Chronique:BWU 03/02/2006

Posted by Frankie at 2/3/2006 4:42 PM PST

This week we answer a bunch of questions, and show off our football colors. We also reveal the packaging for Soundtrack 2 and unleash some new wallpapers (Which will go up later Friday evening when Shishka stops playing Barbie Horse Adventures).

A slight break from the norm, as we answer questions from our forums, my mailbag and Halo.Bungie.Org's forums too. Addressed in this week's update are some technical questions, and the never-ending Marty soundtrack drama from which there is no escape.

More than one person asked,

I transferred my Live account to the Xbox 360 and now it says I am banned from matchmaking in Halo until the year 9999. Which seems a little harsh, for any reason.

The problem is that when you transferred your Live account ot the new console, you also transferred some parental control settings that you may not want. Go to the 360 dashboard, select Parental Controls and enable everything you want to enable in the "Xbox Live" section you find there. Bam! Fixed!

Peptuck asks,

After the Webmaster's spat a couple weeks back, it definitely looks like a novel is on the way. Any info on when the next Halo novel will be released?

There's no firm release date, but as we said before, we are talking to Eric Nylund and a couple of other elite authors about more than one novel. Ideally, we could see something within a year.

Folks still ask every single day,

I can't join game sessions with some players, including my best friend, unless somebody else invites me. What causes it and what can I do?

This type of error is often (but not always) caused by a thing called a NAT Type Error. There are a number of ways to solve this, but they're going to vary depending on your router, your firewall setting, which ports you have open and more, so we suggest searching the Interweb for troubleshooting data about your specific issue and hardware, and checking your dashboard settings too. One common fix (and this is for example only) is to open more ports in your router and switch to NAT type 1 – but again, that will vary wildly depending on your circumstances and the level of security you want. Consult an expert if in doubt.

Excalibur asks,

What kind of things are in the works over at the bungie.net website. What can we expect to see soon?
P.S. When are the webcams coming back?

We are working on cool new stuff for the website, but nothing to write home about. The webcams are (and have been) in place, but we have some networking issues to figure out before we put ‘em back into action and as you can imagine, they're kinda low on the priority list when compared to things like our shader farm or servers.

CannonFazha asks,

Will you (or anyone at your esteemed establishment) be attending E3 this year? Or possibly hosting a booth there?

There will almost certainly be Bungie peeps there, although the scale of that presence is yet to be determined. That means it's somewhere between Mat Noguchi going to check out some middleware, and the entire Bungie staff doing a naked parade down Wilshire. Will we have a booth? To be determined. I'm pretty sure Microsoft has a booth though.

Killamike23 asks,

Just wondering if there are any plans for Bungie to update the feedback system in Halo 2. It seems as though there are only a few relevant topics such as cheating, screaming, and good attitude, great session. Also, who is everyone at Bungie picking to win the Superbowl?

We won't be updating the selections available for feedback, since they are broad enough to cover everything, but Xbox Live is pretty diligent in dealing with complaints.And we're picking Seahawks, for obvious reasons. Most of us anyway.

CplSmithers asks,

Are the bathrooms at the new Bungie HQ better than the previous?

Yep, totally. We have more stalls, infra-red activated faucets (for germophobes) and the Carnegie Suite (handicapped stall). Also, since it's not MS corporate, the cleaners are less militant about removing issues of EGM and Entertainment Weekly. The ladies is a total mystery. There are only two ladies in the whole building anyway, so they might have recreated Paris in miniature in there, for all I know.

Zach asks,

First, any new wallpapers coming out? my desktop is boring... Second, is it true that the webmaster really ate Parsons?

Um yeah. I can see your wallpaper from here. We have between six and eight wallpapers in orbit, waiting to be deployed. I'm sure we'll do it soon. I don't know if the webmaster ate Pete Parsons or not. The real question is, ‘how often?' Anyway, you can find yer new wallpapers right here: New Wallpapers, Yo!

Scarab asks,

Did Bungie ever consider having the Heretic as a playable character? Are there other kinds of Hunters that we haven't seen yet? Cool ones with different armor and weapons. Or do they just have the one shape?

Bungie did not consider having the Heretic as a playable character. Only Chief and Arbiter. As for the Hunters, we've only seen they're deployed combat type. Hunter society is complex and we have seen but the tiniest fraction of it. There are some fundamental facts about Hunter biology that mean the combat type is just the tip of the iceberg.

Nick A. asks,

Hey Frankie, just double checking with you before I get all hyped but over at gaming.HEXUS they have an article that says that Halo 3 is finished already(game and all). They are just waiting the word from you guys. Is this true? here's that article just in case you haven't seen it already. Dumb Article

That is the stupidest thing I have read in weeks. Almost as stupid as the Loltruck http://loltruck.ytmnd.com/ - but not as awesome.

Nogard asks,

Is 343 Guilty Spark's idea of years based on Threshold orbiting its star? No weird Lagrange point concept of years?

Technically a year could mean either the time it takes Earth specifically to revolve around Sol, specifically or some other rhythmic celestial phenomenon. The concept might not have much meaning if you're from a planet whose orbit is stable enough to have no seasons, right? So the question is; Does Guilty Spark's translation into a language understandable by Chief and company simply refer to some rotational indicator – either the Halo itself, Threshold or the closest star? Or does his translation include knowledge of their solar system? Or did I JUST BLOW YOUR MIND, MAN?

Mankitten asks,

1. How come when Wile E. Coyote is chasing Roadrunner, he can always fun fast enough to catch up to Roadrunner, but always slows down right behind him?
2. What kind of hours do you guys work a week, now, during crunch time, whatever?
3. What exactly does the "Bungie Princess" do???
4. What kind of future contests with HBO can we look forward to?
5. Can I have some money?

1. Einstein famously described relativity using what sounds like a metaphor: "Sit next to a pretty girl for an hour, it seems like a minute. Sit on a red-hot stove for a minute, it seems like an hour. That's relativity." It is not actually a metaphor, but really a plain English description of the science. Same thing applies to Wile. E's chase.
2. Now – 9 til late. Crunch? 8 til late.
3. She gets kidnapped a lot.
4. Depends on whether contestants OBEY THE RULES or not.
5. No.

Miguel asks,

Yerr awfy peely-wally ur sumthin'? Dinna wanna think up your own bloody questions, ya baw bag?

Next time you get Jillybean to give you Scottish dialect, at least have her contextualize it for you. Ya wee radge. Also, this Q&A is not for rhetorical questions.

Weephun asks,

Who's the current office DOA4 champ?

Tom Doyle. Even though he's mad cheap.

UNSCF asks,

What are the names of the other MAC Platforms seen around the Earth in the level "Cairo Station"?

Cairo, Athens, Malta. They all eventually asplode. Except Cairo, which you save. By flying the pickle.

Scheddonardus asks,

What are Bungie employees doing for the Super Bowl?

Sketch is "changing diapers," Kuniklo is going to watch it while playing the soundtrack to Brokeback Mountain (seriously), Chad is watching it alone, in his underwears, Andrew is getting drunk with his friends' family, Lorraine said, "when is the Superbowl?" while Harold is watching it in his elite home theater. Alta the Bungie Princess is having a sorority Superbowl party, where rival supporters will settle their differences with pom pom fights, tickle fights and pillow fights. Because that's how they roll. Sorority sisters.

Snafufree asks,

On the Friday October 29, 2004 Bungie Update you said. "Mat Noguchi...showed us something on Old Mombassa that made us pee, just a little bit." What was that "something"?

I can't remember for sure, but I think it was a skull. Actually, Mat just walked by and confirmed.

Twelve Large asks,

What would happen if Chuck Norris roundhoused Master Chief in the face?

Nothing. Because the roundhouse kick would smash his face so hard that his head would fly off at faster than light speed, orbit perfectly round the planet once, and reposition itself exactly where it had been before. Nobody would know anything had happened, except god and Chuck.

Denkriston asks,

Is it possible that sometime in the future, Bungie may work on another Marathon game?

Of course it's possible. We're not doing that at the moment, however. Two suggestions get leveled our way frequently – do a Live Arcade port or make a full-on Next Gen Marathon game.

UNSCDF asks,

In the LE Booklet it speeks of a female named "Cassandra" is she a Spartan or not?

A better question would be, "was" she a Spartan?

SilentSailor asks,

Is the Halo 2 Volume II soundtrack going to be available on iTunes?

Not at the moment, it's planned for CD release only at this time. Could there be an "e'" version? Potentially.

Socrates asks,

What's the new Bungie mailing address? Failing that, will mail sent to the old Bungie mailing address still make it to Bungie?

Same as before. We have this crazy giant factory warehouse that gets all the mail, and gets it to the right department at Microsoft.

TraitorJoe asks,

Any chance of a solid or semisolid date for the release of the Halo 2 Soundtrack Vol. 2?

Not exactly, but Marty DID send the disk away for replication, and the cover art is done. Mmhmm. So you gots to figure soon, right? And Marty has committed to signing some copies for the Bungie store. And hey, here's a sneak peek at the cover art (or at least a recent version of it).

A Halo Fan…atic asks,

If I give you $20, will you tell me what your next project is?

Yes. My next project is the Mister Chief Seahawks fanboy picture below. Please send me $20.