members
Micah writes about a new Halo Clan, Project 117; they're currently recruiting. Check 'em out! (Louis Wu 16:28:47 UTC) (permalink)

Reviews, Screens
Four new Halo PC reviews are up; GamingNEXT, Gamers Depot, Telefragged, and The Wargamer (a first impressions article, which, judging from the screenshots, was written from Beta 1.5). The pattern amongst the first three is the framerate issue; the game simply requires a LOT from the hardware. (We'll be posting a tips page to optimize your experience soon; there are definitely some things you can do to avoid the worst of the problems.) All 4 reviews have screenshots (GamingNEXT put up 69 of 'em), and there are even MORE screens at LoadedInc. Thanks, Blue's News. (Louis Wu 16:12:45 UTC) (permalink)

Halo for $40. Free shipping.
Lophan wrote this morning to point out that his local Best Buy was selling Halo PC for $39.99, but that this was not the case on Best Buy's website. It is, now. If you haven't ordered Halo, save $10 by grabbing it here. Thanks, Hijack. (Louis Wu 14:23:15 UTC) (permalink)

Look Up 'Elitespeak'.
It's Comic Morning at HBO - Here's Monday's One One Se7en. (Louis Wu 05:45:16 UTC) (permalink)

Halo: Resolution - a new feature
Because it's worked so well for Stuntmutt and One One Se7en, we've recycled our comic template for a new series, this one sprite-based, created by Fuzzy and D.I.M agic. It's called Halo: Resolution, and it'll have new strips every Monday and Saturday. Today's strip is entitled 'Old School'. Enjoy! (Louis Wu 03:18:30 UTC) (permalink)

Words, words, and more words
Nineteen Fan Fiction pieces from over the weekend:

• The Death of Earth:Guilt of a Spartan Chapter 4, by Sim McGaulkin
• Survival, Chapter Six: Days of Rescue and Defense, by Agent Shade
• Devestation- Chapter 2- Getting Home, by Michael
• Homeworlds XV, by Mainevent
• Unknown Apprentice, Rewritten, by apache119
• Temporal Rift PART I: SPARTAIN II REDUX, by Alexander_Valient
• Halo ABC's, by Mainevent
• Have Fath, by Alpha Lance
• Capture Part 1: the Sammurri, by kadjfoiafjasdoijf
• -Hell Summed Up-, by Mainevent
• A Soul of Steel: Part 3, by The Scribe
• Croton 3.76 � The sea may be a cruel mistress�but trees hurt more, by Trevor
• DONT TURN YOUR BACK TO ME part 1, by BACKFIRE
• The 7th Column: Deceit, by Mainevent
• The Final Battle:Part 1-the San Jose, by SlimJim27
• Halo Trilogy: Fighting and Remembrance (Chapter VI), by Alpha Lance
• Battle for the Norah: Part Five, by Sterfrye36
• Devestation- Chapter 3- Beta Halo..., by Michael
• The Inter-Galaxal Wars, Part One, by Hunter_Killer

Start your week with some Halo prose. (Louis Wu 03:06:22 UTC) (permalink)

Clanwars - online Halo fun
Another Halo online gaming league - Clanwars. Check this post for a quick rundown of features, or visit the site and explore. (Louis Wu 00:43:21 UTC) (permalink)

German Parsons interview translated
Thanks to Harry Al-Shakarchi, for submitting a translation of the Pete Parsons interview that showed up on Blick Online recently. (We got one from "The Corupt German" as well... it was a bit later.) Couple of interesting tidbits in there... (Louis Wu 00:28:50 UTC) (permalink)

News September 28 2003

Hide and Shriek
Eep - forgot to post today's Guest One One Se7en strip. (There are lots of them, we can't miss days, folks get mad if they have to wait more than 3 months to see their strip in print.) Iceman1330 looks at alternative uses for character bumping. (Louis Wu 16:07:39 UTC) (permalink)

Randy Pitchford talks about performance
Rapture has pointed out a thread on Gearbox's forum started by Randy Pitchford, addressing concerns about Halo PC's performance. Reaction seems to be split... but there's some meat to be found if you read the whole thread. (Louis Wu 14:59:00 UTC) (permalink)

Free Halo Web Templates
The webmaster of Clantemplates.com has written to point out that they've recently released a pair of free Halo templates for gaming clans. If you're building a Halo clan site, and don't have time to design it yourself, check these out; they're pretty nice looking! (Louis Wu 14:27:29 UTC) (permalink)

You're gonna have to face it...
Wolfy writes about a quiz over at Sector 7, to determine if you're Addicted to Halo. Check it out! (Louis Wu 14:22:27 UTC) (permalink)

Flash Halo
The 343GS team has created the beginnings of a Flash game - the goal is to reproduce Halo in Flash. (Nah, they're not ambitious or anything...) The beginnings of the game are up at the Junkyard; you can kill a couple of baddies with a grenade (but not by shooting; that's not implemented yet). This shows some real promise! (Louis Wu 14:16:06 UTC) (permalink)

Blick Online talks to Pete Parsons
Back from a nice break... first up, a German interview of Pete Parsons about Halo 2 over on Blick Online. Google's translation services gave me the gist of what was said here... but any native German speakers who wanted to translate this would be gratefully appreciated. Thanks to caudronix for the heads-up. (Louis Wu 14:13:18 UTC) (permalink)

News September 27 2003

Yes, Virginia...
During the beta test of Halo PC, there were a lot of HBO forum regulars recounting game highlights on our forum, and talk turned to whether or not HBO would host an 'Official HBO Server'. At the time, we were vague; a Halo server requires a Windows-based operating system, and bungie.org (and the hosting company that handles it) is Mac/Unix only. However, thanks to the generous folks over at GameDaemons.net, we're happy to say there WILL be an official HBO Halo PC server, open to the public. These guys are pros... I've done a little research, and the word on the street is, if you want a fast, low-ping server, you can't do any better than Game Daemons. We've written up a short press release with basic information about the server and how it will be administered. We're looking forward to fragging you! (Louis Wu 11:50:52 UTC) (permalink)

Halo Revolution goes live
Stearsy writes to tell us about HaloRevolution.Tk - the 'ultimate Halo fan site in the United Kingdom'. There's quite a lot of info here; help in getting online (both XBC, for Halo, and Xbox Live, for other games now, Halo 2 in the future), basic game info (I'd have liked it better if some of our content had been requested, instead of simply included, but hey...), and some homegrown videos. Check it out! (Louis Wu 11:33:56 UTC) (permalink)

Massive Halo PC content infusion from IGN
IGN has posted their review of Halo PC... and a whole lot more. For regular visitors, the review, 45 screenshots, and 9 streaming video flicks (multiplayer action) are available. (Massive spoilers in the screenshots, if you haven't played yet.) For Insiders, there's also a Game Guide (basically an updated version of their Xbox guide, although it's missing the 6 new maps), and a video review (available in large and small QuickTime and WMP movies, ranging from 29 to 95 mb, also full of spoilers). There are, of course, downloadable versions of the public streaming vids, too, for Insiders. They weren't thrilled with the game. Biggest complaints were repetitive level design, too-taxing hardware requirements, and a balance that seems (to them) still geared to console playing. They gave it an 8.2 overall. Go read/watch the parts you have access to! Thanks to bikeman704 for the tip. (Louis Wu 11:18:18 UTC) (permalink)

That Weasel's Back Up
Whoa - we just found out that That Weasel Television suffered a 5-day internet blackout... but is now back online. If there were movies you needed from there... go get 'em! (Louis Wu 10:16:58 UTC) (permalink)

The End... of something
Whoa. Red vs Blue, Episode 19, went up for sponsors last night (a bit later than expected) - and what a finish for the season. Remember the 'Who Shot JR?' episode of Dallas? (Okay, okay, I realize an enormous number of you weren't even BORN then...) Grab it now, if you're a sponsor... or grab it tomorrow if you're not. It's pretty clear that folks will be champing at the bit for the opening of Season 2... (Louis Wu 09:37:43 UTC) (permalink)

The Hacker Strikes Back.
Today's guest One One Se7en comes from Germain Couët again. A tribute to a master. (Louis Wu 01:39:17 UTC) (permalink)

End-of-week writings
12 Fan Fiction pieces for you this time around...

• A Really Big Ring, Just What I Always Wanted [H&R 11], by Jillybean
• The Death of Earth:Guilt of a Spartan Chapter 2, by Sim McGaulkin
• The Battles For Centauri Primus : Chapter One, by spartandude117
• The Plague Part 2, by monitor101
• The Death of Earth:Guilt of a Spartan Chapter 3, by Sim McGaulkin
• Derailed Part 6, by Dispraiser
• Devestation- Chapter One- The Raiding Party, by Michael
• The Rebel: Battle of the Cobras, by Elfster
• Battlefield, by Mainevent
• Major Mc Lenn, by Master_Chief189
• The Mars Annihilations Part 4, by Janglurevil7
• VENGEANCE [1], by GLADIATRRR3000

I shouldn't have to say it... but guys, please don't plagiarize. (Louis Wu 00:32:31 UTC) (permalink)

When you're up against the wall...
Halo Babies was almost short a comic this week... but not quite. Thanks, mrsmiley! (Louis Wu 00:10:47 UTC) (permalink)

News September 26 2003

NZ site reviews old beta
Stuff Entertainment, in New Zealand, has published a review of the Halo PC 1.5 beta. Crashed a lot for them. They still sorta liked it. Sorta. Thanks to... um, a guy with a really long handle. (Louis Wu 16:15:06 UTC) (permalink)

HBO News Messenger - a fan's way of keeping up
Sniperman27 has created the HBO News Messenger; a small Windows program that will let you know the most recent news post on HBO. I was a iittle hesitant about the color scheme (as shown in that forum post) - but I needn't have worried; on a PC running XP Pro and .Net Framework 1.1, I saw something different. If you're not interested in an entire RSS reader, but just want the latest post, this might be worth checking out! Update: please don't download this yet. It seems that Sniperman has it configured to poll the server every 10 seconds - if a thousand people download this, that's an extra 100 connections every second of every day. 10,000 downloads, and we're talking 1000 extra connections per second. HBO doesn't need that. (Likely, HBO can't HANDLE that.) (Louis Wu 14:59:34 UTC) (permalink)

Doomed.
Carmack... unoriginal? Never. Well, Stuntmutt considers it, anyway, in today's One One Se7en. (Louis Wu 14:25:08 UTC) (permalink)

Gamespy loves Halo. Really.
Gamespy has put up their review of the final version of Halo... and they loved it. Simply loved it. They're still not thrilled with the level design, and they're grumpy about the system requirements... but (by their own reckoning) those are niggles. Halo... as it was meant to be played. (Their words.) Comes with 24 screenies, too (12 campaign shots from Halo, T&R and Silent Cartographer, and 12 multiplayer shots, mostly from Blood Gulch, Timberland, and Gephyrophobia, though there is one Ice Fields shot). Thanks to LaMuerte for the heads-up. (Louis Wu 13:48:13 UTC) (permalink)

Master Chief - Roto Rooter Man
Forum regular Wado has pieced together the clues dropped by Bungie, and laid out the actual Halo storyline. They jazzed it up a little bit for the final product... but the basics are all there. (Louis Wu 13:28:30 UTC) (permalink)

Halo Coupling
I was watching the boob tube and figured I'd give the premiere of that new NBC comedy, Coupling, a look-see. Guess what opens the third act? Two guys playing Halo and chatting about sex. :) It was only for a few seconds, but there ya go. Nice. (Ding 01:56:18 UTC) (permalink)

News September 25 2003

CPL Winter tourney rules up
For anyone going to the CPL Halo Winter Championship this December, the official rules have been posted. Read 'em through, soldier! (Louis Wu 18:51:36 UTC) (permalink)

Water levels, schmawter levels...
Mini-update at the Halo Story page - these guys haven't figured out what sleep means. (Louis Wu 17:20:43 UTC) (permalink)

SparkEdit to go public
Grenadiac points out that SparkEdit, his Halo map viewer (Xbox only at the moment) will be available to the public as of tomorrow. Check out more details at HaloMods.com! (Note: this is useless to you without a modded Xbox. Please don't mail us asking how to mod your Xbox. Thanks.) (Louis Wu 09:52:59 UTC) (permalink)

Haunted By A Ghost.
Today's Guest One One Se7en comes from Adrenaline... another warning about modded netplay. I hate it when that happens... (Louis Wu 09:01:20 UTC) (permalink)

Gamers Pulse looks at Halo PC
Gamers Pulse has put up a Halo PC preview - they, like most reviewers, are looking forward to it. Thanks to Blue's news, by way of Narcogen at Rampancy.net. (Louis Wu 08:56:19 UTC) (permalink)

Halo2World goes live
TARS writes to point out Halo2World, a new Halo 2 site. It's mostly a forum... but there are a few other sections, and room for growth. Check it out! (Louis Wu 08:44:29 UTC) (permalink)

Thursday Themes
8 Fan Fiction pieces? 8? Somone submitted an extra without permission!

• Halo: The MCconto Chronicles Part 9 and 10, by JCDenton
• Halo's Ballad, by Gasmask
• The Gunback's Part 1, by Anrew Harrison
• Retaliation: Chapter Three, by Blue Jaguar
• A Series of Wierd Events, Part Nine, by Hunter_Killer
• The Death of Earth:Guilt of a Spartan, by Sim McGaulkin
• CORRUPT: EndgamE, by GLADIATRRR3000
• Survival, Chapter Five: Chaos, by Agent Shade

Read, read... (Louis Wu 08:26:40 UTC) (permalink)

News September 24 2003

Speculations R Us
Not to be outdone by a Canadian mountain man connected to the internet via baggie twist-ties and a 9600 baud modem, mnemesis has gone through the Halo Story mailbag and picked a few gems out. (It took him a bit longer than expected, because he had to wash the grit and cobwebs off his arms when he was finished...) Check out the results on the HSP News page! (Louis Wu 18:22:31 UTC) (permalink)

Tactics 101
The Shadow Clan (or, specifically, member ShadowOryan) has submitted a new movie called 'Tactics 101' - it's available in WMP7 (13.2 mb) and QuickTime 5 (11.8 mb) formats. It's 320x240, just over 3 minutes long, and shows some sneaky tricks that can be used in multiplay. Some have been seen before, some haven't - but as a whole, it's a nice collection. Visit Tekkomix for more details on The Shadow Clan. (Louis Wu 16:34:14 UTC) (permalink)

We'll all get medals for this!
Massive infusion of new snippets for the Dialogue Databank - 85 in total. Some real classics; 'We are the Champions' from a victorious grunt, and 'Next one who dies gets it in the rear from ME!' from Sergeant Stacker are a couple of my favorites. (That last was in the Outtakes section of Bungie's Tru7h and Reconciliation site, so we checked; Marty tells me he's surprised it was left in the game... but it was. It's pretty rare, though.) Thanks to Captain Spark and Electric Monk for the submissions this time around! (Louis Wu 15:11:27 UTC) (permalink)

Corntana.
What do you do when the voice in your head starts telling really bad jokes? Well, obviously, you start drinking to drown out the noise... unless that voice belongs to a holographic representation of an AI. One One Se7en peeks at this nightmare. (Louis Wu 10:59:34 UTC) (permalink)

Wednesday Writings
Ten Fan Fiction pieces for you today...

• The UNSC Sigma Octanus-part-2, by Alexander_Valient
• The Cortana Run [H&R 10], by Jillybean
• Halo 001, Part One, by Hunter_Killer
• A Series of Wierd Events, Part Eight, by Hunter_Killer
• Sons of Sparta, by SOS.Odin
• The Final Conflict: Chapter 1, by Blade
• CORRUPT [4], by GLADIATRRR3000
• Homeworlds XIV, by Mainevent
• Forerunners, by Alpha Lance
• Halo Trilogy: European Road Trip ( Chapter V ), by Alpha Lance

Wow, that's fewer than usual. (Louis Wu 10:55:20 UTC) (permalink)

The Silent Cartographers Speak
Shishka points out that The Silent Cartographers website is now online. (TSC are a mapmaking group formed recently to create killer content for Halo PC.) Go take a look! (Louis Wu 10:25:17 UTC) (permalink)

News September 23 2003

New Halo PC solo play vids available
IGN put up 12 new Halo PC movies last night - they're all solo play. They're available in streaming format for the general public, and downloadable .movs for Insiders. Thanks to maxmidget and The Burninator for noticing. (Louis Wu 20:57:30 UTC) (permalink)

Official Strategy Guide - now shipping!
The Sybex Official Strategy Guide for Halo PC is now out. You can grab a copy from Amazon for $14 - remember, this puppy contains a boatload of info not in the Xbox guide from Prima, including Halo Bible material and spotlights on the fan community. Check it out! (Louis Wu 20:52:43 UTC) (permalink)

Buy Halo PC, get cool stuff
Another bonus for folks ordering Halo PC from CompUSA - if you order before October 15, you're automatically entered in a drawing that will send you to the CPL Winter Event in Dallas (including airfare, VIP pass, the works), plus some pretty sweet schwag. Check the details on their contest page. Thanks to CobaltNova for the heads-up. (Louis Wu 20:49:31 UTC) (permalink)

Westlake's Phil Sulak dishes the dirt
Phil Sulak, president of Westlake Interactive, took some time out of his insane schedule to answer a barrage of questions about Mac Halo and where it stands. It's been a long time coming... but it won't be much longer. Go read the details! (Louis Wu 09:40:09 UTC) (permalink)

Speculate on THIS.
Though stranded in the wilds of western Canada (though not FAR west enough to actually find civilization again), Finn has managed to update the Halo Story page with a couple of choice tidbits. The man's a monster. (Louis Wu 09:36:58 UTC) (permalink)

Next Generation.
Today's Guest One One Se7en comes from the multifaceted BOLL, who looks at platform issues... (Louis Wu 09:05:29 UTC) (permalink)

Tuesday Tales
12 stories today in the Fan Fiction section:

• Spartan III's, Part III, by FOrunnER
• A Series of Wierd Events, Part Six, by Hunter_Killer
• A Series of Wierd Events, Part Seven, by Hunter_Killer
• Survival, Chapter Four: Critical Alert, by Agent Shade
• The Fight for Bravo Base; pt. 4- Reunion, by ONI_operative_343
• Derailed Part 5, by Dispraiser
• Nothing to Lose Part VI, by hornet34
• Homeworlds XIII, by Mainevent
• Episode Five- The Stanley Hoppetz Story, by Spartan117
• The Mars Annihilations Part 3, by Janglurevil7
• Humanity, by Mainevent
• How I Make Fan Fics, by Frensa Geran

They just keep coming... (Louis Wu 09:03:00 UTC) (permalink)

IMG talks to Westlake's Brad Oliver
Inside Mac Games has interviewed Brad Oliver, a programmer over at Westlake Interactive (the folks responsible for the Mac port of Halo). There's not that much Halo information in this interview, but it's worth a read anyway for folks interested in the future of gaming on a Mac; looks like the G5s are gonna make a splash! (There ARE a couple of Halo tidbits...) Thanks to Blackstar for the heads-up. (Louis Wu 02:51:07 UTC) (permalink)

News September 22 2003

A lotta kills!
SketchFactor points out that it's only one week until the Killatacular Classic IGames Championship (a tourney with $5000 on the line for the top players). Go to it! (Louis Wu 21:04:51 UTC) (permalink)

A much better X03 transcript
Noctarus, of the Battleground: Halo forums, has written up a full transcript of the X03 video that's been the talk of the Halo community for a couple of days now. This is a much more complete and accurate transcript than the one IGN put up on Friday - absolutely worth a read, if you either couldn't download the movie, or couldn't hear things. Thanks to Fluffy for the heads-up. Update: DOH! Pasted the wrong link in there. Fixed now. Thanks, Ross. (Louis Wu 14:25:14 UTC) (permalink)

And Wait 'Til You Hear How Much He Charges.
One One Se7en looks at a tidbit that appeared due to modding not too long ago. I personally think it's a nasty shot - but that might be because I have an engineering degree (of sorts). (Louis Wu 04:50:42 UTC) (permalink)

While we were sleeping...
MaverickJ dropped us a note to point out that Project Spartan, a popular site with lots of cool tricks vids, is coming back. Details will be available at the above web address as soon as they're known. (Louis Wu 04:40:38 UTC) (permalink)

Fan Fiction Update
18 Fan Fiction pieces, and a bit of bad news: you may have noticed that HBO was offline for a bit over 4 hours this evening. This was partly due to some rather unpleasant people out there, and partly due to my own carelessness. With some help from the datacenter, we got back up and running - but we lost a chunk of data. I was able to restore from last night's backup... but everything local added SINCE then (5 am UTC) is gone. (News is stored in a second location, offsite, so that was easy to recover.) The loss that most affects visitors is that of any new fan fiction posted since 5 am UTC on Sunday morning. Basically, if you submitted a story recently, and it's not in this update (and you didn't try to cheat by padding a too-short story with gibberish), it's gone and you need to submit it again. Sorry. (Comments in the last day are also lost - again, I'm sorry.) I'm looking on the bright side - it could have been worse.

• Halo 2, Part 1:Battle for Earth, by Richard Thesiger
• The Battle of Kiris: Arrival, by DarkTemplar007
• Retaliation: Chapter Two, by Blue Jaguar
• Chapter Five: Rise of the Phoenix, by Blue Jaguar
• Halo: Warfront Chapter 3, by Adlin Yusman Yusoff
• Blood Written, by Michael
• Nothing to Lose Part V, by hornet34
• Homeworlds XI, by Mainevent
• Before the probe Part 2, by Master_Chief189
• Blood Written-Chapter 2- Walking Into Hell, by Michael
• Blood Written- Chapter 3- Death and Confusion, by Michael
• Cantankerous Covenant Cheers, by Sargeant Pepper
• A Lost Spartan Name Shadow, by Alpha Lance
• Deception, by Mainevent
• And now all hell will break loose Part 5, by metallicafan
• A John Before Halo: Part 9, by J-117
• Halo 2: Revenge of a Spartan, Chapter 10, by LostRock
• The Flood, by Alpha Lance

That ought to do for now... (Louis Wu 04:22:44 UTC) (permalink)

News September 21 2003

Watch Out For Falling Rocks.
Well, normally Sundays are reserved for Sunday One One Se7ens from Stuntmutt, or are left open... but there are a LOT of queued Guest strips, and no official one for today, so what the heck.This one's another Iceman1330 strip - and it looks at the dangers of modding. (Louis Wu 17:48:09 UTC) (permalink)

His LOTIONS ?
Red vs Blue is suing... everybody. Well, everybody who ever visited the Red vs Blue website. It's all on behalf of their literally dozens of fans around the world. You can get the details from the Red vs Blue PSA #5, currently available on the Sponsors forum (but likely to the rest of the actionable public soon). Go see why you're gonna go broke! (Louis Wu 15:53:56 UTC) (permalink)

Microsoft posts official system requirements for Halo PC
Now this is just bizarre. Microsoft has their official Halo PC website - but they ALSO have an overview page on the same server... with unique information. Specifically, the overview page contains an official system requirements section that the Official website doesn't have. OS can go as low as Windows 98SE. CD-ROM drive can go as low as 8x. Video card minimum has been defined as '32 MB T&L capable' - more general than the old 'GeForce2 or equivalent' listing. Otherwise, there's not much new here - but it's definitely nice to have an official source for this info. (Louis Wu 02:02:41 UTC) (permalink)

X03 video madness
More on the 7-minute Halo segment from X03; as we mentioned recently, there are a couple of locations for the DivX version (the original source, Xboxyde.com, and a UK mirror). This versions weighs in at 50.7 mb. Blackstar has converted it to QuickTime (obviating the need for me to do it :) ) - and you can grab the 56 mb version either at his site, or at files.bungie.org. Additionally, BlimBlim, the maintainer of Xboxyde (where all this goodness started), popped into our forum to mention a screenshot gallery showing some of the juiciest pieces in fullscreen (718x575) goodness. There are currently 17 shots there - but the number might increase. Lastly, I'd like to thank G-Xis for his enthusiasm and comments. Update: Oops, forgot one; Germany's Halo Orbit has mirrored both the small and large AVIs. Sorry about that! Update2: Found another AVI mirror here (thanks, BiosHacker), and Blackstar has reduced the size of the QuickTime version to 40.6 mb (with no visible loss of quality); both links above now point to the slimmed-down version. Woohoo! (Louis Wu 01:20:50 UTC) (permalink)

News September 20 2003

Halo Vice
Rico has submitted an introduction sequence for an upcoming video project entitled 'Halo Vice' - in his words:

Originally I just wanted to use the footage to better understand my new editing system, but after suggestions from several friends and input from members of the RHOH chapter at Bungie.net I have decided to create a series of "shows" that can be freely distributed openly on the internet and on DVD. The goal is to have a moody, action-highlighted drama along the same lines as the classic 80's television show Miami Vice (hence the theme music lifted off of composer Jan Hammer's "Escape From Television" album). I even managed to find a similar font for all the titling! All images were compiled on miniDV and edited in Final Cut Pro 4.0.2.

The video is 2:44 long, encoded in MPEG-4, and weighs in at 16 mb. You can contact Rico through his 7th Column chapter, Rico's House of Halo. (The movie was originally uploaded to FilePlanet - but was then redone. The current FP version is out of date - you should grab the files.bungie.org one linked above. When the FilePlanet version has been updated, we'll post news about it.) (Louis Wu 20:47:35 UTC) (permalink)

Now THEM's some pretty pictures.
The Wallpaper section, also languishing for far too long, gets a massive infusion today; 18 new desktops, some of which absolutely ROCK. They're all worth looking at... but if I had to pick my favorite 3 of the lot, they'd be this one, this one, and this one. (That last one is amazing... and no longer reproducible with the current version of Halo PC.) Whew - beginning to dig out from under! (Louis Wu 18:04:27 UTC) (permalink)

Xboxyde posts 16 seconds of X03 Halo 2 footage
Draikin points out a small (1.9 mb) divx-encoded AVI showing some of the Halo 2 footage from X03. (There's no sound, and it's 16 seconds of shakeycam footage, but you can see some cool stuff nonetheless.) He found it at Xboxyde. Update: There's a much bigger version available now; it's the full 7 minute section devoted to Halo 2, not just the 16 seconds of brand-new footage. It weighs in at 50.7 mb, and is encoded in DivX format. It's already been mirrored by Intangir in the UK, and we're working on a QuickTime version (which won't be done before tonight, sorry). For those who just want to see the new footage, Blackstar has already converted the shorter movie: you can grab it from files.bungie.org. In order to download the larger movie from Xboxyde, you need to register there; it's free, but it can be trying if you don't read French (according to a number of people in this forum thread). (Louis Wu 13:56:40 UTC) (permalink)

Halo 2: The Fallen
Another languishing piece of artwork - an entry for the Halo 2 cover art collection, from Snyper. (Louis Wu 11:25:23 UTC) (permalink)

Banners, too.
Four new banners have been added to the Banners section. A couple of them have been in the queue for almost 3 weeks. I'm really sorry. (Louis Wu 11:17:42 UTC) (permalink)

Pictures - building for a while
It's been far too long since we've cleared out the artwork queues - sorry. The Miscellaneous Art submissions recently include some cool sketches, a pair of Magic Eye pieces, and more. Check 'em out! (Louis Wu 10:55:20 UTC) (permalink)

Saturday Stories
Once again, it's 14 stories for the Fan Fiction section...

• Spartans meet their match, by Robert
• Reclaim Me . . . [H&R 7], by Jillybean
• Sparked and Guilty [H&R 8], by Jillybean
• I Fight For You [H&R 9], by Jillybean
• Stranded at Home Final Part, by Dispraiser
• The Virus Part 11 (Finale) , by monitor101
• Homeworlds X, by Mainevent
• Revenge Part II: The Battle, by af'pooaopfasofo
• The UNSC Sigma Octanus-part-1, by Alexander_Valient
• Drowning in Sorrow - Chapter Two - The Rings of Power, by Phoenix89uk
• The Dawn of Dusk, by Mainevent
• Untitled Boredome Improve -ROB- Story #3, by Mainevent
• The Plague Part 1, by monitor101
• Survival, Chapter Three: The Battle for Survival begins..., by Agent Shade

Weirdness. (Louis Wu 10:54:08 UTC) (permalink)

343 Annoying Spark.
Oh, heck, as long as we're doing comics... today's Guest One One Se7en was turned in by Geeoff - and don't tell me you never tried that. Too bad it doesn't work... (Louis Wu 00:14:47 UTC) (permalink)

Rivalry.
Halobabies.net has put up comic #9 - I'm pretty sure the baby MC isn't supposed to talk that way. What are kids coming to these days, anyway? (Great facial expressions on Sarge.) There's also a new desktop (you have to register on their forum for access). Check 'em out! (Louis Wu 00:09:19 UTC) (permalink)

News September 19 2003

Benefit tourney prizes announced
A week ago, we mentioned a benefit tournament that will take place in LA on the 24th (this coming Wednesday). Shrike came back today to report that prizes have been announced. Man, I want to enter, just so I can lose really bad and win the Mary Jane journal! Check it out. (Louis Wu 21:27:01 UTC) (permalink)

The Silent Cartographers
Over at Subnova, there's a quiet, unassuming little note with a title reading 'The Silent Cartographers'. Turns out, this is an announcement of a new Halo PC mapmaking group, made up of Subnova members (which means Bungie old-schoolers). They're not currently accepting applications (though they will be next month), and the website has no info except a logo... but you should expect big things from these people. Remember: they have inside connections. They've been playing with stuff for weeks now. (Months?) (Louis Wu 20:46:15 UTC) (permalink)

Shishka's Halo PC FAQ updated
Shishka has updated his HaloPC Pre-Release FAQ to version 3.0 - he swears this is the last one. (Since Halo is only Pre-Release for another 11 days or so, that seems like a safe bet.) Definitely worth a read, if you have questions about the PC version. (Louis Wu 20:36:20 UTC) (permalink)

Halo PC Tools shots - finally
Back in August, a number of fans headed down to Gearbox's offices in Texas to get a look at Halo PC. While we were there, Dave Mertz, lead designer, took a few shots of the various tools used to build levels - 3dsmax, and Bungie's homegrown Sapien and Guerilla. We were asked, however, not to post these right away; Gearbox had some ideas about releasing shots of their own. At the end of August, I asked if enough time had passed, and was told to hold off a bit longer. On September 5th, they released one of these shots on their own website, and I quickly sent off another note, asking if NOW was okay. Yesterday, I finally received an answer - so even though these shots have been seen on the net before now, they're being added to our Screenshots database as of today, because that's when we got permission to post them. There are two shots each from 3dsmax (the modeling tool that the underlying architecture is built in), Sapien (the tool that allows placement of objects and sounds, among other functions), and Guerilla (the tool that handles behavior, bumpmaps, textures, and the like). I hope this is still of use to some people. I also took the opportunity to add another 50 or so screens, both Halo PC and Halo 2, from previews and such around the net in the last few days. (Louis Wu 19:48:40 UTC) (permalink)

Previews, previews - everybody's a critic
Whoa - I'm slipping. Blue's News posted news on another new Halo preview on Monday - but I didn't see it until today, when I noticed it on Rampancy.net's front page. Loadedinc.com says it's good for PC gamers who never played the Xbox solo campaign, and folks who want the multiplayer rush. We'd agree. (5 new oddly stretched screenshots, as well.) Digging around also turned up previews at CV-Games.com, Armchair Empire, and TotalVideoGames.com (this last is really old; from what I can tell, it was written around E3, but contains info that hasn't been valid since last summer), too. Enjoy. (Louis Wu 15:22:07 UTC) (permalink)

What Goes Up...
Wednesday, Stuntmutt looked at the importance of understanding your weapon in his One One Se7en strip. Today, he looks at the other side of that issue - collateral damage. (Louis Wu 14:20:13 UTC) (permalink)

The Junkyard gives away schwag
Eep! Forgot to mention this a few days ago... but on Tuesday, the Junkyard announced its winner of the long-running 'Guess the Release Date' contest (first announced back on July 29, 2002). Congratulations to CheeseChick for picking September 15, 2003 as the date Halo PC went gold. TankRamp (of Battleground: Halo) and LegacyX4 pulled in the second and third prizes, respectively. (Louis Wu 14:12:45 UTC) (permalink)

X03 transcript posted at IGN
While the actual X03 video presentation hasn't (yet) found it's way onto the net, IGN HAS put up a transcript of the video, including a page's worth of Bungie employees discussing what was learned from Halo 1. Thanks to Neo Alucard X for pointing it out. (Louis Wu 12:18:28 UTC) (permalink)

Has Waldo seen it yet?
Looks like the Gearbox forum community has gotten into the swing of Gearbox's own game. Check the Gearbox Projects page (drop to the bottom to see some OTHER places that disc has been)... then visit this thread. Fun. (Louis Wu 01:39:55 UTC) (permalink)

Pete Parsons talks to CVG
Computer and Video Games interviewed Pete Parsons about Halo 2. He was pretty evasive about whether Halo 2 would ever come to the PC - in fact, he was pretty evasive about everything. Bungie's back to their old style, it seems. (And that's not a bad thing.) He DID mention that folks at X03 got to see a Prophet in-game for the first time... hopefully, that footage will eventually make its way to the net. If you dig through the 'we can't say right now's and the 'we don't know, we're focused on making the game great's, you can find lots of cool nuggets - read this one. Thanks to cubanB for finding it. (Louis Wu 00:32:34 UTC) (permalink)

Please leave a beep at the message.
Hehe - bourwa points out that the Red vs Blue crew have created a few quick answering machine messages (Sarge, Donut, Church, and Caboose) that can be used if you're REALLY a die-hard RvB fan. (If you're not... or your callers aren't... these won't make a lot of sense.) They're not listed anywhere except in the thread they were posted in; visit the Sponsors forum, and search for a thread entitled 'Red vs Blue Voice Mail Message'. (Yeah, you have to be a sponsor.) (Louis Wu 00:15:21 UTC) (permalink)

BGH: New and Improved!
Wonga. Battleground: Halo has updated their design... and massively upgraded their content. Check out the site - visit this page for a list of what's new (it's too long to post here), poke your head into the linen closets. They've painted EVERYTHING. (I did find some unfinished grouting in a third-floor bathroom... but I'm guessing they'll get to it.) Just in time for Halo PC! (Louis Wu 00:01:13 UTC) (permalink)

News September 18 2003

Clan news
Couple of clan-related items... Viper writes to say that the 67th Raptors (mentioned a couple of times back in May) had some problems due to the Blaster worm, and lost all their members. They're back online, and old members should get in touch. Also, stan writes to point out that the Rabid Lilliputians are now actively recruiting for new members; stop by the site and sign up if you want to fight with The Little People. (Pressure is pretty low... the clan motto is "Not like we were ever destined for greatness") (Louis Wu 22:09:31 UTC) (permalink)

Top 10, Baby! Oh, wait...
Hehe - Gamespy has been running a 'Top 25 Most Overrated Games' feature... and Halo made #10. They felt there were too many problems for it to have received so many near-perfect ratings; they wonder what these reviewers are going to do with Halo PC and Halo 2. Interesting read. They're consistent, at least; they were the first review to score Halo less than 9/10 (they gave them 85/100), and they incurred quite a bit of wrath from Halo fans at the time. This judgement isn't coming out of nowhere. Thanks to Harry Al-Shakarchi for the heads-up on this. (Louis Wu 20:19:42 UTC) (permalink)

PC Strategy Guide - complete!
Doug Radcliffe, author of Sybex's Official Strategy Guide for halo PC, stopped by our forum with some pretty cool info about what's included. Look for this guide in the next couple of weeks in a store near you! (Louis Wu 09:52:12 UTC) (permalink)

This thing will shock and awe you.
Xbox Ottawa has put out FTC8, a sequel to FTC5. There's a low-res version up on their website now, and for a $5 donation, you can become a lifetime member, which gives you access to hi-res versions of their films. For the public, there are links to a DivX-encoded AVI version (both direct download and BitTorrent). We're hosting a mirror, as well, and I should have QuickTime versions for them sometime later today. Comments can be added to this forum thread. Update: Quicktime version is now at files.bungie.org - there'll probably be a version on xboxottawa.ca as soon as they can grab it. (It's 21 mb.) (Louis Wu 09:49:38 UTC) (permalink)

XO3 content - coming, someday?
Interesting. Apparently, there was a video shown at X03 in France this week that was a bit more than the E3 demo - but there aren't any final plans for releasing it. (That's different from there being NO plans to release it. ;-) ) Thanks to Neo Alucard X for pointing out the link. (Louis Wu 09:17:20 UTC) (permalink)

Nice timing.
[NBA]J0rd4n (man, whatever happened to letters?) stopped by our forum to point out a movie he and his friend, byt3-ra1d, made. It shows some pretty amazing timing; a single-player escape from Blood Gulch in a warthog, aided by a perfectly placed grenade toss. The vid is only 1.6 mb, but has been compressed with XVID. gwdpto has provided both a mirror, and a link to the codec, if you don't have it. (That's a windows codec; an alternative is the 3ivx codec, available free for many platforms, which reads this movie without a problem.) gwdpto ALSO provided a SECOND movie, based on the first, showing another (easier) location for applying this technique. (This one's in mpeg format, and weighs in at 3.4 mb.) (Louis Wu 09:13:18 UTC) (permalink)

Gullible Little Scamps...
Iceman1330 looks at weapons modifications in a hacked Xbox in today's Guest One One Se7en. (This was posted on our forum some time ago; it's just now coming into the release rotation here.) (Louis Wu 08:57:38 UTC) (permalink)

Strings.
SilverBrin**** has submitted another impressive piece of Fan music; this one's called 'Mombasa', and it weighs in at a hefty 7.4 mb. (It's just over 4 minutes long.) Here's what SB has to say about it:

      Ever since seeing the Halo 2 demo played at E3 and watching videos of it, I have been taken with the broad and epic tone of the orchestral music accompanying the fantastic New Mombasa level. It think it is one of Marty O'Donnell's biggest successes to date. Last week I decided I would like to totally remake the orchestral theme accompanying the video and accentuate my favorite themes and melodies and add some moments of my own. So I started from scratch and finished with this four-minute remake of the New Mombasa demo music and named it "Mombasa".
      Mombasa.mp3 is actually part of a much much larger Bungie audio/fan-music based project that Jester and myself will be showcasing on Psyjnir. Jester will be talking more about this project "SitKoB" later. Enjoy this file and feel free to give us feedback!

The words don't stop.
15 stories in the Fan Fiction section today...

• Before The Probe, by Master_Chief189
• Retaliation: Chapter One, by Blue Jaguar
• Attack on ERISTOCK-Part 4: Core, by xitWOUND117
• Halo 2:Warfront Chapter 2, by Adlin Yusman Yusoff
• Derailed Part 4, by Dispraiser
• Halo Sonnet, by Gre'Thor117
• The Adventures of Alpha Squad, One, by Hunter_Killer
• Drowning In Sorrow - Prologue & Chapter One, by Phoenix89uk
• Do you know?, by Mainevent
• Preacher of Death, by Walker
• Human Elite Ch. 2, by Tinmad!
• And now all hell will break loose Part 4, by metallicafan
• Homeworlds VI, by Mainevent
• Revenge Part I: the Shadow, by af'pooaopfasofo
• Survival, Chapter Two: Strength and Honor, by Agent Shade

The first one was actually posted 4 days ago; it should have made it into that ridiculous update on Tuesday, but somehow got overlooked. That's what happens when more than 2 dozen stories come in over the span of a couple of days... sorry. (Louis Wu 08:45:39 UTC) (permalink)

The Bungie Fanfest Documentary
Last May, Bungie held a massive Fanfest during E3, in Los Angeles... and Mr Smiley was there with a video camera to capture all the fun. Back in late June, we mentioned part 0 - the intro. Well, there were a few snags in production - but things are back on track, and now parts 0, 1, and 2 are all online. You can find small versions of all three episodes available over at Bungie.net - and we're hosting larger versions here. (Please - only grab the version you want; conserve our bandwidth. Thanks!)

• Episode 0, QuickTime (640x480, 19.2 mb)
• Episode 0, WMP9 (640x480, 24.6 mb)
• Episode 1, QuickTime (500x333, 23.6 mb)
• Episode 1, WMP9 (640x480, 19.4 mb)
• Episode 2, QuickTime (500x333, 24.1 mb)
• Episide 2, WMP9 (640x480, 23.3 mb)

Whew! (The versions at B.net are all much friendlier to those on slower connections; they're all in the 4-12 mb range.) Episodes 3 and 4 will be coming soon! (Louis Wu 07:46:36 UTC) (permalink)

News September 17 2003

QA just got more dangerous.
Now they're just messing with your head. (Louis Wu 18:58:17 UTC) (permalink)

What was I thinking?
Goodness. mnemesis updates the Halo Story page for the first time in over a month... and I manage to misinterpret his note informing me of this. (I thought it was just a 'here I go, I'm gonna start updating again' note. DOH.) Anyway, go visit the Story page. Forerunner origins, Covenant history, xenobiology, weapons theories... it's some deep stuff today. (Louis Wu 17:23:26 UTC) (permalink)

A High Trajectory, Indirect Hit Weapon.
Hehe - once again, Stuntmutt points out the danger of overestimating your weapon in today's One One Se7en. Remember, folks... use the right tool for the job. (Louis Wu 15:37:05 UTC) (permalink)

CPL Winter Event - signups soon!
For those interested in the CPL Winter Event, registration opens next week - Tuesday, September 23 (one week before the game hits the shelves). Interest is high, and there's a 32 team maximum... so you should think seriously about getting in gear. (CPL says, in the same thread, that there is no risk to signing up before the game is released; you'll have until October 14 to back out with no financial penalty, if your team decides (after seeing Halo PC) that it doesn't want to compete.) Thanks to CobaltNova for getting the word out on this one. (Louis Wu 14:35:53 UTC) (permalink)

The disc saga, revisited
A few days ago, Ninja On Fire posted a picture that had shown up on the Halo PC betanews list (a private newsgroup devoted to the PC beta). It (ostensibly) showed someone being arrested by a Plano police officer for the theft of the gold master of Halo PC. There was quite a bit of discussion about whether the pic was real, or faked... and when the same disc appeared on Gearbox's site (twice), it started to look like the 'it's a fake' contingent had a point. GB Crush, a staffer over at 3d Retreat, stopped by early this morning to clarify things: turns out 3d Retreat's Editor in Chief is also a Plano police officer. It's a real photo - but it was staged. And now you know the REST of the story. (Louis Wu 13:27:01 UTC) (permalink)

Mappers... start your engines!
botman, a programmer over at Gearbox, dropped some pretty cool info in our forum this morning:

I know that we plan to have the Halo PC editing tools download package available on the day the game is released (Sept 30), so you should be able to buy the game, download the kit and start creating new maps all in the same day.

This is really, really, REALLY good news for modders. Woohoo! Update: botman jumped the gun a little - yes, the tools will be available, but the timing is still unclear. 'On the day of the game's release' is not official information, and this forum post should not be pointed to by anyone demanding their editors NOW. Apologies for the confusion. (For what it's worth, we jumped the gun, too; this should NOT have been put on the news page without confirmation. My bad.) -lwu (Louis Wu 13:09:28 UTC) (permalink)

News September 16 2003

Halo 2 screen from X03
Whoa. op_ivy seems to have turned up the first new Halo 2 screen from X03, in France. (This is a big annual trade show.) Gorgeous! (Ross Mills found a larger version at Worthplaying.com... and BOLL found this one (4.8 mb - careful). Whoa. More later. (Louis Wu 22:46:48 UTC) (permalink)

The Gearbox Team
Picture of the day over at Gearbox is a shot of the Halo team. No names - but at least you've got faces! (The guy from the parking lot, in handcuffs, is not among them.) (Louis Wu 16:52:53 UTC) (permalink)

Gephyrophobia... or Gastrorophobia?
The third Guest One One Se7en from Germain Couët - hehe, it made me laugh, anyway. (Louis Wu 12:09:22 UTC) (permalink)

It's too much. Really.
Whoa. Let Fan Fiction go for a couple of days, and you've got a nightmare on your hands. 25 new stories:

• Human Elite Ch 2, by Tinmad!
• Forgotten times (Halo 2: Chapter 11), by Shadowrunner
• Homeworlds VIII, by Mainevent
• The Covenant, by Alpha Lance
• Chimera, by Somebody323445
• A Soul of Steel: Part 2, by The Scribe
• The Savior, by Mainevent
• Courageous Pride:Solutions Unavailable(Chapter 2), by Sergeant B
• Through the eyes of cannon fodder: Part 1, by Rsar
• The Fight for Bravo Base; pt. 3- Retaliation, by ONI_operative_343
• Through the eyes of cannon fodder: Part 2, by Rsar
• Pirates: UNSC Nemesis; Chapter One, by Steele
• 2nd Battalion, 5th marines, by Sergeant
• Ambushed, by Somejaijfiasjfoij
• Dust and Echoes [H&R 4], by Jillybean
• Debrief [H&R 5], by Jillybean
• Charge of the Grunt Brigade - Part Two: Troops, by Walker
• The Preserver [H&R6], by Jillybean
• Charge of the Grunt Brigade - Part Two: Troops (Continued), by Walker
• Unknown Apprentice Part 3, by apache119
• Untitled Boredome Improv Story #2 , by Mainevent
• HALO 2:WARFRONT, by Adlin Yusman Yusoff
• The Rebel, by Elfster
• The Virus Part 10, by monitor101
• Survival, Chapter One: Hijacked, by Agent Shade

Can you read them all before more get written? (Louis Wu 12:05:56 UTC) (permalink)

You want fries with that?
Hehe - you can put him in a starship, and give him control of the fate of the human race... but he's still a burger flipper at heart. xbill (gone for oh so many months) comes back with some texture-injected PoA shots. (Louis Wu 11:46:54 UTC) (permalink)

Bungie in LV next month?
Jonah points out that this page for the Las Vegas Comic-Con, happening at the end of October, suggests that Bungie will be on hand with more Halo 2 info. If we find out more about this, we'll let you know. (Louis Wu 08:41:09 UTC) (permalink)

A new Assault, eh? Hmm...
Weirdness - CPL is planning on an Assault mode that's not in the shipping version of Halo PC for their Winter Tournament; apparently, there'll be a new variation released in November. Hmm... More details can be found over at CobaltNova, the site that uncovered this oddity. (Louis Wu 02:42:21 UTC) (permalink)

Lego Mania
More Halo lego stuff at The Brickshelf Gallery... Steener started with this page, Fury Three summarized all the Brickshelf offerings here. A quick search of the HBO news archives shows that he's picked out all the ones we've mentioned in the past (on Brickshelf, at least). (Louis Wu 02:30:11 UTC) (permalink)

New Campaign Screenshots at AVault
Wow. Adrenaline Vault seems to be first out of the gate with new screenies from Halo PC; I'm guessing this is a near-final or final version, since no recent betas that I know of included Assault on the Control Room. 28 shots (one is actually from 343 GS's opening cutscene) at a gorgeous 1280x1024. Thanks to Target4Hire for pointing them out. (Louis Wu 02:07:24 UTC) (permalink)

Hey, wasn't there another Bungie game coming?
Halo 2 information... coming soon? We'll see... (Louis Wu 01:32:21 UTC) (permalink)

News September 15 2003

Pictures, master... lots of pictures...
Inside that last article, hidden at the very bottom, are links to lots of new content - new screenshots, new desktops, and a new picture at Gearbox... which, interestingly enough, matches the one in this forum thread pretty closely. Whoa. (Louis Wu 16:52:48 UTC) (permalink)

Post-ZBR, baby.
To celebrate Halo PC's Gold status, SketchFactor has posted the fan-generated interview with Michel Bastien that he collected questions for last week. Read this. Lots and lots of juicy info. (Louis Wu 16:42:02 UTC) (permalink)

Gold.
It's FINALLY official! Halo is gold. You can read the full press release here. In stores September 30! (Louis Wu 16:28:42 UTC) (permalink)

MacGamer scores the Halo goods
Very cool. Last week, MacGamer visited the home of Phil Sulak, the president of Westlake Interactive. They walked away with a lot of video. There's 13 minute Halo-specific vid (available in a 70 mb version and a 10 mb version), with a TON of information about where the Mac port stands and what it's gonna need. Definitely a good thing to watch for those waiting for the Mac version. There's also an 11 minute long interview with Phil Sulak, Ken Cobb, and Duane Johnson discussing Westlake in general (with a goodly amount of Halo info). This one weighs in at 63 mb or 9 mb, depending on whether you get the broadband or dialup versions. If you're a Mac gamer, or you're interested in how some of the PC-specific features implemented by Gearbox are going to be translated to the Mac, go watch these! (Louis Wu 13:53:48 UTC) (permalink)

They're back...
The gold MCs are back on the front of Gearbox's site - this time for real, it seems. Woohoo! This would suggest that an announcement is imminent... (Louis Wu 10:42:34 UTC) (permalink)

Oh, you no leave me.
27 new snippets have been added to the Dialogue Databank, including the infamous 'I would have been your daddy' quote. Thanks to Captain Spark for his tremendously high-quality work! (Louis Wu 03:02:56 UTC) (permalink)

More screens - really old?
Gamers Hell put up ANOTHER 6 shots from some multiplay stuff. These are either grabbed from a REALLY old beta, or they were grabbed using a pretty horrible video card... even the gametype indicator is missing. You're looking for the 6 shots labeled '12/09/2003'; it's a series from Battle Creek. (They're not at the top; those are the recent release of Infinity shots from Microsoft's official Halo site.) (Louis Wu 00:42:55 UTC) (permalink)

2 RvB movies at a time - double the fun
This afternoon, Red vs Blue put up Episode 18 for the rest of the world. It was unclear whether they were going to do this - the original plan sounded like PSA 4 was going to be this week's release. They've gone over and above (again), though, and made both videos available. Do them a favor and use the BitTorrent links to grab these! (Louis Wu 00:38:06 UTC) (permalink)

Fuel Rod Gun.
Today's One One Se7en looks at a potential problem with that Fuel Rod Gun... (Louis Wu 00:13:00 UTC) (permalink)

News September 14 2003

Halo PC - Gone Gold?
Whoa. Looks like Halo PC has gone gold. Several gaming websites have reported that Microsoft has given them word of the game's Gold status (this means it's complete, and is ready for printing). For the record - we're not one of these sites. There was also (for a brief period) a graphic replacement on Gearbox's front page; the red and blue MCs were swapped for gold ones. GlennKM let our forum know that he saved a copy for posterity - and if his site goes down, we've got a copy here, too. (The gold MCs are still on the Gearbox server, just not referenced on the front page, for those who think this is a photoshopped hoax.) Gotta love the excitement! (Louis Wu 20:15:48 UTC) (permalink)

Passion, Revisited
Interesting. Deathwhore wrote to point out that a couple of tracks on Peter Gabriel's album 'Passion' (released in 1989) are musically similar to some of the material on the Official Halo Soundtrack. The two tracks he pointed to specifically were 'Of These, Hope (Reprise)' and 'A Different Drum'. These tracks can be purchased individually (for 99 cents each) at the Apple Music Store if you don't have the album (and don't want to buy it). Unfortunately, you must have a Mac running OSX for this. Intriguingly, an interview that appeared on Bungie.net back in June 2002 contained this exchange:

Matt: Let me ask one last question: do you think the Halo soundtrack is ideal background music for a night of passion?

Marty: I can't imagine anything better.

Coincidence... or a veiled tip o' the cap to Mr. Gabriel? You decide. Update: The Plot Thickens. Åstro points out that 'A Different Drum' has been pretty popular in the Myth community, since the map group Creation used it as background music for one of the opening narration for one of their large scenarios. Hmm... (Louis Wu 18:04:59 UTC) (permalink)

Rhymes With Ditch.
Stuntmutt takes a hilarious shot at our forum in today's Sunday edition of One One Se7en. I hope folks take it to heart. (Louis Wu 13:40:53 UTC) (permalink)

Halo PC previews continue
Two new Halo PC Previews: DailyGame and GameZone. Both are based on the 1.5 beta (and the DailyGame preview strangely mentions that the two new weapons, fuel rod gun and flamethrower, were not available for testing - they're definitely included in that beta). The press list grows. Thanks to Blues News, by way of ash. (Louis Wu 13:35:55 UTC) (permalink)

Developers, developers, developers...
This morning, we mentioned a sponsors-only extra available at Red vs Blue. This was a movie the RvB team made for Microsoft's Professional Developers Conference 2003... and it's pretty funny stuff. If you're not a sponsor, you can STILL get your hands on a copy... if you have a PC. Microsoft is hosting its own copy here. Thanks to Ninja on Fire for the heads-up. (If you have a mac, and you're a sponsor, there's a QuickTime version available at RvB.) Update: it's now available to everyone, not just sponsors, in both WMP9 and Quicktime formats, from Red vs Blue themselves (both download and BitTorrent links). Thanks to Jandals for the heads-up. (Louis Wu 00:08:30 UTC) (permalink)

News September 13 2003

Gearbox/Bungie interview at Gamespot
Randy Pitchford and Pete Parsons spoke to Gamespot recently; they've posted a video interview (49.7 mb, zipped) on their Halo media page. Unfortunately, it's subscriber-only; if you're not a Gamespot Complete member, you can't see this. There's not a huge amount of new information, and from what I can tell, it was filmed about a month ago (Randy talks about the Rocket Hog change as brand-new; that took place just before Fanstock, in mid-August), and the gameplay footage in it comes from a pretty old beta (pre-1.5, even)... but it's got Randy and Pete philosophizing about what made Halo great, and how they tweaked things to make Halo PC better. Thanks to ON-X for letting us know. (Louis Wu 22:38:45 UTC) (permalink)

Music for soothing savage Brutes...
Whoa - Marty O'Donnell's planning on releasing a surround sound mix of the E3 2003 Halo 2 music suite - details to be posted on the Marty Army 7th Column site. I'd have known about this if I'd read my email, but Deimos™ over at Subnova pointed it out first. Droolin'! (Louis Wu 22:10:12 UTC) (permalink)

Steve Ballmer... and Sarge?
A pretty darn cool sponsor-only extra is now available at Red vs Blue - check the Sponsors for more details. Currently WMP9 only... but a QuickTime version is coming. Thanks to P_40E for reminding me to go back and check. (Louis Wu 10:52:20 UTC) (permalink)

Confusion
Another guest strip from Germain Couët over at One One Se7en; a different perspective on the Halo 2/Half Life 2 rivalry... (Louis Wu 10:18:19 UTC) (permalink)

Saturday Stories
10 stories for you today in the Fan Fiction section...

• Battle for Croton 3.5, by Earl Hershberger
• Homeworlds VII, by Mainevent
• They Died with Their Boots On, by Walker
• Untitled Improv Boredome Story #1 , by Mainevent
• Part 2 Capture, by JAfdifai'fih
• Nothing to Lose Part IV, by hornet34
• The Virus Part 9, by monitor101
• Courageous Pride:Solutions Unavailable(Chapter 1), by Sergeant B
• Human Elite Ch. 1, by Tinmad!
• Do Spartans Dream of Ossified Sheep?, by Crushed Acorn

Go Go Go! (Louis Wu 10:14:58 UTC) (permalink)

Infinity screens posted
Microsoft has put up shots of Infinity, the last of the 6 new levels in Halo PC, on the official HPC site. These, combined with the shots you can find in our Fanstock Screenshots section (put up almost a month ago), should give you a good sense of how massive this level is (and how much fun it's going to be with Warthogs)... (Louis Wu 00:37:22 UTC) (permalink)

News September 12 2003

It's that first bump...
Move over, Evel Knievel... Baby Elite's gonna kick your butt. There's a new Halo Babies posted - thanks to mrsmiley for the heads-up. (Louis Wu 22:46:30 UTC) (permalink)

Now THAT'S gotta hurt.
Gearbox has posted a new shot to its Projects page; it's a followup to the last shot (showing a flamethrower on Boarding Action). This one is called Victory Inferno... and it looks painful. (Louis Wu 22:13:48 UTC) (permalink)

Where's my needler?
For those who like to see dead bodies - SketchFactor decided I needed a little comeuppance. (Louis Wu 20:14:41 UTC) (permalink)

iGames PC tourney - already in the works!
iGames is planning to host an international Halo PC championship, with a showcase event to be made available during the week of October 13. For more details, go visit CobaltNova.com - they've got the lowdown! (Louis Wu 19:20:35 UTC) (permalink)

Halo PC Box Art
Forerunners.org has posted the Halo PC box art, as received from Genevieve Ostergard (Microsoft Game PR). If you're having trouble downloading it from there, Dolbex has mirrored it on his site. This image was posted to our forum some time in the past week, but for the life of me, I can't find the post (so I can't give the poster credit). At the time, the consensus was that it was just another mockup... but that now seems not to be the case. (Louis Wu 18:04:59 UTC) (permalink)

Schmogblast Revisited.
Do you miss Frogblast? I do. Stuntmutt keeps him alive in our memories, though, with today's One One Se7en. Rock on. (Louis Wu 15:54:38 UTC) (permalink)

Can you hear what I'm thinking?
Red vs Blue Episode 18 is now up for sponsors. (Yes, that means the rest of you are gonna hear about something you won't be able to download before Sunday. Deal with it.) Caboose is going for the record of Stupidest Human With Muscle Control... he's got a good shot at it. Funny stuff. (Louis Wu 14:38:00 UTC) (permalink)

Official UK Halo site - with a date?
Interesting - did someone jump the gun, or is this just another instance of not enough information? Stuntmutt points out a new Microsoft site in the UK, advertising Halo PC... and it's got, emblazoned across the top in bright letters, 'Available 10 October 2003'. Is this the official date Gearbox said they'll announce in 1-4 days... or is this just some web dev's idea of filling up the space? (Louis Wu 13:04:01 UTC) (permalink)

Halo PC - coming real soon
Want to know where Halo PC stands at the moment? Read the word from Randy Pitchford, President of Gearbox, on his own forum. Thanks to Nightshade for pointing it out. Update: It looks like Gearbox's MySQL server barfed; the link is pretty useless for the time being. If you get a page with a bunch of errors on it, the best advice is try again later; I'm sure someone will fix it soon. Update 2: As of 16:43 UTC (11:43 Gearbox Time), the forums are back up. (Louis Wu 05:23:46 UTC) (permalink)

News September 11 2003

Previews out the yin-yang.
Massive Halo PC coverage: Gamers Hell has a preview and 33 new screenshots, GameGossip has a preview (contains 5 screens), and Game Over has a preview (12 screens, but several are taken from the Firing Squad preview last week). Of the three, I'd have to say that the Game Gossip piece has the most meat... but press is press. Thanks to ShackNews for all three links. (Louis Wu 22:25:29 UTC) (permalink)

Put your head between your legs...
And the egg parade continues. Just when you thought there were no more eggs to be found in Halo... c0ld vengeance turned up one under the pilot's seat in the lifepod. Check this forum thread for details. (Louis Wu 20:44:37 UTC) (permalink)

Play Halo, support the arts
A Halo benefit tourney will be taking place in Los Angeles on September 24, to raise money for a local theater group's production of A Clockwork Orange. It's $10 to get in, and there's an 18 and older age limit. Check out the details in this forum post! (Louis Wu 18:30:40 UTC) (permalink)

Okay, I want one.
Funky - there's a yellow warthog showing on the Bungie webcam at the moment. (If it's gone by the time you read it, you can see a saved picture here.) Whether this is a customized hog (a standard Joyride hog, repainted by a Bungie employee), or a future offering from Joyride, is unknown at this time. It nicely matches the Hog billboard from the Halo 2 E3 trailer... Nice spotting by Poocho. (Louis Wu 17:01:14 UTC) (permalink)

Action figures to win at TXB
TeamXbox is giving away a pair of Halo action figures - MC and Cortana - to the winner of a drawing to be held soon. To enter the drawing, simply sign up for TXB's newsletter. Thanks to Nick Danger for the heads-up. (Louis Wu 16:42:24 UTC) (permalink)

Mac Halo FAQ online at R.net
Narcogen, over at Rampancy.net, has drawn from a number of sources (including our own recent interview with Peter Tamte) to create a Mac Halo FAQ. Worth keeping track of... (Louis Wu 14:03:32 UTC) (permalink)

Is it me, or is it hot in here?
Today's One One Se7en guest strip comes from Germain Couët, normally known around these parts for his Miscellaneous Art and Wallpaper submissions. What's the difference between the Halo, Halo 2, and Halo PC MCs? Hmm... (Louis Wu 13:44:21 UTC) (permalink)

The count's off.
What? Only 13 Fan Fiction stories today? Someone forgot to submit one...

• Attack on ERISTOCK Part 3-The Waking, by xitWOUND117
• Better Off Dead Part 2 The Siege, by I_Love_You_Bungie
• The Story of Hitomi: Part One, by Kaboose
• The Prelude to the New Mission, by Dark Prism
• Outmatched, by chevan
• Session 01: Ground Funk, by Vi3tl3l3oi 023
• A Weird Series of Events (A Parallel Universe) Part 1, by Elfster
• The Beginning of Sorrows, by John
• The Alliance: Part Three, by pooman
• A Soul of Steel: Part 1, by The Scribe
• Part I Boarding, by JAfdifai'fih
• The Fight for Bravo Base; pt. 2- The Attack Begins, by ONI_operative_343
• The Story of Hitomi: Part Two, by Kaboose

Go read. (Louis Wu 13:40:32 UTC) (permalink)

Go Figure.
GamePro has written up an article on the Halo action figures. Thanks to KP for pointing it out. (Louis Wu 13:26:58 UTC) (permalink)

WSD Clan Movie - Frantic BG Gameplay
A few days ago, [WSD]-Porsj popped into our forum to point out a pretty big gameplay movie his clan had posted. Skill level of the contestants is quite good, and so is editing. The movie, titled 'Who? [BBE]Hanneshamlap', weighs in at 46.4 mb, and is in WMV7 format. (There's a QuickTime version available now, too, but I haven't been able to communicate with Porsj to clarify where.) If WSD's site is not running (they use the server to host games, as well), you can grab the movie directly from this link. (Louis Wu 13:24:08 UTC) (permalink)

Exclusive - Peter Tamte talks about Mac Halo
With the PC version of Halo so close to completion, eyes are beginning to turn to Westlake and MacSoft (and Destineer, MacSoft's parent company) for information about the Mac version. We had a chance to ask a few questions of Peter Tamte, president of Destineer... his enthusiasm should make Mac users everywhere drool. Go read our Peter Tamte interview now! (Louis Wu 00:58:29 UTC) (permalink)

News September 10 2003

MC - again
The Master Chief action figure is once again available for preorder at the Bungie Store - if you can't find one locally, go reserve one from Bungie! Thanks to SketchFactor for the heads-up. (Louis Wu 20:17:58 UTC) (permalink)

More Halo PC screens at GameKult
GameKult has put up twenty screenshots of Halo (though the last 7 are just re-released pics from the Gearbox and Microsoft sites). These are all from Beta 1.5, though this time there are some multiplayer shots. Thanks to Xavier De Coster for the heads-up. (Louis Wu 18:58:26 UTC) (permalink)

MLG tourney in NYC
Halo on this side of the pond: Major League Gaming is hosting a tournament next month in New York City (October 25th and 26th). Entrance fee is $50 (this gets you in to both the Halo and Madden events, if you want), guaranteed minimum of $10,000 in prizes. What are you waiting for? Register today. (Future events will take place all over the country - check this list for a big city in your area.) (Louis Wu 18:39:14 UTC) (permalink)

Solicitation of Questions: Halo PC Development
SketchFactor is putting together a nice big 'update' on Halo PC as development draws to a close. He's going to interview Michel Bastien, Bungie's Halo PC Producer (not to be confused with Marc Tardif, Gearbox's Halo PC Producer)... and he's asking for questions. Burning for an answer about the development process? Jump into this forum thread, add a question - he'll pick the best and include them in the interview! You've got until tomorrow morning. (Louis Wu 18:04:57 UTC) (permalink)

AV looks at Halo PC
Adrenaline Vault has an interview with Randy Pitchford up; it's focused on team play, requirements, and new features of Halo PC. 21 screenshots (all single player, from Beta 1.5). Thanks to Madscientist for the heads-up. (Louis Wu 17:48:56 UTC) (permalink)

Norwegian Halo Championship
K-Man points out a site allowing signups for a 2v2 double elimination tournament in Oslo, Norway, on October 18th. Entrance is free. Signups have to happen before October 1. If you're in or near Oslo (or plan to be on October 18)... check it out! (Louis Wu 16:22:38 UTC) (permalink)

Mood music to kill jackals by
A few days ago, surrept submitted an early version of a remake of 'A Walk in the Woods'. He's now finished it. 4:18, 3.9 mb, mp3 format; I love it. Give it a listen! (Comments can be added to this forum thread.) (Louis Wu 15:59:41 UTC) (permalink)

Huge Halo 2 tourney in the works
Wow, THIS is confidence. SaNd TrOoPeR, of ThinkGeekness.com, stopped by our forum last night to announce a Halo 2 tournament scheduled for next summer. Top prize is planned at $25,000, and they're hoping for 1500-2000 players. Wonga. Check their Halo 2 Championship page for details. (Louis Wu 15:44:25 UTC) (permalink)

The man's insane. Yes, insane.
Whoa. BOLL has put a minimalist (but quite functional) face on his rather enormous collection of Halo material; some of this stuff is housed here at HBO, some of it is not. (I'm going to have to go through and figure out what we've got and what we don't and yank the good stuff; that's gonna take a LOONNG time.) While you're waiting for us to do that, though, feel free to browse on your own. There's tons of fun stuff to uncover. Comments can be added to this forum thread. (Louis Wu 13:31:28 UTC) (permalink)

He's Here All Week.
Does the MC have a shot at a second career, if this killing Covenant thing doesn't work out? Maybe... but today's One One Se7en points out that it's probably not gonna be comedy. (Louis Wu 12:55:38 UTC) (permalink)

Is it Memorex?
Doggone has put the MC action figure... into the action. Check out this forum post with a couple of screenshots, modified. (We've got a few other 'things people do with action figures' in the queue - I wonder if we have to set up a new section?) (Louis Wu 12:37:40 UTC) (permalink)

Animate... THIS.
Wanna be a game animator? John Butkus, aka anim8rJB, has written a nice little article on what will help... and what will not. Check it out on Bungie.net. (Louis Wu 02:58:19 UTC) (permalink)

GT Halo
(GT)Juggler has posted a 3:49, 18 mb movie (QT format, hosting by Blackstar Productions) which you can find linked on his Halo Page. Combination of multiplayer hijinx and single play tricks; most have been done before, but they've been put together pretty nicely. Check it out! (Comments can go in this forum thread.) (Louis Wu 00:58:35 UTC) (permalink)

News September 9 2003

New Zealand site looks at Halo PC
Another Halo Preview - this time it's over at RadiativeNZ. Short, and with a few minor errors - but a nice job on the 16 screenshots, showing vehicles and weapons. Thanks to AlStrong on our forum for pointing it out. (Louis Wu 22:10:22 UTC) (permalink)

MonsterChief makes you scream in a Grunt bowl...
Wow. It's been a LONG time (two full weeks) since we updated the Miscellaneous Art section. There are 6 entries today. Check 'em ALL out. (And forgive me the huge lag in posting...) (Louis Wu 19:21:41 UTC) (permalink)

Blinded Witness Films
Blinded Witness has put up a few movies - most are hosted by Fileplanet, but the links can all be found on the Blinded Witness site. Take a look! (Louis Wu 17:11:24 UTC) (permalink)

macteens interviews Westlake
Whoa. First words from anyone at Westlake in a LOONG time. macteens interviewed Phil Sulak, President of Westlake, recently, and the results are up on their website. Really short recap: reasonable minimum specs, no tools (bummer!), macs and pcs will be able to play together. Read all the details over at macteens! Thanks to Ramius for the heads-up. (Louis Wu 16:19:09 UTC) (permalink)

Older maps, newer weapons
Very nice new screen over at Gearbox's Projects page - The MC with a flamethrower, on Boarding Action. Burn, baby... (Louis Wu 15:29:19 UTC) (permalink)

Questions Arise
Today's Guest One One Se7en is from nicholas - who wonders where the MC's mind is. (Louis Wu 08:46:33 UTC) (permalink)

Takin' over the world...
Once again, 14 stories for you in the Fan Fiction section:

• Chapter Three: Rise of the Phoenix, by Blue Jaguar
• A Series of Wierd Events, Part Five, by Hunter_Killer
• THe Adventures of Lt. Jake, Part Five, by Hunter_Killer
• The Ghosts:Project Ghost(Chapter 2), by Sergeant B
• ES03 - Eternal Sunder (part 03): Queen of the Neeps, by Wado
• Homeworlds VI, by Mainevent
• And now all hell will break loose Part 3, by metallicafan
• Chapter Four: Rise of the Phoenix, by Blue Jaguar
• The Battle of Evermore Part 3: Rush, by Gruntkiller
• At'Klin, by At'Klin
• Better Off Dead. Part 1 In The Begining..., by I_Love_You_Bungie
• Halo Trilogy: The Tears of War (Chapter IV), by Alpha Lance
• A Marine Named Peters: This Time it's Snowboarding, by GLADIATRRR3000
• Scar's Last Battle, by The Scribe

How does that keep happening? (Louis Wu 08:43:39 UTC) (permalink)

One step forward, two steps back
In a first since the countdown was instituted, the Remaining Items list has CLIMBED on Gearbox's Projects page (from 1 to 2). This also happened at an unusual time of day; normally, the count is updated at midnight, Central time... but this happened before 7 pm. No word from Gearbox on what's going on... Update: Now the countdown is gone entirely. Hmm... (Louis Wu 01:32:29 UTC) (permalink)

Halo Mac upgraded to Alpha
ViolentlyHappy noticed that Westlake has updated its project status page; Halo Mac is now at Alpha. (This isn't really as dire as it might be if the port were being done entirely by Westlake; it will move along much faster than a normal port because much of the work porting the Xbox code has already been done by Gearbox.) Not that much longer to wait... (Louis Wu 01:25:04 UTC) (permalink)

News September 8 2003

BunkBuster
Another nugget of info about the third Halo novel, 'Halo: First Strike', from Eric Trautmann, our favorite Halo Bible expert. Being added here so that when people jump onto our forum in two months and say "What do we know about the next Halo novel?", folks can point to this news post. (Louis Wu 19:40:09 UTC) (permalink)

Preparing for Halo PC Filmz
One last offsite vid for you: Dinky, of HaloJuggaloProductions, has put up a large (31 mb, DivX-encoded AVI) movie showing how to get video footage from your PC onto a DV camera. If that sounds like a lot to download for something you could explain in, say, a text-based FAQ... check out botman's suggestion for straight-to-disk recording. Supports up to 1024x768 resolution (better than the DV camera's 720x480) - though you'll need a LOT of disk space for the movies... roughly 1 gb/minute. Also, framerate drops more than 50% (on my system, with reasonable action on the screen, average framerate went from ~45 fps to ~20 fps when recording was turned on.) Still, it's easy to implement, and makes pretty high-quality movies... (Louis Wu 19:06:54 UTC) (permalink)

The vid parade
More vids - this time from halo_playa. You can find his list of offerings on his website, Nick's Halo Site. (Louis Wu 18:25:06 UTC) (permalink)

UK WCG in the news
Ghôlsbane points out that the UK World Cyber Games ended this past weekend; there are some photos on the iGames UK site. Even Halo PC made an appearance... and the whole shebang was mentioned by BBC Online. Go take a look! (Louis Wu 18:14:30 UTC) (permalink)

BG and Sidewinder stunts
Zowsky & Kabuki have put together 4 movies showing some multiplayer stunts in Blood Gulch and Sidewinder; we're not hosting these, so we aren't bothered by the fact that all of this has been shown before. Grab what's of interest to you:

• Clipping - Getting into BG walls
• SWOut - getting out of Sidewinder
• SideScrolling - Ghost jumping in BG
• Tower - climbing to the Tower (and beyond) in BG

All movies are in WMP7 format, and range from 1.8 - 3.5 mb in size. (Louis Wu 18:10:41 UTC) (permalink)

Gamers Depot looks at Halo PC
Another Halo PC preview over at Gamers Depot - again, it's single-player only (Beta 1.5 had only LAN networking), but they took a few nice screenshots. Thanks to Nick Danger for the heads-up. (Louis Wu 15:55:25 UTC) (permalink)

The Longest Short
A few weeks ago, we mentioned a CGI Halo movie being worked on by Mic Fedusenko. He's popped back into our forum with word of another few screenshots of his progress. Check 'em out! (Louis Wu 15:35:49 UTC) (permalink)

Doing the Right Thing
For what it's worth: Yes, we know that an older beta of Halo PC has been leaked. (Yes, Gearbox knows it as well; each build was individually numbered, so tracking down the leak shouldn't be too difficult.) We're not going to point you to web links for the download, or tolerate posting of such on our forum; we'd ask that you show respect to Bungie and Gearbox, and wait the few weeks until the full retail version is on the shelves. It won't be long now! Update: The official Gearbox response can be read on their forum. Update 2: The entire thread (all 600+ posts of it) have been yanked; there is no more official word from Gearbox. Update 3: Turns out I still had a window open with Marc Tardif's response in it. I think it's worth reading; I'm fine with the loss of the other 600 posts, but I think people should see his words (109k) on this one. (Louis Wu 15:31:34 UTC) (permalink)

To Speak, or not to Speak...
37 new dialogue snippets added to the Dialogue Databank today; 30 from Captain Spark, 7 from Electric Monk. Two new categories: Jackal and Hunter. There's no really good way to identify the Jackal snippets... so they're simply numbered. Again - all of these were collected in-game, no hacking. (We're not accepting sounds collected via hacking, for two reasons; Marty O'Donnell (and Bungie as an entity, for that matter) has expressed unhappiness at the bulk collection of private assets... and in truth, it simply isn't sporting.) (Louis Wu 15:27:53 UTC) (permalink)

The Other Warthog.
Do Halo fans get annoyed when other games begin to look like Halo? One One Se7en's MC does... (Louis Wu 11:31:59 UTC) (permalink)

Don't seem so lonely to me...
Hehe - Gearbox's Projects page lists a total of... one remaining work item for Halo PC. I wonder what it could be (and how long it'll take them to clear it)? Look for the game to go Gold pretty soon now... (Louis Wu 10:08:06 UTC) (permalink)

News September 7 2003

FiringSquad looks at SP Halo PC
Halo PC Preview at FiringSquad. It's a look at Single-player only, and brings up several points that have been addressed on various messageboards by Bungie and Gearbox employees (so don't bother sending us outraged emails about how this or that problem is already fixed - we know)... but it's a view from a PC FPS player, which is how Halo PC SHOULD be judged. 32 screenshots, as well. Thanks to AlStrong for the heads-up on our forum. (Louis Wu 16:16:50 UTC) (permalink)

Hey, we were playing the other night and...
For the longest time, the Guardians have baffled players - where do these mysterious killers come from? Stuntmutt looks at the issue in today's One One Se7en. (Louis Wu 14:55:48 UTC) (permalink)

News September 6 2003

FTC 7 - now in QuickTime
Earlier today, we listed links for DivX-encoded versions of FTC's latest vid (number 7). We've gotten the okay from FTC to offer you a QuickTime version, as well. This one is 480x312, 12.5 mb, and is available from files.bungie.org. Mirrors are welcome (though they probably won't be posted before tonight). (Louis Wu 20:15:08 UTC) (permalink)

Massive Halo movie now available from Gamespy
A couple of weeks ago, we mentioned a large video showing multiplayer action at Gamespy - but noted that it was subscriber-only at the time. It's since been made public - you can grab it from a number of public servers. It's a 144 mb QuickTime movie (141 mb zipped) showing 4 minutes of gameplay from Gephyrophobia, Timberland, and Blood Gulch. Should really give you a sense for what's what - format is 640x480, so action is reasonably sized. Got the heads-up from kurieitaa over on the Gearbox forums. (Louis Wu 12:47:04 UTC) (permalink)

The Halo Timeline - official again
Whoa - I've got no idea when this was (re)posted... but the Halo Storyline, originally posted on the now-defunct Xbox.com Flash Halo site, has RESURFACED at Xbox.com. (It was orginally posted in mid-September 2001 - in a hidden format. Once a Bungie fan found it, it was yanked. It reappeared - in an altered format - a couple of months later... and then was yanked again. It was offline for a very, very long time; I'm pretty sure it wasn't up on the Xbox.com site, say, a month ago.) Nice to see - maybe this can kickstart the dormant Halo Story page, which has been waiting for its maintainers to return from their summer activities... (Louis Wu 12:30:18 UTC) (permalink)

Flag Capture, Battle Creek
Saltine sent in a link to a nice flag capture on Battle Creek; you can download it from his site here. (4.7 mb, WMP7 format.) He asks that comments be posted on his Clan page, Halo ThugZ. (Louis Wu 10:59:42 UTC) (permalink)

Writing: it does a body good.
9 Fan Fiction pieces for you today:

• Earth, A Place for Death. Part 7: Lifting off, by FuManChu
• MJOLNIR MARK V, by Mainevent
• The Ghosts:Project Ghost(Chapter 1), by Sergeant B
• Assualt of Plaza 13, by The Scribe
• The Fight for Bravo Base; pt. 1, by ONI_operative_343
• Homeworlds V, by Mainevent
• Arcnine, by Master_Chief189
• Soldiers Diary: Homeworlds , by Mainevent
• Halo Trilogy: A Soul to Remember ( Chapter III ), by Alpha Lance

Not too bad, for a Saturday morning... (Louis Wu 10:53:03 UTC) (permalink)

Ladder Reloading
Tyler Jennings compares shooters in today's Guest One One Se7en. The collection grows... (Louis Wu 10:50:04 UTC) (permalink)

Walking... on a different path
Surrept, inspired by Marty O'Donnell's 'A Walk in the Woods' (a track you can find on the Official Halo Soundtrack), has begun work on a remake. It's not finished yet - but he's happy to put out the preliminary work (817K, 0:52, mp3 format) for feedback. Comments can be added to this forum thread. (Louis Wu 10:46:01 UTC) (permalink)

There's more than one way to skin an MC.
Taking to heart the suggestion that some of the skins submitted might not be of maximum use in the field, Dogsounds has created 4 more skins for the MC, this time all camouflage variants. You can find descriptions of each outfit on our forum... or visit the Variants page for the full collection. (Links to all relevant information about the creation of these skins is contained on that page.) Update: Dogsounds has added one more - a Bungie skin. Check it out. (Louis Wu 10:41:39 UTC) (permalink)

Our December
essex put some AotCR gameplay together with some music... and the end result is a 24 mb download in QT format. Grab it from FilePlanet, then comment here. (Louis Wu 09:55:14 UTC) (permalink)

That must have taken a while.
Ever wondered what the maximum range of... well, whatever is? Check this out. (Louis Wu 09:51:50 UTC) (permalink)

No cheating.
Fire Team Charlie has posted FTC7 - and it's a keeper. Currently available as a 352x224 DivX-encoded AVI weighing in at 7.6 mb, it can be downloaded from the main site, or from Blade's Team Ice mirror, or from files.bungie.org. A large (640x412, 18.2 mb) version is available for members off the XboxOttawa site. QuickTime versions will be coming tomorrow. Jump in with comments in this forum thread! (Louis Wu 02:40:15 UTC) (permalink)

Halo PC Update - near the end!
Friday night in Redmond... time for another Halo PC update. Michel Bastien, Bungie's man-in-the-field on this one, is back from the Gearbox studios, and has written up some drool-worthy words for you. They're in the final stages of testing; they've actually got release candidates going. Won't be too long! Go read the details at Bungie.net. (Louis Wu 00:44:08 UTC) (permalink)

News September 5 2003

It's all about the ice, baby
Woohoo! New screens at Microsoft's Halo PC site - this time it's Ice Fields. There haven't been a lot of views of this level up to now... you get 5 decent ones here, and can get a good feel for level layout. Thanks to spesalfred for the heads-up! (Louis Wu 21:02:31 UTC) (permalink)

Gearbox posts Editing FAQ
A new Halo PC Editing FAQ has gone up at Gearbox's site - answers to your questions about what you will, and will not, be able to do once the tools are available. Check it out! (Louis Wu 20:21:57 UTC) (permalink)

More Action Figure Action
SketchFactor, over at Bungie.net, has put up some cool info about the second wave of Halo Collectibles, available in a couple of months. Descriptions and links to pictures can all be found in his Bungie.net writeup... go check it out! (Louis Wu 18:48:23 UTC) (permalink)

Advances in the modding scene
For those with modded Xboxes, HaloSkins has posted a couple of mods that might be of interest to you. 1guydriveby allows the driver of a Warthog to fire its LAAG gun while driving... your games of Warthog Jousting just got deadlier. Walk on Walls allows you to... well, walk on walls. (Up and over any obstacle, in fact.) Again - you must have a modded Xbox to use these; any questions you have about modding your Xbox in general or applying these particular mods should be directed at modding communities (like HaloSkins), not us. Thanks! (And thanks to decibel for the heads-up on this stuff. (Louis Wu 18:46:12 UTC) (permalink)

Gearbox posts Sapien shot
Gearbox has put up another new screenie - this time, it's a shot of Sapien, the tool used to populate maps after creation. Get a feel for what sort of options are available... (The work items list is down to 48, as well... not long now!) Thanks to Satesh, on our forum, for noticing. (Louis Wu 15:36:53 UTC) (permalink)

Halo - played by masters.
Wow. Sir Dan points out a link to a vid (streaming WMV format) of the final round of Halo50K, TDT vs DM, CTF on Battle Creek. It's 5:16 long, and shows the entire match (3 captures). Video is hosted by Video CD Productions, and shows some truly impressive teamwork... check it out. (Louis Wu 14:31:20 UTC) (permalink)

Takin' a break...
Red vs Blue is taking the week off this week - there won't be a video. There WILL be info later on today about the DVD they're making, however. Keep your eyes peeled. (Louis Wu 14:06:18 UTC) (permalink)

Hot LZ.
That Sarge... he's a pip. Check out One One Se7en. (Remember, all three main strips this week are a miniseries.) (Louis Wu 13:20:12 UTC) (permalink)

The Preview Parade Continues
Two new Halo PC previews: Warcry, put up Tuesday, and The Armchair Empire, put up Wednesday. The Warcry preview is a bit strange; it focuses entirely on the campaign mode, and was written by someone who never even bothered to read old Xbox summaries. (The screenshots are of such degraded quality that we're not even going to include them in our Screenshots database.) The Armchair Empire believes that the game will be a hard sell to Xbox owners, because "what little that is new to Halo just won't be enough to justify paying full price for a second, slightly more robust version of the game." (These guys obviously haven't been playing internet multiplayer every night...) Both links come from Blue's News, by way of ash. (Louis Wu 12:40:06 UTC) (permalink)

More Action Figure Hoopla!
Joyride has updated their website with pics and info on the next series of Halo action figures to be released by the end of this month. They're listed on the left side of this page. It's the new Master Chief - Green, Master Chief - Red, Elite, and Ghost which includes 3 mini figures of Elite, MC, and Jackal!

Yes, we've known about these figures before, but now it's official!

I'm not sure what the difference is between the Series 1 MC and the Series 2 MC-Green. Is it just the weapon set? I'm sure we'll find out soon enough. (Ding 06:05:30 UTC) (permalink)

News September 4 2003

Action Figures... OFFICIALLY out
They've been out for a little while now... but Joyride issued a press release today about the Halo Action Figures; check out the details at Bungie.net. (Louis Wu 21:50:11 UTC) (permalink)

Gearbox Update
For the first time in almost a week, Gearbox has updated its top Exclusive Screenshot - this one shows a lot of firepower being unleashed on a few Blue guys by a pair of Reds... (And while your ON the Projects page, note that the remaining work items for Halo PC (things that must be completed before the game can be sent to manufacturing) is down to 57. When the countdown was first noted (6 days ago), the total was 146; not a bad week's work! Thanks to Brad Griswold for the first heads-up. (Louis Wu 20:11:36 UTC) (permalink)

And then there were pictures
Once again, a week goes by before the art queues get cleared. (They're STILL not cleared - but they're better.) We've got 11 desktop pics for you today, including two Marathon-related ones. Strange how things run in packs... check the Wallpaper section. (Louis Wu 19:59:26 UTC) (permalink)

Stories, stories, and more stories
It blows me away how often the Fan Fiction updates include story totals that are multiples of seven. It's as though someone's PLANNING it...

• Chapter Two: Rise of the Phoenix, by Blue Jaguar
• Omega Centauri, by James Kinsella
• The Laurel, by James Kinsella
• Homeworlds IV, by Mainevent
• Survival, Prologue, by Agent Shade
• Defection: Part 2, by Zach Laskaris
• A Series of Wierd Events, Part Four, by Hunter_Killer
• Final Thoughts-Words Before Battle, by BlackValkyire
• Nothing to Lose Part III, by hornet34
• The Ghosts:Silver Eagle Down(Chapter 3), by Sergeant B
• The Adventures of Lt. Jake, Part Four, by Hunter_Killer
• In Light of Destiny Part VII: The Savior Within, by Jinkaiden-XI
• Attack on ERISTOCK-Part 2:Departure, by xitWOUND117
• Another ONI Black File: Halo � We Got There First: Part 9, by Arthur Wellesly

Go ahead, read 'em. There'll be more tomorrow. (Louis Wu 19:58:22 UTC) (permalink)

Oooh... Safari
Yesterday, we mentioned Dogsounds' armor variants - well, today, there are three new ones. Check this forum post for details - or view all variants on one page, here. (Louis Wu 09:36:48 UTC) (permalink)

UNSC.net runs out of bandwidth
UNSC.net has run into bandwidth problems - they can't host any more movies until they find a sponsor. Anyone interested in helping should contact admin@unsc.net. (They hope to offer hosting, as well, to anyone willing to sponsor them.) (Louis Wu 07:51:41 UTC) (permalink)

Games Domain looks over Halo PC
Games Domain has put up a Halo PC Preview; not a lot new (well, they're apparently MUCH better with a sniper rifle than I am), but 10 additional screens (added to the Screenshots database, as well). Thanks to ash, who noticed it at Blue's News. (Louis Wu 07:48:35 UTC) (permalink)

Silent Wonders
Mikey-Cd is back as a Guest artist for One One Se7en... don't tell me this never happened to you. (Louis Wu 02:17:43 UTC) (permalink)

343 Candles
The Hushed Casket had a one-year birthday... and they celebrated with a lan party and a cake. Pretty cool cake, too! Check out the pics! (Then chime into the forum thread.) (Louis Wu 02:14:28 UTC) (permalink)

News September 3 2003

Get your sunglasses, baby.
Forum regular Dogsounds did some reskinning of the Master Chief - it's unlikely that his work would be approved by the UNSC, but we liked it enough that we added a page to our Miscellaneous section. Check it out. (Louis Wu 17:56:01 UTC) (permalink)

Another Flash-animated logo
Bluestone, of 343 Guilty Spark, submitted a new Flash-animated Halo logo. We've linked it on our Logos page. (Louis Wu 16:40:10 UTC) (permalink)

They're still coming...
Clint has turned in a new Halo 2 cover concept, which we've added to our still-growing Halo 2 Cover Art collection. Take a look! (Louis Wu 16:15:49 UTC) (permalink)

Hosting, and not hosting...
Okay, it's been a while since I've found time to rummage through the submissions - and for that, I apologize. Lots of people have been waiting for substantial chunks of time to see their work displayed for the Halo community... and I've been lax about getting it up there. However, our uploads folders (and email) are filled with material which we have to toss, as well... and this makes me sad. Some of it is just that folks aren't paying attention to the existing guidelines... but some of it is that we've never outlined what isn't acceptable. So I'm doing that now. First up, some rules to remember:

• Movies that are submitted in WMP9 version ONLY (that is, without a corresponding MPEG, or AVI, or whatever) will not be posted. This rule is in effect until Microsoft releases WMP9 codecs for operating systems other than their own.
• Movies that are simply collections of tricks, or that are rehashes of existing films we've posted in the past, will not be posted. You're welcome to find your own hosting, and send us a link; we're happy to announce it to the community. We cannot provide you with bandwidth, however.
• Items that are uploaded to our ftp or http uploads folders without attribution will not be posted. If we don't know who you are... we're not putting your work up. We'd like an email address (even if you don't want it listed with your work; we're happy to withhold it)... but we NEED a name, at least.

And while we're at it... uploading halo.jpg or readme.doc or description.txt is sort of silly... remember that our Wallpaper section has almost 1000 items in it, Miscellaneous Art isn't far behind; name your work (AND its accompanying text file) appropriately. Thanks. Now as for things that we've not addressed yet:

• Red vs Blue artwork (wallpaper, disc covers, logos, you name it) are really not appropriate for HBO. RvB has their own website, and a forum to post tribute work. Please use it.
• Windows executables will no longer be accepted. Once upon a time, we took some mini-games folks created... but the last item we tried to test totally hosed the Windows emulator I had running here, and in today's virus-strewn world, it's simply not worth our time or effort to ensure that your mini-game is safe for public consumption. Please don't upload them - we won't post them.

Material listed above - the stuff we won't post - is simply discarded; we probably won't contact you to tell you we're not posting it. (In the vast majority of cases, we CAN'T contact you, because you haven't bothered to include an email address.) If you feel that you've uploaded something that we SHOULD have posted, but didn't - please don't upload it again - simply drop us an email, asking us what happened to it. (Be sure to identify it clearly.) We'll get back to you about why it wasn't posted, or post it if it was simply overlooked. (Because yeah, we do make mistakes sometimes.) Hopefully this clarifies the issue somewhat. I'll do my best to get the recent stuff put up soon. (Louis Wu 14:25:13 UTC) (permalink)

Friendhammer.
Too much time getting toasted by the Halo PC beta testers, not enough time updating this site. Hmm. Anyway, before hitting the sack, here's Wednesday's One One Se7en, from Stuntmutt - continuing in the Flash Pelican theme. I know where that lady is coming from... (Louis Wu 03:05:06 UTC) (permalink)

News September 2 2003

The New Breed released
Dwain Faithfull writes to point out that UNSC.net has the second installment of their exclusive video, The Beginning of the End. WMP9 format only. This one's called 'The New Breed', and it's available from their Videos page. (Louis Wu 21:25:35 UTC) (permalink)

Entertainment Depot previews Halo
A brief Halo PC preview was published (along with 25 screenshots) over at the Entertainment Depot yesterday. Thanks to Cash, on the Gearbox forums, for the heads-up. (Louis Wu 14:49:40 UTC) (permalink)

Homelan Fed looks at Halo PC - again
Last Friday, Homelan Fed put up a followup article to their Fanstock Impressions article we mentioned a bit ago. (I blame our missing it on the Labor Day weekend. Yeah, that's it.) A few new screenshots (now in our Screenshots database as well), and some comments about the beta version they've been playing with... worth a look! (Louis Wu 13:25:45 UTC) (permalink)

Red vs... Who Part 1
Remember Salmon vs Teal, the Red vs Blue parody? Now there's a SvT tribute strip in the One One Se7en series. This place gets more and more like Deliverance every day... (Louis Wu 09:25:01 UTC) (permalink)

Halo Tourney in upstate New York
Nick the Roadie points out a Halo 3-man Team Slayer tourney at Cyberjocks, near Buffalo, NY this weekend. Entrance is $45/team, and prize money is based on the number of entrants. (The site is framed, so you might want to go in through the front page; the Halo tournament is listed at the bottom in the 'upcoming tournaments' section, and full rules are listed in the 'Events' section.) (Louis Wu 09:19:52 UTC) (permalink)

My eyes hurt.
Goodness - looks like everyone stayed inside during Labor Day, and wrote. 21 Fan Fiction pieces today:

• The Battle of Evermore Part 2: Break, by Gruntkiller
• Chapter Two: TF Resolution, by Blue Jaguar
• The Alliance: Part two, by pooman
• Attack on ERISTOCK-Part 1: Introduction, by xitWOUND117
• Spartan III's, Part III, by FOrunnER
• Halo Trilogy: Destroy th 'Judgment Day' (Chapter II, part 2), by Alpha Lance
• The Covenant: Chapter 1, by William
• Why Bother, by Alpha Lance
• Homeworlds III, by Mainevent
• Chapter Four: Stranded Eagle, by Blue Jaguar
• And now all hell will break loose Part 2, by metallicafan
• Reclaimer, by Alpha Lance
• A Series of Wierd Events, Part Three, by Hunter_Killer
• The Adventures of Lt. Jake, Part Three, by Hunter_Killer
• Nothing to Lose Part II, by hornet34
• Battlefield Earth: Mission One, by Master_Chief189
• Chapter Five: Stranded Eagle, by Blue Jaguar
• THe Fall of the Covenant- Chapter 1, by MC117
• Chapter One: The Rise of the Phoenix, by Blue Jaguar
• The Ghosts: Silver Eagle Down(Chapter 2), by Sergeant B
• Its Just One of Those Days (Prologue: 05), by Elfster

More tomorrow, I'm sure. (Louis Wu 09:11:23 UTC) (permalink)

News September 1 2003

Summer Slaying video posted
Woohoo! Blackstar has posted a huge movie (48 mb, 720x480) showing highlights of a lanfest held here at HBO HQ last weekend. Read about it in this forum post, go pick up the movie at Blackstar Productions. Image quality is up to Blackstar's usual standards. Format is MPEG-4; you'll need the latest drivers for whatever viewer you're using. It's a testimony to how many people we had that in the 3:21-long movie, I'm not in a single game; we had 9 Xboxes running at one point (and only one of them had recording equipment connected to it). Was a rockin' good time, nice to see some of the footage I wasn't playing in! (Louis Wu 17:51:36 UTC) (permalink)

Flash Pelican, Revisited
Timing rocks, sometimes. Stuntmutt turned in a One One Se7en strip referencing BOLL's Flash Pelican game - I worried that by the time it aired, folks would have forgotten about the game. Skavenger reminded the world just a day or two ago, though, with his monster forum tale... (Louis Wu 00:18:55 UTC) (permalink)

Lion reports from the iGames Regionals
Forum regular Lion spent the day at the iGames Summer Season Regional Tournament yesterday, in Tennessee - he's written up his experience on his website. Check it out! (Notification was here, on our forum.) Update: Ernest Miller, of Game Jockeys, points out another writeup, this time of the Regionals in Southern California. Check it out! (Louis Wu 00:02:10 UTC) (permalink)

September 2003

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