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Halo |OT8| A Salt on the Control Room

GhaleonEB

Member
So I wanna read some Halo books since I haven't read any since I was in high school. Probably gonna order Fall of Reach, First Strike and Ghosts of Onyx from Amazon. The Flood is bad right? I should stay away from it? And how is First Strike? Hell, someone just tell me what's good and what's bad please.

The whole "tactical error" bit makes me just want to stay the hell away from Contact Harvest.

Contact Harvest is fantastic, and it would be my first suggestion. The "tactical error" occurs on literally the last pages - an epilogue. It's the ending to the book. Had to shoehorn in a happy ending somehow.
 
The whole "tactical error" bit makes me just want to stay the hell away from Contact Harvest.
I found a spanish copy of Contact Harvest at a book store and went ahead to read that part (knew it was right before the end), started to laugh like some phsycho will trying to keep a serious face, people started to look weird at me, oh god.

It was just too good.
 

Enfinit

Member
Apparently Halo Council's not the only one getting hit with DDoS attacks. HaloUNITY, HaloTracker, and ForgeHub have reportedly all been affected.

GUYS WE'RE UNDER ATTACK.

pillow-fort-dog.jpg
 
The digital game art magazine Vertex by Ryan Hawkins is definitely worth a read if you are digital artist. Furthermore the first issue is interesting for the normal Halo fan because Ryan sat down with 343i's lead concept artist Nicolas "Sparth" Bouvier. A great person who talks about his approach to the universe, his inspiration sources etc. The best thing? Vertex is available for free!

I know this was a few pages back, but I need to quote this. Really, really good read.
 
Wonder why someone is going after Halo fansites, seems like a weird thing for a fan to do. It must be a fan, because who else would even know about those sites?
 

JackHerer

Member
I am a huge science fiction nerd and have read tons of scifi but for some reason I have always shied away from reading any of the Halo books because the idea of reading a book based on a video game just seemed strange to me.

I suppose I shouldn't just dismiss it like that. Perhaps I'll try reading one. Fall of Reach seems to be the most consistently referenced so maybe I'll go with that.
 
I am a huge science fiction nerd and have read tons of scifi but for some reason I have always shied away from reading any of the Halo books because the idea of reading a book based on a video game just seemed strange to me.

I suppose I shouldn't just dismiss it like that. Perhaps I'll try reading one. Fall of Reach seems to be the most consistently referenced so maybe I'll go with that.

Its a fair feeling, but The Fall of Reach is so good im sure you will come away feeling very suprised by how well a Halo book can be handled. It surprised me for sure.
 

Holiday

Banned
I agree. Halo 1 gameplay with Sprint (some maps would need to have a little more space to run around in) would've been great. The quick kill times alone would balance Sprint more than enough IMO

Somewhere, Bigshow just felt this post like Obi Wan felt Alderaan getting the zap.
 
Somewhere, Bigshow just felt this post like Obi Wan felt Alderaan getting the zap.

1 shot
2 shot

-enemy tries to Sprint away-
ya_done_fcked_up_nah_gif.gif

3 shot

Its funny how pumped they are getting for just another forgettable mediocre campaign moment.

One of the only action cutscenes of MC actually doing something fast that I remember is him running in Halo 2 as shit was collapsing around him. Now 343 is showing him in these frikkin high-action scenes so I doubt it's going to be "forgettable" at the very least ;]
 
I've been gone for a few days so I'm going to ask the question some people hate over here. Did I miss any new information. I checked HBO, the Halo council and the OP but since I read some talk about leveling, I thought I may have missed something about that (there's nothing about that on any of the sources I mentioned.).
 
If you want to get prepared for Halo 4, you should definitely try the Forerunner books. Then FoR, FS, GoO and Glasslands.

Fall of Reach, First Strike, Ghosts of Onyx, Glasslands, the upcoming Thursday War, and the two Greg Bear books seem to be what I'd consider required reading.

I liked Evolutions, but it's not super important in the grand scheme of things. I didn't care for Contact Harvest, though I'm in the minority on that one, or Cole Protocol. As you mentioned, The Flood is best ignored.

First Strike, Ghosts of Onyx + Glasslands = Highly Recommend.

If your gunna get GoO, def pick up Glasslands

(I recommend all the books, cause I love em, but trying to pick fantastic and relevant books)

Contact Harvest is fantastic, and it would be my first suggestion. The "tactical error" occurs on literally the last pages - an epilogue. It's the ending to the book. Had to shoehorn in a happy ending somehow.
Thanks you all for the suggestions. Havok's required reading list is exactly what I had in mind so I'm going to start there.

I'll probably check out Contact Harvest eventually as well.

Edit: Primordium not available in paperback until December. :C
 

Tashi

343i Lead Esports Producer
Someone in the Buy Sell Trade thread is selling a pretty nice monitor for a low price if anyone was interested in making the switch for Halo 4. Would totally jump on it myself if I didn't have one.
 

Trey

Member
So I wanna read some Halo books since I haven't read any since I was in high school. Probably gonna order Fall of Reach, First Strike and Ghosts of Onyx from Amazon. The Flood is bad right? I should stay away from it? And how is First Strike? Hell, someone just tell me what's good and what's bad please.

The whole "tactical error" bit makes me just want to stay the hell away from Contact Harvest.

Good: Fall of Reach, Ghosts of Onyx, Contact Harvest, Evolutions, First Strike, Cryptum.
 
Someone in the Buy Sell Trade thread is selling a pretty nice monitor for a low price if anyone was interested in making the switch for Halo 4. Would totally jump on it myself if I didn't have one.

Thanks for this thread :]

I never realized how poorly balanced Damnation was until tonight.

Wow.

I know I sound like a broken record repeating myself, but I cannot stress this enough.. Fast kill times helped with that too. Holding power positions on maps in Halo 1 was obviously how it was played competitively, but you never felt overwhelmed because a couple quick shots and teamwork placement kept the games flowing.
 

zap

Member
I've been gone for a few days so I'm going to ask the question some people hate over here. Did I miss any new information. I checked HBO, the Halo council and the OP but since I read some talk about leveling, I thought I may have missed something about that (there's nothing about that on any of the sources I mentioned.).

Nope, pretty sure that it's all speculation at this point. The only thing we have seen is the PAX videos showing people 'rank up' with credits, I mean Spartan Points.
 

Fuchsdh

Member
I never realized how poorly balanced Damnation was until tonight.

Wow.
Yeah. Anniversary maps are fun for a change of pace, but if the teams aren't fairly evenly matched it becomes a slaughterfest, same with Prisoner. Even back in the day Hang em High was me in a corridor camping with a Shotgun.
 

lilty

Member
Yeah. Anniversary maps are fun for a change of pace, but if the teams aren't fairly evenly matched it becomes a slaughterfest, same with Prisoner. Even back in the day Hang em High was me in a corridor camping with a Shotgun.

It doesn't help that the Reach pistol in Anniversary is so random.
 

Fuchsdh

Member
It doesn't help that the Reach pistol in Anniversary is so random.
Yeah, but you can still tear it up. The shallow clip is more of an issue. Anniversary is my best playlist statswise.

Beaver Creek plays a lot better overall. But really CE's maps were middling. Aside from questionable power weapons, the CA remakes play a bit better in many cases.
 

FyreWulff

Member
Yeah, but you can still tear it up. The shallow clip is more of an issue. Anniversary is my best playlist statswise.

Beaver Creek plays a lot better overall. But really CE's maps were middling. Aside from questionable power weapons, the CA remakes play a bit better in many cases.

Prisoner: just broken. Halo maps shouldn't be this vertical, and not this small at the same time. The Gemini of Halo 1. Has a sniper rifle for some reason, and two of them.

Damnation: 1-sided only please, and has the teleporter problem. Would rather have a spiritual successor. Suffers from the Halo 1 issue where every map had to have a damn sniper rifle no matter the size.

Beaver Creek: Too small and cramped for modern Halo, although the CA version slightly alleviates this, but it's not even truly symmetrical. One team has direct access to the rockets under cover while the other one must climb the exposed rock arch. By the way, sniper rifle. On a small map. Halo 1.jpg

Hang Em High: Okay I get the history behind this map, but please, let's make Reach the last game this version shows up in. Longshore was a much better version of this map actually adapted to modern Halo. It's seriously been in or had a successor in every single mainline Halo game. Stop burning DLC slots on this.


Timberlands: The only 99% symmetrical map in the Anniversary map pack. Also doesn't exist in matchmaking anymore, unless you're playing the Ridgeline variant. It probably helps that this was made by a team that was making the map to be played online originally in Halo PC.

Headlong: The only modern-style map in the Anniversary map pack, which is probably left over from the fact that it was originally designed for Halo 2's Invasion. Slayer didn't work on this map in 2004, it doesn't work in 2012.

The CA versions of the first 3 alleviate some of the issues, although Damnation just feels more like an alternate weapon layout. High Noon is essentially a weird hybrid of Hang Em High and Tombstone, and for some reason they inverted the bases from Tombstone (which was the proper move for online 1-sided play) in the name of Halo 1 accuracy.
 

FyreWulff

Member
Bungie had an idea similar to invasion for Halo 2?

Yep, Bungie had been trying for Invasion since Halo 2, and finally succeeded with Reach. Zanzibar was the original map designed for Invasion in Halo 2. Headhunter was also a mode that was attempted for Halo 2 and then cut for time.

Halo 2 Invasion maps:
Zanzibar (100% sure)
Headlong (mostly sure)

Halo 3 Invasion map:
Sandtrap (100% sure)
Last Resort would have possibly been part of the re-attempt, but I have yet to see it mentioned as one.


Playable Elites in 2 and 3 MP were actually due to the attempts at Invasion.

edit: fixed tenses
 

JackHerer

Member
Prisoner: just broken. Halo maps shouldn't be this vertical, and not this small at the same time. The Gemini of Halo 1. Has a sniper rifle for some reason, and two of them.

Damnation: 1-sided only please, and has the teleporter problem. Would rather have a spiritual successor. Suffers from the Halo 1 issue where every map had to have a damn sniper rifle no matter the size.

Beaver Creek: Too small and cramped for modern Halo, although the CA version slightly alleviates this, but it's not even truly symmetrical. One team has direct access to the rockets under cover while the other one must climb the exposed rock arch. By the way, sniper rifle. On a small map. Halo 1.jpg

Hang Em High: Okay I get the history behind this map, but please, let's make Reach the last game this version shows up in. Longshore was a much better version of this map actually adapted to modern Halo. It's seriously been in or had a successor in every single mainline Halo game. Stop burning DLC slots on this.


Timberlands: The only 99% symmetrical map in the Anniversary map pack. Also doesn't exist in matchmaking anymore, unless you're playing the Ridgeline variant. It probably helps that this was made by a team that was making the map to be played online originally in Halo PC.

Headlong: The only modern-style map in the Anniversary map pack, which is probably left over from the fact that it was originally designed for Halo 2's Invasion. Slayer didn't work on this map in 2004, it doesn't work in 2012.

The CA versions of the first 3 alleviate some of the issues, although Damnation just feels more like an alternate weapon layout. High Noon is essentially a weird hybrid of Hang Em High and Tombstone, and for some reason they inverted the bases from Tombstone (which was the proper move for online 1-sided play) in the name of Halo 1 accuracy.

Personally I like having sniper rifles on smaller maps. Turns it into a more high risk, high reward weapon. Better than a shotgun or sword IMO (see Countdown).
 
Yep, Bungie had been trying for Invasion since Halo 2, and finally succeeded with Reach. Zanzibar was the original map designed for Invasion in Halo 2. Headhunter was also a mode that was attempted for Halo 2 and then cut for time.

Halo 2 Invasion maps:
Zanzibar (100% sure)
Headlong (mostly sure)

Halo 3 Invasion map:
Sandtrap (100% sure)
Last Resort would have possibly been part of the re-attempt, but I have yet to see it mentioned as one.


Playable Elites in 2 and 3 MP were actually due to the attempts at Invasion.

edit: fixed tenses

its so crazy how ambitious bungie was/is, i know they had an option for theater mode in one of the beta builds for halo 2, but if they had succeeded in all of the things they planed halo 2 would have been insane
 
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