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	Message: : : Part 2 – Tanigo Island : Stage 4: The Silent Cartographer Evolved – Wave Ocean : : Now, it’s time for the moment you’ve been waiting for. I finally cover The : Silent Cartographer Evolved. The plan was to do the SPV3.2 version : separately after finishing the Tour but I ended up not doing that as : SPV3.3 came out. So I figured after doing SPV3.1 I’d cover it now as part : of SPV3.3. I’ve played this level before but only on SPV3.1 on Heroic : after I first beat it on Legendary. In that game, you could only play this : level via the level select screen. Both SPV3.3 and SPV3.3 give you the : option of playing either once you beat The Truth & Reconciliation. : The Silent Cartographer Evolved takes the new additions to the levels in SPV3 : up to 11 by reimagining the whole level from scratch. If the metal towers : in the screenshot above weren’t enough, this whole level feels like a love : letter to the two Halo 2 levels Delta Halo & Regret with some Halo 3’s : The ARK influences. When Halo 2 gets covered, we’ll be seeing elements : from this level there again. This will be treated as a full part to this : serial episode instead of a summary of changes as it’s a level we’ve not : done yet. The Commander version of this level later will get the same : treatment. : Act 1: The Silent Cartographer – Wave Ocean: Metal Harbour : : Wow! It’s like a postcard! Dear Sarge, kicking ass in outer space. Wish you : were here. : This must be the island. A Forerunner base with impregnable security : facilities. Commonly known among us Spartans and ODST’s as Tanigo Island : & site of the complex known as The Silent Cartographer…The terminal on : the Truth & Reconciliation’s bridge said something like that, but : there’s no way this is just a regular defence force. Hunters, brutes, : zealots and honour guards. It’s a Collection and Sanctify Squadron. : I won’t be covering dialog except for new stuff: that’s what the main Tour : entry is for. The beach assault is a little harder this time as there’s a : spectre that gets destroyed quickly (meaning I can’t take it and make the : fight easier), there’s some jackal snipers with focus rifles and a pair of : shades up on the rocky ridge. : : The buttress thing now looks kind of like a railgun with those hanging bits : at the front. It reminds me of Halo 3’s Forerunner buildings. Remember in : the main Tour I said I thought the SPV3 version of the buttress had an : interior section and an anti-grav lift to the upper level? As I suspected : after writing that bit, turns out I was remembering the buttress in this : version of the level in SPV3.1, not the original. : : : The elevator doesn’t work however, so we can’t reach the top of the buttress. : “You two, we could use a hand.” Cortana tells the marines. “I got : shotgun!” one of them shouts. : The first terminal is located next to a large metal structure near the : buttress and using it loads Forerunner terminal 2 (in the original TSC) : message a little slower. : : As before, it’s possible to drive underwater but instead of invisible walls, : there’s a dropoff at the base of the shallows surrounding Tanigo Island. I : love the debris and bubbles effects. It makes me think of Flurana from : Doctor Who ( “You can’t sink on Flurana…The water’s effervescent. The : bubble’s support you.” ) and the Sea Country in Mario Odyssey. (which : technically shares its name with Seaside in Mario 3) : : : I drive down the beach past a rock arch and come across a covenant patrol : with a pair of ghosts by a small river and waterfall. : : : You can’t see the river water very well as I had to park too far back in : order to get the waterfall in the shot, but it looks really good and : there’s even a subtle but steep dip under the surface where the water has : eroded a small channel in the sand. Be careful not to let it trip you up : when fighting the covenant. The first covenant terminal is by a small tree : surrounded by space crates and a log, so unlike the original level it’s : less easy to miss it if viewing them in order. : : More covenant wait around the corner by a charging column. Here, a path leads : inland, with a small trench full of rocks at the entrance like a natural : speedbump. By a small door hidden in plain sight to the right of this : canyon is the first human terminal. The yellow lights mean you can melee : attack it open. Inside are rockets by a dead marine, an overshield and an : anti-gravity elevator shaft. The elevator also doesn’t work. Don’t fall : into the flooded shaft as you can’t get back out and there’s no kill : barrier. : : The canyon twists inland through a forest guarded by elites and grunts. The : next covenant terminal is on a small hill on the right hand fork. : : I pass under a pair of pipes and find the Cartographer building in a large : clearing. Cortana warns that the Covenant are already inside and we must : stop them. Problem is they already know where the control room is, as the : vanilla game demonstrates. My warthog almost gets destroyed in the fight : and my passenger is killed. Watch out for the jackal sniper on a small : girder in the entrance hall; he has a focus rifle. Under the landing pad : of the building is a door to a basement where I find the next terminal in : a dead end by dead marines. Nearby is another anti-grav lift that leads to : the sniper platform. : : : Act 2: Lockout – Wave Ocean: Green Forest : : The vent shaft is based on the original but it has a fun little twist, if the : holo panel and hallway on the other side is any indication. Outside, : Sergeant Stacker doesn’t do his little singsong, with another marine : simply speaking his lines instead. I’m glad they changed it in the vanilla : game and old versions, this different line sucks. This time, I decide to : take a ghost further into the island as my hog is too battered to use : safely. : : This go-kart seems to fly above the ground, but it doesn’t seem to go that : high. It’s not very powerful, but you can use the A Button to do wheelies : with the airbrake, stabilising the ghost when doing big jumps. The spectre : has one too, both in Halo 2 and this game. The next terminal is off to the : left in a small cave but I don’t want to show the message yet as it shows : a plot critical detail too early. In the regular level, this terminal is : hidden in plain sight as you enter the security facility, ensuring you see : it when you come out after shutting down the security systems. If there’s : an intended route to take through the Evolved version so the terminal is : seen at a more appropriate time, it isn’t clear. I don’t know why but this : jump and waterfall reminds me of the peak of Tall, Tall Mountain in Mario : 64. : : : : Here’s the main part of the titular forest of this chapter’s subtitle. The : next terminal is behind me on the ground by the marsh. : : : This is where the security station now rests. It reminds me of Delta Halo : somewhat with the bridge and everything. Down the path to my right near : the bay at the edge of the forest is a small metal alcove with dead : marines and the next terminal. : : : This room reminds me of the ARK cartographer in Halo 3 as well as the shield : generator towers in the level following it in that game. The next : forerunner terminal is supposed to be up a small ramp directly opposite me : but there’s nothing, meaning I have to restart the level. Or so I thought: : I guessed it was another glitched terminal like the regular level and : Assault on the Control Room, but I was wrong. As I discovered on : restarting & avoiding using any terminals, It’s worse than that. It’s : gone completely. And I’ve no idea if it’s simply missing, lodged in the : wall, if it’s been moved or where it is if so. Fix your damn bugs! : https://youtu.be/0MDwKzH4ez8?t=633 : So instead I’ll just show the one from earlier on the way back out. : : “The grenades hit hard and it’s the best we can do right now.” : Back at the security station with the missing terminal, though the next door : is a narrow but tall cavern with a cross shaped walkway leading through : it. There’s ammo and health on the side ramps and an overshield on the : other side. Through there is some kind of garage with a piston behind some : space crates in front of me and a large elevator in the middle, guarded by : grunts, brutes and a pair of hunters. The lift protects people from : falling through the hole via the best dance floor ever. : : All it needs now is a pool of jelly underneath for dunking everyone in when : it turns off and we’re golden. : : It’s as if all of Tanigo Island is hollow with all the giant passages and : tunnels we can explore. More of them link to the beach at the start as : well as a ledge above the cartographer building you can only otherwise : reach via grenade jumping. Caves so deep where you can still see the sun. : It’s amazing and scary all it once. As Marine the Raccoon (no relation to : the UNSC marines nor Chips Dubbo) would say, the sunlight may make it feel : a bit safer. Holomen’s Caverns here couldn’t have formed through volcanic : action so either they were dug out more than they had to be on purpose or : were created through some other cataclysmic event. Past this part of : Holomen’s Caverns is the security terminal. : : Act 3: It’s Quiet – Wave Ocean: Seaside Hill : : That bridge will take us to where Bravo 22 crashes and this time we actually : hear them go down. Other than some major jackals, the stealth elites now : attack in the beam room with the missing terminal. It doesn’t magically : appear upon turning off security so I’ll show the previous Forerunner one : now that it’s appropriate. : : As a famous human poet once said a long time ago: : As was discussed in the main Tour of Duty for SPV3, we are now directly : responsible for the Flood being released and Keyes becoming part of a : Proto-Gravemind. Ooops. No wonder Miranda Keyes was planned to betray us : in a scrapped story plan for Halo 2 due to blaming us for her father’s : death. : https://www.halopedia.org/Miranda_Keyes#Trivia : There’s something odd about the hologram in the override station. It changes : to show another building, but I don’t see anything around other than the : towers out to sea. : : Outside, the blue light beam coming out of the round hole is now red, warning : that the ring is not secure now. Blockers on the bridge prevent vehicles : from making it across so we have to walk. The next terminal is in Bravo : 22’s crash site, which I read after killing the elites and brutes I find : fighting the marines. : : : Using terminals seems to count as a checkpoint in this level so when I die I : end up seeing them again upon reloading. : The warthog here is a rocket hog which as you may remember, first appeared in : the Gearbox PC port of Halo 1’s multiplayer but saw a canon first : appearance in Halo Reach with a slightly different turret design, similar : to how the reimplemented TOZT 7 flamethrower made its way into Halo 3. : : : This cool jump takes us back to the spaghetti junction of rock paths inside : Holomen’s Caverns. We have a choice of an upper or lower path so I take : the upper one. The other path behind us to the right upon entering cannot : be reached from this side due to a gap and a higher ledge. : : : I ramp off the sandy spit to another beach where a second spectre and more : covenant are waiting. The next terminal is here, impaled through the : screen by a pfhor shock staff shaped lamp. : : Over the next sandy hill is the plug over the exit vent shaft where hunters : are meant to be fought, but there’s none here. The terminal that shares a : space with this level’s one in Halo CEA is here too like in the regular : level. : : : The tunnel past the ledge above the Cartographer building I saw earlier : connects to the other side of the plug so I drive down there and deal with : the covenant reinforcements. Power armour brutes and major jackals are now : in the basement. : Act 3: Shafted – Wave Ocean: Aquatic Base : : Ah, now I see! There’s a submerged section that connects these towers and : houses the Cartographer itself. This is what the second, orange hologram : in the security substation was. Looks like we’re going down! Unless you’d, : prefer to swim. : The holopanel turns on a light bridge to the other side of the vent shaft. : Over there is a long anti-grav lift to the aquatic cartographer base. : : : : : I love this section of the level. It’s based on my favourite part of the Halo : 2 level Regret. In that, you ride “enchanted elevators” (where service : always comes with a smile) underwater in a huge lake past sunken ruins and : blue floodlights hidden in the murky darkness until you come to a : submerged section between different ruins. There was even a flooded glass : passage toward the 2nd glass elevator similar to this that would have made : the perfect swimming pool footbath. : Regret in Halo 2, Sleeping with the Fishes in Tomb Raider 3’s expansion pack, : all the Offshore Rig & Maria Doria levels in Tomb Raider 2 and the : aquarium across the river from my (now sadly late) Grandma’s hometown are : why I love the Aquatic Base trope, to the point it even has affected my : dreams. As I fight the covenant in here, I notice a grunt ends up lying : dead in mid-air over the fountain instead of on the edge of the ramp. : Cortana also warns me about the honour guards and recommends a grenade or : rocket for their shields. She isn’t the only one. : : : Down a ramp on the other side of the underwater biodome is the next terminal : in a dead end, precariously placed on a glass floor above another vent : shaft. : : : Up some twisting ramps is a large ledge beside another vent shaft, presumably : the one under the plug where we exit from. There’s honour guards backing : up major elites, grunts and jackals plus there’s human weapons by brute : meat hooks in the left corner from where I enter. The next Forerunner : terminal is between the openings over the vent shaft. : : : : Down a hall near this cave is Halo’s answer to the Marathon’s disco room in : Eternal where yet another terminal is found. : : : : Mind the honour guard that ambushes you behind this door. Inside is the : cartographer room, which is themed around its counterpart in Halo 3’s : level The ARK. In the main tour, I said how anticlimactic the silent : cartographer is as we just see a small wireframe and Cortana tells us : where the control room is. In Halo 3, not only is the map room much bigger : but we actually see where we plan to go next as well as get some early : foreshadowing for the endgame location. The Silent Cartographer Evolved : takes the latter idea and works with what the jailbroken Halo 1 engine : allows it. : “This is it. Analysing…There. Power source detected.” Cortana informs me, : pointing out 3 generators around the room that power the hologram map in : the middle. : : : The covenant keep coming through small hallways behind each generator but : they don’t respawn so you’ll be fine if you carefully pick off them all. : The last couple of terminals are in here; a human one in a small room near : the far generator from where I came in (it’s locked unless the covenant : come out of it as far as I can tell), a covenant one near the left : generator and a forerunner one under the main console in the anti grav : lift room under the disco area. : The latter two display the wrong messages however: The covenant one shows a : forerunner terminal message and the forerunner one shows the same message : as the one by the vent shaft near the honour guards. C’mon Masterz, I : thought we were past this? : https://youtu.be/0MDwKzH4ez8?t=1167 : : : : I’m not looking up what the actual messages are. I’ve a million other ways to : spend my time. Each generator creates a central light sphere from the main : projector in the middle as each one powers on. : : Am I turning on a giant GPS or a fusion reactor? As the final generator comes : on, a large Halo 3 cartographer esque hologram of Halo appears around the : “star” in the centre. : : The new silent cartographer here is WAY nicer than that one! : : As the map separates the pieces of the ring, Cortana points out a particular : one with a certain symbol hovering above it, this being where the control : room is. We still can’t see the actual details but I’m willing to tolerate : it in this case as an engine limitation as unlike Bungie, the SPV3 devs : tried with the map room. : : The other option is that the control room’s mountains are the orange : highlighted section. The only other things I think it could be are the : cartographer itself (a fancy “you are here” marker) or the Flood : containment facility where Captain Keyes is. : : When Cortana speaks to Echo 419, the second part of Covenant Dance starts up, : making our escape from the aquatic base even more thrilling. The hunters : in the disco room who’ve taken the elevator up don’t even notice me: : they’re too busy staring at the wall. My brute plasma rifle and focus : rifle come in very handy all the way back out, especially in the biodome. : Outside, the final stealth elites are easily dealt with using a black hole : grenade followed up by a cluster grenade and a plasma grenade. I finish : off the straggler with my brute plasma rifle. Foehammer picks us up and we : head down the vent shaft to the Control Room as the last 2 times. : Interestingly in SPV3.3, the vent shaft plug opening in both versions of : this level shows the space crates and other junk on top falling into the : shaft. : : Part 3 coming immediately
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