Being a Saturday night, of course I'm watching Halo videos on YouTube..
I noticed in the H2A cinematics there was no ONI logo on Locke, like the one shown in the H5G trailers.. Wonder if that's just stylistic? Or a representation of the point in the story?
Also, Spartan Ops story was great! I'd watched it once before, but after reading the comics it was nice to see it again. Loved the point where Halsey finds out 117 is alive.
So hard to figure out Halsey's true motivations.. I still think she has the betterment of "humanity" as a whole at heart, even if it's painful.
Being a Saturday night, of course I'm watching Halo videos on YouTube..
I noticed in the H2A cinematics there was no ONI logo on Locke, like the one shown in the H5G trailers.. Wonder if that's just stylistic? Or a representation of the point in the story?
Also, Spartan Ops story was great! I'd watched it once before, but after reading the comics it was nice to see it again. Loved the point where Halsey finds out 117 is alive.
So hard to figure out Halsey's true motivations.. I still think she has the betterment of "humanity" as a whole at heart, even if it's painful.
Shortly after the end of Spartan Ops, I was actually worried that 343 was actually going to turn Halsey into a "bad guy", so to speak. Now, in hindsight, it's pretty obvious she's stuck between a rock and a hard place. She either returns to the UNSC, gets arrested and/or killed, and then ONI takes the Janus Key and does whatever the fuck they're planning or want to do. Alternatively, she uses Jul's Covenant to her advantage to get to the Absolute Record and have at least the opportunity to try to accomplish what the Librarian set out for her to do. I think she still has humanity's best interests at heart, but that simply might not exactly align with that the UNSC/ONI sees at best.
Incidentally, it almost seems as ONI's plan for the galaxy isn't too far off from how the Forerunners (and specifically the Didact) wanted: the submission and continued weakness of the other sentient species in order to maintain complete control and authority over the galaxy. Just replace Species #1 with Humanity instead of the Forerunners. That may have to do with the Librarian giving Halsey the Janus Key specifically, although that may have simply been a coincidence.
Shortly after the end of Spartan Ops, I was actually worried that 343 was actually going to turn Halsey into a "bad guy", so to speak. Now, in hindsight, it's pretty obvious she's stuck between a rock and a hard place. She either returns to the UNSC, gets arrested and/or killed, and then ONI takes the Janus Key and does whatever the fuck they're planning or want to do. Alternatively, she uses Jul's Covenant to her advantage to get to the Absolute Record and have at least the opportunity to try to accomplish what the Librarian set out for her to do. I think she still has humanity's best interests at heart, but that simply might not exactly align with that the UNSC/ONI sees at best.
Incidentally, it almost seems as ONI's plan for the galaxy isn't too far off from how the Forerunners (and specifically the Didact) wanted: the submission and continued weakness of the other sentient species in order to maintain complete control and authority over the galaxy. Just replace Species #1 with Humanity instead of the Forerunners. That may have to do with the Librarian giving Halsey the Janus Key specifically, although that may have simply been a coincidence.
I don't think the Didact and other Forerunners wanted the rest of the universe "subjugated", exactlyfrom their POV it's shepherding. It does contain a whiff of colonialist-styled "we know best" though, and it's a set of tenets that will undoubtably lead to friction.
----
Since people here in HaloLoreGAF might be interested, for the past few years now (wow) my colleague Postmortem has been running "Visualizing the Halo Universe", which is a sort of grab-bag writing and art prompts for parts of the Halo universe we don't know much about or haven't seen visualized. There's no requirements, besides using what were know from the loreall talent levels are encouraged and welcomed.
The current round is writingcoming up with your own lore for the Halo Wars map "Frozen Valley". If people are interested, I'll crosspost the theme announcements here going forward.
I don't think the Didact and other Forerunners wanted the rest of the universe "subjugated", exactlyfrom their POV it's shepherding. It does contain a whiff of colonialist-styled "we know best" though, and it's a set of tenets that will undoubtably lead to friction.
----
Since people here in HaloLoreGAF might be interested, for the past few years now (wow) my colleague Postmortem has been running "Visualizing the Halo Universe", which is a sort of grab-bag writing and art prompts for parts of the Halo universe we don't know much about or haven't seen visualized. There's no requirements, besides using what were know from the loreall talent levels are encouraged and welcomed.
The current round is writingcoming up with your own lore for the Halo Wars map "Frozen Valley". If people are interested, I'll crosspost the theme announcements here going forward.
Yep. The theme was "create your own non-standard Flood form." TDSpiral and I both went with the idea of infected animals from the Flood incursion on Earth. I'm sure people have seen his Flood elephant, if not
Probably unrelated but I don't know where else to ask this question. I've never played a Halo game in my life but I've being watching a lot of Red vs Blood and I have to ask. Are Spartans in the Halo story was badass as they are in this series? Those guys are like super heroes.
Probably unrelated but I don't know where else to ask this question. I've never played a Halo game in my life but I've being watching a lot of Red vs Blood and I have to ask. Are Spartans in the Halo story was badass as they are in this series? Those guys are like super heroes.
Not really. The books feature a much bigger role for the Spartans, but as an in-game character you're usually not doing crazy stuff (although I'd say jumping into space and nuking a Covenant ship with their own bomb is impressive in its own way.) A multiplayer where Spartans did kung-fu moves would be a very different game as well (although Reach, 4, and now Halo 5 have brought in a lot of specialized moves and abilities so that Spartans aren't just strafing around.)
It's probably better to think of the Spartans as less acrobats and more extremely fast tanks—even if you have super-reflexes and near-unbreakable bones, if you're running around with a ton of armor on you, you're going to do less flips and more punching things to a bloody pulp.
Sort of, with the caveat that you basically never see Spartans do any of the sort of acrobatic stuff they do in later RvB.
...
It's probably better to think of the Spartans as less acrobats and more extremely fast tanks—even if you have super-reflexes and near-unbreakable bones, if you're running around with a ton of armor on you, you're going to do less flips and more punching things to a bloody pulp.
In my head-canon, the late Monty Oums animation "Haloid" has always been the reference for how fast Chief would actually fight with his enhancements, rather than what they show in game. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gQoa0xr9H8
In my head-canon, the late Monty Oums animation "Haloid" has always been the reference for how fast Chief would actually fight with his enhancements, rather than what they show in game. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gQoa0xr9H8
That's neat, I was wondering what the fit San Shyuum looked like rather than the crippled sloths on the Keyship/Heirophant.
Probably unrelated but I don't know where else to ask this question. I've never played a Halo game in my life but I've being watching a lot of Red vs Blood and I have to ask. Are Spartans in the Halo story was badass as they are in this series? Those guys are like super heroes.
Fucshd mostly already covered this, but (lore) Spartans are generally different from Freelancers in terms of maneuverability vs. sheer physical prowess. The kinds of flips and whatnot you see Freelancers do simply aren't possible in half a ton of armor, you can't change directions that quickly. They are, however, significantly stronger and tougher. The Chief caved an ODST's face in with one punch when he was 13. And that was sans armor. Not sure about straight line speeds; Kelly (the fastest Spartan) could run at around 40 miles per hour.
My two favorite "Forerunner Architecture Reveal" moments are:
Halo 3: When the key ship is unlocking the buried structure that will then open to the portal to the Lesser Ark. The sense of scale was spellbinding to me.
Halo 4: After you fight the first groups of Covies and come out of the cliffside and out into the expansive valley beyond with massive forerunner structures above and below you and the music swells and ah man...so good.
What is waypoint supposed to be anyways, in-universe? And chatternet at that. If they're something like a galactic internet, how do they work? When did humans get such widespread data that is way FTL? The ball thingies ONI used for that were prohibitively expensive as of the books.
Shortly after the end of Spartan Ops, I was actually worried that 343 was actually going to turn Halsey into a "bad guy", so to speak. Now, in hindsight, it's pretty obvious she's stuck between a rock and a hard place. She either returns to the UNSC, gets arrested and/or killed, and then ONI takes the Janus Key and does whatever the fuck they're planning or want to do. Alternatively, she uses Jul's Covenant to her advantage to get to the Absolute Record and have at least the opportunity to try to accomplish what the Librarian set out for her to do. I think she still has humanity's best interests at heart, but that simply might not exactly align with that the UNSC/ONI sees at best.
Incidentally, it almost seems as ONI's plan for the galaxy isn't too far off from how the Forerunners (and specifically the Didact) wanted: the submission and continued weakness of the other sentient species in order to maintain complete control and authority over the galaxy. Just replace Species #1 with Humanity instead of the Forerunners. That may have to do with the Librarian giving Halsey the Janus Key specifically, although that may have simply been a coincidence.
Watching Spartan Ops it SEEMS like the Librarian is giving the key directly to Halsey, and said it was meant for her specifically. This could just be interpretation on how it's worded, but would seem to follow along with the geas / genesong idea.
Halsey has done some terrible things, again watching Spartan Ops.. When Jul orchestrates her Kidnapping aboard the Infinity.. A lot of UNSC Marines die trying to protect her/the ship. I don't think she expressly planned that escape.. But still, due to her actions a lot of people died and she certainly didn't feel bad about it.
Though in the end she has yet to do anything that couldn't be justified by "the greater good", so I imagine we'll see a lot more of her, and maybe finally a confrontation between Halsey and 1-1-7. Would his feelings for Cortana cause him to help.. Or turn on Halsey?
Watching Spartan Ops it SEEMS like the Librarian is giving the key directly to Halsey, and said it was meant for her specifically. This could just be interpretation on how it's worded, but would seem to follow along with the geas / genesong idea.
Halsey has done some terrible things, again watching Spartan Ops.. When Jul orchestrates her Kidnapping aboard the Infinity.. A lot of UNSC Marines die trying to protect her/the ship. I don't think she expressly planned that escape.. But still, due to her actions a lot of people died and she certainly didn't feel bad about it.
Though in the end she has yet to do anything that couldn't be justified by "the greater good", so I imagine we'll see a lot more of her, and maybe finally a confrontation between Halsey and 1-1-7. Would his feelings for Cortana cause him to help.. Or turn on Halsey?
I'd lean towards helping her. It also might be a small part of what puts Chief in ONIs crosshairs maybe...instead of turning her in, he helps her or refuses to reveal her whereabouts.
What is waypoint supposed to be anyways, in-universe? And chatternet at that. If they're something like a galactic internet, how do they work? When did humans get such widespread data that is way FTL? The ball thingies ONI used for that were prohibitively expensive as of the books.
Yeah. I do think it's interesting that unlike a lot of other 'verses, Humanity hasn't really "reverse engineered" their Precursor race's super-tech, just figured out how to replicate it with external help. Like, the Infinity's engines that nobody on board really understands.
Yeah. I do think it's interesting that unlike a lot of other 'verses, Humanity hasn't really "reverse engineered" their Precursor race's super-tech, just figured out how to replicate it with external help. Like, the Infinity's engines that nobody on board really understands.
Yes! I loved that bit. They are playing with technology that they have nowhere near the right amount of comprehension to use properly. Like toddlers with expensive and complicated toys.
Yeah. I do think it's interesting that unlike a lot of other 'verses, Humanity hasn't really "reverse engineered" their Precursor race's super-tech, just figured out how to replicate it with external help. Like, the Infinity's engines that nobody on board really understands.
Well, it's akin to the Prophets. They sort of reverse-engineered Forerunner tech with the help of the Engineers, but they didn't understand it fully enough to make full use of even their own derived technologies (hence why Cortana realized that the Covenant had always had the ability to bypass orbital defenses, they just didn't realize it.)
And we were just talking about how the games didn't show the real abilities of the spartans, hah. That kind of speed is more like what I'd imagine.
So what are we theorizing about these slipspace abnormalities from the new hunt the truth? That, to my memory, only happens either when something large is moving at superluminal speeds, and I mean like cosmically large, much larger than even Mantles Approach. And the other thing was the most advanced stage of Flood where they can warp reality itself, which I guess also means the Precursors could.
I'm starting to think there may be enough juicy Halo goodness to keep us satisfied all the way to the release of Halo 5!
What do we know of so far?
At the end of Escalation Issue 10 (Approx. July 28th, 2557) 117 tells Admiral Hood he's (and Blue team) going to keep fighting, no breaks, no rest days. The last page has the ONI blurb about Hood freaking out that 117 keeps reassigning himself.
We don't know the date of the last page shown, but I will assume it's shortly after his conversation with Blue team. No indications on WHAT they were doing or WHO they were fighting though.
This is the last (so far) that we know of Master Chief 117. A SIV (Scruggs I believe) mentions that no one has seen 117 in a while (This was March 2558). There isn't enough hard evidence that 117 is AWOL at this point, but we have no idea what he's doing.
We don't know the date range that the #HUNTtheTRUTH is taking place, but I'm assuming it's mid to late 2558 sometime. If 117 was already missing and being hunted, why would ONI hire Benjamin to do a, seemingly positive puff-piece story on him?
Soldiers/ODST are tagging the posters of the Master Chief, they're mad because 117 is "off being creative" and/or "off the grid". I suppose he's not following the proper military protocol? Spartan's are their own group though.. but I am not sure who or what 117 reports to (other than Hood at some points).
The latest date we have info available from is in the latest Escalation comic, and it's July 23rd, 2558. None of the characters seem worried or even mention 117 or his activities though. I would assume if by this point in the story there was enough malcontent about 117, it would be brought up in conversation? Or by Halsey? Not sure.
So what are we theorizing about these slipspace abnormalities from the new hunt the truth? That, to my memory, only happens either when something large is moving at superluminal speeds, and I mean like cosmically large, much larger than even Mantles Approach. And the other thing was the most advanced stage of Flood where they can warp reality itself, which I guess also means the Precursors could.
"There's something else afoot Benjamin, out here in deep space, I hoped these events would turn out to be random. But now it's.. it could be bad." " ...Electromagnetic fluctuations, the slipspacious disruptions, uh, epidemic data corruptions, all of it.. I mean.. its happening, its quiet, its light, but its effecting everything, ripples on a gigantic scale, I'm talking whole star systems it's just.. I don't want to say I'm frightened.. you know what I mean?"
Creepy as hell!!
Installation 03 - Gamma Halo was "taken" by 859 Static Carillon to locations unknown, but that was in July 2557. I would assume if the whole thing was in slipspace it would cause some weirdness? But nothing was reported that we know of.
The "Logic plague" from the Flood seems to fit the bill as well, but I'd think we'd hear or see more of that if that's the case. We did see the Flood infectious form floating around on the Spirit of Fire. No date was given, but assumed to be 2558 sometime. The ship was headed towards a planet, but we don't know if it's going to crash land, or go into orbit.. or.. anything. So that end is total open at this point.
Going back to Halsey.. she and M'dama have the key and are headed to the "Absolute Record" in July 2558.
The next two Escalation comics seem to be a mini-story about a SIV, and not necessarily related to the overarching story.
Conveniently.. the story picks back up for the final two-part ending at "The Absolute Record"..
Issue 19 synopses:
"An unexpected ally joins a team of Spartans for a dangerous operation—a secret mission into a hidden Forerunner world where the mysterious site known as the Absolute Record awaits! The thrilling sequel to Halo® 4’s Spartan Ops continues from Duffy Boudreau (BlackAcre) and Ian Richardson (Noble Causes"
Issue 20 synopses:
“The Absolute Record” part 2 — Operation: ATHENA is underway and there is no turning back. Will Commander Palmer's team survive the treacherous journey into an ancient vault of Forerunner secrets? The thrilling sequel to Halo® 4’s Spartan Ops continues from Duffy Boudreau (BlackAcre) and Ian Richardson (Noble Causes)."
My theory is that whatever they open up/cause/etc at the Absolute Record starts all these disturbances.
If #HUNTtheTRUTH takes place in Fall 2558 that gives enough time for the rest of the shenanigans to play out. Though we still don't know at what point 117 goes "rouge".
Not sure if you guys have seen this or not, but after they announced the Locke armor for MP yesterday, this is what is stated on GameStop's page for the game:
HUNTER-Class Armor: Sophisticated and lethal, HUNTER-class armor incorporates Watershed Division's latest warfighting technology.
HUNTER-Class Helmet: Though still considered a prototype implementation, the HUNTER's sensor suite enhances situational and threat awareness.
Not that I've seen, imagine it should be up on there before too long though.
I transcribed the one section above because it still gives me chills..
"There's something else afoot Benjamin, out here in deep space, I hoped these events would turn out to be random. But now it's.. it could be bad."
"Mishak was a lot of things, but never vague. I asked him what sort of 'bad' he was talking about."
" ...Electromagnetic fluctuations, the slipspacious disruptions, uh, epidemic data corruptions, all of it.. I mean.. you know.. its happening, its quiet, its light, but its effecting.. everything, ripples on a gigantic scale, I'm talking whole star systems.. it's just.. I don't want to say I'm frightened.. you know what I mean?"
Legit chills, yo.
In other news..
Halo: Escalation #17 was released today!
[Escalation Spoilers/Discussion Ahead]
Kinda cool we get to see some more glassing.
Two new planets as far as I can tell.. Minab (Glassed in 2550) & Cleyell (Glassed in 2556)
Looks like the Covenant fringe is still (or was still) glassing planets, using the beams to make monuments/designs on the planets.
UNSC Cascadia seems to be a new ship too.
Sergeant Tanaka eventually becomes a S-IV according to the official summary
I thought the art work was mostly well done, or I should say it wasn't offensive in any way at least, so that's good.
This is a 2 issue Arc, then we get to the meaty good stuff!
Not that I've seen, imagine it should be up on there before too long though.
I transcribed the one section above because it still gives me chills..
"There's something else afoot Benjamin, out here in deep space, I hoped these events would turn out to be random. But now it's.. it could be bad."
"Mishak was a lot of things, but never vague. I asked him what sort of 'bad' he was talking about."
" ...Electromagnetic fluctuations, the slipspacious disruptions, uh, epidemic data corruptions, all of it.. I mean.. you know.. its happening, its quiet, its light, but its effecting.. everything, ripples on a gigantic scale, I'm talking whole star systems.. it's just.. I don't want to say I'm frightened.. you know what I mean?"
Legit chills, yo.
In other news..
Halo: Escalation #17 was released today!
[Escalation Spoilers/Discussion Ahead]
Kinda cool we get to see some more glassing.
Two new planets as far as I can tell.. Minab (Glassed in 2550) & Cleyell (Glassed in 2556)
Looks like the Covenant fringe is still (or was still) glassing planets, using the beams to make monuments/designs on the planets.
UNSC Cascadia seems to be a new ship too.
Sergeant Tanaka eventually becomes a S-IV according to the official summary
I thought the art work was mostly well done, or I should say it wasn't offensive in any way at least, so that's good.
This is a 2 issue Arc, then we get to the meaty good stuff!
Speaking of that, is there a good lore related reason for the differences in helmet visors? Some of them I can get, like special optics for a sniper-happy person, but why this mostly glass face? Wouldn't it make the user more vounerable, while not increasing line of sight?
Speaking of that, is there a good lore related reason for the differences in helmet visors? Some of them I can get, like special optics for a sniper-happy person, but why this mostly glass face? Wouldn't it make the user more vounerable, while not increasing line of sight?
the EVA variant is for operating in zero gravity environments. How that visor facilitates that, I have no idea. I know the fish bowl design of actual space helmets is for pressure related reasons.
So unrelated to this new stuff, I can't bring myself to get into Escalation 17 (and yes I was one of the seeming few enjoying the others). Does it get good? The Janus Key stuff in the last one was so exciting, but that's not going to be touched on for another issue after this.
So unrelated to this new stuff, I can't bring myself to get into Escalation 17 (and yes I was one of the seeming few enjoying the others). Does it get good? The Janus Key stuff in the last one was so exciting, but that's not going to be touched on for another issue after this.
I understand the complaint perfectly well, because I'm one of those fans who find the stylistic changes in Halo 4's Forerunner architecture very jarring. (Opinion incoming.)
It's simple: the monolithic design language of the Forerunner stuff in Halo 1 - 3 just looks better. It's vast and solid and ancient looking, almost primitive with its blocky angular forms, yet unmistakably sophisticated. Bungie's whole Forerunner aesthetic is like an oblique reference to Ancient Greek notions of geometrical perfection. It has a stark grandeur that's completely absent from the overdesigned, ultra-detailed nonsense in Halo 4. Even if you push subjective preferences aside, it's obvious that Bungie's original designs defined Halo. How absurd to pull out some limp post-hoc excuse about architectural advancement. This is a fictional world, a designed world, and there was no good reason for 343 to throw away its identity in some cockamamie attempt to put their studio's own stamp on the series. The lack of respect is frankly revolting.
None of this is to demean 343's exceptional artists. (Hi Sparth & pals.) They should know better than anyone why an IP's characteristic design language should be conserved as the franchise evolves. Why is everyone losing their shit over the new Star Wars teaser trailer? Nostalgia. More specifically, the settings and tech and tone are intimately connected to the Original Trilogy: the trailer presses all the buttons that say STAR WARS to dedicated fans. Notice how the Stormtroopers are new, the vehicles are new, the Sith dude is new, and yet they all fit perfectly within Star Wars' established aesthetic. That's how you evolve a series. You make modest, thoughtful changes that lie not too far outside your series' characteristic style. You don't pull a Prequel Trilogy and shake everything up just because you can.
That's why Halo 4's Forerunner architecture catches flak from old school fans.
And boy are we in for a treat with Halo 5. As a huge Nylund fan I can't wait to see the Blue Team in action in a Halo game. In fact, I've been waiting since before Halo 2.
I just hope, for myself and 343i's sake, that they know how important the Blue Team are to the old school fans, and write them accordingly.
the EVA variant is for operating in zero gravity environments. How that visor facilitates that, I have no idea. I know the fish bowl design of actual space helmets is for pressure related reasons.
I imagine in a zero-G environment where adversaries and obstacles could be coming from literally any angle as wide a field of vision as possible would be helpful.
I understand the complaint perfectly well, because I'm one of those fans who find the stylistic changes in Halo 4's Forerunner architecture very jarring. (Opinion incoming.)
It's simple: the monolithic design language of the Forerunner stuff in Halo 1 - 3 just looks better. It's vast and solid and ancient looking, almost primitive with its blocky angular forms, yet unmistakably sophisticated. Bungie's whole Forerunner aesthetic is like an oblique reference to Ancient Greek notions of geometrical perfection. It has a stark grandeur that's completely absent from the overdesigned, ultra-detailed nonsense in Halo 4. Even if you push subjective preferences aside, it's obvious that Bungie's original designs defined Halo. How absurd to pull out some limp post-hoc excuse about architectural advancement. This is a fictional world, a designed world, and there was no good reason for 343 to throw away its identity in some cockamamie attempt to put their studio's own stamp on the series. The lack of respect is frankly revolting.
None of this is to demean 343's exceptional artists. (Hi Sparth & pals.) They should know better than anyone why an IP's characteristic design language should be conserved as the franchise evolves. Why is everyone losing their shit over the new Star Wars teaser trailer? Nostalgia. More specifically, the settings and tech and tone are intimately connected to the Original Trilogy: the trailer presses all the buttons that say STAR WARS to dedicated fans. Notice how the Stormtroopers are new, the vehicles are new, the Sith dude is new, and yet they all fit perfectly within Star Wars' established aesthetic. That's how you evolve a series. You make modest, thoughtful changes that lie not too far outside your series' characteristic style. You don't pull a Prequel Trilogy and shake everything up just because you can.
That's why Halo 4's Forerunner architecture catches flak from old school fans.
100% agreed. One of the most jarring things I immediately noticed in H4 was how many pieces of Forerunner architecture had totally detached pieces of geometry floating in the air for absolutely no reason. Go back to the first 3 games and count how many times you see something Foreruner floating with no structural support. Spoiler alert, you won't need two hands.
When it comes to Forerunner and Human aesthetics, I'm more accepting of changes as the timeline is still moving forward and that stuff is still evolving, but the Forerunner aesthetic has been set in stone (sometimes literally) for thousands of years.
Side note: Halo Online, the Russia only F2P PC game, of all things, does an AMAZING job of maintaining the Halo look and feel, much more so than H4 and the little we've seen of H5 imo.
I imagine in a zero-G environment where adversaries and obstacles could be coming from literally any angle as wide a field of vision as possible would be helpful.
In the real world, it's less about vision and more about keeping an equal pressure within the suit. Again, considering all Spartan armors can exist outside in space, it's not necessary, I just think it's suppose to artistically be linked to real world EVA suits (extravehicular activity, aka not within the confines of a spaceship)
I imagine in a zero-G environment where adversaries and obstacles could be coming from literally any angle as wide a field of vision as possible would be helpful.
You can't look up through the top though. Your head moves with the helmet. After a certain angle for your upper and lowermost eyeball range, the rest is moot.
