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Wednesday, November 7, 2001 |  |
Manual scans redux
Many thanks to Kbjlake, who has kindly mirrored the manual scans that have had such a difficult time finding a home. You can grab them individually, or get the whole shebang, zipped (3.6 MB). (And thanks again to Final Solution, who scanned them all in the first place!) (Louis Wu 23:57:27 UTC) (permalink)
VE gets hi-res
Five gorgeous hi-res screens at VoodooExtreme - go get 'em. First notification props to jan luow. (Who loves ya, baby?) (Louis Wu 23:10:53 UTC) (permalink)
He's gonna start swearing soon...
Okay, for most regulars here, this is a broken record. However, with the proximity of the Xbox launch, there are many newcomers... and this issue has become hot recently. A few days ago, Matt Soell, in response to a forum post in which an Xbox Germany representative was quoted as saying that PC Halo would be released in late fall 2002, said this:
If Jason Jones is still unsure how we're handling the PC version (and he is - I talked to him about it two days ago) then it's pretty unlikely that some MS guy in Germany has the inside track.
Some jumped on this as proof that Bungie was waffling about doing the PC port in the first place. Matt has posted a new missive on our forum, in an attempt to be perfectly clear about one thing: a PC version of Halo is still in the works.
I have asked many questions about the Mac/PC versions in recent days, because I want to know what's going on so I can get the "I have confirmation it's never coming" wankers off the community's back. I have asked people who are in the best position to know what's going on, like Alex and Jason. They don't have answers to all the questions yet, and they don't want to say anything until all the ducks are in a row, but they know what they have to do. If pressed to choose between an "anonymous source" referenced by some random guy on a web forum, and two real people with names who have confided Bungie secrets to me for years, I'll pick the latter. And I cheerfully invite the anonymous sources, if they actually exist, to come on over to Bungie HQ and chat with Alex and Jason and myself so we can eliminate the communication breakdown.
The short version? BUNGIE HAS NOT SCRAPPED PLANS FOR A PC PORT. This, of course, will not stop people from speculating that they have, indeed, scrapped plans for a PC port (or even better, haven't been told by their Microsoft overlords that the PC port is history, and are toiling away in ignorance)... but as of today, a week before the Xbox launch, the PC port is officially in the works. (Louis Wu 21:35:18 UTC) (permalink)
FAQ updated
The Gameplay page of the HBO FAQ has been updated. Old info has been pulled, new info added... one more question (coop splitscreen play) is there. This is a work in progress... more to come. Update: The Weapons and Vehicles pages have been updated, as well, this time using information from the Halo Manual. (Louis Wu 17:47:02 UTC) (permalink)
Halo manual pics back up
Final Solution writes again - the Halo manual pics he put up yesterday (down on his original site, for bandwidth overflows - he can't even log in to remove them) have been re-upped - to a Geocities site. Dunno how long THAT one's gonna last... but if you haven't gotten 'em yet (and want 'em), give it a shot. (Louis Wu 17:45:11 UTC) (permalink)
New french preview at GameKult
genohunter writes to let us know that a second Halo french preview has come out, at GameKult.com.
For those whose french is as clear as the covenant language, I'll just say that the Gamekult team found the game quite exciting, and, of course, really wonderful (especially all the bumpmapping effectsÊwith dynamic lights). They tested it on a beta version, and they deplore the framerate problem that we heard telling about (too) many times. As a conclusion, they think that Halo is one of the best Xbox first games, and, apart of the framerate problem,Êthey really enjoyed playing it.
The fact that it's a development build is clear from some of the 57 (!!!) screenshots included with this article... some of which could be considered SERIOUS spoilers. (Louis Wu 17:36:38 UTC) (permalink)
Training sequence pulled?
jeremedia notes that his recently-purchased retail copy of Halo is missing the training sequence seen in the O'Donnell/Staten commentary film and GameSpot's Xbox movie 2. (He mentioned this before, a few days ago... but then he was playing at Xbox Unleashed, and it wasn't clear if there had been some way to bypass it that had been chosen.) Bummer... seemed like a fun section, and useful for continuity. Update: Both Mat Noguchi and Jay Weinland (tools programmer and Cinematics team member, respectively) have jumped in to suggest reasons why jeremedia might not see that sequence. If the game is saved after the training sequence, you won't see it again... and in any case, it's only shown on Easy and Normal difficulty settings; it's skipped on Heroic and Legendary. Thanks, guys! (Louis Wu 16:50:19 UTC) (permalink)
Forum roundup
Overnight forum doings... the Xbox manual scans we mentioned last night got crushed from the demand - Final Solution's monthly bandwidth allotment has been used up... so Funky J has kindly put them up on his hotline server. Psyrixx has created a new Mastercard 'Priceless' parody - you can find it at The Psyjnir Complex. (5+ versions of browsers, please.) Jester explains how to save Real Audio streams (this is illegal in the US) - a little too late, since the Halo commercial mentioned a couple of days ago had disappeared from the net. (It seems to be back now, though... hmm.) And another new thread popped up over at IGN, in which someone is claiming to have gotten from their MS buddy the news that (once again) PC Halo is dead and buried. (It's mentioned here, here, and here.) Thanks... but until we get word from Bungie that they have, in fact, decided to bag it... we'll pass on this rumor. (Louis Wu 14:53:01 UTC) (permalink)
Mmm... movies...
Hmm... Matt Soell drops hints about new media to be released at the Halo Launch Party... (Louis Wu 05:05:03 UTC) (permalink)
The Making of Halo?
Almost missed this, because of the ridiculous traffic the forum is getting these days... but Adam Daniel noticed (in an obscure location on TeamXbox's site) that futureshop.ca is selling a CD called 'Definitive Xbox Compilation'. Along with the music comes a Bonus CD:
The disk contains band EPKs, Xbox title movies and previews, and The Making Of Halo, a behind-the-scenes insider's glimpse into the development of this Xbox title.
Release date is November 13... and if you buy before then, it's $14 (canadian) - a steal! (Louis Wu 04:59:33 UTC) (permalink)
The Wierd Get Wierder
Hermes Trismegistus, Chapter 15 - dead men tell tales, and whatnot. Read it (and more of Tursas' stuff) in our Fan Fiction section. (Louis Wu 04:54:41 UTC) (permalink)
IGN Insider stuff... outside
Whoa - bizarreness. Matt (no, not the Matt) found a way to see the IGN Multiplayer game guide, even without Insider access - apparently, GameFixx mirrors the stuff somehow. It's slow loading... but it's all there. Check it out! (They seem to be related to IGN in some way, so this is probably on the level... maybe.) (Louis Wu 01:45:23 UTC) (permalink)
Full Halo booklet scanned
Spoiler alert - Final Solution has scanned in the entire Halo booklet that comes with the game. Full of information about weapons, vehicles, monsters... very, very high-res scans. Grab 'em now before they're gone! (Or don't, if you want to be surprised on launch day...) (Louis Wu 01:40:11 UTC) (permalink)
Tuesday's news in brief:
Monday's news in brief:
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First Halo Commercial at AdReview Halo SETI Team 7 day stats posted Halo Commercial less than a week away New Desktop Art Two-fisted Fan Fiction Action Haloserver.com on eBay FAQ updated |
