Everytime I try to access the weekly update the thing crashes my browser (Internet Explorer version 6.0). Could someone copy and paste the weekly update on this thread so I can read it?
I dunno which Weekly Update ur talking about so ill post the UNSCDF and Bungie Updates
The Bungie Weekly Update Posted by Frankie at 12/22/2006 2:44 PM PST
So this is the last update before we head off for the holidays. The office is empty, with only the rustle of tumbleweeds, and of course, the universe shaking howl of bitter anguish that is Noguchi’s rage. Next week, no update at all, as we sit around a log fire drinking eggnog, even though it makes us gag and the fire has heated up all the metal rivets on our jeans and burned our tender parts. Yes, the holidays are a special, special time, as anyone trying to park at Target or Best Buy this weekend will discover.
This week was fairly uneventful, as the office started to empty for the break. Screens, usually aglow with interesting stuff, were occasionally dark and sleepy. Hao’s screen however, was awash with more water – he’s been working on what I can only describe as some sort of fluid dynamics system, but he’s too busy to interrupt, so I can’t tell yet if it has physics or just especially clever animation – but put it this way – it moves like water, it looks like water and it’s getting better.
He was also toying around with some shadows, especially the way they fade away to nothingness as strong, low sunlight scatters them. It was a perfectly still screen with four simple pillars casting their shadows, but the reason I noticed at all, was that it looked exactly like a photograph.
Lighting is one of the things folks commented on when they watched this week’s Vidoc – a short documentary about Brutes that we released as a kind of holiday treat. It included a brief glimpse at some of the Halo 3 Brute models and a hint at a lone indoor environment – yes – the same location the Master Chief is pictured standing in, in a recent screenshot.
We were not so naïve as to think that it wouldn’t cause a calamity on the interwebs, since after all, the tubes that supply the interwebs are lubricated by rage. So common complaints we saw were that the graphics didn’t look finished. The graphics that we said were unfinished. But we saw that coming, it’s one of the things we have to absorb in order to provide you guys with interesting stuff to look at. And that’s the point. We’re showing the game in development, like an X-Ray of a baby bird.
Right now, it’s going to look at times like a fluid-encased, bug eyed reptile. But when it’s born, in 2007, don’t sweat it, it will have grown into a shimmering pea****, tail fanned and feathers gleaming.
You’ll have to take our word for it. There’s no spin, or damage control and we’re absolutely unapologetic. Halo 3 is in development and when we’re ready to show you polished graphics, we’ll do that in our own good time. But we’re still going to continue to bring you peeks behind the curtain.
The other main concern voiced was about who you will and won’t fight against in Halo 3. We wanted to debut the Brutes, because they are going to be a ferociously important adversary in Halo 3, and more importantly, their behavior, their abilities and their differing roles are going to make them easily the equal of Elites, in terms of how they operate on the battlefield. So we’re paving the way. But they aren’t going to be fighting you alone. We won’t give too much away, but believe us, the Brutes and Brute packs will have plenty of allies.
As far as gameplay is concerned, you can make up your own mind early next year, when we give you the chance to play the Multiplayer beta. It won’t contain all of the cool new features from the game, but it will be a nice taste of what to expect. There will be more news about that in the very near future. Anyway, we’ve enjoyed spending another year with you guys – so enjoy the break and share the season’s warmth with your friends and family. Peace (and goodwill)!
______________________________________________________________________ UNSCDF - Posted by LoneRanger
Yet again, Bungie was completely silent this week. Well, they weren’t completely quiet. I mean, they did release a short little documentary, but it’s not like it cause any speculation or anything.
Wait. What’s that? Oh yeah. Bungie’s second ViDoc caused an avalanche of "Holy crap!" posts on every single one of the Internets. Unfortunately, most of those topics included the words "graphics" and "crap" (Between them being the word "are").
This has happened with every single video Bungie has released in the past five years, so every Bungie-ite was prepared right? Not so much. Every uninformed viewer managed to overlook the repeated term "Pre-Alpha" (It was written on the screen people!) and simply dissed Halo 3 to no end. I find it funny that this wouldn’t even be an issue for, oh say…Viva Pinata (No offense to Rare).
Anyway, you can grab it in both Standard Definition and High Definition at TeamXbox. If you’re looking to pause and rewind a lot, download the HD version, it’s worth it. Just to note: it is entitled "Et Tu, Brute." Also read Frankie’s short Q & A with the fans.
In overlooked news, KP reported on the results of the Child’s Play Charity Dinner, in which Bungie made a lot of money for charity.
One final Halo 3 tidbit came from a surprising source. In an interview with GameArena earlier this week, Max Hoberman (Recently departed from Bungie) unintentionally left us with this nugget:
"GA: Where is multiplayer heading, big picture?
MH: I would hope that more games are headed in the direction that we've tried to blaze with Halo 2. I've seen the start of a trend in this direction, and I've seen some huge leaps in online cooperative play, and I hope that this all is a sign of things to come. I think that Halo 3 will set the next standard, but I don't think the Bungie guys want me talking about everything they have up their sleeve just yet."
Remember though, nothing is confirmed until Bungie says so. In fact, this could be interpreted away from an Online Co-Operative mode (C’mon, I know that’s what you were thinking), but that’s just further adding to the speculation. So I digress.
And coinciding with all the new information we’ve been presented with, I will be working my way through every section of the site updating and editing everything. This won’t happen all at once though, and it certainly won’t start until after the 25th.
Okay, onto our biggest action this week. Major Silva and I made the decision to suspend CK’s control over the site. He simply hasn’t been around enough to let us know what to do, and that’s something that simply couldn’t continue if we were to have any hope of working on a living site.
And when CK failed to pay Eric Nylund back for the books he had to buy and ship in the Fan Fiction Contest, we realized that CK’S behavior had simply gone on for too long. If he does return, he’ll be returned back to power. Major Silva and I will then have to lay our fate in his hands. But we’re not waiting for his next move, we’re simply moving on.
I truly do wish that this didn’t have to happen, but there are some things that simply must be done. We wish to say sorry to those who had worries, so rest assured: we’re stronger now than we have been in months.
On the lighter side of things, we started up our Blog this week. It will have more posts on it soon; Silva’s reviewing Ghosts of Onyx, and I’m reviewing Gears of War. It will have posts from other staff members soon, so all you Saint fans out there will probably hear from him in the near future.
Also, you may see some new sections appear on the site. This includes one for the aforementioned Blog and one for future contests. In that same vein, more articles will be popping up soon. For example:
--Brute Plasma Rifle - Dr. Will
--Rtas' Vadumee (Half-Jaw) article - Saint
--Ardent V Missle Launcher - Brendan Fries, Major Silva
--CASTLE Base - Major Silva
--Fiber Optic Probe - Major Silva
--Updated articles by M6D - hopefully one or two, but he has yet to answer.
--And a slew of things from LoneRanger.
There's also the huge Fan-Fiction update, blog articles, and an update to the Secrets section. Actually looking at this stuff written down is quite amazing.
By the way, Eric Nylund provided us with this speculative message after he got his power back (He lives in the mountains of Washington, where the winds have been horrendous):
LoneRanger: There has been a lot of speculation surrounding the stories of both Gears of War and Ghosts of Onyx. How would you summarize the story line of both projects in one word?
Eric Nylund: The one word description for GHOSTS would be "sacrifice," and for GEARS it would be "redemption."
For those of you who don't know, Eric Nylund wrote the fourth Halo novel, Ghosts of Onyx, and also helped out with the story developement in the hit Xbox 360 game, Gears of War.
