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[Pudding Tame]

I really don't get all the Spartan III speculation, because these are definitely not the Spartan III's we've read about in Ghosts of Onyx. Regardless, the original batch of Spartan III's didn't work together as a cohesive unit as well as the Spartan II's. They weren't "fucked in the head". And the second batch, were given a new augmentation which in times of extreme stress, allowed for the more animalistic part of the brain to take over to hone their reflexes, reaction-times, etc, instead of the human part which gets sloppy with emotions, pain, stuff like that. But they weren't "fucked in the head".

The illegal augmentations Gamma company received did mess them up in the head, they needed to take bi-polar and anti-psychotic medication to counteract the augmentations, and in GoO, the Katana Team leader was constantly shown to be impatient. If Nylund does write a sequel to GoO, it probably won't be pretty for the surviving Gamma Co. members who are now cut off from their meds.

Also, would you rather go to a school where the avg. class size is 75 or 300?

And my speculation for those wondering where these SIII's came from, Halo Evolutions introduced a group of Spartan III's called Headhuters, a dozen or so teams of two, who were taken out of the program before graduation and given additional training for covert high risk recon, assisination, and demolition missions where sending an entire company of SIII's would have been overkill. If LWG was at Pegasi Delta, it was probably as a Headhunter doing pre-invasion recon.

 

[WrikaWrek]

Holy shit Halo has a lot of backstory.

Would be awesome to see some of that magic in the actual games.

 

[Lostconfused]

And my speculation for those wondering where these SIII's came from, Halo Evolutions introduced a group of Spartan III's called Headhuters, a dozen or so teams of two, who were taken out of the program before graduation and given additional training for covert high risk recon, assisination, and demolition missions where sending an entire company of SIII's would have been overkill. If LWG was at Pegasi Delta, it was probably as a Headhunter doing pre-invasion recon.

Ah the good'ol make shit up as you go along approach to story telling.

 

[FunkyPajamas]

In Halo 2 all races spoke english, even when no humans were present. I highly doubt the Prophets would defile their inner sanctum by speaking in their enemies tongue.

It is possible that Bungie did it to "humanize" the Arbiter and show the internal struggle of the covenant with convincing voice actors or just like some movies depict non-english speaking people fluently speaking in english (sometimes even without an accent), simply because it's easier (in the case of an american-made, english-language movie with american actors) than getting new actors speaking a foreign language (or in this case, a made up alien dialect).

I believe they regretted having Halo CE Elites speak their own language and have permanently dropped the idea for the sake of seamless gameplay. At some point while developing Halo 2 they must have said "fuck it, everyone speaks english" otherwise the game would have been stupidly complicated.

Yeah, agree, see above.

I believe this is one topic that is best set down and slowly backed away from. Any answers from Bungie on the subject would only cause to create harder to answer questions.

Honestly, the same could be said of pretty much every point of discussion regarding their games (and some other games as well), not only regarding plot, lore and universe backstory, but game design, gameplay features, etc. I hope I don't sound like too much of an ass when I say this, but... Bungie's already working on the game and (I could be mistaken, I know) I think it's unlikely they're jumping from forum to forum reading what the fans want so that they can incorporate it into the game. Half the fun is discussing what we think is going to be in the final game and the reasons/motives behind it. (The other half is trying to not be disappointed when the game finally ships).

 

[Major Williams]

Crazy Speculation Time!

(Assuming ole' Tom is reliable )

Don't flame, we're all friends, these are just crazy guesses. We have little to no real information to go on until late January at the earliest, so may as well go a bit outlandish until we find out the real deal.

Using one of the leaked pictures, specifically using one that showed the in game Pause menu.

There was a little bar running across the screen at the bottom. This is new and no other Halo games have anything similar. So, I decided to have a closer look.

Whilst I do not have access to the amazing digital image enhancements tools that grace programs such as CSI, I jumped in and tried to re-create a small portion of the image to see if we could unearth a few tidbits of information.

Service Tag/Icon + Gamertag

• Shows that the multiplayer and single player aspects are more closely tied either equal to or more than previous Halo games

Rank Medal

• Maybe this is an indication that your overall Rank maybe be additionally influenced by actions during the Campaign in addition to the expected Multiplayer development

Rank/Next Rank + Progress Bar

• This may demonstrate a closer tie between MP and SP than any previous Halo game
• If the above is true, then this will be the first time you can check up on your Rank progression from inside the Halo GUI - this adds a layer of transparency
• It is also possible than the Campaign has developed a unique and separate Ranking system independent from multiplayer
• If the above is true, this represents an evolution and deepening of the Halo meta-game
• A seperate SP Rank would encourage players to go back to SP long after they have finished the game and acquired the SP Achievements

In Game Currency / Large

• This could be one of two things, a place-holder term for in-game achievements (a simpler way to keep track of your Achievement progression without having to call up the 360 Dashboard) or it could be a new system, An In-game Currency
• If it is a currency, it may lend weight to probable increased customisation options, as you could spend your currency purchasing new armour, new decals, new Service Record emblems, new colours, new gun or armour variants - almost endless possibilities

It all looks good, except one error -

The Currency is (cR) in parentheses as opposed to (all). This is confirmed because in the book and Bungie.net when it mentions how much something costs, they say 1,500 cR.

Excellent cleanup though.

 

[Pudding Tame]

Ah the good'ol make shit up as you go along approach to story telling.

Given how many authors have a hand in the books, it's somewhat to be expected, and it's not like there wasn't a loose story hook in GoO, with the advanced training the Gamma teams were competing for.

Also in the trailer, Is it just me or does Carter's helmet look like an updated version of the old original MacWold demo Spartan helmet with a smaller faceplate and no air hose?

 

[Shake Appeal]

Yeah, it'd definitely cR, and that's definitely an emblem with the devil horns.

 

[ShinAmano]

The thing is, it sounds cooler and is more fearsome. For cutscenes where we'd need to understand them, then sure why not, but for gameplay, no.

Or have it like Crysis with the Koreans. Easy/Normal = English, Heroic/Legendary = Sangheili.

I like that idea.

 

[NeXuSDK]

BTW, it has been confirmed that the BWU tomorrow will have a Reach Trailer FAQ and the music will also be made available for download! Oh sweet joy...

 

[Son of Godzilla]

Halo: The Outfit

Awwww yeah.

 

[Major Williams]

It is possible that Bungie did it to "humanize" the Arbiter and show the internal struggle of the covenant with convincing voice actors or just like some movies depict non-english speaking people fluently speaking in english (sometimes even without an accent), simply because it's easier (in the case of an american-made, english-language movie with american actors) than getting new actors speaking a foreign language (or in this case, a made up alien dialect).

Yeah, agree, see above.

Honestly, the same could be said of pretty much every point of discussion regarding their games (and some other games as well), not only regarding plot, lore and universe backstory, but game design, gameplay features, etc. I hope I don't sound like too much of an ass when I say this, but... Bungie's already working on the game and (I could be mistaken, I know) I think it's unlikely they're jumping from forum to forum reading what the fans want so that they can incorporate it into the game. Half the fun is discussing what we think is going to be in the final game and the reasons/motives behind it. (The other half is trying to not be disappointed when the game finally ships).

As is mentioned in the books, AI's will actively learn the dialects spoken and do their best to translate. This is how MC and other Spartans/ODST are able to understand the Covenant dialects. There is, however, the problem of Johnson talking to the Arbiter.

As for the cut scenes, they decided to go with English probably because reading a ton of subtitles would take away from the beauty they wanted you to appreciate (opinion).

Either way you look at it, it's a potential problem that comes down to someone saying 'who cares, its just for entertainment' - just like Spartans having accents, ODST being taught in any other language except English, and Master Chief's gauntlets on his Mark VI armor magically having 3 holes in H3 as opposed to 5 holes in H2.

 

[NeXuSDK]

The thing is, it sounds cooler and is more fearsome. For cutscenes where we'd need to understand them, then sure why not, but for gameplay, no.

Or have it like Crysis with the Koreans. Easy/Normal = English, Heroic/Legendary = Sangheili.

Or just have it as an option/unlock...

I know I'd prefer native tongue...

 

[Falagard]

BTW, it has been confirmed that the BWU tomorrow will have a Reach Trailer FAQ and the music will also be made available for download! Oh sweet joy...

Link?

 

[NeXuSDK]

Link?

Reach Trailer FAQ: http://carnage.bungie.org/haloforum/halo.forum.pl?read=958642

Music: http://twitter.com/bungietweets/status/6752472911

 

[Slightly Live]

=)

It seems my old eyes aren't what they used to be. I guess it would be "cR" and yeah I do concede about the emblem, like I said, I knew that from the start, I just thought I would add the extra possibility. (That and I guess I will be needing glasses sooner than I thought =P)

In regards to our beloved Elites;

Minor trivia, as far as I am aware, in Halo CE the iconic "Wort Wort Wort" soundbyte is actually a slowed down and reversed sample of Johnson's "Go Go Go!" line.

Also in Halo CE, Captain Keyes says he overheard Elites discussing the giant space ring, "They called it Halo".

 

[GhaleonEB]

Reach Trailer FAQ: http://carnage.bungie.org/haloforum/halo.forum.pl?read=958642

Music: http://twitter.com/bungietweets/status/6752472911

Rawk. I've watched the trailer a dozen times just for the music alone.

The big questions for me are, what will you be buying with that currency? And under what situations will you be able to employ what you buy?

 

[Major Williams]

Rawk. I've watched the trailer a dozen times just for the music alone.

The big questions for me are, what will you be buying with that currency? And under what situations will you be able to employ what you buy?

- Scopes (see the sniper rifle for the different scope/rail system)
- Weapons
- Warthog upgrades
- Armor upgrades
- Knives/close combat weapons
- Health packs
- Shield upgrades
- augments
- standard rpg elements with a Bungie twist

 

[Keikoku]

Reach Trailer FAQ: http://carnage.bungie.org/haloforum/halo.forum.pl?read=958642

Music: http://twitter.com/bungietweets/status/6752472911

Can't wait for the music.

 

[squidhands]

As is mentioned in the books, AI's will actively learn the dialects spoken and do their best to translate. This is how MC and other Spartans/ODST are able to understand the Covenant dialects. There is, however, the problem of Johnson talking to the Arbiter.

Yeah, I was just going to bring up the cutscene in H2 where Cortana snaps her fingers and changes the audio from the Prophet's language to English.

 

[NeXuSDK]

Rawk. I've watched the trailer a dozen times just for the music alone.

I sometimes have the trailer looping in the background for hours, just to have the sweet, sweet drops of music fill my heart with joy...

Yes, tomorrow cannot come soon enough!

 

[Princess Carl]

Yeah, I was just going to bring up the cutscene in H2 where Cortana snaps her fingers and changes the audio from the Prophet's language to English.

god is it just me or are the halo 2 cutscenes really awesome. It feels like those cutscenes were better at telling the story. I miss halo 2

 

[Major Williams]

Yeah, I was just going to bring up the cutscene in H2 where Cortana snaps her fingers and changes the audio from the Prophet's language to English.

Excellent. However, there is still the painful situation with Johnson, Preston Cole, and Miranda Keyes understanding the Arbiter without an obvious AI in or around their ears.

Anyone have an explanation for this? Or is it just something we're supposed to dismiss to nerd-dom?

 

[Slightly Live]

The big questions for me are, what will you be buying with that currency? And under what situations will you be able to employ what you buy?

I am under the impression that if the Rank and progress bar are indeed linked into the multiplayer, then the credits may very well purchase emblems, armour permutations, alternative colourisations and other customisation features. In fact, I think if the Rank and stuff shown is not tied to MP, that still may be the case.

The group of Spartans in the trailer have quite the modified gear. I think the fact that Lone Wolf is missing from the line-up in the poster may specifically be because the player can change his armour features however they want during the course of the game. Maybe it'll be almost RPG-esque with their various upgrades bringing various changes or alterations to your abilities.

Like the Recon upgrades providing you with a default cloaking device or an armour add on that boosts your defences.

It's been established Spartan III's are not afraid to mix up their armour, it would make sense and add an extra layer for the gameplay to support the fiction and vice versa.

 

[squidhands]

Excellent. However, there is still the painful situation with Johnson, Preston Cole, and Miranda Keyes understanding the Arbiter without an obvious AI in or around their ears.

Anyone have an explanation for this? Or is it just something we're supposed to dismiss to nerd-dom?

It's because everyone knows what Keith David's talkin' bout.

 

[Falagard]

Lulz:

http://carnage.bungie.org/haloforum/halo.forum.pl?read=958649

Yeah, but how do we know you'll be answering those questions in real time???
You could just be rendering the answers today and posting them tomorrow!!

Dammit you busted me. The answers in tomorrow's Reach trailer FAQ are pre-rendered.

 

[Slightly Live]

Lulz:

http://carnage.bungie.org/haloforum/halo.forum.pl?read=958649

Urk has been doing the same with the BWU. Will the pre-rendering madness ever end? :lol

 

[Shishka]

god is it just me or are the halo 2 cutscenes really awesome. It feels like those cutscenes were better at telling the story. I miss halo 2

Yeah, that cinematic in particular is great. Especially the part where you can see the player model's leg in the background 3 seconds in.

 

[Plywood]

Yeah, that cinematic in particular is great. Especially the part where you can see the player model's leg in the background 3 seconds in.

Details, details. H2's cutscenes were the best of the trilogy. It took for H3 to come out for me to realize how much I liked Arbiters side of the story. It was just his crappy levels made me dislike playing him.

 

[GhaleonEB]

I am under the impression that if the Rank and progress bar are indeed linked into the multiplayer, then the credits may very well purchase emblems, armour permutations, alternative colourisations and other customisation features. In fact, I think if the Rank and stuff shown is not tied to MP, that still may be the case.

The group of Spartans in the trailer have quite the modified gear. I think the fact that Lone Wolf is missing from the line-up in the poster may specifically be because the player can change his armour features however they want during the course of the game. Maybe it'll be almost RPG-esque with their various upgrades bringing various changes or alterations to your abilities.

Like the Recon upgrades providing you with a default cloaking device or an armour add on that boosts your defences.

It's been established Spartan III's are not afraid to mix up their armour, it would make sense and add an extra layer for the gameplay to support the fiction and vice versa.

I'm hoping the scope of "multiplayer" also encompasses Firefight, what it evolves into. The notion of playing Firefight in co-op, earing cash, buying new outfits and ordinance and taking them back into Firefight games is enough to grip me by the balls for months on end.

Details, details. H2's cutscenes were the best of the trilogy. It took for H3 to come out for me to realize how much I liked Arbiters side of the story.

I find it remarkable how much exposition they had to deliver, and yet never faltered with dialogue or character work. No "to war" face-palm moments to be had. Just superb work all around.

 

[Slightly Live]

Details, details. H2's cutscenes were the best of the trilogy. It took for H3 to come out for me to realize how much I liked Arbiters side of the story. It was just his crappy levels made me dislike playing him.

The story in the cutscenes was awesome, the constant pop-in textures, not so.

I'm hoping the scope of "multiplayer" also encompasses Firefight, what it evolves into. The notion of playing Firefight in co-op, earing cash, buying new outfits and ordinance and taking them back into Firefight games is enough to grip me by the balls for months on end.

Yes, this is exactly what I was thinking. Firefight would be the perfect place to "level up" your character, nab some sweet loot (new armour, wort!) and go back into Campaign with some better gear for a particularly difficult mission.

Actually, such a system could potentially unify the three different and currently separate aspects of Halo.

You progress through the Campaign unlocking a few things here and there. Your buddies come online and you decide to switch over to Firefight for a small killing spree party. You arm yourself with some sweet new stuff and you go online to the multiplayer arena to show off your new wares. Then as the night winds down you decide to romp through a few Campaign missions with the same buddies. Everyone unlocking and progressing their ranks, earning new stuff and having balls of fun.

The Spartans in the trailer got me thinking. Firefight worked well in ODST because you could choose a character and have the joy of hearing their comments during the run. You have Buck loud mouthing or Johnson smartassing all the way through the carnage. In Reach, we now have a bunch of Spartans with actual personalities (sorry Chief) and it would be a delight to hear them during a newer Firefight. Like ODST with the Rookie, you could select the Lone Wolf to have no dialogue instead if you prefer.

 

[Princess Carl]

Yeah, that cinematic in particular is great. Especially the part where you can see the player model's leg in the background 3 seconds in.

hey now, you should be thanking me for not bitching about graphics and real time shenanigans. In terms of helping expand the campaign into a very interesting and well told story, I think Halo 2 did it the best.

My wording may not be the best, Im having a hard time describing my feelings about it

 

[WrikaWrek]

god is it just me or are the halo 2 cutscenes really awesome. It feels like those cutscenes were better at telling the story. I miss halo 2

They were goodishly directed, but had some terrible animation.

 

[squidhands]

Yeah, that cinematic in particular is great. Especially the part where you can see the player model's leg in the background 3 seconds in.

I'll be damned. In all the times I've played H2 campaign I never noticed that. I agree that the storytelling in H2 is very well done. Definitely more rich that H3's cutscenes.

 

[The Librarian]

Rawk. I've watched the trailer a dozen times just for the music alone.

The big questions for me are, what will you be buying with that currency? And under what situations will you be able to employ what you buy?

Having "currency" for MP would require a very different approach than the MP in MW2. Do you save up all your money for something really damn expensive or get all the small things first? Personally, I don't think we'll be seeing any weapon upgrades/scopes or anything like that. The most I think we'll be seeing is armor permutations, skins for our guns: stuff like that.

Reach music on Bnet tomorrow? Sweet.

 

[StUnNeR H2K]

Reach Trailer FAQ: http://carnage.bungie.org/haloforum/halo.forum.pl?read=958642

Music: http://twitter.com/bungietweets/status/6752472911

Work tomorrow is going to DRRRAAAAGGGG... especially since it is the last day I work this year!

 

[godhandiscen]

I agree, it's about time Bungie stops this little charade and comes clean with their fans. What do they take us for, idiots? Of course they'd "leak" these shots days before CoD comes out. They want people to avoid CoD and put that $60 into their piggy banks only to be cracked open Fall 2010.

:lol you don't say.

 

[Why For?]

The Halo 2 cutscenes/story were amazing. Still stand up today.

One of the few times I actually enjoyed watching cutscenes in a game (along with UC1 and 2).

 

[godhandiscen]

This is the first time they also show a command post. I doubt Bungie would put that much effort in rendering that command post if it will never be used again. Maybe Reach has a mission-like structure, and between missions you can go back to the command post to buy items with the credits your earn. Another hint to an RPGish structure. If Bungie pulls this off, I have to recornize it, THEY HAVE BALLS! Such drastic changes could potentially alienate the majority of the userbase. However, I trust Bungie blindly when it comes to gameplay, so I am not worried.

 

[Son of Godzilla]

Having "currency" for MP would require a very different approach than the MP in MW2. Do you save up all your money for something really damn expensive or get all the small things first? Personally, I don't think we'll be seeing any weapon upgrades/scopes or anything like that. The most I think we'll be seeing is armor permutations, skins for our guns: stuff like that.

Having a real time display of a currency used only for stuff like that would be exceedingly pointless and a waste of screen space. Credits were used in Halo 3 to pay for items in use on the map, so why would that change? Halounterstrike.

 

[godhandiscen]

Having a real time display of a currency used only for stuff like that would be exceedingly pointless and a waste of screen space. Credits were used in Halo 3 to pay for items in use on the map, so why would that change? Halounterstrike.

That is not a real time display of currency though, that is obviously a pause screen. Also, if the currency shows up in the pause screen, maybe this currency carries along between MP and SP.

Rawk. I've watched the trailer a dozen times just for the music alone.

The big questions for me are, what will you be buying with that currency? And under what situations will you be able to employ what you buy?

Upgrades? Cooldown abilities? Dammit, my hype for the gameplay is increasing exponentially. It is not that these ideas sound revolutionary, it is just that I want to see Bungie's take on them.

 

[Slightly Live]

That is not a real time display of currency though, that is obviously a pause screen. Also, if the currency shows up in the pause screen, maybe this currency carries along between MP and SP.

=)

Upgrades? Cooldown abilities? Dammit, my hype for the gameplay is increasing exponentially. It is not that these ideas sound revolutionary, it is just that I want to see Bungie's take on them.

I'm just interested to see how these things would be incorporated into the Halo we all know and love.

Customisation has really blossomed with current games and it's nice to speculate that Halo will continue to feature customisation in it's own way in lieu of how the rest of the industry is doing things. Halo has always had the touch of innovation so I'm sure there is one or two big secrets still tucked away.

This is exactly what I think you'll be able to "buy" with credits. Armor permutations, and things that don't affect gameplay whatsoever.

I don't mind it affecting gameplay, at least in the Campaign. Online however, equality is where it's at. I don't mind being out BR'd, I would mind my enemies having motion tracking and heat seeking additions to said weapon that I haven't unlocked yet.

 

[Falagard]

Having "currency" for MP would require a very different approach than the MP in MW2. Do you save up all your money for something really damn expensive or get all the small things first? Personally, I don't think we'll be seeing any weapon upgrades/scopes or anything like that. The most I think we'll be seeing is armor permutations, skins for our guns: stuff like that.

Reach music on Bnet tomorrow? Sweet.

This is exactly what I think you'll be able to "buy" with credits. Armor permutations, and things that don't affect gameplay whatsoever beyond your visible representation within the game.

 

[FunkyPajamas]

Excellent. However, there is still the painful situation with Johnson, Preston Cole, and Miranda Keyes understanding the Arbiter without an obvious AI in or around their ears.

Anyone have an explanation for this? Or is it just something we're supposed to dismiss to nerd-dom?

IIRC, members of the UNSC have a neural implant installed (See the end of "Keyes" level in Halo CE and pretty much every Halo book written). Maybe a language support layer is installed in the implants for those members that have a high probability of coming in direct contact with the Covenant?

 

[Slightly Live]

Cleaned and revised.

IIRC, members of the UNSC has a neural implant installed (See the end of "Keyes" level in Halo CE and pretty much every Halo book written). Maybe a language support layer is installed in the implants for those members that have a high probability of coming in direct contact with the Covenant?

There is plenty of room for a revision of the history of the use of the neural implant to facilitate the language barrier.

Spoiler

ReTcOn!

 

[Major Williams]

This is exactly what I think you'll be able to "buy" with credits. Armor permutations, and things that don't affect gameplay whatsoever beyond your visible representation within the game.

While that is a possibility, it would be - as someone already said - a waste of space. It will feel more tacked on just like the rank 'progression' added into the H3 multiplayer that in reality added nothing except brag wars (which is nice in its own way).

I'm more okay with fewer guns, but HIGHLY customizable from thereon in. Have 5-6 gun 'classes' and have a ton of upgrades. Then the add the 'perks' and armor customization and awesomeness will ensue.

 

[WJD]

So, do we think the gameplay screenshots will drop the same time as the gameplay info this January? Then we can really see what Reach is going to look like.

 

[Kibbles]

I wonder if the sites will be able to put up gameplay videos come January's embargo. They probably weren't for Halo 3 because it was earlier in the development cycle. I'd like to see gameplay of the game. Much more-so than more screens or cinematics.

Halo: Reach music up on Reach Project page: http://www.bungie.net/News/content.aspx?type=news&link=LoneWolf

MP3: http://www.bungie.net/images/games/reach/audio/Lone Wolf.mp3

 

[WJD]

I wonder if the sites will be able to put up gameplay videos come January's embargo. They probably weren't for Halo 3 because it was earlier in the development cycle. I'd like to see gameplay of the game. Much more-so than more screens or cinematics.

Halo: Reach music up on Reach Project page: http://www.bungie.net/News/content.aspx?type=news&link=LoneWolf

MP3: http://www.bungie.net/images/games/reach/audio/Lone Wolf.mp3

Good shit. I love Marty.

It seems to have more of a military "We're gonna beat some foo's" tone to it than the normal "epic" Halo music we normally have.

I like the change in direction, but I hope there's an equal smattering of this type of stuff and the more traditional Halo music (monks and strings, basically) in the final game.

 

[StUnNeR H2K]

MP3: http://www.bungie.net/images/games/reach/audio/Lone Wolf.mp3

Good stuff!

 

[Zeouterlimits]

Hell yes .