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Re: BUNGIE WEEKLY UPDATE!!!
Posted By: TomcatDate: 3/30/04 11:47 a.m.

In Response To: BUNGIE WEEKLY UPDATE!!! (Frankie)

: Bungie Weekly Update
: March 26, 2004

: Welcome mah friends, to another weekly look inside the machinery of Bungie
: Towers. Enjoy. Or be mildly distracted. Whichever.

: Mon Frere!

: Michel (who's a handsome French Canadian and a huge hit with the ladeez
: thanks to his combination of Gallic charm, sexy accent and excellent
: nationalized health care system AND the angriest 23-year old in the world)
: talked to me about moving BSPs today. A BSP is a Binary Separation Plane,
: or in other words, a great big chunk of level. The thing about a BSP is
: that it's all one giant piece (they can be small too) that's
: interconnected and joined at every seam. That means it's all rendered in
: one go, and can be manipulated at will – if there's enough processor
: power. And that's been one of the things the team has been optimizing –
: big moving BSPs.

: The BSPs in question contain some future surprises, but a good example would
: be say, a drawbridge (nope, the bridge we talked about a couple of updates
: ago is NOT a drawbridge) with like, a tollbooth, some gun emplacements and
: a bouncy castle. It's one thing to draw those objects as a Static BSP –
: quite another to move them around. Optimizing things like that frees up
: more processor power for AI and other tasks, so it's important to get it
: done before the gameplay is tuned on those levels.

: It's also a weird mix of programming and design – since in a way, a moving
: BSP acts more like a character or a vehicle than a building or a level.
: Often the various departments can just get along with polishing their
: bits, but in an instance like this, close-knit cooperation is a must.

: Michel has also been working out the nuances of the weather system with the
: environment guys. Mmhmm. Weather system. It won't be a big surprise to say
: that there's going to be rain and snow (it is Earth after all) but weather
: isn't always wet and cold. One level is set in a dry climate where dust,
: wind and sand all play a part. Filling out the levels with weather makes a
: tremendous difference to how "alive" the spaces feel. The snow
: and swamp levels in the original game are still some of my favorite
: levels. Rumors of a lava and minecart level are to be ignored.

: Parsons, our Studio Manager, hates making big promises (except about how he's
: going to crush me to death in a rat-filled refrigerator), so I won't tell
: you what Michel said about how much better the weather effects were this
: time around, I'll just say they're a "bit" better and leave it
: at that. To avoid the crushing.

: Needlers!

: Crack-Cananimator Nathan is pretty much happy with the dual wielding on SMGs,
: and not much, if anything is going to be done to those, but he's
: particularly pleased with the way the dual Needlers work. The gameplay
: subtleties that are going to be introduced as a a result of dual-wielding
: totally boggle my mind.

: Actually, the gun models themselves look super-cool too, and tuning has
: progressed on the look and feel. One Covenant gun has been altered subtly
: to make it look better in first person mode – there were some complaints
: that part of the stock "looked like a shark fin" and was
: obstructing the view too much.

: Sweet Crimeny Jeebus!

: David Candland sent around a "virtual" version of the user
: interface for testing and feedback. It's actually a little PC app that
: lets you play around in the Halo 2 interface without actually playing the
: game. You can scroll through the various options (you can change your
: control setup in mid-game now! Woo-hoo!) and best of all, check out all
: the Live options.

: Scrolling through the various Live functions – regular old Live functions -
: but in the Halo environment, was weirdly thrilling. I was almost literally
: dumbstruck just seeing a game invite icon and a Friends List in the Halo
: interface. The visual look and feel has been hugely overhauled, and
: everything is tight and together, but it still seems like Halo, straight
: off the bat.

: It's going to be one of those days when the game ships – do I play through
: Campaign right away? Or do I dive right into a new multiplayer map for
: some rocket action? I honestly don't know which one I most want to play.

: The interface is being tightened up so that it’s always easy to get where you
: want, from anywhere in the game. Sketch was saying this morning that it's
: nice we're thinking of the user interface as a part of the game, rather
: than an afterthought – navigating to a game choice or an option shouldn't
: be more annoying than playing through the Library with a depleted energy
: pistol.

: Scorpions Rock!

: I got a look at some new vehicle models today, including the Scorpion tank.
: Few things I'd love to tell you about that but can't. I can probably tell
: you about the new Pelican model however, and it's a doozy. It's fully
: bump-mapped, impeccably detailed and features a real 3D cockpit, complete
: with joysticks. You can't fly it of course, but it looks so much better
: than first time around. My favorite feature, apart from the detail added
: by bump-mapping everything, is the new glass shader. When you pan around
: the cockpit glass, it shimmers and reflects convincingly. Adding the extra
: depth makes it look much more like a working vehicle than in the first
: game. When I saw it, it was having damage applied to it, so expect to see
: one or two of them smashed up in Halo 2.

: There's also polishing work on grass, water and other objects. One test area
: featured big clumps of spiny, fleshy plants – Earth plants though, and
: they'll be featured as decorative bits of Earth City. That test area also
: showed off some of the new ground and "lawn" texturing, all of
: which is going to be brought to life in new and interesting ways. A big
: reflective pond showed off some calm water with convincing transparency
: (based on the depth of the water) – and I've already seen an impressive
: wave/reflection effect for the choppier bodies of liquid.

: Manual Madness!

: What do I do over here, apart from observe people with actual talent and
: ability? Well, one of my tasks is to liaise with the UX (User Experience)
: group on the Halo 2 manual. And we're working on it. It'll be cool. Full
: of instructions! And ESRB info. Hurrah for me! But seriously, the UX group
: is wicked smart, and planning a manual every bit as cool as the game it
: describes.

: Jaime Griesemer's Patented Brain-Bending Cranium Tonic and Bum Lotion!

: Jaime, as ever, blew my mind with the usual stream of stuff we can't talk
: about, but he's also working on something we CAN talk about. The tutorial!
: Jaime liked it the first time around, but for the new game he wanted to
: concentrate on stuff that you need to know to play the game, instead of
: the usual – this is your shield, this is how you crouch – kinda stuff. The
: example he used was that flanking is important, so the tutorial should
: "force" you to learn how to flank, without interrupting the flow
: of gameplay or narrative. Then you'll learn and know how to apply that the
: next time you find yourself in a similar circumstance.

: Jaime is also pleased to announce that they've beefed up both the Battle
: Rifle (in an unspecified way) and the Needler. The Needler will now be a
: gun you look for, instead of one you use as a big purple boxing glove in
: melee situations.

: That's all for this week folks, but watch out for inclement weather, even in
: dry climates.

:
hey needelers are cool, bet I could kick your ass with one!


Message Index




Replies:

BUNGIE WEEKLY UPDATE!!!Frankie 3/26/04 6:32 p.m.
     Re: FIRST REPY! whoo! *NM*thunderhawk555 3/26/04 6:34 p.m.
           Re: FIRST REPY! whoo!Operator 3/26/04 8:57 p.m.
                 Re: FIRST REPY! whoo!u r gay 3/26/04 11:23 p.m.
                       Re: FIRST REPY! whoo!dragondude 3/27/04 12:41 a.m.
                             Needler BEST WEAPON EVERdevildog 3/27/04 6:33 a.m.
           Blam!headshot 3/27/04 10:03 a.m.
                 Re: Blam!n00b 3/27/04 12:25 p.m.
           Re: FIRST REPY! whoo!headsplint 3/29/04 3:52 p.m.
                 Re: FIRST REPY! whoo!Silent Hunter 3/29/04 5:58 p.m.
     I FOUND IT 1st!!! WOO *NM*TheSurge 3/26/04 6:36 p.m.
           Blam!!deanero 3/27/04 10:03 a.m.
     YAY! *NM*7grunts7_hut7 3/26/04 6:37 p.m.
     I LOVE YOU FRANIE!!!~ (jk)THANKS FOR THE UPDATE~WildMonkeys 3/26/04 6:38 p.m.
           Your the best Frankie... At least for now...The Legendary KtheQ 3/26/04 7:19 p.m.
                 Re: Your the best Frankie... At least for now...Lone_Sniper_SG 3/26/04 9:03 p.m.
           Frankie...I love you...in a non-homosexual way...Silent Hunter 3/26/04 9:27 p.m.
                 Re: Frankie...I love you...in a non-homosexual wayJudge, Jury, Executioner 3/28/04 6:31 p.m.
                       since we're all homophobes here....Ben Roth 3/28/04 7:17 p.m.
     Re: BUNGIE WEEKLY UPDATE!!!neko_san 3/26/04 6:39 p.m.
     So that's why they're all carrying Needlers...GhaleonEB 3/26/04 6:41 p.m.
           Halo is my CrackTino 3/26/04 9:44 p.m.
     Should be reply #3 but who knows. *NM* *NM*Cleddwr 3/26/04 6:42 p.m.
           Re: Should be reply #3 but who knows.Grey Wolf 3/28/04 1:38 p.m.
     Mmmm, yummy. Thanks, Frankie. =) *NM*Mr. Mechanical 3/26/04 6:43 p.m.
     \( ^.^ )/BOLL 3/26/04 6:45 p.m.
           Re: \( ^.^ )/ :)vshields ash 3/27/04 7:24 a.m.
     Awesome! *NM*Hawk7886 3/26/04 6:53 p.m.
           HURRY UPKing 3/26/04 11:07 p.m.
                 Cheap HumansReece 3/27/04 7:25 p.m.
                       Re: Cheap HumansChey 3/28/04 2:29 p.m.
                             Re: Cheap HumansPen-Pen 3/29/04 10:05 a.m.
                 Re: HURRY UPHawk7886 3/27/04 8:18 p.m.
                       Re: HURRY UPVeren 3/28/04 3:44 p.m.
                             Re: HURRY UPPen-Pen 3/29/04 10:08 a.m.
                             rofl *NM*MikeMan445 3/31/04 3:04 a.m.
     Re: BUNGIE WEEKLY UPDATE!!!Target4Hire 3/26/04 6:53 p.m.
           ControlEAT 3/26/04 7:52 p.m.
     Re: BUNGIE WEEKLY UPDATE!!!Ain Soph Aur 3/26/04 6:55 p.m.
     finaly! a reason to use needlers! they come in2's! *NM*KORHAL 3/26/04 6:56 p.m.
           Re: finaly! a reason to use needlers! they come inFrensa Geran 3/26/04 7:10 p.m.
                 NeedlersLuDiCrOuS 3/26/04 7:30 p.m.
                       Re: NeedlersGre'Thor117 3/26/04 8:01 p.m.
                       no it was not, i kicked ass with it. fuck you *NM*lildemonpunk131 3/26/04 9:19 p.m.
                       Naw, it was the best weapon in Haloghaleoneb 3/26/04 9:24 p.m.
                             Re: Naw, it was the best weapon in HaloLatusi 3/27/04 7:30 a.m.
                       Re: NeedlersAeroJonesy 3/26/04 9:49 p.m.
                             Re: NeedlersCaptain Spark 3/27/04 12:32 a.m.
     Thanks Frankie. Excellent Update. *NM*Fall3n 3/26/04 7:03 p.m.
     Re: BUNGIE WEEKLY UPDATE!!!EAT 3/26/04 7:16 p.m.
     No Flyable Pelican... you sh*tting me rightMarkHawk 3/26/04 7:23 p.m.
           He shits you not...stan 3/26/04 7:38 p.m.
                 BUT I WANT THE PELICAN IN MULTIPLAYER!!! WAAAAAA!!lildemonpunk131 3/26/04 8:19 p.m.
                       Re: BUT I WANT THE PELICAN IN MULTIPLAYER!!! WAAAAdonkey kong 3/26/04 9:39 p.m.
                             Re: BUT I WANT THE PELICAN IN MULTIPLAYER!!! WAAAASturmgewehr-58 3/26/04 10:26 p.m.
                             Pfffffffft.Dylan 3/29/04 1:55 p.m.
                                   Re: Pfffffffft.Ross Mills [subnova] 3/29/04 2:16 p.m.
                                   Re: Pfffffffft.doesitmatter?no 3/29/04 2:28 p.m.
                       which to play first?GosuMan117 3/26/04 10:21 p.m.
                             Re: which to play first?lildemonpunk131 3/26/04 11:08 p.m.
           Re: No Flyable Pelican... you sh*tting me rightModo 3/27/04 6:55 a.m.
           Re: No Flyable Pelican... you sh*tting me rightGrave 3/27/04 7:49 a.m.
     Yessssssss! Thanks Frankie. *NM*Wado SG 3/26/04 7:36 p.m.
     Neat. *NM*stan 3/26/04 7:39 p.m.
     Xbox Livegifty 3/26/04 7:45 p.m.
     Re: I can see it all now...Blackstar 3/26/04 7:46 p.m.
           My brain starts to lag just thinking about that. *NM*Brian 3/26/04 7:58 p.m.
     Can my weekend get any better?Gre'Thor117 3/26/04 7:52 p.m.
     Re: BUNGIE WEEKLY UPDATE!!!Alexis 3/26/04 7:54 p.m.
     Re: BUNGIE WEEKLY UPDATE!!!CovieProphet 3/26/04 8:11 p.m.
     Re: BUNGIE WEEKLY UPDATE!!!gruntman 3/26/04 8:25 p.m.
     Re: BUNGIE WEEKLY UPDATE!!!Duke 3/26/04 9:27 p.m.
           Yeah, Sarge is back.Chester the Destroyer 3/26/04 10:07 p.m.
     Re: BUNGIE WEEKLY UPDATE!!!Jman 3/26/04 9:41 p.m.
           Re: BUNGIE WEEKLY UPDATE!!!Sturmgewehr-58 3/28/04 12:42 a.m.
                 Re: BUNGIE WEEKLY UPDATE!!!MasterChiefJC 3/29/04 8:45 a.m.
     Re: BUNGIE WEEKLY UPDATE!!!Rastice 3/26/04 10:02 p.m.
           Re: BUNGIE WEEKLY UPDATE!!!Louis Wu 3/27/04 7:06 a.m.
     Awesome. Thanks Frankie! *NM*dizzy [subnova] 3/26/04 10:04 p.m.
     Re: BUNGIE WEEKLY UPDATE!!!fludblud 3/26/04 10:09 p.m.
           Re: BUNGIE WEEKLY UPDATE!!!Funkster 3/26/04 10:49 p.m.
     W00t! Frankie's a pimp! *NM*Pico 3/26/04 10:57 p.m.
     Re: BUNGIE WEEKLY UPDATE!!!King 3/26/04 11:08 p.m.
           Re: BUNGIE WEEKLY UPDATE!!!Shadowrunner 3/27/04 4:48 a.m.
           Re: BUNGIE WEEKLY UPDATE!!!nocturnal02 3/27/04 11:50 a.m.
     Re: BUNGIE WEEKLY UPDATE!!!b9b 3/26/04 11:32 p.m.
     NEEDLERS *NM*Demosthenes 3/27/04 12:06 a.m.
           Re: NEEDLERSBruno Rexsmith 3/27/04 8:47 a.m.
     Needlers good?! =O *NM*TriGun 3/27/04 12:45 a.m.
     Re: helicopter in halo 2cameron 3/27/04 2:17 a.m.
           Re: helicopter in halo 2nightmare 3/27/04 3:11 a.m.
                 Re: helicopter in halo 2Zaggab 3/27/04 4:33 a.m.
                       Re: helicopter in halo 2Alexander Valient 3/27/04 12:36 p.m.
                             Re: helicopter in halo 2Master Chief Cutter 3/27/04 5:53 p.m.
                                   Re: helicopter in halo 2mr_iggy 3/28/04 10:04 p.m.
     Re: BUNGIE WEEKLY UPDATE!!!tommy 3/27/04 2:54 a.m.
     Re: BUNGIE WEEKLY UPDATE!!!Jon S 3/27/04 4:49 a.m.
     thumbs up for the needler!!Xeny (the cute inteillgent warship) 3/27/04 9:54 a.m.
           Re: thumbs up for the needler!!jacob 3/27/04 1:52 p.m.
     Re: BUNGIE WEEKLY UPDATE!!!Ken Wheeler 3/27/04 2:58 p.m.
           Re: BUNGIE WEEKLY UPDATE!!!Shishka 3/27/04 3:30 p.m.
     Re: BUNGIE WEEKLY UPDATE!!!Conor Nolan 3/27/04 7:38 p.m.
     when is it coming!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!googlestips 3/27/04 10:26 p.m.
           What to play first?Mister Chief 3/27/04 10:52 p.m.
                 There's an ATV!!!!! and other stuffBen Anderson 3/28/04 6:59 p.m.
     Gametype optionsPyroknight 3/27/04 11:03 p.m.
           Re: Gametype optionsBlaze_1764 3/28/04 6:07 p.m.
           Wraiths?Blaze_1764 3/28/04 6:08 p.m.
     New Weopans *NM*Cramesta 3/28/04 12:08 a.m.
     Re: BUNGIE WEEKLY UPDATE!!! *NM*Halo Fiender 3/28/04 1:56 a.m.
     Re: BUNGIE WEEKLY UPDATE!!!Setherstine 3/28/04 2:18 a.m.
     Re: BUNGIE WEEKLY UPDATE!!!Chryton the Wanderer 3/28/04 4:41 p.m.
     more teams?Blaze_1764 3/28/04 6:31 p.m.
     Re: WHY CANT WE FLY THE PELICANS?!?!raj 3/28/04 7:21 p.m.
           Re: WHY CANT WE FLY THE PELICANS?!?!'Nosolee 3/28/04 7:25 p.m.
           Re: WHY CANT WE FLY THE PELICANS?!?!Durandal 3/28/04 7:30 p.m.
           Re: WHY DO YOU WANT TO??!?Chester the Destroyer 3/28/04 7:31 p.m.
                 Re: WHY DO YOU WANT TO??!?Nevan 3/28/04 7:45 p.m.
                       That's what Banshee's are for ;) *NM*Freelancer-421 3/28/04 7:56 p.m.
                       Re: WHY DO YOU WANT TO??!?Petey Pete 3/28/04 8:24 p.m.
                             Spoiler warning.Chester the Destroyer 3/28/04 9:10 p.m.
                                   Not much of a spoiler =) *NM*Dylan 3/29/04 2:00 p.m.
                                   Re: Spoiler warning.Chryton the Wanderer 3/29/04 6:34 p.m.
                 Re: WHY DO YOU WANT TO??!?Blaze_1764 3/28/04 11:04 p.m.
     Re: BUNGIE WEEKLY UPDATE!!!Admril Rose 3/28/04 7:40 p.m.
     Re: WHY CANT WE FLY THE PELICANS?!?!Raj 3/28/04 10:44 p.m.
           Re: WHY CANT WE FLY THE PELICANS?!?!Sturmgewehr-58 3/28/04 10:57 p.m.
     plasma rifle in halo2Claw 3/28/04 10:53 p.m.
           Re: plasma rifle in halo2Claw 3/28/04 11:14 p.m.
                 Re: plasma rifle in halo2KOPD 3/28/04 11:31 p.m.
                       Re: BUNGIE WEEKLY UPDATE!!!KnightMarE 3/29/04 2:37 a.m.
                             Re: BUNGIE WEEKLY UPDATE!!!Talonius 3/29/04 5:14 a.m.
                             Re: BUNGIE WEEKLY UPDATE!!!Dark Impaler 3/29/04 9:12 a.m.
                                   Re: BUNGIE WEEKLY UPDATE!!!Dylan 3/29/04 2:03 p.m.
     Re: WHY CANT WE FLY THE PELICANS?!?!raj 3/29/04 10:24 a.m.
           White Ninja helps you understand!BOLL 3/29/04 12:21 p.m.
                 lmaoDjof@School 3/29/04 1:35 p.m.
                 Re: White Ninja - cute...;) nmvshields ash 3/29/04 1:50 p.m.
                       Re: WHY CANT WE FLY THE PELICANS?!?!raj 3/29/04 3:40 p.m.
                             Re: WHY CANT WE FLY THE PELICANS?!?!Masterful 3/29/04 6:56 p.m.
     Re: BUNGIE WEEKLY UPDATE!!!Ben Thompson 3/29/04 10:49 a.m.
           Re: BUNGIE WEEKLY UPDATE!!!Wado SG 3/29/04 11:10 a.m.
                 Re: BUNGIE WEEKLY UPDATE!!!Wado SG 3/29/04 11:12 a.m.
                       Re: BUNGIE WEEKLY UPDATE!!!Sandman 3/29/04 11:40 a.m.
                             Re: BUNGIE WEEKLY UPDATE!!!Wado SG 3/29/04 11:45 a.m.
                                   Re: BUNGIE WEEKLY UPDATE!!!Angel "Sandman" G 3/29/04 11:47 a.m.
                                         Re: BUNGIE WEEKLY UPDATE!!!meleeman 3/29/04 2:22 p.m.
                                               Re: BUNGIE WEEKLY UPDATE!!!58 3/29/04 3:58 p.m.
                                                     Re: BUNGIE WEEKLY UPDATE!!!Wado SG 3/29/04 4:53 p.m.
                                                           Re: BUNGIE WEEKLY UPDATE!!!Blaze_1764 3/29/04 5:24 p.m.
                                                                 Re: BUNGIE WEEKLY UPDATE!!!Wado SG 3/29/04 5:38 p.m.
                                                                       Re: BUNGIE WEEKLY UPDATE!!!meleeman 3/29/04 6:23 p.m.
                             Re: BUNGIE WEEKLY UPDATE!!!Blaze_1764 3/29/04 5:28 p.m.
     ReloadConner84 3/29/04 5:17 p.m.
           Re: ReloadBrandon 3/29/04 5:31 p.m.
                 Re: ReloadCRISPY CREAM DONUTS ARE COMING-to an area near you 3/29/04 5:50 p.m.
                       Re: ReloadSilent Hunter 3/29/04 5:54 p.m.
                             Re: ReloadCount Zero 3/29/04 7:39 p.m.
                       Re: Reload *NM*Andrew Nagy 3/29/04 6:50 p.m.
           Re: Reloaddr_saius 3/29/04 8:53 p.m.
                 Re: ReloadWiley 3/30/04 6:06 a.m.
                       Re: Reloaddr_saius 3/30/04 7:44 p.m.
           Re: ReloadWerny 3/30/04 3:11 a.m.
     Re: BUNGIE WEEKLY UPDATE!!!Tomcat 3/30/04 11:47 a.m.
     Good Job Retard^^^^raj 3/30/04 9:35 p.m.
     Re: BUNGIE WEEKLY UPDATE!!!Mad Cow Dzs 3/31/04 8:57 a.m.
           Re: BUNGIE WEEKLY UPDATE!!!Ross Mills [subnova] 3/31/04 10:53 a.m.



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