Bungie Universe
This topic has moved here: Subject: Is there really a big secret/mystery?
  • Subject: Is there really a big secret/mystery?
Subject: Is there really a big secret/mystery?

The bible is the best book Ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I AM A PROUD CHRISTIAN. HALO IS AWESOME BUT GOD IS MUCH BETTER!!!!!!!!
Did you knew that JESUSdied for you?

...Or bungie/343 just made stuff up along the way.

A great part of the charm of the halo story is the big feeling of mistery. There are a lot of secrets and lies hidden in plain sight and grand part of the fun is speculating about the whole truth... or is it?.

As you know previous bungie games also realied on big mysteries. For instance marathon fans until this very day keep speculating on all the details of those games and they are very likely not to get an answer.

But the big question is: Is there really an answer?, is there really a big halo bible with all the secrets we have benn dying to know? or is bungie/343 just keeps the ilusion of mystery to keep us interested and obessesed in unveiling the truth.

While every time we think we have seen a bit of the light it's just 343/bungie makig stuff up as it's more convenient to them for storytelling and real life marketing purposes?. Think of the cliffhanger at halo2 hater or not, you have to admitt it was a good hook to buy halo3... as many did.

Why people get obssesed deciphering every game like Iris or I love bees?. Becuse they hope an answer may lie at the end of the tunnel. Think of movies like inception and the black swan, in those movies the author intended to keep eveything ambigious with no real answer, and yet that hasn't stopped people to get obbsessed and often seeing answers where they are not http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apophenia
and many od us
have wither seen it or been there.

For example read #3 about hot a lot of people got an extreme obesesion tryong to find a truth that wasn't there in the movie "inception" http://www.cracked.com/article_18950_9-major-stories-everyone -got-wrong-this-year_p2.html

Is there really an aswer or is it simply our obssesion and our uncontroable desire to know (as it is in our human nature)what's hidden blinding us from the tru7h (there is no truth)?.

Thanks for reading.

tl:dr I can recomend you a great school for people with different abilities/ an elementary school



[Edited on 12.12.2011 5:31 PM PST]

  • 12.12.2011 5:26 PM PDT

There is in fact a Story Bible, presumably with the core ideas of where the story will end and what the answers are. A lot of the smaller bits, like characters and places and such, are made up as they go along, but at least with 343i's case, everything is predetermined. They've said many times they know how it ends.

And if the theory that the Cortana Letters are still relevant holds true, Bungie did have the core idea for the entire story as we see it laid out from day 1.

  • 12.12.2011 5:31 PM PDT

-blam!- Was that actually blammed out? Or did I just type it? You'll never know.

The mystery and wonder of the Halo universe is being slowly destroyed with the Cryptum trilogy, but I'm sure new questions will be introduced as well.

  • 12.12.2011 5:34 PM PDT
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Bungie must have had plans to do reach at some point. At the start of CE I think it was cortana said something about reach. so yes it im sure was all planned out

  • 12.12.2011 5:36 PM PDT


Posted by: dahuterschuter
The mystery and wonder of the Halo universe is being slowly destroyed with the Cryptum trilogy, but I'm sure new questions will be introduced as well.


Yes new questions will be brought up, and have. Frankie also made a point in saying the full mystery of the Forerunners will never be explained. Notice how Cryptum took from the perspective of a Forerunner child/preteen? He's not exactly worldly, and very little about the Forerunners was explained except for characters and a few technological achievements.

And Primordium takes from the perspective of humans. So the mystery is safe.

  • 12.12.2011 5:40 PM PDT

You can clearly see in the Halo history of ViDocs and Bungie press/game releases etc that new ideas and story elements are added as they go with a sketch outline of what they want to achieve.

I am sure there was a solid effort by the founding team who dreamed up Halo, however, I would suggest very little in terms of background details were present. Think if the Halo bible as more of a framework reference containing hierarchy of races some basic events and notes on style and sources etc.

Further along I'm sure the founders, developers, story guys'n'gals and all the various departments had their work filtered into snippets which were added to the Halo bible. This has been noted by Bungie over the years as provided reference material for managers, team leaders, developers, designers and third parties such as novelists etc.

It's more of a reference that has grown over time and I am sure there are specific stories in there now as well as other elements such as character bio's etc.

I believe on the whole it's not like Reach was mapped out when Halo CE was first developed. Proof of that is the contradiction between Fall of Reach original book and Reach the game, for example.

Looking forward I believe 343 is rectifying such reference framework and add in as you go processes to more of a fully developed story line for the next trilogy and a singular cohesive lore to tie in book series, merchandising, games, comics etc etc.



[Edited on 12.12.2011 6:59 PM PST]

  • 12.12.2011 6:56 PM PDT

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Posted by: n3mb3r
Bungie must have had plans to do reach at some point. At the start of CE I think it was cortana said something about reach. so yes it im sure was all planned out

Yes, she mentioned something about being followed from Reach.

  • 12.13.2011 1:55 AM PDT

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The best mystery, is that they haven't made books about after the Human/Covenant war. Halo 4 is a complete mystery. I think that's one of the reasons I didn't like Reach so much. I knew the ending, from the very beginning. There was no "What?! Why would they do that! That's so surprising!"

That's what half of the fun is in Halo campaigns, you don't have any idea what's going to happen next.

  • 12.13.2011 1:59 AM PDT


Posted by: Xerzaph
The best mystery, is that they haven't made books about after the Human/Covenant war. Halo 4 is a complete mystery. I think that's one of the reasons I didn't like Reach so much. I knew the ending, from the very beginning. There was no "What?! Why would they do that! That's so surprising!"

That's what half of the fun is in Halo campaigns, you don't have any idea what's going to happen next.


This is what I mean when I say Reach didn't feel at all like a Halo game.

  • 12.13.2011 4:33 AM PDT

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Posted by: ROBERTO jh
This is what I mean when I say Reach didn't feel at all like a Halo game.

Indeed, if I may be so bold, Elites ruined Reach campaign gameplay. They're just too... Annoying, and jumpy, they weren't fun to fight.

  • 12.13.2011 4:42 AM PDT

The bible is the best book Ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I AM A PROUD CHRISTIAN. HALO IS AWESOME BUT GOD IS MUCH BETTER!!!!!!!!
Did you knew that JESUSdied for you?

What about the story?
Posted by: Xerzaph

Posted by: ROBERTO jh
This is what I mean when I say Reach didn't feel at all like a Halo game.

Indeed, if I may be so bold, Elites ruined Reach campaign gameplay. They're just too... Annoying, and jumpy, they weren't fun to fight.

  • 12.13.2011 11:34 AM PDT

8/5/08 Bungie Favorites- NoEnd
7/1/09 Bungie Favorites- RECON Devil
9/9/09 Bungie Favorites- Champion
5/22/10 HaloCharts Favs- Prey

I've wanted a TUE since I got into the Halo storyline. There have been many theories, such as The Mystery Gate on Delta Halo/High Charity, the Trigates across the first three games, the Secret of Sandtrap, and the theory of the hidden sword in ODST. All of these seemed like potential secrets that would be the greatest easter eggs in history, but they all fell through.

  • 12.13.2011 4:39 PM PDT

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Posted by: BestSpartan117
What about the story?
Posted by: Xerzaph
Indeed, if I may be so bold, Elites ruined Reach campaign GAMEPLAY. They're just too... Annoying, and jumpy, they weren't fun to fight.

  • 12.13.2011 5:28 PM PDT
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edit

[Edited on 12.14.2011 9:56 AM PST]

  • 12.14.2011 9:56 AM PDT
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  • Exalted Legendary Member


Posted by: ROBERTO jh
There is in fact a Story Bible, presumably with the core ideas of where the story will end and what the answers are. A lot of the smaller bits, like characters and places and such, are made up as they go along, but at least with 343i's case, everything is predetermined. They've said many times they know how it ends.

And if the theory that the Cortana Letters are still relevant holds true, Bungie did have the core idea for the entire story as we see it laid out from day 1.

Watching the developer commentary for Halo 1 and 2 that came with the Legendary Edition of Halo 3, it's quite clear that almost none of what we see today was laid out from the begining. They had originally, at least for a short time, a pre-planned story for 2 or maybe 3 games, but that was ditched during Halo 1's development and things like the The Fall of Reach were written to bring in more back story to what was there (the original storyline idea for the Halo games could have perhaps been ditched BECAUSE Microsoft wanted to have these novels and tie-in stories, but that's all speculation on my part). Joseph Staten has said in interviews during the Halo 3 development or post launch that the Cortana Letter's became out of canon before Halo 1 ever released when they decided to go the route that the story has gone now, and that some of Cortana's going crazy dialog in Halo 3 was a way to bring the Cortana Letters back in a little bit and give them a new application.

The Halo Bible is a living document with facts and details that are added and taken away all the time as has been said in a few interviews. What it's not is a complete story or collection of specific stories that are all pre-planned. Writing every story for an entire universe almost never happens. There are probably historical events and timelines of locations for basic story ideas, but getting more specific than that usually just tends to lead to terrible writing. When people write stories things usually need to grow more organically over time as ideas unfold and new possibilities come to bear, and characters develop their own voice and personalities.

  • 12.14.2011 9:56 AM PDT

Posted by:ScubaToaster
Posted by: HipiO7
This man, this man right here put it so eloquently that I actually cancelled my own 2000+ word long post.
/slow clap for respect


:)
The person who said participating is important, not winning, obviously never won anything.

Posted by: dahuterschuter
The mystery and wonder of the Halo universe is being slowly destroyed with the Cryptum trilogy, but I'm sure new questions will be introduced as well.


It better.

  • 12.14.2011 10:18 AM PDT

Honestly, I'd say that less story has been thought out than we may think. But I don't care.
I gain my enjoyment of Halo from subtle hints and promises of a much wider universe. If they wrote everything we wanted to know and let as have it, I believe it would be pretty disappointing - even if it was an excellent story. I would just hate thinking that there was nothing else left.

  • 12.14.2011 12:20 PM PDT
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Do not waste your tears, I was not born to watch the world grow dim. Life is not measured in years, but by the deeds of men.

Posted by: goldhawk
We should know better, because we are better.

To use a Battlestar Galactica analogy, is there anything behind the curtain? After New Caprica they had painted themselves into a bit of a corner and were struggling to get out. When the end finally came and it was time to draw back the curtain we found that all there was was God. All along it had been God but because they didn't plan the show out since the beginning it seemed like a Deus ex Machina.

The point I am trying to make here is that when all the questions are answered we might not like the results. I think it would be better to tigh up most loose end (cwutididthere?) but leave the big question unanswered. Leave curtain in it's place, we don't need to see who (or what) is behind it.

  • 12.14.2011 2:18 PM PDT
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Five exclamations marks are a good signifier of an insane mind. As is trying to hide from Death in an airtight room. Silly wizard.


Posted by: Xd00999
To use a Battlestar Galactica analogy, is there anything behind the curtain? After New Caprica they had painted themselves into a bit of a corner and were struggling to get out. When the end finally came and it was time to draw back the curtain we found that all there was was God. All along it had been God but because they didn't plan the show out since the beginning it seemed like a Deus ex Machina.

The point I am trying to make here is that when all the questions are answered we might not like the results. I think it would be better to tigh up most loose end (cwutididthere?) but leave the big question unanswered. Leave curtain in it's place, we don't need to see who (or what) is behind it.

Are you saying that Halo is all because of God?

  • 12.14.2011 5:39 PM PDT

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Posted by: Deus_Ex_Machina
Cortana 5 is a carbon-based lifeform that frequently visits these forums, currently residing in the United States. Practically every male on the site responds to her posts.

The Joyeuse IP Formula

To my knowledge, there are two copies of the Halo bible. One in a cupboard next to Ling Ling's head (not even lying on that one) and another that was given to Frankie to use at 343i.

As for a whole "plan," I would say so. Well, I say that with an incredible bias.

For each new IP on Bungie's part, I think there's a generalized plan. Explanation.

  • 12.14.2011 5:45 PM PDT

"I'm afraid of the man I'll become if I lay my life down for the people I don't even care for"

Yeah, as with others in this forum, I do believe it is roughly sketched out.

That's what amuses me about the Halo Universe. It amazes me to think, that they've had secrets bottled up since 2001 yet to be revealed.

  • 12.14.2011 6:10 PM PDT

The bible is the best book Ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I AM A PROUD CHRISTIAN. HALO IS AWESOME BUT GOD IS MUCH BETTER!!!!!!!!
Did you knew that JESUSdied for you?

If there is indeed a big mystery I applaud bungie studios for it's deepness

  • 12.15.2011 4:37 PM PDT