FanFest Documentary Update

Just when you thought it was safe to put FanFest behind you... BAM! Mr.Smiley comes out of nowhere with another update to his ongoing documentary series. In Episode 3, Mr.Smiley takes you into the Halo 2 Theater for a glimpse at the FanFest premier of the gameplay demonstration and the fan reactions afterwards. And yes... assembling those goodie bags really was that crazy!

If you haven't seen the other videos produced by Smiley and Company, here's the full list for your viewing pleasure:

BFFD Trailer

Windows Media

Quicktime

BFFD – Episode 0

Windows Media

Quicktime

BFFD – Episode 1

Windows Media

Quicktime

BFFD – Episode 2

Windows Media

Quicktime

BFFD – Episode 3 (NEW!)

Windows Media

Quicktime

Higher res versions of these videos can be found over at halo.bungie.org

Stay tuned for the much anticipated Episode 4 where Smiley gets up close and personal with Jen Taylor, aka Cortana!

Halo PC Worlwide Championship

In case you didn't notice the post earlier or have just plain forgotten, registration for the Halo PC Worldwide Championship is underway at this very moment! You've only got 17 days left to step up and enter yourself in this momentous event. It's easy to claim you've got l33t skillz but only the true World Champion will walk away with the prizes and the title.

Don't be scared. Head on over, sign yourself up, and then start practicing like crazy. Anything can happen, you may even win it all!

Bungie, Gearbox and CPL IRC Chat

Sorry for the last minute notice on this but if you haven't already heard, members of Bungie, Gearbox and the CPL will be participating in a IRC chat tomorrow, October 29th! Halo PC was recently added to the roster for the CPL's NVIDIA $30,000 Halo PC Winter Championship. We'll all be taking part in this chat to answer questions about Halo PC and the upcoming event.

Here's the word straight from the CPL site:

The CPL has announced that on Wednesday, October 29 at 5pm PST | 7pm CST | 8pm EST it will host an unprecedented event on its IRC channel #CPL at the GamesNET IRC network.
In response to the overwhelming interest displayed by the gaming community towards CPL's newly selected tournament game HaloPC, the CPL has invited representatives from Microsoft, Bungie and Gearbox to an organized discussion on its IRC channel. These representatives, along with CPL staff, will answer questions directly from the community regarding HaloPC, as well as the NVIDIA $30,000 HaloPC Winter Championship. Also expected to attend are media representatives from several PC gaming news sites, as well as other media representatives.

The CPL channel #cpl on GamesNET will be inaccessible to the public for a few hours prior to this event, then will open promptly at 7pm CST.

This event is the latest effort extended by the Cyberathlete Professional League to broaden communication between game developers, league officials and the people who play the games. By providing a forum through which the players can interact with the game developers, the CPL offers gamers the opportunity to ask questions and give feedback while also providing the developers an opportunity to become familiar with both professional and casual gamers.

Stay tuned to Bungie.net for an inside interview with Angel Munoz, president and founder of the CPL, with more info on this huge Halo PC event and the story behind the CPL.

Reactor Report part 2

The autograph session immediately after our panel gave us a chance to speak with some die-hard Halo players one on one. We were all mutually surprised at finding each other at an anime convention. When some of them heard that Bungie was going to be at Anime Reactor, they didn't expect anybody from the development team to actually represent. For us, there were four major reasons for being at Anime Reactor:

1) There was going to be a Halo tournament, and it was an opportunity to interact with the fan community in a more accessible way.
2) The presence of Japanese guest of honor, Tsutomu Nihei, whose work the three of us admired.
3) Anime Reactor founders, James Alsup III and Ben Nunez, were our old friends and we couldn't turn down their invitation.
4) Anime Reactor was in the Chicagoland area, where the three of us still had friends and family.

Though the blur of events and lack of sleep has faded my memory of Friday; I can say this: We got our butts whooped playing Halo!!

Robert and Shi Kai played against a couple of fans up in their room. I can only remember two of the six folks in the room; Coriana and Adam. (Sorry guys!) Coriana wanted to show us their "Joust" gametype. But before doing that, two of the fellas played Robert and Shi Kai on Wizard for a game of Team Slayer. The Bungie guys took the lead earlier on, but halfway through, the fans racked it up and sacked our dynamic duo. Then they loaded up their Joust game on Blood Gulch. The dance of Warthogs and Spartans were amazing to watch. I wish we were able to record this wild racing game. The three of us were expected elsewhere so after a few minutes of playing, three of the guys left the game one after the other, leaving Shi Kai to win by default -- but as the stats came up, it turned out that he did end up with the highest score. Hurray for small victories!

Next: "Blam!"

Quick Reactor Report

I always forget how hectic these conventions get! We took the red-eye out of Seattle on Thursday night and arrived at the convention at around 6am. Got two hours of sleep before we started our day. Friday was pretty slow. We showed up to our panel on time but there was nobody there. We handed over a DVD of Halo2 goodness to the AV tech crew and decided to sit in the front row to heckle our own trailer. We were just two minutes in when we realized a bunch of fans had started gathering behind us, watching as the Chief rode the elevator down to the launch bay. It wasn't long before others joined in on the friendly heckling! But when the guy next to me started saying "Looks like Starship Troopers" I gave him a gimlet stare. But it was all in good fun. We got asked some questions while we were sitting there and got a round of applause at the end of the clip.

We decided to take to the stage and encouraged everyone to move to the front and center.

The usual questions did pop up:
When is Halo 2 coming out? I heard it was for February! Or Will you be able to play 4-player in campaign mode?

It was all good. We gave away OXM June issues (the one with the Master Chief holding the dual SMG's) to the first fifteen individuals who came up. Then we were autographing convention program books, copies of Halo Game of the Year editions and one fellow actually brought up an Oni game disc. For sure, we got a good workout! ;)

Next: Playing Xbox Halo with some die-hard fans!

The Hunt Goes On

The Great Halo Scavenger Hunt happening at halo.bungie.org still has over 2 dozen prizes waiting to be won! In an effort to give people a nudge in the right direction, Louis Wu has revealed a few more clues to provide encouragement. There are a ton of great prizes still up for grabs! It sure would be a shame to let them all go to waste. Head over to HBO, read up on the latest info, and take a stab at locating the elusive trinkets.

Interview with bentllama

Bungie's bentllama , aka Nathan Walpole, one of the Cananimators, recently shared some insight into the world of game animation in a great interivew at DPerry.com. Unlike his recent contributions to Bungie.net, you won't find gratuitous references to things like hockey or bacon but you will find a wealth of information to help aspiring animators break into the industry. No Halo 2 spoilers though... sorry!

Mac Halo Release Info

A few folks have sent word that Macsoft, the publisher for Mac Halo, has come forth with a release date for this much anticipated port. According to reports, Halo for Mac will land on retail shelves on December 3, 2003.

Here's the full text, borrowed from Macgamer.com.


MacSoft announced today that the Mac version of Halo: Combat Evolved will be released and on store shelves on December 3rd.

Halo: Combat Evolved has been fully optimized for modern Macintosh hardware, including 3D acceleration, and supports all the screen resolutions a gamer's computer can handle, up to 1600x1200 and beyond.

Players will take the Master Chief through a series of battles across, beneath, and over the surface of the Halo, a giant ring-shaped structure orbiting a distant planet. Players can use vehicles and weapons taken from enemies or brought by allies as they discover the secrets of the ancient race that built Halo.

In addition, the Mac and PC version of Halo adds a variety of multiplayer game options, including team-based and vehicle-based combat and even racing.

Halo was ported to the Mac by Westlake Interactive, who worked with Bungie and Gearbox Software, who worked on the original PC port. MacSoft is a division of Destineer.

That's a mere 6 weeks more to go! Hang in there Mac players... the circle will soon be complete.

Halo Artists at Anime Reactor

Hey everybody. Robert McLees, Shi Kai Wang and I are going to be at Anime Reactor this weekend -- October 24-26. They're holding an Xbox Halo tournament and we're giving away prizes. Anime Reactor has also asked us to do autograph sessions, panel discussions and workshops. Stop by and say hello!

Halo-Ween Contest

Want to win a copy of Halo PC or some other cool Bungie stuff? Bust out your carving knives and sharpen your skillz for the first ever Halo-ween pumpkin carving contest! The top three Halo-inspired pumpkins will win nifty prizes.

Halo-ween Pumpkin Carving Contest

1. Get a fresh pumpkin
2. Get a knife (kids, be sure to get an OK from your parents, knives are dangerous!)
3. Draw inspiration from the Halo universe
4. Slice, dice and carve your masterpiece onto your pumpkin
5. Send us a picture of it!

The rules

1. All entries will be judged by members of Bungie based on creativity and quality of work. What we say is final. This is our contest. We pick what we like. Winners will be announced on Bungie.net on Monday, 11/3/03.

2. Only one entry is allowed per person. Don't even try it... if you send in more than one, you're out of the contest and some bad Haloween mojo is headed your way.

3. Original photos only! This means no photoshopping or trickery will be accepted. This is the real deal. If your image is doctored in any way, your entry is void. Don't try to fool us. If we even suspect forgery we'll toss it. Seriously.

It is recommended that you put a candle, flashlight or some other light source inside your carved out pumpkin to make the image more visible.

4. The top 3 pumpkins will win prizes! You'll be contacted by us, at the email you used to send in the picture, within a few days of the contest ending. If you're mailing in your entry, be sure to include some kind of way to contact you. We are not responsible for incorrect or invalid contact information.

5. The contest ends on 10/31/03 . No photos will be accepted after that.

How to Enter

1. Entries can be submitted digitally by sending your picture to us at feedback@bungie.com. Put "Halo-ween Contest" in subject line.

Any standard image format is accepted -(.jpeg, .bmp, .tif, .gif, etc...)

Your total file size for your picture should not exceed 1 MB and the overall resolution should be at least 640x480 pixels. (it needs to be big enough for us to see it clearly, but not so big that we can print out posters from it!)

2. If you prefer the old fashioned way, original photos can be mailed to:

Bungie Studios
Attn: Halo-Ween Contest
One Microsoft Way
Redmond, WA 98052

All mailed entries must be in our hands by Sunday, 11/2 . Please allow adequate time for mail delivery. We are not responsible if your entry gets lost or delayed.

Prizes

1st Place:

• 1 copy of Halo for PC
• 1 Halo PC strategy guide
• 1 Halo Poster – Signed by Bungie team members
• Master Chief mini figure
• Bungie stickers

2nd Place:

• 1 Halo PC strategy guide
• 1 Halo Soundtrack
• Master Chief mini figure
• Bungie stickers

3rd Place:

• Halo T-Shirt
• Master Chief mini figure
• Bungie stickers

More Contest Madness...

Remember, The Great Halo Scavenger Hunt is still underway at halo.bungie.org. There are tons of great prizes still up for grabs! Go here for more info!

Mac Halo Mini Update

We haven't had much to say about the Mac version of Halo lately because new information has been a little hard to come by. After the extensive interviews that were released on halo.bungie.org, things got pretty quiet. If you missed those interviews, you can find them here:

Interview with Peter Tamte (Destineer Studios, Mac Halo Publisher)

Interview with Phil Sulak (Wetlake Interactive, Mac Halo Developer)

In an attempt to bring our readers the latest info about the long awaited Mac version, I tracked down Al Schilling, General Manager for MacSoft (part of Destineer, the publisher). In keeping with Michel Bastien's (Bungie's Halo PC Producer) tradition, Al has agreed to send over weekly updates so we can pass them along to you.

Unfortunately Al wasn't able to get time with the engineers as of this writing so he isn't able to share as much info as he'd like. If I get more, I'll definitely update this post. In the meantime, here's what he did pass along:

We've been doing a lot of "pre-beta" testing on Halo Mac while waiting for some of the final details to be taken care of (recompressing videos, etc.). Pixel shaders are working and look great on the Mac hardware. Those who are on the official beta-testing team will be getting CDs on Monday or Tuesday of next week. All-in-all, the game is looking solid. Most efforts from here to release will be concentrated on optimizing for speed.

Sorry I couldn't come up with more info, but it sounds like everyone is pretty busy and it's tough to pin them down. Don't worry, I will continue to pry and harass as needed to keep the info flowing. I'm hoping we'll get a juicier update for next Friday. For now, just know that the Mac version is creeping closer and closer to release and before too much longer, Mac and PC players will collide for online carnage. Woot!

Halo PC Demo - Available Now!

The demo for Halo PC is now available! Head over to IGN and start downloading. The demo weighs in at about 131 MB and includes "The Silent Cartographer" (single player) and "Blood Gulch" (online multiplayer CTF & Slayer for 16 people). Check it out and see why the rest of us haven't been getting much sleep lately.

UPDATE - The trial version can now also be downloaded via the Microsoft site, here

Halo PC Demo Tomorrow

Tomorrow morning, at approximately 10am PST, the demo for Halo PC will be released. "The Silent Cartographer" is included as a sample of the single player experince while "Blood Gulch" will also be available with support for online matches of CTF and Slayer with up to 16 players.

The demo will initially debut at IGN Downloads with many more mirrors coming online shortly after.

Of course most of you have already been enjoying the game for a while now but if you've been holding out, grab the demo and see what you've been missing!

Halo PC Worldwide Tournament

Do you have what it takes to become the world's greatest Halo player? Registration is now open for anyone interested in participating in the upcoming Worldwide Halo PC Tournament! Tournament play officially begins on Nov.15 and will be happening all across the globe. In addition to a ton of great prizes, someone will be crowned the ultimate Halo PC Worldwide Champion on January 25, 2004. Are you up to the challenge?

The U.S. divisional and regional play will take place at iGames gaming centers across the country.

What are you waiting for? Go to the EB Games Registration Page and step up to the challenge!

The Hunt Continues

Two weeks ago we posted info about the The Great Halo Scavenger Hunt taking place over at HBO. Well, the hunt is still on and there are over 25 prizes still up for grabs. Apparently the buzz has slowed down a bit due to the complexity and difficulty of the hunt but don't fret - it's completely possible to solve and some people have already finished it! Louis Wu @ HBO posted a new clue today to try and get people on the right track. Read it here and get hunting! Better yet, team up with some buddies and put yer heads together. We've donated a ton of prizes for this and it would be a shame to see them go to waste.

JoyRide Halo Figures Update

The next assortment of figures from Joy Ride is getting closer to release and Bnet member figureman sent over this quick update for us all:

Second Wave of Halo Figures Hitting Stores Soon!

A new assortment of figures and vehicles from the vastly popular Halo series will soon be enlisted to take part in the never-ending battle to save humanity from impending doom, and YOU can be among the first to “arm yourself” with these latest releases!

This second series comes ready for action with:

Master Chief (Green) – now armed with a rocket launcher and tactical shotgun (new weapons for the Master Chief)!

Master Chief (Red) – depicting one of the most popular color choices from the multiplayer game.

Elite - one of the warriors that commands the alien collective’s military juggernaut!

Ghost – the fast and versatile attack vehicle. Also includes 3” Elite, Jackal and Master Chief figures.

There will be a “sneak peek” of these exciting new figures and vehicles in mid-October at the Times Square Toys-R-Us, and they will then be available in early November at GameStop, Hollywood Video, Blockbuster, Musicland, Sun Coast Video, Sam Goodie, Electronic Boutique, and Toys-R-Us in Canada.

You can see images of these new figures over in our Halo collectibles gallery

Joy Ride's online retail site, DieCastExpress.com is currently taking pre-orders for these new figures.

Also, if you're in the New York area, be sure to check out Toys R Us and support these figures! If things go well, they'll hopefully roll them out to all of their stores!

Halo PC Storms the UK

Today is a good day for Halo fans in the UK. Halo for PC was released overseas today and should bring a ton of new players into the online fray. If you live in that neck of the woods, check out Bungie's dedicated UK servers which are labled "BNG-EU-." See you online!

Servers Galore!

With the recent release of Halo PC Dedicated Server 1.02, we've been able to vastly increase the number of Bungie dedicated servers that are in operation. Currently there are 128 instances of Halo PC up and running for your gaming pleasure! That's enough to accommodate almost 2,000 of you!

We've got 68 games in the U.S. and another 60 set up for tomorrow's European release. To find one of our servers, look for "BNG-" in the name (BNG-EU- for Europe). When we're not busy working, chances are you'll run into members of the Bungie team as we partake in a little online carnage.

Our servers are broken up into several groups depending on the gametypes being played. Here's a quick overview:

• BNG-CTF = All CTF. All the time. Maps will vary.
• BNG-Assault = Strictly Assault. This is the CTF variant where each team takes turns on offense trying to deliver their flag to the enemie's base. Maps will vary.
• BNG-Slayer = Slayer, plain and simple. Kill or be killed. This will alternate between FFA and Team Slayer games.
• BNG-Small = An assortment of gametypes geared for smaller games. The max players on these servers is only 8 and overall the map selection tends to stick with small to medium sized maps.
• BNG-Teams = A mix of gametypes but all are team based - Team King, Team Slayer, Team Oddball, CTF, etc..
• BNG-FFA = Are you a one man killing machine? These servers are all set up with free-for-all gametypes (Slayer, Oddball, King, etc..)

In the near future, we'll be posting a full list of our servers along with their current map cycle logs so you can find the server that's right for you. We'll also be refining and tweaking the various server offerings based on your feedback as time goes on. Be sure to check out our Halo PC gametypes database and submit your requests for custom gametypes. You can also rate submissions made by other Bnet members.

Happy Gaming!

...and if you run across BNG-Sketch in a game, go easy on me! =)

Halo PC Info & New Forum

The Halo PC Technical and Performace FAQ is now available as a stand alone page over at halo.bungie.net. This FAQ, as well as the Dedicated Server 1.02 Readme and several other useful links can all be accessed at the new Halo PC info page. You can also click the handy dandy Halo PC banner at the top of Bungie.net.

In order to better accommodate the flood of Halo PC players, we've created a new forum devoted specifically to Halo PC discussion. The Maw is now open for business and is the place to go to talk about anything and everything related to Halo PC (and soon to include Mac as well).

Halo PC 1.02 Patch and Performance FAQ

Right now a small update for Halo PC is being released online and the next time you connect you should automatically download the patch. This update will allow everyone to connect to the new Dedicated Server 1.02 that was released yesterday.

Over the past week, many of you have expressed questions and concerns regarding the performance of Halo on your PC. Today we're releasing a special Halo PC Techincal & Performance FAQ that was put together by teams at Bungie, Gearbox and MS to try and answer some of these questions. Here's a note from Halo PC Producer Michel Bastien:

We’ve put this FAQ together for you guys. By we, I mean Bungie, Gearbox and Microsoft. Every engineer at Gearbox has reviewed this FAQ and communicated their feedback, so did our senior Development Manager at Microsoft Game Studios (the guy who wrote timedemo and led the effort to reduce the memory consumption of the game).

You now know many, many technical details about the PC version of Halo.

We acknowledge Halo is a demanding piece of software but I personally have played it on many different configurations and consistently tweaked it to have an enjoyable game experience.

Having said this, tweak your settings, get them to your liking and immerse yourself in the world of Halo. Then, get your ass online now… are you still reading this? Get online! We’re quadrupling our number of dedicated servers this week. We’re adding more game types to our own game rotations. You have a suggestion? Check out the Halo gametypes database on Bungie.net and submit your request! We’re working hard on preparing our MOD tools to release them to you... Then, you guys will be the ones driving the experience in new directions, creating the next Timberland, the next Blood Gulch and who knows what. I’ll be online playing it.

Thanks for reading and, more important, thanks for playing.

Michel Bastien
Producer
Bungie Studios
halopc@bungie.com


An online version of this FAQ is being produced at the moment but in the meantime, you can download the .rtf file here.

Now stop reading this, grab the patch... and in the words of Sgt. Johnson, "buckle up and get ready to dance you pasty bastards!"

Halo for PC Dedicated Server 1.02 Released!

Late last week we announced that due to popular demand, the pre-release version of the Halo PC dedicated server was being made available. Today, we're happy to report that Halo PC Dedicated Server 1.02 has been released! Read on for important info...

Halo PC Dedicated Server 1.02

Hello! Welcome to the second release of the Halo PC Dedicated Server (version is 1.02). Cool features in this new release include multiple instances support and RCon (Remote Console) support. See the accompanying readme file for more information.

Very important note: this dedicated server will not work with the Halo version 1.01 client – the current version of Halo available to the public. We will release the Halo version 1.02 patch tomorrow morning (Wednesday, October 8th) at 9:30 AM PST. We are releasing this dedicated server tonight to give enough time to server operators to set up their updated dedicated server. Our Bungie dedicated servers will be updated progressively to 1.02 and the number of Bungie servers will quadruple (thanks to multiple instances!).

Note that the instructions to run a dedicated server have changed slightly due to multiple instances support. The readme file gives you all the information you need to be back up and running in a breeze. For additional information, please check out the Server Administration forums on the Gearbox site.

Thanks,

-mbastien

Gimme the goods!
The 1.02 server consists of two separate files - the main system file and then the maps. The only file that is available this evening is the actual server app. A re-release of the map files will be available tomorrow for those of you who don't already have it. If you already have the maps on your retail CD or downloaded them as part of the pre-release version, you're all set. Otherwise, you'll need to download the map files tomorrow.

The 1.02 Ded Server file can be found here * Right click 'save as'

The Great Halo Scavenger Hunt!

Want a shot at winning a ton of cool Bungie prizes? How about a brand new copy of Halo PC ? Or perhaps the Sybex Halo PC Strategy guide or some figures from Joy Ride? If that doesn't get you excited, we've also thrown in autographed Halo stuff, Bungie Store gift certificates and our pals over at RvB have passed along copies of the complete first season DVDs and other merchandise. We've teamd up with our friends at halo.bungie.org to provide some great prizes and spread the love throughout the Halo community.

As the name implies, The Great Scavenger Hunt is just that - a hunt for stuff. Head over to the HBO TGHSH Rules Page for all the details as well as the full list of prizes. We're not kidding around here - this is a huge event. There are over 35 prizes to be won ranging from the ultimate Grand Prize to random drawings for everyone who successfully complets the hunt.

Don't waste another minute - get over to HBO and read the full rules and let the hunt begin!

Good luck!

Halo PC Dedicated Server Pre-Release

Halo PC should now be available anywhere games are sold and plenty of players are swarming online to get in on the multiplayer action. However, one thing that is not included on the retail CD is the app needed to run your own dedicated server. Well, due to popular demand, we've pushed forward the distribution of the pre-release server and it's now available for your hosting pleasure. Read on for important info...

Welcome to the pre-release of the Halo PC Dedicated Server!

Due to the overwhelming demand and popularity of Halo PC on its initial ship day, we are releasing our dedicated server to the community earlier than planned. Please take a couple of minutes to read this note – it will provide you with important information and save you time.

The file you are downloading, or are about to download, is a self-extracting file. Installation is extremely simple:

1. Double-click HaloPC_DS.exe to extract the files to a folder on your hard disk. (e.g. C:\HaloPC_DS)

2. Double-click C:\halopc_DS\halopc_reg.reg file.

3. Run haloded.exe.

The .REG file will install only for the current user so you should install and run the dedicated server logged on as the same user on your computer.

Configuration is handled through the init.txt and mapcycle.txt files in this version. Samples have been provided to run a few maps and get you up and running very quickly. The text files can be modified to include more features, different server name, maps used and game variations.

You can get a listing of the different console commands by pressing the TAB key within the console window and then using "help command" (where command is actually one of the console commands listed) to get specific help on a command.

Upcoming Release

Within the next week or so, we will release an updated dedicated server. These changes are to be expected:

• Support for multiple instances
• RCON support

Much more complete setup and operation instructions
We’ve created a forum on the Gearbox Site specifically for dedicated server operators. The dedicated server engineers will be browsing the forum and answering questions as they come. Once again, this is a pre-release of the Halo PC Dedicated Server and we are doing this to support our community and provide gamers with quality game servers for online play. Please do not contact the Microsoft Customer Support about any dedicated server issues. This is an unsupported feature.

Thanks for your interest in Halo PC and see you online!

-Bungie & Gearbox

Where to get it

The application is being released now and should start to appear all across the net. Our friends over at halo.bungie.org have set up a page that will contain links to all known mirror sites that have the server available:

Halo PC Ded Server Mirror List

Bungie.org Mirror List

They will continue to update this page with known mirror sites as they become available. Stay tuned to Gearbox and Bungie for more info!