Chronique:BWU 18/06/2010
Original
Posted by urk at 6/18/2010 6:11 PM PDT
I just flew in from LA, and boy, are my arms tired!
Actually, my feet are feeling the bulk of the burn in the wake of this year's E3 extravaganza. And my fingers after attempting to transcribe the absurd amount of customization options we're planning for Firefight 2.0 (which you'll find embedded below). And my fragile mind, from nearly melting down after what felt like endless hours of backstage Reach demos.
The latter was much easier than I'd anticipated. After Marcus got a face full of makeup, he went way above and beyond to set the stage beautifully for us at Microsoft's E3 keynote with the first ever glimpse of SPAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACE!
After the spectacle, everybody and their mother wanted in on a sneak peak at Bungie's space faring goods. We quickly became experts at blasting through the sweet slice of sand and stars, too. After dozens upon dozens of showings, we could run up the beach in our sleep, initiate the launch sequence blindfolded, and shatter the first wave of inbound Covenant bogeys without even breaking a sweat.
During one play through Mike Zak forgot to switch the controls back after we made the hand-off, but without missing a beat, he played through the first half of the demo inverted even though he's always been a non-inverted guy (he's Canadian, go figure). Nobody even picked up on it, though. His run was still golden.
If you haven't seen the play through for yourself, you should take a moment to drop by our Reach project page. There you'll find both the Campaign and Firefight trailers we launched earlier in the week alongside a pile of new screenshots and renders we packed into the cargo bay.
And while we tackled the press corps' finest behind closed doors in our media briefing room (which was lavishly disguised as an ultramodern (and super cramped) living room), Sketch and Tung descended unto the teeming sea of humanity to tackle the public theater experience below. They even went off script and opened up some four player Firefight to participants plucked straight out of the audience. According to Brian, Tung was on fire and turned in a couple of "perfect games," though apparently the films have been lost to the annals of time.
Personally, I find it hard to believe. During some hands-on sessions we ran in the later hours on Tuesday night, Tung challenged me to a Firefight showdown. "Let's see who the better player is, Ginger," he sniped. Three Waves and twelve minutes later, I'd amassed 12,621 points. Joe Tung, self-proclaimed best player at the studio? A paltry 5,771. Now, I've never claimed that math is my strong suit, but I'm pretty sure that's nearly twice the points.
Who's the ginger now, Joe?
A Tale of Two Studios
As folks were lining up outside the theater, things got downright dirty between our boys and the Gears of War 3 crew. It's tough enough to split time and share precious theater space with a rival studio, but swag is where you gotta draw the line. On days two and three things reached a boiling point and t-shirts emblazoned with crimson Cogs began bombarding the Halo: Reach line. A full scale swag showdown of Epic proportions erupted.
The fighting was fierce. The tweets rained down like fire, my friends. But just when things looked most bleak, with Sketch threatening to "swagstomp" Epic with a volley of Reach-themed pins, t-shirts, and bottle openers, Cliff arrived at the theater bearing a peace offering.
Sporting a fresh Gears of War 3 t-shirt hot off the presses, Sketch declared that a delicate cease fire had been struck between our two camps. The Swag Wars of 2010 were over. Bungie + Epic = Battle Bros to the End.
Brian's BungiePic PhotoStream Bonanza
So, we promised some good coverage of our E3 escapades and hopefully you followed along in realtime. If you missed out on any of the embedded journalism Brian brought to Bungie Tweets, we've got you covered. Sketch went ahead and posted the cream of the crop into a sweet flickr slide show, complete with commentary. Bam!
The image of me being hounded by the Japanese paparazzi probably warrants some additional explanation. Our resident expert on all things Asian (and Mr. Miyagi to our young hero, Carney-san), Joe Tung, tells me they were simply enamored because they believe that gingers don't have souls. The reality is that I'm huge in Japan. (And that they may or may not have been told I was Frankie.)
I'd also like to note that while I was happy to see the Dirty Manassas on the drink menu, I was heartbroken to see that "Six on the Beach" didn't make the grade. Some of my best work. Oh, well. Maybe next year.
On The Home Front
While the majority of this update is dedicated to wrapping up all the E3 aftermath, it would be a damn shame if we didn't give some props to the studio-at-large. Most of the Reach team stayed behind this week with bigger fish to fry, continuing to blitz through the remaining bugs as Reach proper comes into the ZBR home stretch. It's almost there.
The monumental amount of work involved with prepping our E3 content for show (and still being injected into what will become the retail build) is absolutely mind blowing. Though our E3 away team got to bask in a little bit of glory this week, witnessing firsthand the stunned looks on everyone's faces as space was finally revealed and we unwrapped Firefight live for the very first time, we want to make sure that none of our stay at home heroes went unsung.
For Marcus and the team, Reach has been a massive investment of talent, resources, and time. When we say this is the most ambitious game Bungie has ever built, we're not just blowing smoke. The proof is in the pudding. Reach is huge and it is awesome. Space combat in Campaign and Firefight 2.0 are two examples that we felt strongly demonstrate what this team is capable of. We were damn proud to show them both off on the rest of the team's behalf.
We hoped you like what you saw. Stay Tuned.
Just Wanna Do Something Special
One thing you might have seen was female Spartans. Real female Spartans, too. No longer will our Halo-playing ladies be relegated to gear fit for a knuckle draggin' male. Nope. It's all form-fitting fashion from here on out.
Brian wanted me to make sure that I clarified the distinction between male and female and further expounded on the role that player customization plays across all of Reach's modes. All of your Spartan armor choices and investments, with a few notable exceptions (i.e. Flaming Helmet in Campaign cutscenes) translate across all game modes. That goes for gender as well. So, while we were showing off Noble Six's female side in our Campaign trailer and in Firefight, if you're more into the manly stuff it'll totally be your call. You get to flip that switch.
And there's more. Noble Six isn't the "strong, silent type," either. Both male and female voice actors were cast for the role, so whichever gender you choose, you'll won't miss out on any facet of the full campaign experience.
You might also note that I've unmasked another Armory exclusive in the screenshot above. In Firefight, you'll be able to earn additional first person Firefight Voices via the Armory. In the E3 build, we let players listen to Noble Six, Carter, Kat, and Jorge regale them as they cut wave after wave of Covenant infantry down to size. Of course, there will be plenty more to choose from in the full game, but I don't have time to dig too deeply into all the details. I've got some Firefight business to take care of.
Firefight 2.OMG!
Yup, Firefight is back. Yup, it's better than ever. And yeah, as promised on Bungie Tweets earlier this morning, I'm about to drop an epic breakdown of most of the options you're likely to have at your disposal in September. I say "most" because there are still some things about Firefight we're not ready to reveal and I say "likely" because Lars wanted me to make it abundantly clear that the game isn't shipped until it's shipped. Until then, everything is subject to change.
That said, get ready for Scrollpocalypse 2010. Here's the Firefight options stripped right out of the build we brought with us to E3:
FIREFIGHT SETTINGS
- WAVE PROPERTIES
- ROUND 1 WAVE PROPERTIES
- SKULLS (ON or OFF)
- RED
- BLUE
- YELLOW
- MYTHIC
- CATCH
- TOUGH LUCK
- FAMINE
- CLOUD
- TILT
- BLACK EYE
- GRUNT BIRTHDAY PARTY
- COWBELL
- IWHBYD
- INITIAL WAVE
- USES DROPSHIP
- ENABLED
- DISABLED
- SQUAD SELECTION ORDER
- ORDERED
- RANDOM
- SQUAD 1
- GRUNTS
- ELITES
- ELITE PATROL
- ELITE INFANTRY
- ELITE TACTICAL
- ELITE AIRBORNE
- ELITE SPEC OPS
- ELITE GENERALS
- ELITE STRIKE TEAM
- BRUTES
- BRUTE PATROL
- BRUTE INFANTRY
- BRUTE TACTICAL
- BRUTE CHIEFTAINS
- BRUTE KILL TEAM
- HUNTERS
- HUNTER PATROL
- HUNTER INFANTRY
- HUNTER TACTICAL
- HUNTER STRIKE TEAM
- HUNTER KILL TEAM
- SKIRMISHERS
- SKIRMISHER PATROL
- SKIRMISHER INFANTRY
- JACKALS
- JACKAL PATROL
- JACKAL SNIPERS
- HERETICS
- HERETIC SNIPERS
- HERETIC HEAVY
- SQUAD 2
- (SAME AS SQUAD 1 ABOVE)
- SQUAD 3
- (SAME AS SQUAD 1 ABOVE)
- USES DROPSHIP
- MAIN WAVES
- USES DROPSHIP
- ENABLED
- DISABLED
- SQUAD SELECTION ORDER
- ORDERED
- RANDOM
- SQUAD 1
- (SAME AS SQUAD 1 ABOVE)
- SQUAD 2
- (SAME AS SQUAD 1 ABOVE)
- SQUAD 3
- (SAME AS SQUAD 1 ABOVE)
- SQUAD 4
- (SAME AS SQUAD 1 ABOVE)
- SQUAD 5
- (SAME AS SQUAD 1 ABOVE)
- USES DROPSHIP
- BOSS WAVE
- USES DROPSHIP
- ENABLED
- DISABLED
- SQUAD SELECTION ORDER
- RANDOM
- ORDERED
- SQUAD 1
- (SAME AS SQUAD 1 ABOVE)
- SQUAD 2
- (SAME AS SQUAD 1 ABOVE)
- SQUAD 3
- (SAME AS SQUAD 1 ABOVE)
- USES DROPSHIP
- SKULLS (ON or OFF)
- ROUND 2 WAVE PROPERTIES
- (SAME AS ROUND 1 ABOVE)
- ROUND 3 WAVE PROPERTIES
- (SAME AS ROUND 1 ABOVE)
- BONUS WAVE PROPERTIES
- BONUS WAVE DURATION
- 15 SECONDS
- 30 SECONDS
- 45 SECONDS
- 60 SECONDS
- 90 SECONDS
- 2 MINUTES
- USES DROPSHIP
- ENABLED
- DISABLED
- SKULLS
- (SAME AS ROUND 1 WAVE PROPERTIES ABOVE)
- SQUAD SELECTION ORDER
- ORDERED
- RANDOM
- SQUAD 1
- (SAME AS SQUAD 1 ABOVE)
- SQUAD 2
- (SAME AS SQUAD 1 ABOVE)
- SQUAD 3
- (SAME AS SQUAD 1 ABOVE)
- BONUS WAVE DURATION
- ROUND 1 WAVE PROPERTIES
- WAVE LIMIT
- ONE WAVE
- ONE ROUND
- TWO ROUNDS
- ONE SET
- TWO SETS
- THREE SETS
- FOUR SETS
- FIVE SETS
- TEN SETS
- NO LIMIT
- TIME LIMIT
- 1 MINUTE
- 2 MINUTES
- 3 MINUTES
- 4 MINUTES
- 5 MINUTES
- 6 MINUTES
- 7 MINUTES
- 8 MINUTES
- 9 MINUTES
- 10 MINUTES
- 12 MINUTES
- 15 MINUTES
- 20 MINUTES
- 30 MINUTES
- 45 MINUTES
- 60 MINUTES
- NO LIMIT
- GENERATOR PROPERTIES
- GENERATOR COUNT
- DISABLED
- 1
- 2
- 3
- SPAWN ORDER
- SEQUENCE
- RANDOM
- LOSS CONDITION
- LOSE ONE
- LOSE ALL
- GENERATOR COUNT
- SCENARIO SETTINGS
- HAZARDS
- ENABLED
- DISABLED
- WEAPON DROPS
- ENABLED
- DISABLED
- AMMO CRATES
- ENABLED
- DISABLED
- CUSTOM SKULL SETTINGS
- RED SKULL SETTINGS
- SPARTAN TRAITS
- SHIELDS AND HEALTH
- DAMAGE RESISTANCE
- UNCHANGED
- 10%
- 50%
- 90%
- 100% (NORMAL)
- 110%
- 150%
- 200%
- 300%
- 500%
- 1000%
- 2000%
- INVULNERABLE
- SHIELD MULTIPLIER
- UNCHANGED
- NO SHIELDS
- NORMAL SHIELDS
- 2X OVERSHIELDS
- 3X OVERSHIELDS
- 4X OVERSHIELDS
- SHIELD RECHARGE RATE
- UNCHANGED
- -25% (DECAY)
- -10% (DECAY)
- -5% (DECAY)
- 0% (NO RECHARGE)
- 10% (SLOWER)
- 25% (SLOWER)
- 50% (SLOWER)
- 75% (SLOWER)
- 90% (SLOWER)
- 100% (NORMAL)
- 110% (FASTER)
- 200% (FASTER)
- HEALTH RECHARGE RATE
- UNCHANGED
- -25% (DECAY)
- -10% (DECAY)
- -5% (DECAY)
- 0% (NO RECHARGE)
- 50% (SLOWER)
- 90% (SLOWER)
- 100% (NORMAL)
- 110% (FASTER)
- 200% (FASTER)
- SHIELD VAMPIRISM
- UNCHANGED
- DISABLED
- 10% LEECH
- 25% LEECH
- 50% LEECH
- 100%% LEECH
- IMMUNE TO HEADSHOTS
- UNCHANGED
- ENABLED
- DISABLED
- IMMUNE TO ASSASSINATIONS
- UNCHANGED
- ENABLED
- DISABLED
- DAMAGE RESISTANCE
- WEAPONS AND DAMAGE
- DAMAGE MODIFIER
- UNCHANGED
- 0%
- 25%
- 50%
- 75%
- 90%
- 100%
- 110%
- 125%
- 150%
- 200%
- 300%
- INSTANT KILL
- MELEE MODIFIER
- UNCHANGED
- 0%
- 25%
- 50%
- 75%
- 90%
- 100%
- 110%
- 125%
- 150%
- 200%
- 300%
- INSTANT KILL
- GRENADE REGENERATION
- UNCHANGED
- DISABLED
- ENABLED
- INFINITE AMMO
- UNCHANGED
- DISABLED
- ENABLED
- BOTTOMLESS CLIP
- WEAPON PICKUP
- UNCHANGED
- DISABLED
- ENABLED
- EQUIPMENT USAGE
- UNCHANGED
- DISABLED
- ENABLED
- EQUIPMENT DROP
- UNCHANGED
- DISABLED
- ENABLED
- DAMAGE MODIFIER
- MOVEMENT
- PLAYER SPEED
- UNCHANGED
- 0%
- 25%
- 50%
- 75%
- 90%
- 100%
- 110%
- 120%
- 130%
- 140%
- 150%
- 160%
- 170%
- 180%
- 190%
- 200%
- 300%
- JUMP HEIGHT
- UNCHANGED
- 0%
- 25%
- 50%
- 75%
- 90%
- 100%
- 110%
- 125%
- 150%
- 200%
- 300%
- PLAYER GRAVITY
- UNCHANGED
- 50%
- 75%
- 100%
- 150%
- 200%
- VEHICLE USE
- UNCHANGED
- NONE
- PASSENGER ONLY
- DRIVER ONLY
- GUNNER ONLY
- NO PASSENGER
- NO DRIVER
- NO GUNNER
- FULL USE
- PLAYER SPEED
- SENSORS
- MOTION TRACKER MODE
- UNCHANGED
- OFF
- ALLIES ONLY
- NORMAL MODE
- ENHANCED MODE
- MOTION TRACKER RANGE
- UNCHANGED
- 10 METERS
- 25 METERS
- 75 METERS
- 150 METERS
- MOTION TRACKER MODE
- APPEARANCE
- ACTIVE CAMO
- UNCHANGED
- OFF
- POOR CAMO
- GOOD CAMO
- WAYPOINT
- UNCHANGED
- NO WAYPOINT
- VISIBLE TO ALLIES
- VISIBLE TO EVERYONE
- VISIBLE NAME
- UNCHANGED
- NO WAYPOINT
- VISIBLE TO ALLIES
- VISIBLE TO EVERYONE
- FORCED COLOR
- UNCHANGED
- OFF
- RED
- BLUE
- GREEN
- ORANGE
- PURPLE
- GOLD
- BROWN
- PINK
- WHITE
- BLACK
- ZOMBIE
- ACTIVE CAMO
- SHIELDS AND HEALTH
- WAVE TRAITS
- DAMAGE MODIFIER
- UNCHANGED
- 0%
- 25%
- 50%
- 75%
- 90%
- 100%
- 110%
- 125%
- 150%
- 200%
- 300%
- INSTANT KILL
- DAMAGE RESISTANCE
- UNCHANGED
- 10%
- 50%
- 90%
- 100% (NORMAL)
- 110%
- 150%
- 200%
- 300%
- 500%
- 1000%
- 2000%
- INVULNERABLE
- SHOOTINESS
- UNCHANGED
- NORMAL
- MARKSMAN
- TRIGGER HAPPY
- GRENADES
- UNCHANGED
- NORMAL
- NONE
- CATCH
- VISION
- UNCHANGED
- NORMAL
- NEAR SIGHTED
- EAGLE EYE
- HEARING
- UNCHANGED
- NORMAL
- DEAF
- SHARP
- LUCK
- UNCHANGED
- NORMAL
- UNLUCKY
- LUCKY
- LEPRECHAUN
- EQUIPMENT DROP
- UNCHANGED
- ENABLED
- DISABLED
- IMMUNE TO HEADSHOTS
- UNCHANGED
- ENABLED
- DISABLED
- IMMUNE TO ASSASSINATIONS
- UNCHANGED
- ENABLED
- DISABLED
- DAMAGE MODIFIER
- SPARTAN TRAITS
- BLUE SKULL SETTINGS
- (SAME AS RED SKULL SETTINGS ABOVE)
- YELLOW SKULL SETTINGS
- (SAME AS RED SKULL SETTINGS ABOVE)
- RED SKULL SETTINGS
- SPARTAN SETTINGS
- RESPAWN TIME
- 10 SECONDS
- 15 SECONDS
- 20 SECONDS
- 25 SECONDS
- 30 SECONDS
- 45 SECONDS
- 60 SECONDS
- 90 SECONDS
- 2 MINUTES
- 3 MINUTES
- ON WAVE
- STARTING LIVES
- UNLIMITED
- NONE
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
- 10
- 15
- 20
- 25
- 50
- MAXIMUM EXTRA LIVES
- (SAME AS STARTING LIVES)
- BASE TRAITS
- (SAME AS SPARTAN TRAITS FOUND UNDER SKULL SETTINGS ABOVE)
- RESPAWN TIME
- LOADOUTS
- LOADOUT 1
- NAME
- AIR ASSAULT
- MARKSMAN
- RECON MARKSMAN
- EXPERT MARKSMAN
- OPERATOR
- GRENADIER
- MEDIC
- CORPSMAN
- STALKER
- DEMOLITIONS
- INFILTRATOR
- SECURITY
- SPRINT
- ARMOR LOCK
- ACTIVE CAMO
- [REDACTED]
- DROP SHIELD
- JET PACK
- NOBLE 1
- NOBLE 2
- NOBLE 3
- NOBLE 4
- NOBLE 5
- NOBLE 6
- CARTER
- KAT
- JORGE
- EMILE
- JUN
- [REDACTED]
- [REDACTED]
- [REDACTED]
- [REDACTED]
- JUGGERNAUT
- BERSERKER
- MAVERICK
- ZOMBIE
- DEMON
- ANGEL
- REDSHIRT
- LING LING
- POOKIE
- FNG
- NOOB
- CAMPER
- SPECTER
- BUNKER
- CLAYMORE
- FIREBASE
- INTEL
- NINJA
- POWER
- COBRA
- EAGLE
- HOG
- BEAR
- WARRIOR
- DECEIVER
- [REDACTED]
- PRIMARY WEAPON
- ASSAULT RIFLE
- DMR
- CONCUSSION RIFLE
- ENERGY SWORD
- FLAK CANNON
- FOCUS RIFLE
- GRAVITY HAMMER
- GRENADE LAUNCHER
- MAGNUM
- NEEDLER
- NEEDLE RIFLE
- PLASMA LAUNCHER
- PLASMA PISTOL
- PLASMA REPEATER
- PLASMA RIFLE
- ROCKET LAUNCHER
- SHOTGUN
- SNIPER RIFLE
- SPARTAN LASER
- SPIKER
- [REDACTED]
- UNCHANGED
- SECONDARY WEAPON
- (SAME AS PRIMARY WEAPON ABOVE)
- ARMOR ABILITY
- JETPACK
- ARMOR LOCK
- ACTIVE CAMO
- DROP SHIELD
- [REDACTED]
- NONE
- SPRINT
- [REDACTED]
- GRENADES
- 1X FRAG
- 2X FRAG
- 3X FRAG
- 4X FRAG
- 1X PLASMA
- 2X PLASMA
- 3X PLASMA
- 4X PLASMA
- 1X FRAG, 1X PLASMA
- 2X FRAG, 2X PLASMA
- 3X FRAG, 3X PLASMA
- 4X FRAG, 4X PLASMA
- 1X FRAG, 1X PLASMA
- NO GRENADES
- HIDE LOADOUT
- NOT HIDDEN
- HIDDEN
- NAME
- LOADOUT 2
- (SAME AS LOADOUT 1 ABOVE)
- LOADOUT 3
- (SAME AS LOADOUT 1 ABOVE)
- LOADOUT 4
- (SAME AS LOADOUT 1 ABOVE)
- LOADOUT 5
- (SAME AS LOADOUT 1 ABOVE)
- LOADOUT 1
- GENERAL SETTINGS
- FRIENDLY FIRE
- ENABLED
- DISABLED
- BETRAYAL BOOTING
- ENABLED
- DISABLED
- FRIENDLY FIRE
You still with us? Pretty mind blowing, eh? Lars also wanted me to make it clear that while you do have a ridonkulous number of levers and knobs to fiddle with, you are still operating in the confines and context of Firefight. It's not limitless. He's been seeing some forum posts with blueprints for gametypes that might be a bit ambitious even for Firefight 2.0. The analogy he used is that this is the house that Firefight built - you won't be busting down walls and ripping out studs - but, sure, feel free to rearrange the furniture.
Oh, and I can confirm that Buggers are out of Firefight altogether and that the Black Eye skull isn't in unless you specifically customize the experience to include it. The default matchmaking version of Firefight will be one full Set, start to finish (unless you run out of lives), and when I checked in with Lars this afternoon he was busy prebaking a bunch of additional game types to bring to the table for launch.
Of course, we'll be keeping our eye out for sweet community variants as well, so when the time is right, make sure you drop your awesome Firefight variants into your File Share so we can dig out the good stuff.
Wrapping Up
Here's a few other highlights from the week, in no particular order:
- Pete wrecking the rental car on the first day, getting a parking ticket, and then trying to tip the hotel valet with a sweet Reach t-shirt. (The valet was NOT impressed. Cash only, please.)
- Steven Spielberg and his son getting some hands on time with the Sabre. Awesome.
- Keighley joking that it was his early interview with Marcus that ultimately resulted in Reach's space combat.
- "Brian's Game." He came, he saw, he did NOT press ass to porcelain inside the facilities at the Convention Center. The guy is a machine.
- Getting a massive nostalgia hit checking out the newTwisted Metal.
- Saying what's up to the boys working the En Masse Entertainment booth. Tera looks hot. Good luck with the launch, guys!
- Lars' endless grin after the Firefight reveal went down and players refused to give up their seats during the first hands-on demos.
- The mad dash Escape from LA with Tung at the wheel and Sketch taking point on navigation duty. E3's five o-clock conclusion coupled with Lakers madness made for a harrowing exodus, but we got out alive and got back to Seattle unscathed.
- Seeing the life-sized Noble Team statue first hand.
- Being trapped on the plane ride home between a guy who was snoring before all the bags were stowed and a dude whose funky breath had me reaching for the vomit bag.
- Guys with big sacks. For swag.
- Talking to MJW (you know who you are) outside the airport lounge and being totally grateful for his kind words after we reluctantly agreed to let him pick up our tab. Thanks for playing, Michael! You've got swag inbound. Wish we could do more.
And with that, we're done here. Honestly, it was such a whirlwind experience that it's nearly impossible to encapsulate. One of those gotta be there type things. If you were there and dropped by the experience, thanks for checking out the goods. If you weren't, well, I wouldn't worry too much. Launch is right around the corner and we'll be making some more noise sooner or later.
See you next week.