4 January 2008 Link to this update Original B.net link Return to main page

<<

17 June 2011 10 June 2011 3 June 2011 27 May 2011 6 May 2011 29 April 2011 22 April 2011 15 April 2011 8 April 2011 1 April 2011 25 March 2011 18 March 2011 11 March 2011 4 March 2011 25 February 2011 18 February 2011 11 February 2011 4 February 2011 28 January 2011 21 January 2011 14 January 2011 7 January 2011 17 December 2010 10 December 2010 3 December 2010 19 November 2010 12 November 2010 5 November 2010 29 October 2010 22 October 2010 15 October 2010 8 October 2010 1 October 2010 24 September 2010 17 September 2010 10 September 2010 3 September 2010 27 August 2010 20 August 2010 12 August 2010 6 August 2010 30 July 2010 23 July 2010 16 July 2010 9 July 2010 2 July 2010 25 June 2010 18 June 2010 11 June 2010 4 June 2010 28 May 2010 21 May 2010 14 May 2010 7 May 2010 30 April 2010 23 April 2010 16 April 2010 9 April 2010 2 April 2010 26 March 2010 19 March 2010 12 March 2010 5 March 2010 26 February 2010 19 February 2010 12 February 2010 5 February 2010 29 January 2010 22 January 2010 15 January 2010 8 January 2010 18 December 2009 11 December 2009 4 December 2009 20 November 2009 13 November 2009 6 November 2009 30 October 2009 23 October 2009 16 October 2009 9 October 2009 2 October 2009 25 September 2009 18 September 2009 11 September 2009 4 September 2009 28 August 2009 21 August 2009 14 August 2009 7 August 2009 31 July 2009 24 July 2009 17 July 2009 10 July 2009 3 July 2009 26 June 2009 19 June 2009 12 June 2009 5 June 2009 29 May 2009 22 May 2009 15 May 2009 8 May 2009 1 May 2009 24 April 2009 17 April 2009 10 April 2009 3 April 2009 27 March 2009 20 March 2009 13 March 2009 6 March 2009 27 February 2009 20 February 2009 13 February 2009 6 February 2009 30 January 2009 23 January 2009 16 January 2009 9 January 2009 2 January 2009 26 December 2008 19 December 2008 12 December 2008 21 November 2008 14 November 2008 7 November 2008 31 October 2008 24 October 2008 17 October 2008 10 October 2008 3 October 2008 26 September 2008 18 September 2008 12 September 2008 5 September 2008 29 August 2008 22 August 2008 15 August 2008 8 August 2008 1 August 2008 25 July 2008 18 July 2008 11 July 2008 3 July 2008 27 June 2008 20 June 2008 13 June 2008 6 June 2008 30 May 2008 23 May 2008 16 May 2008 9 May 2008 2 May 2008 25 April 2008 18 April 2008 11 April 2008 4 April 2008 28 March 2008 21 March 2008 14 March 2008 7 March 2008 29 February 2008 22 February 2008 15 February 2008 8 February 2008 1 February 2008 18 January 2008 11 January 2008 4 January 2008 21 December 2007 14 December 2007 7 December 2007 30 November 2007 16 November 2007 9 November 2007 2 November 2007 26 October 2007 19 October 2007 12 October 2007 5 October 2007 28 September 2007 21 September 2007 14 September 2007 7 September 2007 31 August 2007 24 August 2007 17 August 2007 10 August 2007 3 August 2007 27 July 2007 20 July 2007 13 July 2007 6 July 2007 29 June 2007 22 June 2007 15 June 2007 8 June 2007 1 June 2007 25 May 2007 18 May 2007 11 May 2007 4 May 2007 27 April 2007 20 April 2007 13 April 2007 6 April 2007 30 March 2007 23 March 2007 16 March 2007 9 March 2007 2 March 2007 23 February 2007 16 February 2007 9 February 2007 2 February 2007 26 January 2007 19 January 2007 12 January 2007 5 January 2007 29 December 2006 22 December 2006 15 December 2006 8 December 2006 1 December 2006 17 November 2006 10 November 2006 3 November 2006 27 October 2006 20 October 2006 13 October 2006 8 October 2006 29 September 2006 22 September 2006 15 September 2006 8 September 2006 1 September 2006 25 August 2006 18 August 2006 11 August 2006 4 August 2006 28 July 2006 21 July 2006 14 July 2006 7 July 2006 30 June 2006 23 June 2006 16 June 2006 9 June 2006 2 June 2006 26 May 2006 19 May 2006 12 May 2006 5 May 2006 28 April 2006 21 April 2006 14 April 2006 7 April 2006 2 April 2006 31 March 2006 24 March 2006 17 March 2006 10 March 2006 3 March 2006 24 February 2006 17 February 2006 10 February 2006 3 February 2006 27 January 2006 13 January 2006 6 January 2006 16 December 2005 9 December 2005 2 December 2005 18 November 2005 11 November 2005 4 November 2005 28 October 2005 21 October 2005 14 October 2005 7 October 2005 30 September 2005 23 September 2005 16 September 2005 9 September 2005 2 September 2005 26 August 2005 19 August 2005 12 August 2005 5 August 2005 29 July 2005 22 July 2005 15 July 2005 8 July 2005 1 July 2005 17 June 2005 10 June 2005 3 June 2005 27 May 2005 20 May 2005 13 May 2005 6 May 2005 29 April 2005 22 April 2005 15 April 2005 8 April 2005 1 April 2005 25 March 2005 18 March 2005 11 March 2005 4 March 2005 25 February 2005 18 February 2005 11 February 2005 4 February 2005 28 January 2005 23 January 2005 14 January 2005 7 January 2005 30 December 2004 17 December 2004 10 December 2004 3 December 2004 19 November 2004 12 November 2004

>>

Bungie Weekly Update: 1/04/08

Posted by lukems at 1/4/2008 5:35 PM PST

With Yule logs yanked from the fire and pitiful Christmas trees sitting by the side of the road waiting for pick-up, chances are there are some folks new to Halo 3 (and Halo in general)  and possibly new to Bungie.net. The next couple of paragraphs aren't for the Ancients of our Bungie Community, they are for the Newbies. Crotchety old timers can skip down to the paragraph with the bad Egg Nog joke and keep reading there.

For the newbz: Welcome to Bungie.net, the Internet arm and outreach of Bungie as well as the storage, dumping ground and sometimes-information hub for what Bungie is working on, what we've worked on and probably what you're most interested in - your Halo 3 experience.

For a lengthy manual on getting the most out of Bungie.net check out our Guide (The New and Improved Bungie.net).

When Halo 3 launched last September we published a lengthy series of documents to help players use Saved Films, Screenshots, Forge, Networking, Campaign Scoring and (The Halo 3 How-to Guide)

Halo 3, as it is the concluding third of a trilogy, plops players into the middle of an adventure that began back in 2001 with Halo: Combat Evolved. For folks just starting Halo 3, there's a ViDOC (video documentary) on the story of Halo up to the events of Halo 3 available for your perusal here at Bungie.net.

Journey's End
Quicktime (small)
Quicktime (medium)
Quicktime (large)

Windows Media Player (petite)
Windows Media Player (deluxe)
Windows Media Player (gigantor)

With the mid-week return to the Northwest for work, many Bungie folks are still polishing off Holiday treats, leaking Egg Nog from their pores and enjoying some well-earned Rest and Relaxation. For all intents and purposes, beginning next week, everyone will be back in the office and churning away on a Wintery mix of Stuff and Things.

Snowsports

While most companies have Holiday parties before everyone vanishes for the holidays, here at Bungie, we have our annual shindig sometime after everyone returns. Ours hasn't happened yet, but the Bungie Princesses, Davina and Shauna, have been working tirelessly on planning the soiree. But talking about eating fried finger foods and drinking Fanta would be pretty boring, so, around the same time as the Holiday party will be the Bungie Winter Pentathalon.

For  a single day the studio is divided into smaller teams for participation in a hyper competitive series of events. The Bungie Pentathalon is a lot like the Olympics for the Digital Age. There's sweaty men, heaving bosom (man bosom), feats of strength, and a rarely-discussed second competition.  Folks may remember getting a glimpse of the Pentathalon on the Halo 2 Limited Edition bonus disc - it was the part of the documentary where you saw blindingly white guys (including pasty Asians and sickly black dudes) seeing the sun for the last time before Halo 2 would ship. In addition to being indoors, this year, the teams will be divided by tenure. (Last year, I'm told the teams were "random" with the best players "randomly" ending up on the same team and "randomly" winning). This year, the Grizzled Ancients, Old Skool, Middle School and Newbies will dividing lines for who will serve on which team. Regardless of your position in the company, it's all about how long you've been here - so someone like our new Design Lead, Christian Allen, plays with the Newbies. The logistics of breaking down a growing studio like Bungie into four teams based on tenure is still a work-in-progress (that's a long way of saying "No rosters to announce right now"), but we'll have more on what games will be featured in the Pentathalon (in addition to Halo 3) soon. Rumor has it that multiplayer music-making will be a part of this year's competition.

Wait, They Don't Lub U Like I Lub U

Maps coming in the nearish future have long since taken shape and are starting to have neat polish items show up, things like decorators, sharper textures and  high res lightmaps are gracing us with their presence. Also, weapons, power-ups and equipment are nearing their final (pre-Community Forged) resting places.

While I was running around O.K. Corral, Frankie and Robt McLees' conversation ground to a halt when they looked at my monitor. They remarked that what I was playing looked like an area from Campaign. O.K. Corral reminds me a little bit of Seattle, actually. Not necessarily aesthetically - it's not full of Emerald and Traffic - but thematically. O.K. Corral is a bit of an intersection between technology and nature. A dilapidated building that resembles an observatory (primarily because of the just-added God Rays streaming through a broken skylight) is at map's center. This small, multi-level structure has a variety of ways in and out and connects to both bases on this small-to-medium sized asymmetrical map.  O.K. Corral takes place in a small canyon so one side of the map features flora and the other side has the architectural failures of humanity.

There's a pretty broad variety of lighting on O.K. Corral, from the aforementioned God Rays to dark tunnels, nooks and crevices where much of the illumination comes from the lights on Spartan armor.

With a bunch of elevated firing platforms, choke points and multiple ways in and out of the respective bases, O.K. Corral will be ideal for Team Slayer, Oddball and Capture the Flag variations. 

Purple Reign, another map, coming in the foreseeable future, isn't asymmetrical at all. It's a brand new, small, arena style map that we hope some of our more competitive-focused players will enjoy.

 It is chock full of weapons suited for mid-to-long range combat and there are long sight lines across the map from both of the somewhat enclosed bases. The bases themselves have one way windows on the second level - much like the windows in a police interrogation room. From inside a base you can see out, but from outside of the base your view is obstructed.

There are elevated walkways connecting the bases to a two-level structure at the center of the map. These connecting walkways are too tall to jump to from the floor but there are a bunch of small columns dotting the floor plan that you can jump on and then easily hop up to the walkway for a better vantage point or to grab a rifle from the walkways.

Frank talked about the third map in the last Weekly Update before his Holiday in Jersey, in case you missed it because you were out shopping, here's what he wrote: "But I can also guarantee that my all-time favorite ever Halo map will be included too, if yesterday's playtest was anything to go by. A large map with some vaguely familiar features just rocked my world. It was AMAZING fun. Any time I am in an hour long standoff against an equally matched team and it never becomes frustrating, is evidence enough for me that we are onto something special."

Updatus Automatica

Work continues on AU1, which is a fancy way of saying Auto Update 1 or "patch." There's a bunch of stuff we've been looking at ranging in various levels of complexity and we've been taking boxes home and testing changes pretty regularly. These fixes range from complicated to simple (for example: The known issue with the Elite Commando Shoulders). We'll obviously have more on AU1 as we continue testing and we'll detail the changes when we can. As of this writing, files in your file share WILL NOT be affected by the Auto Update, that was a possibility we mentioned in the near-immediate in the wake of Halo 3's release and currently Files and things in the File Share aren't being affected negatively by the Auto Update. At least for the moment.

Additionally, the Auto Update, like others for other games, will be required to play the game on Live, however if one console has the Update and another one doesn't, system link play will still be possible between the two boxes.