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This topic has moved here: Subject: Bungie Weekly Update
  • Subject: Bungie Weekly Update
Subject: Bungie Weekly Update

We flew them around the environment, flew out over the Forerunner structure, did a close-up of the Chief to show the realtime reflection of the visor (you could see the ammo counter running down in his faceplate) and showed off the unified lighting model we're using - particularly how other surfaces, such as sand, reflect light back up onto his armor. Frame rate was silky smooth, but to be fair, that was basically an empty environment with the Chief in it. However, we're obviously trying to make our finished game silky smooth too. I don't know how they reacted, but one journalist asked me if I had gotten any death threats.

By any chance is there a way to get footage of that online?

  • 05.12.2006 5:01 PM PDT
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Posted by: Aktins_Diet
Posted by: Hitman115
yea i noticed a few symbols on the machine. and peeps need to stop attacking atkins and atkins dont call people pal cuz u sound stuck up. yes i think it is emphasized that it is sword cuz lots of peeps thought it was source(like me:D). but i think it has a double meaning like many bungie/halo riddles/hints. WE'RE NOT GENIOUSES!!!!!!!!

Ya, sorry, never knew i sounded like that when i said pal. How about dude? :P
-Aktins Diet


if it means anything, they are similar to those on the relic tower when hte portal is open

  • 05.12.2006 5:02 PM PDT
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Posted by: Hitman115
i personally like the BR better than the AR even though i hate the BR but i wont mind it as long as it doesn't look like the AR. i mean come on the AR looks like a toy!! wuts up with that rubbery looking handle on the top of it? it looks retarded!!! but thats the only thing i dont like. the rest is so genious, magnifisant, godly, its so....Bungie.

Oh god, i love the AR. Best gun agaist the flood spores and grunts. I think putting it in was a clever move on Bungies part. Now we can have the best of both worlds :) BR and AR!

Also, who here thinks we should have a Map editer, even if it is very limited? If enough people say yes, they might do it. After all, Far Cry was ok for game play (for a FPS) but it truned out to be a great game becauce of its editer.
-Aktins Diet

  • 05.12.2006 5:02 PM PDT

Posted by: BlueTick 26
Dang, Frankie didn't answer my question.

Now I'll never know if the chief is actually Chuck Norris...


No the spartans are all clones of Norris
they are stronger than him though
they can round house kick 80 times as hard

i am joking that is just fun to say

  • 05.12.2006 5:04 PM PDT
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Posted by: Robocop117
Posted by: BlueTick 26
Dang, Frankie didn't answer my question.

Now I'll never know if the chief is actually Chuck Norris...


No the spartans are all clones of Norris
they are stronger than him though
they can round house kick 80 times as hard

i am joking that is just fun to say

Chuck Norris Rules. Nuf said.
-Aktins Diet

  • 05.12.2006 5:06 PM PDT
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true the AR was the best against flood but i dont like it, its ugly. and im stupid cuz i forgot to face the fact that they never sed they were gunna REPLACE the BR with the AR. thank u for pointing that out.
PS i wud pay 100 bux to have a map editor, its probably one of the greatest ideas
also BRING BACK BLACK ARMOR!!!!!!!!!!!! i know bungie had a reason for taking it out but still couldnt u have worked it out? i mean a black elite? who cud want more?


[Edited on 5/12/2006]

  • 05.12.2006 5:10 PM PDT
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Mister cheif with HDR lighting. That is the highlight, right there.

  • 05.12.2006 5:11 PM PDT
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Posted by: Hitman115
true the AR was the best against flood but i dont like it, its ugly. and im stupid cuz i forgot to face the fact that they never sed they were gunna REPLACE the BR with the AR. thank u for pointing that out.
PS i wud pay 100 bux to have a map editor, its probably one of the greatest ideas
also BRING BACK BLACK ARMOR!!!!!!!!!!!! i know bungie had a reason for taking it out but still couldnt u have worked it out? i mean a black elite? who cud want more?

I would to! maybe thats what they can do. Sell the map editer for like 20 bucks on another CD. Everyone would get it. :)


Posted by: Caspian
Mister cheif with HDR lighting. That is the highlight, right there.


Now can you think of that amazing HDR lighting with your own custum maps you made? Amazing!
-Aktins Diet

  • 05.12.2006 5:14 PM PDT

Everyone is entitled to be stupid but some abuse the priviledge.

Nice update! Thanks for clearing up all the questions.

  • 05.12.2006 5:15 PM PDT
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Awesome Update Frankie!!!

  • 05.12.2006 5:17 PM PDT

Yea, I liked the HDR Mister Chief too. I also liked that Frankie posted the words Coratana spoke in the update, probably set a few people straight....

Keep up the good work guys!!

Oh, and Marty, no matter what it takes, make sure you get that MP3 made! Thanks!

  • 05.12.2006 5:19 PM PDT
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ya, it really is. He was never this informative on halo 2 after its announcement.
-Aktins Diet

  • 05.12.2006 5:20 PM PDT
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HI Franky and Bungie. Keep up the good work! Man E3 Halo 3, Spore, etc... Best E3 ever! Just bought my new sound card for my pc and now finally i can have my 5 speakers a headset and talk to people at the same time in Battlefield 2 online YES FINALLY ITS WORKS!!! Also trying to get my 30 in big team back and i am very close too! Thanks Cringe for the help LOL!

  • 05.12.2006 5:21 PM PDT
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I just recently read the Cortana Letters, and I have been wracking my brain trying to tie everything together. Am I wasting my time? Do the Cortana Letters even pertain to the Halo story anymore? Or did they ever?

Now, me and my sister have been wondering, are all three of the Halo novels really part of the story? If so, what the hell happened to the other Spartans?!

Also, please, please, PUH-LEEEEAAAASSEEE make the whole game take about 2 days of straight gameplay to complete it. I really want everything explained.

Last, but not least, Cortana's not going to turn out evil, is she? Because she's way too hot to be evil.

  • 05.12.2006 5:26 PM PDT
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Gotta be honest here Frankie, that Mister Chief looked better than the in-game model. A very nice Q&A, great way to start off the Halo Updates, and answered a couple of questions, and openened up more.

  • 05.12.2006 5:26 PM PDT

200 peopel banned that is a lot me and some ofmy clan members hunt down moders and report them i think i have reported 21 modders if you guys keep banning that many i will not have any left to hunt down.

[Edited on 5/12/2006]

  • 05.12.2006 5:26 PM PDT
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Hey I am so excited!
Ive been a halo fan since it first came out, It was also my first X-box video game ever!
I have always thought the halo games were the best ever and hope that Halo 3 will be just as good as the rest, THANKS BUNGIE!!!

  • 05.12.2006 5:29 PM PDT
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Hey, Frankie, I've been wondering, what would Mister Chief look like in the movie version of V for Vendetta?

  • 05.12.2006 5:29 PM PDT
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lol yea cortana is teh hottie
also i noticed her lips were a little more filled out than before.....did she get lip implants from gravemind?

[Edited on 5/12/2006]

  • 05.12.2006 5:30 PM PDT
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"Gravemind, the ultimate plastic surgeon." Sounds good.

  • 05.12.2006 5:36 PM PDT
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master chief looks...um...battered...um....yeah.

  • 05.12.2006 5:36 PM PDT
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Posted by: DVDA Smega
Hey Frankie I PMed you to discuss this Halo 3 gametype, but you never got back to me. Here it is again.

New GameType: Turn Based Multi-Flag/Assault

This game type would only be for assymetric maps with the attacker:defender montra (examples being Zanzibar, Headlong, Burial Mounds, etc) and would be turn based, 1 turn for each team, and would be primarily for Big Team Battle (8v8 or larger), and the turns would be 5 minutes apiece.

The best map that I had in mind for this gametype is HeadLong, so I will use that as an example, though if this were really implemented maps for Halo 3 would have to be designed more for it.

On Headlong image if you were on defense, but you had several flags to defend. One in the spot it is currently on 1 Flag Capture the Flag, but there would be another on the top outside where the rocket spawns on the 4th floor, one in the basement stairwell, and one on the small bridge on the third floor connecting the biulding in the back (the sword way).

When the attcking team 'caps' a flag the round doesn't end, they just get a a point for that flag, with the potential of getting four points for the round. If you score all 4 flags then the round will end. If time runs out and you only capped 3 of the flags then you get 3 points for that round. Now you will have to try and hold the attackers on your turn to getting less than 2 for the win, 3 for a tie, and if they use more team-work/skill and they get all 4, you lose.

At first it will be easy to score flags because there are many flags and it will be difficult to defend the flags. As they score more, you can tighten your defense up, though they get to concentrate there attack as well.

Due to the on-line nature of Halo (via X-box Live) I feel that the most important element is team play (also because of lag and host advantage it is important to take the emphasis off of 1 individual being able to dominate an entire game with the right combination power weapons. To emphasize team play I purposely made the rounds short so that attackers would have use team-work in order to cap all of the flags in time. This will hopefully help reduce the amount of quitters as well. If the attacker scores 3 of 4 flags their round you can still potentially win. And if you score 3 flags the first round you can still potentially win by playing good D down to the 4th flag.

Flags would be numbered 1-4. When a flag is taken you would here the annoucer go, "Flag 2 taken!" or "Flag 4 returned". This will help the defender keep track of where their flags are. When the little 'flag taken' icon comes up, it will look like it does in Halo 2, only it will have the flag's number on it too. Attackers would have four small peripheral indicators pointing to the flags that are available for taking. Once one of the flags is capped, it is no longer available to be taking again. Only the other 3 flags remain.

Assault games could work on these maps too. The thing would be that after you have scored in one of the score zones, you can no longer plant another bomb in that score zone. Also, all 4 bombs would spawn at once, but in slightly different areas just to help prevent spawn camping.

Defenders will have 4 little peripheral indicators telling you which spawn points still need to be defended.

To prevent spawn camping, the offensive spawn points should be built high up so that a defender would have to run for a while to get up to a spawn camp spot, but the attackers could get down relatively quickly to where the defenders are by dropping down through tubes or high ledges or what ever.

These games can be played with classic touch return for bombs and flag or not.

I have toyed with the idea of making some flags worth more points depending on there location/defendability. Lets say they build maps specifically for this game type. Some of the defensive points where the flag/arming spot is could be very easily defended while others could be difficult to defend. The difficult to defend flags though maight only be worth 1 point, medium difficulty to defend worth 2, and very difficult worth 3 or whatever works out best.

This would again allow team strategy to play a bigger role. Should we go for the 3 "gauranteed" flags for 3 points that we can probably get even if we divide our forces? Should we concentrate our efforts on the big money flag? Should we divide into teams of 'good' players to try and get the difficult flags and a another team of average players to try and cap the easier ones? Should we allways try to gaurd just one bomber at a time, 4 bombers at once try to sneak in, each one assigned a partner? How many eggs hould we put in a basket, and where should we put that basket?

If Bungie wanted to get really crazy with it they could bilud a map that allowed for multi-multi-flag or assault. These would have to be large symmetric maps with large bases at each end (Examples being WaterWorks or Beaver Creek and Coagulation but with the basesbeing on a much larger scale). Both bases could have 4 flags. Team work, communication, vehicle coordination, weapon managment and strategy would be crazy essential.

And if they did do large symmetric base maps like this they could even do multi-mulit flag AND assult. Bombs going off, flags being taken, craziness man. Multiple teams. 8vv8v8v8!? Sidwinder style map with 4 arms and a base at each end?

Discuss and design some maps that would work for these game types - Large assymetric attack defense style and Symmetric Large bases on each end or multiple bases for large multi-team battles.

Wow, thats really disriptive! Did'nt think there were others of me out there wanting bungie to look at there ideas. The coolest thing of all is that bungie does care, and they do listen.

-Aktins Diet
Edit: does'nt mean though they will put it in. That they deside for themselves.

[Edited on 5/12/2006]

  • 05.12.2006 5:37 PM PDT
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I REALLY NEED A 360. SOMEONEHELP A POOR Halo fan.

  • 05.12.2006 5:38 PM PDT
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yea and his tenacles cud multitask and do several patients at a time...(starting with regret, holy crap is he grimey!)

  • 05.12.2006 5:38 PM PDT

For every action, there is an equal and opposite airstrike.

Posted by: Hitman115
lol yea cortana is teh hottie
also i noticed her lips were a little more filled out than before.....did she get lip implants from gravemind?


She changes her appearance now and again, from short to shoulder length hair, and from purple to blue, this may be another change governed by her sub-rounties.

[Edited on 5/12/2006]

  • 05.12.2006 5:39 PM PDT