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Bungie Weekly Update: 8/08/08

Posted by lukems at 8/8/2008 6:54 PM PDT

Thank You, Thank You, Thank You

Last night, G4TV revealed the winners of their G-Phoria awards - this is a fan-voted awards show and Halo 3 was voted the Best Game of the Year by you guys. Regrettably, we weren't able to make it down in person, but we conjured up a quick little acceptance blurb that is worth your while to check out.

You can view it over at G4 by clicking here.

Cluttering Up the Yard

There's been an excessive amount of hair, soap and grime clogging Sketch and I's inboxes of late (he created this thread to remind folks); the result of a couple of different "Internet scams," where folks imbue words with falsities and then faithful believers blight our Inboxes with messages at the behest of the deceiver. The recent "Watch this video on Youtube, send a Bungie staffer a PM and get Recon," craze has been like watching Lemmings throw themselves off of a cliff and fantastically crash into the craggy shores of the Cannot Have Recon list.

These are some hard and fast safe bets you can make while you're out there Internet-ing it up, or running amok on Xbox Live.

  • A Bungie Employee will NEVER ask for your LiveID or password
  • A Bungie Employee will NEVER send you a URL to a web site
  • A Bungie Employee will NEVER offer Recon in return for something via an XBL message
  • Beating a Bungie Employee at Halo 3 or challenging them to play you will not get you Recon.
  • Unless it's announced on Bungie.net, completing a Forged obstacle will not get you Recon.
  • Sending harassing messages to users who have Recon will not get you Recon.
  • If they aren't someone you don't know personally, it's probably not worth having them on your Friend's List
  • If someone sends you something that seems too good to be true (go to this URL for free Xbox points), it is too good to be true. Don't go.

Put on Your Thinking Cap

We've just updated the Bungie Publications with some presentations that you folks will probably be interested in. They are a sultry mix of very recent, semi-recent and classic presentations.

Halo AI Retrospective: 8 Years of Work on 30 Seconds of Fun
By: Damian Isla, AI Engineering Lead
Presented at: Develop '08
Download here

Isla examines the iterative changes made in the Halo trilogy's AI. From Halo: Combat Evolved's Elites, to the ferocious Brutes of Halo 3's and a look what must improve in our AI looking forward.

Decision Making and Knowledge Representation in Halo 3
By: Max Dyckhoff, AI Engineer
Presented at: MALAGA Workshop, NIPS '07
Download here

Dyckhoff exposes the major representations used in Halo 3's AI systems, and the algorithms behind the complex decision making which drives the industry leading AI.

Evolving Halo's Behavior Tree AI
By: Max Dyckhoff, AI Engineer
Presented at: GDC '07
Download here

An analysis of the improvements to the behavior tree AI system from Halo 2 to Halo 3. Presented as part of a three-part session at GDC '07 in collaboration with developers on EA's Spore.

The Technology of Halo 2
By: Chris Butcher, Engineering Lead
Presented at: Gametech 2004
Download here

At its heart, the Halo engine is a world simulation engine. Engineering Lead Chris Butcher describes the evolution of the "Halo" engine from its traceable origins in Pathways into Darkness and to its present state in Halo 2.

The Illusion of Intelligence: The Integration of AI and Level Design in Halo
By: Chris Butcher, Engineering Lead and Jaime Griesemer, Design Lead
Presented at: GDC '02
Download here

An investigation of the intersection between design and code as it relates to combat behavior in Halo: Combat Evolved.



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