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A Halogaf Community Thread: The Old Becomes New

Okay I finished The Cole Protocol and dang that was a good book. I don't know why, but I just assumed it focused on Admiral Cole and didn't follow the more well-known characters in halo lore. I also figured it wouldn't have much in the way of any spartans in it. So, I put off reading it for the longest time lol. Welp I was wrong. Way wrong! Some of the main characters in the book are Keyes, Thel 'Vadam and Gray Team. I've enjoyed so many of the halo books recently, but The Cole Protocol would definitely be in the top 5. A very nice surprise when I had super low expectations.

I love all the books, excluding the Kilo-5 trilogy (eww barf!), but some of the most intriguing books for me have been Broken Circle, The Cole Protocol, Contact Harvest, The Fall of Reach, First Strike, and maybe Ghosts of Onyx. I actually enjoyed the Forerunner Saga as well, but those books were a little more demanding to get through. Currently, I'm still wanting to see what happens to Inspector Lopez and Blue Team having gone through and finished Last Light and Halo Retribution. Now I wait and see if my local library will pick up any more. I've recently recommended Evolutions, Fractures, and Hunters in the Dark. So we'll see if any of them pop up as available soon. Yay!
 
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Havoc2049

Member
If you haven’t read it, New Blood is a great read and compliments Halo 3 ODST really well. It follows Buck between the events of Halo 3 ODST and Halo 5. You find out more about Buck, The Rookie and Buck’s love interest, Oni Capt. Cynthia Dare from H3 ODST. Sara Palmer also makes an appearance.

I’m about half way through Silent Storm. 🤣 I need to get on it! The sequel comes out in a month or two.
 
Okay I finished The Cole Protocol and dang that was a good book. I don't know why, but I just assumed it focused on Admiral Cole and didn't follow the more well-known characters in halo lore. I also figured it wouldn't have much in the way of any spartans in it. So, I put off reading it for the longest time lol. Welp I was wrong. Way wrong! Some of the main characters in the book are Keyes, Thel 'Vadam and Gray Team. I've enjoyed so many of the halo books recently, but The Cole Protocol would definitely be in the top 5. A very nice surprise when I had super low expectations.

I love all the books, excluding the Kilo-5 trilogy (eww barf!), but some of the most intriguing books for me have been Broken Circle, The Cole Protocol, Contact Harvest, The Fall of Reach, First Strike, and maybe Ghosts of Onyx. I actually enjoyed the Forerunner Saga as well, but those books were a little more demanding to get through. Currently, I'm still wanting to see what happens to Inspector Lopez and Blue Team having gone through and finished Last Light and Halo Retribution. Now I wait and see if my local library will pick up any more. I've recently recommended Evolutions, Fractures, and Hunters in the Dark. So we'll see if any of them pop up as available soon. Yay!

As somone who has never read any of the Halo fiction... if I were to dip my toe in the water, what novel/series would you personally recommend, mate?
 
As somone who has never read any of the Halo fiction... if I were to dip my toe in the water, what novel/series would you personally recommend, mate?
Contact Harvest wouldnt be a bad place to start. You will learn more about Sargeant Johnson and it covers how humanity first encountered the covenant. It is also written by Joe Staten who I think is a good writer. Or you could start with The Fall of Reach to learn about the beginning of the spartan program. I think both are good starting places to jump into the halo universe. There is also the Forerunner books by Greg Bear. Those books go even further back and tell the story of Bornstellar and a lot of back story about the history of the forerunners. However the books can be a lot to Wade through. Depends on what you want to learn about.
If you want to go If you haven’t read it, New Blood is a great read and compliments Halo 3 ODST really well. It follows Buck between the events of Halo 3 ODST and Halo 5. You find out more about Buck, The Rookie and Buck’s love interest, Oni Capt. Cynthia Dare from H3 ODST. Sara Palmer also makes an appearance.

I’m about half way through Silent Storm. 🤣 I need to get on it! The sequel comes out in a month or two.
I enjoyed silent storm. If I remember correctly it follows a young master chief after he has become a Spartan but before the events of combat evolved and before he has really gained the noteriety and respect of the UNSC. I could be wrong. I get them mixed up in my head. I'm working my way to new blood.
 
Contact Harvest wouldnt be a bad place to start. You will learn more about Sargeant Johnson and it covers how humanity first encountered the covenant. It is also written by Joe Staten who I think is a good writer. Or you could start with The Fall of Reach to learn about the beginning of the spartan program. I think both are good starting places to jump into the halo universe. There is also the Forerunner books by Greg Bear. Those books go even further back and tell the story of Bornstellar and a lot of back story about the history of the forerunners. However the books can be a lot to Wade through. Depends on what you want to learn about.

I enjoyed silent storm. If I remember correctly it follows a young master chief after he has become a Spartan but before the events of combat evolved and before he has really gained the noteriety and respect of the UNSC. I could be wrong. I get them mixed up in my head. I'm working my way to new blood.

Legendary. Thanks, mate :messenger_beermugs: . I really like Joseph Staten so I'll start at Contact Harvest.
 

nillapuddin

Member
Haha we were missing them :messenger_grinning_squinting: How have you been?

not bad at all!

I was just drudging through the depths of everything Halo related on my computer, moving tons of files around and thankfully I legit saved a picture of my log-in details lol

I used my college email 7-8 years ago when I signed up for this place and havent been able to get a password reset forever. Now for me to hit the way back machine and reminisce on the way we were...
 
I played a bunch of games last night and the night before on TMCC. It was a brutal night. I got my butt kicked pretty good, but, still, it was fun overall. Here are a couple of shameless clips.

Nothing crazy, but i realized i like to hop a lot.



Does anyone else have trouble making decisions when it is time to reload? I couldn't make up my mind on whether to switch weapons, reload, or throw grenades, and it probably cost me an extra kill or two.


not bad at all!

I was just drudging through the depths of everything Halo related on my computer, moving tons of files around and thankfully I legit saved a picture of my log-in details lol

I used my college email 7-8 years ago when I signed up for this place and havent been able to get a password reset forever. Now for me to hit the way back machine and reminisce on the way we were...
Yeah a lot has changed. Things are quieter here, but that doesn't stop me from double and triple posting.
 
They should bring back backpack reloading for Halo Infinite. It may be an unintended mechanic, but I love it.

Halo CE <3
I'd be okay with that. I need to get all the reloading tricks nailed down because I have serious issues once I need to reload.
 
In Halo CE, unless you have a power weapon, just stick with the pistol 90% of the time and reload in cover. :messenger_winking_tongue:
Yeah this is true. The pistol is so good that switching to the AR feels like handicapping yourself.

On a side note, i wanted to ask if it bothers people when I post game clips. I love doing it but can also stop if it gets annoying.

Why you ask? Because I got moar!


Nice way to finish the game but I think I could have had more.
 
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So my local library has the Hunters in the Dark ebook now. I have to wait until someone else finishes reading it and then I'll start my reading campaign again. I don't know if they will ever get Fractures or Evolutions so I might just man up and buy the books lol.

Have some more clips as well. Trying to do my part while my team is stuck at the bottom of Derelict.


Unfortunate spawns for the other team on Damnation made for an easy extermination.


Some clean-up duty on Hang'em High with the other team completely oblivious that I'm behind them.
 
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How is everyone doing today? I've been patiently waiting for a new update from 343 but it looks like they may be waiting for the weekend. Or perhaps they'll do a community spotlight today or tomorrow. Anyway, I had probably one of my worst gaming sessions in months yesterday. Just constantly getting donged on by better teams or having really bad teammates or me just playing absolutely horrible. I go back to nights next week, so my next chance to redeem myself will be Monday night of next week.

Since there isn't a lot of news as of late, here are the remaining big events coming up where we could potentially get some Infinite news:

1) Gamescom in Cologne, Germany - August 20-24 (Special Inside Xbox Edition August 19)

2) PAX West in Seattle, WA - August 30-September 2

3) Tokyo Gameshow - September 11-15

4) PAX Australia in Melbourne - October 11-13

5) EGX in London - October 17-20

6) Paris Games Week - October 30 - November 3

7) PAX Unplugged Philadelphia, PA - December 6-8

8) Dream Hack in Jönköping, Sweden - December 13-15

Until then, wake me when you need me :messenger_sleeping:
 
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Not exactly a spectacular perfection. Three of the other team were playing splitscreen on the same box. But I did just barely get it with the final kill of the game. I had been pacing myself trying to not to do something stupid by wandering out into the open for no reason. Then I realized our team was nearing 50 points and was like welp I gotta get a move on lol.

 
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Havoc2049

Member
Nice! You don’t even scope in.

I hope there is more Halo and Xbox info in general at Gamescom. Microsoft hasn’t had a good Tokyo GS since the OG and early X360 days. Would love for that to change, but that is a long shot.

I’m making a final push to finish every MCC campaign mission on Legendary. Finished of Outskirts and Arbitor yesterday. Halo 2 is the hardest Halo game on Legendary. Once that is done, I’ll be at 100% for MCC.
 
Nice! You don’t even scope in.

I hope there is more Halo and Xbox info in general at Gamescom. Microsoft hasn’t had a good Tokyo GS since the OG and early X360 days. Would love for that to change, but that is a long shot.

I’m making a final push to finish every MCC campaign mission on Legendary. Finished of Outskirts and Arbitor yesterday. Halo 2 is the hardest Halo game on Legendary. Once that is done, I’ll be at 100% for MCC.
Ha yep I saw your achievement show up in the community tab of my dashboard. Halo 2 sucks on legendary. I was raging so many times from dying to jackal snipers. I just got done with the legendary stuff recently, but might go back and finish the par scores for ODST and Halo 3. Probably the coolest thing through all the campaigns that I encountered was the Halo 4 level Shutdown. You can skip almost the entire level and finish in about 6 minutes or less. Mind blown :D I think everyone is about to go crazy waiting on Reach flighting for console or for Reach to just release already. I don't mind the wait since I'm engrossed in CE right now, but I do want more Halo news in general. Reach, TMCC, Infinite - I don't care - just give it to me lol! I'm not familiar with all the game shows, so I don't know what is typical for MS, but I'm glad that there is at least one or more each month through the end of the year.
 
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Well that's annoying. I was up last night checking Halowaypoint for updates and my phone kept saying the site was down. I check again today to see that they released another community update over 10 hours ago, close to the time that I was having issues with the site. Here's a link:


Not a lot of breaking news with this update. It's more of a summary of recent events. They discuss upcoming tournaments, including that they will be at Gamescomm. They did mention that 343 has teamed up with Wicked New Toys to put out upcoming Halo Infinite stuff. Ambitious and unexpected directions. I'll be waiting to see more of what that entails lol.
"The Master Chief returns in Halo Infinite. The game continues the Halo 5: Guardians storyline and takes the franchise in ambitious and unexpected directions, powered by the all-new Slipspace Engine."
 
Oh snap look what someone pieced together! Listen to the clip when you get a chance and let the speculation begin!



Hiddenxperia is excited and coming out with a new speculation/analysis video tomorrow. This is fun!
 
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Cortana is still in the mix!
Yes! And she sounds normal not crazy like in Halo 5. I'd be extremely happy if Chief finds a way to get her back/fix her. I don't care if it seems like a lazy plot, unoriginal, or it is too predictable. The master chief isn't the master chief without her.

I rag on Halo 3 all the time. I really did not like multiplayer at all compared to 1 & 2, but the campaign was pretty good. And this opening was a delight with all the feels and emotions. I hope 343 can bring this back in Infinite.

 
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TMCC Development Update is here:



Sounds like they're having issues with bringing flighting to xbox one due to memory constraints. So flighting will be exclusively on pc for the time-being.
They acknowledge HCE bugs and lay out their intentions moving forward on what bugs they will work on fixing and when - Yay!!
More Outpost Discovery news.
Actually quite a bit of cool stuff this update.
 
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Dang this is what happens when I work extra night shifts in a row: I totally miss this week's community spotlight!



Love this colored pencil sketch of MC by grapefrootjoose on Reddit:
oicKQQS.jpg


Also pretty awesome. Another Reddit User creation (dovahkiin0117): I just love the expression and pose of the Jackal haha.
YMpbg71.jpg



EDIT: This is pretty cool. Saw on twitter this morning.
 
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Here is a short article update on the upcoming Halo tv series that I missed:


Also, another HCE clip of mine. Thought I might be able to pull off something crazy for a split second but I choked.
 
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This will make some people upset and some people happy. I'm indifferent. Infinite on Xbox one will have to be something massively scaled down, or at least I'm hoping. Otherwise infinite on Scarlett is not going to be the next gen eye charmer that we are all hoping it will be.
 
This will make some people upset and some people happy. I'm indifferent. Infinite on Xbox one will have to be something massively scaled down, or at least I'm hoping. Otherwise infinite on Scarlett is not going to be the next gen eye charmer that we are all hoping it will be.

I'll be playing on the PC for the foreseeable future. But this doesn't seem all too surprising.
 
Halo Reach Flighting update for TMCC:

It is a pretty thorough explanation on why the delay happened, where they are at with development, and their continued plans to get flighting out as soon as possible.

Here is a snippet:
"At the time of writing this, we have just completed our first Ring 1 test for Halo: Reach FireFlight on PC. Late last week, the team resolved the final key issue that had been blocking entering Ring 1 and now has a few bugs being worked on that are blocking Ring 2. There are currently five Ring 2 blockers, and fifteen Ring 3 blockers the team is working through."

So what does that mean? Check out the link to learn more!
 
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Havoc2049

Member
This will make some people upset and some people happy. I'm indifferent. Infinite on Xbox one will have to be something massively scaled down, or at least I'm hoping. Otherwise infinite on Scarlett is not going to be the next gen eye charmer that we are all hoping it will be.


OG Xbox One owners are about to get the Switch treatment. 😎😇
 
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This is kind of cool. It's basically the community update in Twitter form. All the recent news is listed in the thread. Looks like we will be going a few weeks without another community update. Perhaps 343 is hoping to the next one will have some good news regarding flighting?



Warning: Twitter dump
 
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All is quiet on the Halo front. For me, the book Hunters in the Dark finally became available at my local library and I've started reading again :messenger_sunglasses: I've got some more Halo clips to share if I can get them to download from Halowaypoint (been having some issues). Otherwise, here's the latest from HiddenXperia:



I think i'm gonna try that audible trial through HiddenXperia and either read Fractures or Evolutions. Which would one should I go with? Is one more recommended than the other? I know Evolutions came first, so maybe it's best to do that.
 
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Havoc2049

Member
All is quiet on the Halo front. For me, the book Hunters in the Dark finally became available at my local library and I've started reading again :messenger_sunglasses: I've got some more Halo clips to share if I can get them to download from Halowaypoint (been having some issues). Otherwise, here's the latest from HiddenXperia:



I think i'm gonna try that audible trial through HiddenXperia and either read Fractures or Evolutions. Which would one should I go with? Is one more recommended than the other? I know Evolutions came first, so maybe it's best to do that.


I haven't read either cover to cover, but I've picked out a few of the short stories here and there that interested me. Blunt Instruments is a really good short story about Team Black in Evolutions. I'm a big fan of Team Black though and I like the concept of a secret Spartan team doing Oni's dirty work. I think it would make a great side story video game.

The Impossible Life and The Possible Death of Preston J. Cole in Evolutions is interesting to read as well.

If you get a chance, Halo Blood Line is a graphic novel that tells a cool tale about Team Black.
300px-Halo_Blood_Line_HC.jpg
 
I haven't read either cover to cover, but I've picked out a few of the short stories here and there that interested me. Blunt Instruments is a really good short story about Team Black in Evolutions. I'm a big fan of Team Black though and I like the concept of a secret Spartan team doing Oni's dirty work. I think it would make a great side story video game.

The Impossible Life and The Possible Death of Preston J. Cole in Evolutions is interesting to read as well.

If you get a chance, Halo Blood Line is a graphic novel that tells a cool tale about Team Black.
300px-Halo_Blood_Line_HC.jpg
sounds good to me, but gotta give me some time :D I can only read so fast! Isn't it fun learning about the different Spartans? Blue Team, Green Team (Kurt is one of my favs), and then Grey Team that I just recently learned of by reading the Cole Protocol. Right now I'm reading up on some of the Spartan IV's in Hunters in the Dark. I didn't like Kodiak at first but he is starting to grow on me. I'm liking the Sanghelli too. N'tho is okay in my book.

EDIT:

Here we go. Everyone waiting on OS and they knew I was up there. Yolo!!



An extermination that i'm not sure i deserved:



Overkill where I wasn't patient enough to wait for a pistol reload - time to pray and spray with the AR instead lol:
 
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Finished Hunters in the Dark. That was a fast read and I enjoyed it. Elites, at least the ones with the Arbiter, are so cool. They just have a certain air about them regarding life and honor and duty. Plus the book takes us back to the Ark, which was kind of fun. Tragic Solitude was an interesting character indeed.

Edit: Honestly warzone assault is probably my favorite game type in Halo 5. I was sad that the population dwindled and now it is only in a rotation. Might have to jump on this weekend just because.


I forgot this was a thing. I have no opinion on it.
 
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Check this out. I like the idea. Hopefully 343 can make it work and the page takes off.


Also live in Europe:


Head over to the new page right now to watch.
Live.Halo.gg
 
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Absolutely laughable article. Game is still over a year away from release. I think 343 can handle things even with the departure of Infinite's creative director. Also, we have known for some time that microtransactions would be in Infinite in some shape or form. I think the way it was done in Halo 5 was at the very least non-invasive compared to other games. As long as they keep it out of competitive play I'm fine with it.

Id like to believe that 343 decided to go back to traditional halo gameplay and he was upset and left lol. Pretty sure that is just me wishcasting what I want in the game though.
 
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Havoc2049

Member
This is what I said about Tim Longo many moons ago. I'm glad he is gone.💃🕺

I find this alot with Republic Commando. While not always the case, it seems that many hardcore FPS fans usually think Republic Commando to be rather meh and non-FPS fans seem to enjoy Republic Commando.

I'm a big FPS fan and I'm not a big fan of Republic Commando. I don't like the level design, the team mechanics and AI is rather basic and feels clunky and clumsy and the characters have no soul. Needless to say, Tim Longo went on from Republic Commando to eventually become Creative Director for 343i and Halo 5 Guardians and he brought those same qualities to Halo 5 and made one of the worst campaigns in the Halo universe. -_-
 
This is cool. I watched flamesword ace and APG a lot back when they were competing in Halo 5. Glad to see Ace and APG win this Halo 3 tourney. Having snipedown and snakebite always helps though lol. Some of the best shots in the game.


This is what I said about Tim Longo many moons ago. I'm glad he is gone.💃🕺
Couldn't agree more!
 
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Havoc2049

Member
Man, this sebaxtann kid screwed up my 6 game win streak mojo. I’m super close to hitting the 350 win achievement and then proceeded to loose like five more games in a row and ended up just calling it a day. The game knows I’m close, so they kept putting nuggs on my team. :ROFLMAO:

4132cbdd-ec2d-4517-a226-4a25cb5a25f6.PNG


ae9175c7-9591-457c-af6d-0dbdb93d092e.PNG


When are you going to be on again DM?
 
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Man, this sebaxtann kid screwed up my 6 game win streak mojo. I’m super close to hitting the 350 win achievement and then proceeded to loose like five more games in a row and ended up just calling it a day. The game knows I’m close, so they kept putting nuggs on my team. :ROFLMAO:

4132cbdd-ec2d-4517-a226-4a25cb5a25f6.PNG


ae9175c7-9591-457c-af6d-0dbdb93d092e.PNG


When are you going to be on again DM?
oh that sucks.. I know the feeling. I spend a lot of my time sharing screenshots on xbox live of my post game lobby team stats haha. Just share it and say, "but why?" You'll pick it up your next game session I'm sure. As far as when I'll be on next, I think i'll be on next Monday night. I have a short turn around to get my schedule onto a night shift schedule. Will see how long i can stay up lol. Changing subjects, I was kind of bummed that we didn't get any major Halo news at gamescom. I guess I wasn't really expecting much, but I keep hoping that we'll get some Infinite news at one of these big events.
 
New community spotlight is out:

There was also a gears of war themed cannon fodder after all this time. I'm late per usual:
 
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I feel like time is moving so slowly these days. Knowing that Infinite is still a year away and not having any confidence whatsoever that we will get any meaningful news in the near future is depressing. When I can get in some games of TMCC I've been playing Halo CE Social Slayer (shocker!). I was able to play several games with Havoc2049 Havoc2049 recently and we had a good time. GG's man.

Also here is the most recent Community Update. I could be wrong, but it sounded like we might get another update of some sort from Postums on Friday sometime.
 
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