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HaloGAF |OT: Anniversary| So fades the great harvest of our betrayal.

U

User 73706

Banned
Poker Face said:
the sax in ODST tho
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dat fugue cosmic in Immaterial tho

EDIT: To clarify, as far as actual factual implementation of music in the game, it accordingly enhancing the experience, etc. ODST was one of the best. It's one of the only Bungie Halo titles where everything musically feels like it's in the right place, in contrast to some of that janky Marty elevator music shit fighting kamikaze Grunts in 3, new age stuff during zero G sections in 2, and so on. That being said, it definitely shares that lower-budget spinoff-iness with Reach in that a lot of the software instruments, particularly the percussion, sound really obviously stock. Want an easy example? Try this sample also used in God of War that works its way into More Than His Share Suite, track Become The Hunted. It by far has my favorite Bungie-era finale track in Orbital Drop Shock Trooper, too! But the sampling is just way too obvious sometimes. Don't forget the fake trumpet sounds in Air Traffic Control. It's easily got the best original music implemented into a Halo title in stark contrast to 4's sound design, but like all of Marty's Halo work it has a hard time surviving as a commercial release.

As a commercial album, Halo 4's two volumes hold a lot more weight.
 
F

Fuchsdh

Member
I think the more I listen to all the Halo OSTs, the more I like them and the harder it is to pick an absolute best. I remember kind of poo-pooing Halo 2's soundtrack at the time, and being so happy Halo 3 dropped the Steve Vai shenanigans, but now looking back I think some of the arrangements of old tunes in Halo 3 are kind of staid (they sound far better in CEA, in fact) and Halo 2's themes are untouched in some comparisons.

Likewise I thought Reach's score was ho-hum but there's some really interesting stuff going on in them, especially the incidental music.

I would have said saxophones were my most hated instrument before you handed me ODST, and more than anything else it's Marty's music that sets the excellent mood of those nighttime segments, or the desperate last stand moments in ONI Alpha Site.

And I love the "fighty music" in Halo 4 probably better than any of the games in the series. Dat wacky electronic sound. And the droning theme in the music dovetails perfectly with the "oh shit" moment when you teleport up to the "communications relay" in Forerunner and realize what you're actually about to do.

Sub-Zero at a Starbucks said:
dat fugue cosmic in Immaterial tho

EDIT: To clarify, as far as actual factual implementation of music in the game, it accordingly enhancing the experience, etc. ODST was one of the best. It's one of the only Bungie Halo titles where everything musically feels like it's in the right place, in contrast to some of that janky Marty elevator music shit fighting kamikaze Grunts in 3, new age stuff during zero G sections in 2, and so on. That being said, it definitely shares that lower-budget spinoff-iness with Reach in that a lot of the software instruments, particularly the percussion, sound really obviously stock. Want an easy example? Try this sample also used in God of War that works its way into More Than His Share Suite, track Become The Hunted. It by far has my favorite Bungie-era finale track in Orbital Drop Shock Trooper, too! But the sampling is just way too obvious sometimes. Don't forget the fake trumpet sounds in Air Traffic Control. It's easily got the best original music implemented into a Halo title in stark contrast to 4's sound design, but like all of Marty's Halo work it has a hard time surviving as a commercial release.

As a commercial album, Halo 4's two volumes hold a lot more weight.
Click to expand...

I really love that sample, though. It also appears in Tim Larkin's score for Myst V.
 
C

CyReN

Member
NobleGundam said:
Here's what Lord Zed had to say about Beyond.
Don't blame him if he was a bit ticked about it.
Screenshot won't open..
Edit: "And shoutouts to teambeyond for literally jumping on making a watermarked video and posting to it reddit as soon as they learned there was more to the original video.

Edit: Looks like some sites are actually linking to this video now. Thanks!"
Click to expand...

There were actually 4 different people that worked on this discovery from what I found (which we credited). We actually uploaded the video within the same time frame to be clear and posted it. It's a cool Easter Egg that we honestly didn't think would be that big of a deal.

Snippet about it via Moa:

Hey, a few people were accusing us of stealing this from Lord Zedd on our forums and I typed something up to hopefully clear it up.

I created this topic on Beyond of Zedd's original find of the loading screen easter egg and started looking into it to see if there was more to it. Turns out there was. A few years ago, a Bungie Employee was dropping hints about it in a Mail Sack. Eventually, LegitSlayer posted that if you looked at it carefully, it says "Happy Birthday, Lauren."

I talked to a friend - Nowise10 and told him about it, and I said I couldn't see it to save my life. He finds it within seconds.

The Halo Ring on the loading screen is literally the loading percentage. Because I had already been on Halo 3 in a while when I first recorded my footage, I was getting a fast loading Halo ring each time, meaning I missed it, but Nowise10 had a slow loading ring when he captured footage, so he saw it. He's actually the one who took the image I embedded into the article.

To my knowledge, Nowise10 and Lord Zedd are pretty good friends, so after I told him about it, he told Lord Zedd - which is completely fine by me. Once I told a few people at Beyond about the easter egg, they wanted to upload it to YouTube to get more exposure (I actually uploaded it to mine unlisted for a short while) and just as ours finished uploading, Lord Zedd had already got his up.

It sucks that he didn't get the full credit for finding the original steps, but I can tell you he wasn't the one to find the Happy Birthday, Lauren egg, nor did I - it was a guy who posted on the Beyond forums telling us to look at the ring closely - and both me and Nowise10 did. I gave everyone involved credit in the article (Nowise10, Lord Zedd and LeGiiTXSLaYeR).

So we didn't steal Zedd's find, we simply looked into it further and discovered the reason why his find was actually there.
Click to expand...

If people want to bitch, let them.
 
U

User 73706

Banned
CyReN said:
There were actually 4 different people that worked on this discovery from what I found (which we credited). We actually uploaded the video within the same time frame to be clear and posted it. It's a cool Easter Egg that we honestly didn't think would be that big of a deal.

Snippet about it via Moa:

If people want to bitch, let them.
Click to expand...

"sucks for them" and "they can cry and scream all they want" aren't exactly ringing endorsements for a group whose discovery you're trying to showcase, even with credit where credit is due.
 
C

CyReN

Member
Sub-Zero at a Starbucks said:
"sucks for them" and "they can cry and scream all they want" aren't exactly ringing endorsements for a group whose discovery you're trying to showcase, even with credit where credit is due.
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It's not like we were sitting here rubbing our hands and plotting to take down Ash and friends like some Pokemon episode. I get why he's mad, the upload happened at the same time with a group of people (and 1 of those people was a part of Beyond). He was credited along with everyone else.

He does a lot of talented things for Halo no doubt and we just reported it. We didn't think it would take off like that, just thought it was something cool that the Halo community would like. He has a right to complain no doubt, just telling it from our POV.
 
O

Omni

Member
Ozzy Onya A2Z said:
Bulletin
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I mean excuse my French, but who gives a fuck about a vehicle bridge? Why can't they just post a screenshot of the map itself? Obviously we're not expecting 100% polished material here

I just don't get why they would announce a map but then tell us to wait months for a single glimpse. I'd rather that they had just kept quiet about it
 
U

User 73706

Banned
CyReN said:
It's not like we were sitting here rubbing our hands and plotting to take down Ash and friends like some Pokemon episode. I get why he's mad, the upload happened at the same time with a group of people (and 1 of those people was a part of Beyond). He was credited along with everyone else.

He does a lot of talented things for Halo no doubt and we just reported it. We didn't think it would take off like that, just thought it was something cool that the Halo community would like. He has a right to complain no doubt, just telling it from our POV.
Click to expand...

Fair enough.

randomrosso said:
I mean excuse my French, but who gives a fuck about a vehicle bridge? Why can't they just post a screenshot of the map itself? Obviously we're not expecting 100% polished material here

I just don't get why they would announce a map but then tell us to wait months for a single glimpse. I'd rather that they had just kept quiet about it
Click to expand...

I'm expecting some kind of highway between the two ridges, along the lines of how wide they were in Hemorrhage. Showing things off right off the bat and letting fans know exactly what's going on isn't really 343's strong suit.
 
Ozzy Onya A2Z

Ozzy Onya A2Z

Member
randomrosso said:
I mean excuse my French, but who gives a fuck about a vehicle bridge? Why can't they just post a screenshot of the map itself? Obviously we're not expecting 100% polished material here

I just don't get why they would announce a map but then tell us to wait months for a single glimpse. I'd rather that they had just kept quiet about it
Click to expand...

Marketing 101, always keep them wanting more. I'd imagine planning all the events, press releases, interview exclusives, Waypoint news and more is quite the task regarding how much to release when and where. It could also be development & polish reasons, the collection is how many months away from gold still?

Sure I'd also like full real gameplay videos to watch of all the CE, H2, H2A, 3 & 4 in 1080p/60fps glory. I wonder when they'll show up?
 
B

belushy

Banned
I feel like that bridge means Coag isn't forge :'( it doesn't "look" like a forge piece.

edit: It looks like it can be interacted with to me by the way. Maybe a button in each base to lower/raise it.
 
G

GringoSuave89

Banned
Homeboyd said:
Forge piece... Definitely a forge piece.
Click to expand...

While we won’t be showing you a live version of Coagulation for a little while, here’s a sneak peek at a brand-new piece that will be incorporated into the map
Click to expand...

Part of the H2A map from the get go. Not simply a Forge piece.

Ozzy Onya A2Z said:
Cover the bases maybe, trap the Banshee until it's opened? Perhaps block the roof access?
Click to expand...

Idk, the bridge seems to open from the middle. Makes me think it connects parts of the canyon.

Ozzy Onya A2Z said:
Marketing 101, always keep them wanting more. I'd imagine planning all the events, press releases, interview exclusives, Waypoint news and more is quite the task regarding how much to release when and where. It could also be development & polish reasons, the collection is how many months away from gold still?
Click to expand...

This. They didn't plan on showing Ascension's dynamic function; imagine how that changed their plans for SDCC and Gamescom
 
N

NobleGundam

Banned
randomrosso said:
I mean excuse my French, but who gives a fuck about a vehicle bridge? Why can't they just post a screenshot of the map itself? Obviously we're not expecting 100% polished material here

I just don't get why they would announce a map but then tell us to wait months for a single glimpse. I'd rather that they had just kept quiet about it
Click to expand...
Next time on the Halo Bulletin! Sneak Peak at a high-poly UNSC Toilet at 1080p 60fps
 
K

kittens

Unconfirmed Member
Munish23 said:
Kittens did you pick up BF4 or Titanfall yet? I'm down to play whenever.
Click to expand...
I got BF and Titanfall is on its way. I won't have time to play till next Tuesday or so, but I'll add you as a favorite and invite you when I see you on.
 
P

Poodlestrike

Banned
randomrosso said:
I mean excuse my French, but who gives a fuck about a vehicle bridge? Why can't they just post a screenshot of the map itself? Obviously we're not expecting 100% polished material here

I just don't get why they would announce a map but then tell us to wait months for a single glimpse. I'd rather that they had just kept quiet about it
Click to expand...

Y'know, you say that, but how many times have you seen people pan/freak out over footage/screens of non-finalized material? There's a fairly significant number of gamers out there without any solid understanding of how things work behind the scenes. Better to keep the information drip slow until you're 100% confident in what you're showing.
 
U

User 73706

Banned
Stormtrooper said:
That to me sounds like something from a John Carpenter film. Is there going to be more? I really like it.
Click to expand...

The entire album's hopefully coming out by the end of the year, but it covers a lot of ground genre-wise. The entire thing's underscored with some pretty depressing and / or incomprehensibly terrifying cosmic undertones, so Space Disco will probably worm its way into another track or two. Schiavona Sarabande is another track from the album, but got released early on The GAF Tape.
 
B

Brojito

Neo Member
GringoSuave89 said:
Nailed it. 4 had a great soundtrack, it just wasn't very memorable in game.
Click to expand...

Wouldn't that be a reason why it's not a great soundtrack?

Sub-Zero at a Starbucks said:
As a commercial album, Halo 4's two volumes hold a lot more weight.
Click to expand...

And yet as a video game soundtrack it's incredibly bland.

Halo 4 may have done a bad job at implementing the soundtrack into the actual game, but even great sound design wouldn't have suddenly made Davidge's music memorable or noteworthy. It doesn't change the fact that Halo 4's music sounds more like a collection of disconnected "generic epic orchestral music" than an actual cohesive soundtrack.
 
M

Mistel

Banned
Sub-Zero at a Starbucks said:
The entire album's hopefully coming out by the end of the year, but it covers a lot of ground genre-wise. The entire thing's underscored with some pretty depressing and / or incomprehensibly terrifying cosmic undertones, so Space Disco will probably worm its way into another track or two. Schiavona Sarabande is another track from the album, but got released early on The GAF Tape.
Click to expand...
That ones really nice too. I wouldn't mind more space disco myself just saying.
 
U

User 73706

Banned
Brojito said:
Wouldn't that be a reason why it's not a great soundtrack?



And yet as a video game soundtrack it's incredibly bland.

Halo 4 may have done a bad job at implementing the soundtrack into the actual game, but even great sound design wouldn't have suddenly made Davidge's music memorable or noteworthy. It doesn't change the fact that Halo 4's music sounds more like a collection of disconnected "generic epic orchestral music" than an actual cohesive soundtrack.
Click to expand...

You could say the same about ODST and 3's soundtracks. 3 is especially guilty - it's just Halo tunes tacked on top of StormDrum and some bass riffs with a shitton of compression slapped on top to make the backing instruments that weren't recorded live sound less obviously artificial. Halo 4 sounds susprisingly full-circle and it's got a lot of subtle, neat little calls back and forward going on.

Enter The 36 Chambers said:
Buy my mixtape
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iuVKGQEBGGUR0.gif
 
M

Mistel

Banned
Sub-Zero at a Starbucks said:
You could say the same about ODST and 3's soundtracks. 3 is especially guilty - it's just Halo tunes tacked on top of StormDrum and some bass riffs with a shitton of compression slapped on top to make the backing instruments that weren't recorded live sound less obviously artificial. Halo 4 sounds susprisingly full-circle and it's got a lot of subtle, neat little calls back and forward going on.
Click to expand...
What about reach other than ODST it's one of the better ones for sound track implementation I think.
 
G

GringoSuave89

Banned
Sub-Zero at a Starbucks said:
You could say the same about ODST and 3's soundtracks. 3 is especially guilty - it's just Halo tunes tacked on top of StormDrum and some bass riffs with a shitton of compression slapped on top to make the backing instruments that weren't recorded live sound less obviously artificial. Halo 4 sounds susprisingly full-circle and it's got a lot of subtle, neat little calls back and forward going on.
Click to expand...

The callbacks and motifs on 4 are really memorable, idk how anyone can say there isn't a definitive theme.

Ragnarok Flames said:
What the hell is an "Iggy Azalea"?
Click to expand...

One fine ass woman.
 
B

Brojito

Neo Member
Sub-Zero at a Starbucks said:
You could say the same about ODST and 3's soundtracks.
Click to expand...

No, you couldn't. I'm not criticizing the technical quality of Halo 4's soundtrack, just the musical quality and how it holds up against past Halos. I'll concede that Halo 3 tended to just riff on old Halo tracks... but even so, that still makes it more memorable and cohesive than Davidge's music.

As for ODST - that soundtrack was fantastic and miles above Davidge's stuff. Both in originality, and in presenting memorable musical ideas that recurred throughout the entire thing.

Ask a bunch of Halo fans to hum a tune from Marty's Halos - you'll probably get like 5 or 6 tunes, at least. Then ask them to hum something from Halo 4's soundtrack. One of them might hum "To Galaxy", since it's the only song that could maybe be called a "theme" (loosely). That's not saying much, especially since To Galaxy is like all of 4 notes in a repeating pattern over and over again.

Also, I just read the bulletin:

Here’s a quick bit about the above vehicle access bridge:

"This vehicle access bridge is a common addition to the UNSC’s Spartan training grounds, located on various worlds across the galaxy. Inspired by the rugged, utilitarian design of deploy-able, reinforced bunkers and forward bases, these bridges are constructed to withstand the harshest of UNSC training settings."
Click to expand...

Did they seriously just write up some fake technical manual lore about a metal bridge?

Idk, this just struck me really weird. Like... why? More "contextualizing"? I wonder who at 343 got told "hey, you need to write up something about this big metal brig we're sticking in the Coag remake".
 
U

User 73706

Banned
Brojito said:
No, you couldn't. I'm not criticizing the technical quality of Halo 4's soundtrack, just the musical quality and how it holds up against past Halos. I'll concede that Halo 3 tended to just riff on old Halo tracks... but even so, that still makes it more memorable and cohesive than Davidge's music.

As for ODST - that soundtrack was fantastic and miles above Davidge's stuff. Both in originality, and in presenting memorable musical ideas that recurred throughout the entire thing.

Ask a bunch of Halo fans to hum a tune from Marty's Halos - you'll probably get like 5 or 6 tunes, at least. Then ask them to hum something from Halo 4's soundtrack. One of them might hum "To Galaxy", since it's the only song that could maybe be called a "theme" (loosely). That's not saying much, especially since To Galaxy is like all of 4 notes in a repeating pattern over and over again.

Also, I just read the bulletin:



Did they seriously just write up some fake technical manual lore about a metal bridge?

Idk, this just struck me really weird. Like... why? More "contextualizing"? I wonder who at 343 got told "hey, you need to write up something about this big metal brig we're sticking in the Coag remake".
Click to expand...

Isn't the Halo title theme just 7 notes on repeat, and the Halo main theme 4 notes on an ascending scale on repeat? I'm a firm believer in harmonics and texturing over melodic oversaturation, because memorable melodies are just memory multiplied by time. It's why words and phrases sound ordinary to us yet something foreign, archaic or unprecedented sound weird to us. Nostalgia and them being plastered over a franchise worth of titles aside, I don't see how Marty's melodies are any more memorable than Davidge's, Jinnouchi's or Rippy's. More iconic in line with "classic Halo?" Absolutely. But again, that's just because they've been around longer.

I will admit that Foreshadow is so convoluted I have a really hard time pulling a real leading melody out of it, but the remix album goes a long way in correcting that. Has Marty made some tracks too harmonically convoluted to pull a real guiding melodic force out of? Absolutely, more than I could count on two hands. The only saving grace Marty pulls with his harmonic tracks are that he'll usually throw in the main Halo theme percussion riff or space monks to try and justify it, which is why so many of his tracks seem more emblematic. Veins of Stone, High Charity Suite, The Library Suite, you name it. Hell, The Library Suite is such a convoluted watered-down mess of synths that even the CEA interpretation, Dewey Decimate, hard a hard time getting a real tune out of it.

I'm not going to pull some bullshit "oh I could rattle off way more Halo 4 themes than I could Marty themes" thing or anything, but on a case-by-case basis Marty played it way too safe on most if the soundtracks. ODST and Reach were steps in the right direction, but 1, 2 and 3's soundtracks were pretty terrible in terms of actual content. Before Activision pumped them full of calladuty juices, Bungie always felt uncomfortably low-budget for being such a high-priority company, and in hindsight it shows. There's no way Marty should have realistically gotten away with putting something like Halo 3's soundtrack out working with the huge (for its time) budget that it did.
 
R

-Ryn

Banned
mastrbiggy said:
It's clear that there is a lack of knowledge about scoring music and music theory in this thread.

Nobody cares about Halo 4, get out of this thread.
Click to expand...
If you could explain it that would be radical.
Honestly don't know too much about either. I mean music theory I have a basic understanding of.

As far as the soundtracks are concerned, I enjoy Marty's tracks more overall. 4 has some really beautiful tracks and there are some that I hope return in some way, but implementation in the game aside, it didn't make me think Halo. At least not most of it. That they wanted to take it in a new direction was really cool but it deviated too much from the sound of Halo in a lot of areas. At least that's what it felt like to me.
 
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