Waypoint News

Tis the Season

Kiki thinks about getting unnecessarily rough with one of the Seahawks

People assume I enjoy the holidays because of the overabundance of seeds nestled in shells. While I think they are delicious when roasted over an open fire and the ballet version is more than worth the two-hour time investment (not to mention that the act of gently bouncing them against a lifeless opponent’s face is oddly satisfying), there’s more to December than just nuts. In fact, the following things all happened in just the last 12 days:

• Some Seahawks stopped by the studio to play everybody’s favorite virtual sport, and after several games, they proved they know their way around balls, whether they are of the foot or Grif variety. (It's also worth noting that after visiting the studio, the Seahawks went on to score an uncontested all-time franchise record against Arizona. Coincidence? I think not.)
• DJ Skee wanted to check out the Crimson Map Pack so he came to the studio and decided to stop dropping beats long enough to instead drop some lead… directly into our faces.
• Jen Taylor (and Steve Downes, in spirit) joined us for the 2012 Child’s Play Dinner Auction, helping us raise more than $15,000 from our numerous Halo-themed lots. The proceeds from this event go toward improving the lives of children with toys and games in over 70 hospitals worldwide.

While I could go on and on about the aforementioned festivities, I will instead let the following picture, which was a silent auction item from this year’s Child’s Play Dinner Auction, speak for itself. I would ask if you’re jealous of its proud new (343) owner but let’s face it: There’s no way you couldn’t be. ‘Cause it’s just that awesome.

Gus Sorola cardboard standup

Now, we have a lot to talk about in not a lot of time so whad’ya say we cut the chit-chat and get straight to the news? I know, I know. You thought I’d never ask!

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Halo 4 Infinity Challenge

While Monday has a reputation for being the worst day of the week, that perception is about to change because on December 17, we’re joining forces with Virgin Gaming and Xbox 360 to bring you the chance to win a UNSC-themed truck and/or a cameo in a future Halo game. Officially called the Halo 4 Infinity Challenge, this tournament will give you a shot at winning a real life vehicle (you virtual vehicles can suck it!) and one of more than 2,800 total prizes. What exactly will it take to score some sweet Halo swag? Why, I thought you’d never ask!

The Halo 4 Infinity Challenge on Xbox LIVE will bring gamers the biggest and most accessible Halo tournament in the world. This free-to-enter tournament will track your personal score in War Games and the number of Spartan Ops chapters you complete on global leaderboards, and your progress with relevant Halo 4 Challenges. The War Games leaderboard winner will walk away with a UNSC-themed, V8-powered 2013 Ford F-150 SVT Raptor truck designed by our artists here at 343, the Spartan Ops winner will secure an appearance in a future Halo game (don’t blame me if you end up being naked and blue), and the Challenge winners will get a prize pack.

Assuming you find the aforementioned prizes appealing, register today by visiting the Halo 4 Infinity Challenge website (please note localized registration sites will be available on December 12). If you’d like to get into the nitty-gritty of how everything will work, continue reading.

The qualifier phase will take place December 17 - January 10. For that part of the tournament, you will need to climb the ranks of the global leaderboards by competing in either the Spartan Ops or War Games leaderboard. After the qualifier phase, players will be tiered into three groups (Tier 1: Consisting of the top 10% of players competing, Tier 2: Consisting of the next 11-40% of players competing, and Tier 3: Consisting of the bottom 60% of players competing) and will enter the finals phase. The finals phase will start on January 12 and end on January 19. You can also participate in Weekly Challenges for a chance to win great prizes.

During the finals, the leaderboards will reset and prizes will be awarded to the top performers in each tier. While the prizes within all three tiers will rock your socks, the grand prizes will be offered exclusively for those that have battled their way to the top tier.

For tournament and registration information, please visit: www.halo4infinitychallenge.com. Your score will only be tracked from the time you register, so sign up now, Spartans!

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I think we’re just getting started

Handsome 343 men feet getting started on their holiday pedicure

When I joined the studio in 2010, the team was heads-down creating Halo Waypoint and Halo Legends. As I watched numerous people hunched over their desks, hard at work, I remember saying to myself, “I think we’re just getting started.”

On November 15, 2011, when we released Halo: Anniversary, our remake of Halo: Combat Evolved, the same thought ran through my mind: “I think we’re just getting started."

A mere three weeks ago, when we released Halo 4 – a project that consumed every fiber of our beings for well over three years – it came to me yet again: “I think we’re just getting started.”

Now, as I look at what’s slated for the month of December, I can’t help but repeat, “I think we're just getting started...”

We have so many exciting things planned for the future that I want to open my window, stick out my head, and yell every single one of them at the top of my lungs. Thankfully PR just lifted their embargo date on one such item, so please excuse me while I do just that. *sprints to the nearest window, starts yelling hysterically, and then calmly sits back down*

Now that all the passersby along with their female four-legged companions know everything there is to know about the upcoming Crimson Map Pack, I should probably fill the rest of you in as well. Join me for an introduction to Harvest, Shatter and Wreckage, won’t you?

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Get Stuffed

Made by Mattster092

Earlier this afternoon, the streets of Kirkland reached a near-chaotic state as people rushed to vacate their jobs, classes and all semblances of responsibility to begin preparing for their upcoming four-day, food-filled festivities. Now, though, as the sun sets and a layer of darkness seeps over the horizon, I’m left with two things: The burden of unfinished work and the heavy sound of silence broken only by the rhythmic sounds of my lightning fast and deadly accurate transcribing. Yes, I type better than I play Halo. Don’t judge.

While I’m bemoaning the fact that I’m still at work, there are other people here in the studio working the night away, too, scheduled to be here tonight, tomorrow and all through the weekend, tasked with the responsibility of fine-tuning, tweaking and optimizing the multitude of experiences that take place both inside and outside the game. Oddly enough, though, the aforementioned individuals don’t complain nearly as much as I do, but does anybody, really? (Don’t answer that.)

Before I walk out the door and begin my overeating-induced holiday stupor of a weekend, I do believe I owe you a Bulletin. This week we’ll be talking about next week’s Matchmaking update (yes, you’re getting one!), Spartan Ops (now with a developer interview!), Halo 4 concept art (you can haz pretties!), and an amazing batch of images you made in honor of the impending holiday (some of you are hilarious; the rest of you are banned).

Let’s get started, shall we?

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The first five days of Halo 4

Halo 4 Evil Awakens Wallpaper, made by the not-so-ancient-but-maybe-a-little-evil firestream

Over the past week, millions of you have been glued to screens full of sprinting super-soldiers and delicately dipping Mantises. While I’ve been glued to a screen as well, mine shows a slightly different picture. You see my monitor – or, to be more specific, room full of monitors – show me what you’re doing. I’ve been watching what playlists you’re frequenting (go Infinity Slayer!), what forum threads you’re reading (decrypting the encrypted), and what parts of the website you’re browsing (dem Halo 4 stats). I can see a lot more than that, but I’ll stop there as I don’t want to frighten you. #retreatsbackintothebushes

As someone that’s fascinated with the aforementioned numbers, statistics, trends and figures, I thought I’d share a few fun facts about the first five days of Halo 4. I also thought I’d use as many words as possible that start with “f” (minus one) in a single sentence. You’re welcome.

Over four million people played Halo 4 on Xbox LIVE in the first five days.

13.5 million hours were spent playing Campaign in the first five days.

1.9 million hours were spent playing Spartan Ops in the first five days.

16 million hours were spent playing War Games in the first five days.

31.4 million hours were spent playing Halo 4 in the first five days.

1,116,882 people completed the Campaign in the first five days.

6% of total players completed the Campaign on Legendary in the first five days.

43,335,060 achievements were unlocked in the first five days.

2,675,140,836 kills were earned in Campaign in the first five days.

505,250,095 kills were earned in Spartan Ops in the first five days.

1,410,025,354 kills were earned in War Games in the first five days.

4,590,416,285 kills were earned playing Halo 4 on Xbox LIVE in the first five days.

We couldn’t have achieved any of the above numbers without you, so from all of us at 343, thanks for playing. <3

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I think we're just getting started

Over the past few days, babies were born, presidents were elected, and games were released—one of which just happened to be Halo 4.

To say we’ve been overwhelmed by the response to our game would be an understatement. We’re humbled by your feedback and blown away by how many of you are spending significant amounts of time traversing our virtual battlefields. Here is a teeny-tiny peek into our day one numbers:

More people played Halo 4 in the first 24 hours than any other Halo launch day in history.

We’ll be sharing more details on Monday, but that should whet your appetite for the hard stats that are coming. Thank you for playing our game and stay tuned for additional updates, because we have some amazing things planned for the future of Halo 4.

Midnight Madness

It was a very surreal moment when the clock struck midnight on November 6. A day almost four years in the making, a single tick of the clock marked the occasion as stores around the world began releasing Halo 4 into the wild. From a giant glyph hovering high above the River Thames to Jen Taylor and Steve Downes dual wielding Sharpies and smiles, over 10,000 midnight launch events around the world played host to a variety of different festivities, making the launch of Halo 4 a night to remember.

Check out this pictorial recap showing how your fellow community members celebrated the release of Halo 4.

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Halo 4 Review Round-up

The accelerated ticking of our internal clocks can only mean one thing: the big day is almost here. Our bodies are ready. Is yours?

Instead of the traditional nine months, it’s taken us more than three years to create (what we hope you will find to be) our masterpiece, and in a mere four days, we will hand our baby over to you. It’s been a long and arduous journey, full of grueling days and sleepless nights, and the fact that we’re so close to launch is nothing short of surreal. Butterflies are flying laps around our stomachs, and we anxiously wait to hear what you, the Halo community, think of the newest title in your beloved franchise.

As the clock struck midnight last night, reviews began pouring in. The majority of us at the studio stayed up all night reading them, and we’ve been overwhelmed and humbled by the response. As we prepare for the masses to begin populating Halo 4’s virtual battlefields, we’d like to offer you a brief review round-up, brought to you by your friendly neighborhood media outlets. There are too many to include here, so we trust that you know how to find the rest.

Experience Halo

Every day I get to experience Halo. Tuesday, though, thanks to the EMEA Xbox team, I got to do it like never before.

I was recently whisked away to Liechtenstein, a beautiful country lying entirely within the Alps. For one day only, the mountainous landscapes of the normally tranquil countryside became the stage for a real-life experience set in (a replica of) the Halo universe. Taking over some of the country’s most iconic landmarks, including a 13th century castle and a working mine, fans and worldwide media from 16 different countries were catapulted into this off-world environment to take part in a theatrical experience which saw them travel to a top secret location before being unexpectedly thrust into a war zone which re-created brutal battle grounds through pyrotechnic explosions, thunderous sound effects and cinematic set builds.

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11 days and counting

Several months ago, during the infamous Halo 4 news drought, I spent my days curled up in a fetal position under my desk, tears streaming down my face, sobbing about my need to share something, anything, with our information-starved fans. Last week I regressed to the same traumatized state, only this time for the opposite reason: I realized there was no possible way we were going to be able to cover everything about the game that you’ve asked about before it actually comes out. It was always our intent to leave a handful of surprises, though, so surprises you will have, assuming you’ve managed to stay spoiler-free.

While there are some things we want you to experience for yourself, there are other things we want you to know right this very second, which is why we’ve been pushing out large amounts of Halo 4 content at a fast and furious pace. The past three Fridays have given you Parts 1, 2, and 3 of Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn (our five-part, live-action web series), last Thursday we premiered “Scanned” (the official launch trailer produced by David Fincher and directed by Tim Miller), and yesterday we released a brand new gameplay trailer (happily nestled between Sons of Anarchy segments). We have a few more tricks up our sleeve (in fact, I’m traveling across the pond for one this weekend), but divulge them I will not. Because then they wouldn’t be tricks. And they wouldn’t be up our sleeve.

As the calendar counts down to November 6, many teams within the studio find themselves busy polishing (and still creating, for those on the Spartan Ops and DLC teams) the updated experiences that will be launching alongside the game. We’re refreshing Halo Waypoint (on console, web and mobile web), fancying up the forums (or simplifying, depending on how you look at it), and putting the finishing touches on a completely new Halo 4 stats experience and the soon-to-be-released Halo 4: Interactive Guide. While change is sometimes difficult, every decision we’ve made is based upon providing a better experience, so we’re going to do everything we can to help you become acquainted with these altered areas. We’ll provide text and image tutorials for each one, and also support in the forums. No, we aren’t going to let you get lost in the newness. We will, however, happily show you around your new digs.

We know the wait is becoming near unbearable, so to keep you distracted, we’re going to throw a lot of information at you in not a lot of time. In this Bulletin, we’re lifting the curtain on a new map (OMG NEW MAP!), we’re revealing all the objects available in Halo 4 Forge (OMG FORGE!), we’re providing an update about the Halo 4 War Games Map Pass (OMG YOU CAN HAZ!), and, since we covered the Master Chief and his evolution last week, we’re going to kick things off with the same thing this week, only this time with your favorite A.I. Oh yes, it’s time to talk about that blue lady that is definitely not a natural formation.

Evolution of Cortana

Considered by many to be the most powerful artificial intelligence ever created by humanity, Cortana was paired with the Master Chief in a last ditch effort by the UNSC to end the war with the Covenant. Now perilously beyond her operational lifespan, she teeters on the brink of rampancy as this new world’s threat is finally revealed.

She may not have a physical form, but we can still take a look at how Cortana has evolved appearance-wise over the past almost eleven years. So embiggen the picture above by clicking on it (we didn’t have a fancy-schmancy shot of her from CE, so please excuse the quality of that one in particular), and bask in the beauty of her various holographic iterations. Don’t stare at her too long, though, because once she gets in your head, it’s near impossible to get her out. Just ask the Chief…

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Every time someone spreads a leak, an angel loses its wings

Every time someone spreads a leak, an angel loses its wings. At least that’s what I’m assuming is happening, considering my backside is suddenly bare. Oh yes, there’s no longer any junk above my trunk, I’ve lost the adonk from my badonk, and Sir Mix-A-Lot no longer likes me.

Despite the absence of flying apparatuses, my spirits are still soaring. Why, you ask? Because in less than three weeks, you will finally have Halo 4 in your hands. Whether you start with Campaign, Spartan Ops, or the multiplayer mayhem that is War Games, you will soon be embarking upon an adventure – one that we’ve spent years crafting for you, and one that we hope you’ll enjoy immensely.

Regardless of whether your road to launch includes getting touched by a spoiler, nothing will compare to the moment you feel the familiar weight of the Battle Rifle in your hands as you’re welcoming back your old friends, the Master Chief and Cortana. Speaking of the Chief, I can neither confirm nor deny that in Halo 4, he decides to mix things up a little. I can tell you, however, that he just may attempt to shoot his way out.

Enough small chat, though. We have a lot we have to cover, in not a lot of time. This week’s topics include Meltdown (one of the multiplayer maps shipping with Halo 4), the Mantis (dat mech), a complete list of Halo 4 skulls (now with pictures!), Halo-themed pumpkin patterns (in case you’re planning on carving a jack-o'-lantern this year), and a few other interesting tidbits. Shall we begin? I think we shall!

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Evolution of the Master Chief

As the video game industry advances, so does its tools and techniques, and that is readily apparent when looking at the Master Chief’s evolution over the past ten years. Each iteration of our favorite Spartan super-soldier has been distinctive yet similar, but don’t confuse design with canon – the Chief is the Chief, just with the details and idiosyncrasies based on what each time period and toolset has to offer. So embiggen the picture above by clicking on it, and enjoy the walk down Master Chief Memory Lane. Just don’t wander off too long, because some brand new Meltdown screenshots are anxiously awaiting your attention.

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Domo arigato, Mr. Roboto

Much like a Hunter, our studio is made up of many moving parts right now. So many, in fact, that it’s near impossible to keep up with everything.

Last week delivered a new book (Halo: The Thursday War, by Karen Traviss), the chance to win some amazing prizes (Halo 4 Soundtrack Remix Contest), and the premiere of our live-action web series (Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn). Between the new Forge information and video prologue for Halo 4’s Domain Terminals (both of which were released yesterday), along with the second episode of Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn (which releases Friday morning at 3AM PT), this week is slated to be just as crazy. Some would even call it cray cray (Frankie, I may or may not be looking at you).

Enough with the recap, though. You’re well aware of the fact that the next 26 days will be chock-full of new and exciting Halo stuff (“stuff” being everything from a new BTS [NYCC!] to a new trailer [DAVID FINCHER!] to an out-of-this-world launch event [UNDISCLOSED LOCATION ON EARTH!]), so let’s slow it down a bit and talk about just one thing, that one thing being the Halo 4 progression system.

Wait, I just realized I used “out-of-this-world” and “undisclosed location on Earth” to describe the same place. I also used an overabundance of both parenthesis and brackets in a single sentence. Apparently I’m just that good. /takes a bow

Anyway, back to the Halo 4 progression system. While we’ve discussed bits and pieces of it, there has yet to be a comprehensive breakdown of the entirety of that system in a single place. I would say that’s about to change, but everybody knows I’m not all that comprehensive. So here comes a semi-comprehensive breakdown of the Halo 4 progression system! (Hey, don’t look at me like that. I could just talk about eels or how Josh Holmes was recently interviewed by a robot named Darren who had spaghetti spatulas for hands. I’ll spare you both stories, though, ‘cause I’m nice like that. You’re welcome.)

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Halo 4 Progression System

The UNSC Infinity is your gateway to the Infinity Multiplayer experience in Halo 4 and serves as the center of your Spartan career. Here you will build your custom Spartan-IV super-soldier, and progress your multiplayer career across both Spartan Ops and War Games modes. You’ll start your career as a Spartan-IV, with a limited amount of choices. As you level up, that will slowly unfold into a large amount of choices. The pace with unlocks will be regular, but not so fast that it causes confusion.

When designing the progression system for Halo 4, our primary goal was to give progress more meaning, and in order to do that, the player’s progress has to impact gameplay. In Halo 4, we primarily do this by allowing the progression system to modify the weapons and abilities the player can take into battle, empowering player choice, and exposing more elements of the sandbox to more players.

As you progress through your multiplayer career, you unlock items that allow you to build the character and experience you want. The things you really desire, such as the Battle Rifle and DMR, you’ll gain access to fairly quickly. Some of the more difficult choices you’ll face, such as which Specialization to tackle first, come later. All of these things give you the ability to tailor your experience and focus on your favorite parts of the sandbox more than ever before.

How quickly you progress through your career will partly depend on your skill. Skilled players will rank up faster, as you get more XP for winning matches. It’s also worth noting that quitters do not get game completion XP. They can progress commendations and challenges, but they will not get partial XP at the end of the game (AHEM).

Below is a breakdown of the Halo 4 progression system.

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