Chronique:BWU 20/02/2009

Original[modifier]

Posted by urk at 2/20/2009 3:38 PM PST

Post Press Carnage Report[modifier]

Last week's Mythic Map Pack press previews are all but over and done with. By now, via the Bungie Blog, our RSS feed, or your own devices and ingenuity, you should have laid eyes on new screens, video, and coverage of all three brand spankin' new multiplayer spaces that combine powers to form the Mythic Map Pack. If for some reason, this is the first you've heard of such news, we'll drop the links to the coverage below and let you spend a few minutes getting up to speed.

For those who immediately skipped over all the neat blue text above and simply crave more coverage, sorry to say, that's it for now. The well is dry. All that's left to do is wait, dear friends.

We're only about a week away from the Mythic Map Pack being thrust into the wild by way of Halo Wars LCE. Everyone else, please sit tight. We're still weeks out from the Mythic Map Pack hitting Xbox LIVE as DLC.

We know "weeks out" is an ambiguous and aggravating term - a phrase that sidesteps slapping a fixed date you can circle on your calendar with a big red marker to denote the day the Mythic Map Pack makes its way into the Xbox LIVE Marketplace, but we've said all we can about the how and the when you can get your hands on the Mythic Map Pack in the post Halo Wars LCE world.

You're just going to have to trust us. Weeks, not months. 800 Microsoft Points. And as soon as possible, we'll provide you with more details.

Shishka's Neverending Story[modifier]

From the press previews above, some have noticed the perimeter defenses on Sandbox are a little bit different from those you've become accustomed to on other maps. Though the boundary markers that denote the safe zone of play are the same as those that line the outskirts of Sandtrap, the mechanism by which the border is defended is slightly more deadly.

Forgers tempted to build outward into the dark shadows that lay across the sand dunes beware. Shishka has made attempts - taken it upon himself to blaze the trail. We've cringed at his guttural groans of frustration, seen him pound his fist on the desk in anger, and heard him utter seething expletives through his teeth. Though the watchtowers that surround Sandbox are not technically Sphinxes, they can still judge a man, and eyes wide open, they've peered into Shishka's soul, searching and seeking for signs of self-worth.

And what did they find?

Target Acquired

Target Neutralized

Target Humiliated

Sandbox 'Sky Bubble' Gallery[modifier]

Another round of media embargoed content has lifted and that means more Sandbox screenshots have now found their way into our official Halo 3 Gallery. You've probably seen them before, but we've got 'em giant-sized with only our own watermark to obscure the view. If you want to take a look at the sky high screenshots of Sandbox's Sky Bubble and scrutinize it for secrets, head on over, load them up, and touch your nose to your monitor.

Charge!

Mythic Map Pack Community Codes[modifier]

A thread on the Bungie.net Community boards drew a little bit of ire from the team this week, with a few visitors dropping by to inform us that we simply don't care about the community anymore. The impetus for this suggestion? The distribution of a handful of Mythic Map Pack codes to media outlets so they could provide the entire community with Mythic Map Pack coverage. Turns out, a select few thought they should be the select few who got to romp around in Assembly, Orbital, and Sandbox a few weeks early.

Were it so easy.

At the time of the thread's posting, our own employees had yet to get codes. We simply had none to give. We don't run the free code show, friends, and even if we did, our own people get first dibs. I'm sure you understand.

That said, hanging above our heads at the time this whiny rant made its way onto our forums, our dry-erase boards already contained plans and schemes for handing out codes to the community. We have that handful of codes now and we've already begun to distribute them into the community at large. And while we know everyone wants one, and we know that you're going to blow up our private message boxes with pleading requests, please keep in mind, supplies are ultra limited. We only have enough freebies to hand out early codes to a very small percentage of the fanbase. Pestering and harassing via any method, including Private Messaging, will result in your immediate removal from consideration [Luke made me bold this, I wanted to be gentle].

If you haven't received a code by now, do not abandon hope. We're not quite finished spreading the Mythic Map Pack love. Be on your best behavior and who knows, you just might find yourself with a happy little message in your Private Message inbox sometime next week.

If that's not concrete enough for you, here's a task: Fire up Halo 3, take some campaign shots of Orbital Drop Shock Troopers in action, upload them to your file share, and add two tags to them for identification, "ODST" and "Mythic." Come Monday morning, we'll check back in and see what kind of damage you've done.

And as with all of our contests, cheaters and boosters need not apply.

Orbital & Assembly Forge Item Lists[modifier]

Though not as appealing for those looking to make a Forge masterpiece on Sandbox, the Orbital and Assembly item lists are set in stone and listed below if you want to take a look at what's stuffed inside the two multiplayer maps. And while this pair might not make for the most malleable of spaces in the Halo 3 stable, they're going to be magnificent places to get your game on, and nice changes of scenery for Machinima makers. Space Trashcans and Tube Shields? Imagine the possibilities!

If you're interested, scroll down (and down, and down) to take a look at what made the grade. We've included only Weapons, Vehicle, and Scenery items for brevity's sake. Equipment, Teleporters, and Spawn Points will be, of course, included when you fire up Forge on either map and give them a good go.

And before you hit the forums up with your "Epic Fail, Bungie!" thread, no, there are no Scorpions on Assembly or Orbital. Because that would be ridiculous. And lame.

Assembly[modifier]

Starting Budget (Default Objects on Map) $252

Full Budget $550

WEAPONS

16 ASSAULT RIFLE $2
16 BATTLE RIFLE $2
8 BEAM RIFLE $2
8 BRUTE SHOT $2
16 COVENANT CARBINE $2
8 ENERGY SWORD $2
1 FLAMETHROWER $10
4 FUEL ROD GUN $6
8 GRAVITY HAMMER $2
4 MACHINE GUN TURRET $6
16 MAGNUM $2
8 MAULER $2
8 NEEDLER $2
4 PLASMA CANNON $6
8 PLASMA PISTOL $2
16 PLASMA RIFLE $2
8 ROCKET LAUNCHER $2
8 SHOTGUN $2
16 SMG $2
8 SNIPER RIFLE $2
8 SPARTAN LASER $2
16 SPIKER $2
8 SENTINEL BEAM $2

VEHICLES

4 GHOST $15
8 MONGOOSE $10

SCENERY

16 BARRIER $4
16 CAMPING STOOL $2
16 COMM NODE $4
20 PLASMA BATTERY $4
20 POWER CORE $4
4 TUBE SHIELD $4
12 SUPPLY CASE, OPEN $2
20 SUPPLY CASE $5
8 LIFT BLOCKER $4
8 WEAPON HOLDER $3
4 GRAV LIFT $5
8 SHIELD DOOR, LARGE $4
8 SHIELD DOOR $4
8 CANNON, MAN $4
4 SOCCER BALL $4
1 FX, NOVA $15
1 FX, PEN AND INK $15
1 FX, OLDE TIMEY $15
1 FX, COLORBLIND $15
1 FX, GLOOMY $15
1 FX, JUICY $15

ORBITAL[modifier]

Starting Budget (Default Objects on Map) $251<

Full Budget $700