weekly-update
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Halo 3 map talk and a Halloween surprise
In last night's newly released Bungie Weekly Update, the Bungie clan talks about VGA, banhammers, melees, maps and Halloween surprises. We're going to talk about the last two subjects, so if vga, banhammers or melees tickle your fancy then make the jump, because you're not getting anything from us.Progress on the upcoming Halo 3 multiplayer map DLC is moving along swimmingly and are being developed in logical order focusing on filling current multiplayer map voids. All the new maps are in the testing phase and Frankie also mentions that "two of them in particular will cause a Three Mile Island scale pant-fill-disaster in the Halo community". We're not sure what that means, but we think we like it. Bungie also confirmed that they have a super secretly exciting Halo 3 Halloween surprise planned for next Wednesday. Details are scant right now, but we do know that their spooktacular surprise will last 27 hours around Halloween and relates to matchmaking. Our guess, expect a social or ranked matchmaking playlist featuring nothing but Infection. Oh, and maybe a special Halloween medal too.The Weekly Update is chalk full of tidbits, news and Halo 3 details this week. Run (don't walk) over to Bungie.net and get your read on, you'll be happy you did.
Bungie talks Halo 3 EXP boosting
Snuggled securely within' this week's Bungie Weekly Update is talk about Halo 3 rank, EXP and the bad guys who boost. Bungie's stance on the issue is that cheating to inflate ones rank (the number you see in a ranked playlist) is unacceptable no matter what, because that involves other players and matchmaking. But EXP boosting (your military rank) isn't all that monitored and can technically be inflated since it has no barring on matchmaking and is only representative of how much Halo 3 you play. Though, there is no guarantee that EXP boosters won't be publicly mocked. Just don't cheat, don't boost and play the game to have fun and you won't have Bungie's mighty Banhammer smacked upon your face. Playing fair kids, we all learned that in Kindergarten.
Halo 3 meets Battlezone in Bungie's update
Bungie's Weekly Update brought forth many details about Halo 3's progress, especially on the graphical front. From glass shaders, to foliage reacting convincingly to its environment, to realistic water effects, things are definitely looking good for our flagship franchise. A cool tool they've been toying around with is the ability to toggle a vector outline view of the game, pictured above. On the audio side of things, Marty has been busy in LA recording dialog from various voice actors. In terms of gameplay audio, they go into detail about how gunfire, for example, has two samples, based on proximity, and how the fade from one to the other depending how far you are from the firefight. There are a bunch of cool details available for you to digest, so click the "Read" link and get yourself stoked.
Halo 3 development is moving swimmingly
Frankie's Bungie Weekly Update was posted last night and it sheds light on a few nuggets of info. First, Frankie discusses how fast Halo 3 is changing daily like new lighting effects being placed, new art, textures, particles, it must be amazing to see the progress. Testing every aspect of the game is moving along, from multiplayer to the numerous levels of difficulty on the campaign settings. Oh, and Frankie's pretty water is going to be dropped into the build soon ... he's already salivating from the anticipation. Finally, we get confirmation that those lovely multiplayer awards (double kill, killtacular, etc.) are coming back in full force. Every single one from Halo 2 plus brand new ones and possibly a few easter egg awards. Only nine months or so until release ... man do we need a spring beta ASAP.
Halo 3 events recapped [update 1]
Over at Bungie.net, Frankie has posted a fact filled Weekly Update, and does a nice recap of whats been happening lately on the Halo 3 front. Frankie confirms some details about the special Halo 3 commercial that is going to be airing Monday, that there will be a FREE Halo 3 theme released Monday, and also that they've been testing "Pimps at Sea" at its alpha stage. Also, about midway down the page Frankie lists some facts about the commercial and drops a little hint that the it is "packed full of clues and stuff". Wha? Clues and stuff ... I can guarantee that there will be 4,000+ articles picking apart this commercial frame by frame come Tuesday morning. Be quick, head over to Bungie.net, fill your brain with knowledge, and wait patiently for manic Monday to come.Update 1: It looks like the Halo 3 theme I mentioned may not be free after all and may not arrive Monday. Hey, it was wishful thinking wasn't it?
