Blackstar of Blackstar Productions and Narcogen of Bungie fansite Rampancy.net cover from beginning to end, "The Covenant" level of Halo 3, discussing art, gameplay, story, and comparisons to Halo 1.

Show highlights:

Can Pelicans Land?
Needs Moar Splazer
Wraiths Not Worth Stealing
Why Do Forerunners Need Such Big Doors?
You Grabbed My Johnson... Twice
Elites: Reluctant Allies
Prophets Raised In Barn, Forget To Close Door Behind Them
Driving Indoors
Humans Are Special
The Death of Commander Exposition
Keyes And Johnson Sitting In A Tree
Fast-Talking Gravemind
Salvation or Suicide
Not So Guilty Spark

This is the enhanced AAC version of the podcast.

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Comments

Rockslider's picture

Ok guys, finally some comments for you!

06:30 in Needs Moar Splazer
Yep, I agree with Blackstar that it would better if you could choose the firing time of the laser, so that your action would actually cause the shooting. I think it would feel a lot more satisfying. The [i]results[/i] of the laser may be satisfying, but using it is less so. Somehow I sort of feel like a passenger.

07:56 in Needs Moar Splazer
"The surface of this ring is [i]littered[/i] with plasma pistols." Ha ha, yeah - and I hate every one of 'em! Gimme the H1 version any day. The H3 version gives me no satisfaction; the dynamics and feel were pretty much lost - quite depressing.

08:36 in Needs Moar Splazer
In connection with eliminating the threat of turrets, you can make the gunner dismount by bouncing a BR rounds off the turret from quite a way back. Why? Any ideas? Why the heck would a gunner leave the protection so obligingly to let you shoot him dead? You guys didn't mention this, so I'm wondering if you were aware of it. Works with all turrets, and I've used it many times.

13:30 in OGE (Oblivion Grass Effect)
This was one of the graphics-related shortcomings I was pretty horrified with in H3. Narcogen said "it's the price you pay for the close-up detail on everything else", and Blackstar ends up accepting it without too much protest after all, but that seems poor value judgement to me. I mean, it completely breaks the illusion! You end up talking of it as a technical limitation and I guess that's literally true, but surely the real mistake was for Bungie to be asking too much of the 360. We should [i]never[/i] be getting an attempted effect (in this case, reams of grassy detail) unless it can be delivered properly. When it comes at the cost of breaking the illusion - which I consider a particularly serious defect - it's totally counterproductive I feel.

18:00 in Wraith Bowl
"…they don't use the maximum effective range of the weapon that they're given". Yeah, that's really infuriating about the Marines you're driving (or who are with you on foot), and I think it's a bad failing of the AI.

26:14 in Equipment
My basic view here - darned clutter! Ok I use a few items occasionally, but the thing that really bugs me is that the ground is sometimes so littered with the things that I have trouble picking up a weapon! But also, I hate flares! They're visually painful and do nothing but make me have to look away from the screen for a while, taking me out of the game. Diabolical decision to have these, though I'm at least glad to see that in ODST they're less blindingly bright (they still slow things up though, just like the enemy's use of bubble shields).

38:32 in Why Do Forerunners Need Such Big Doors?
Blackstar says "The possibilities are unlimitless!". I'm not sure if that was meant to be a joke or if Blackstar just stumbled over his language, but it gave me a chuckle.

56:10 in Third Tower
Bugs! If you go down the side, a spike grenade thrown on the ground can wipe out a load of bugs when they're concentrated. Quite nice. As for the Hunters, I'd usually be using an FRG, often having picked up the one from outside (slightly hidden away at the back, in an ammo case).

01:25:00 in Two Scarabs Better Than One?
Yes Narcogen, AOTCR on foot! Wahoo! It's pretty much the only way I play it.

narcogen's picture

In reply to: Re: Anger, Sadness and Envy Episode 9: The Covenant (MP3)

[quote=Anonymous]Miranda shot a brute in the face. Not Truth[/quote]

Fair enough. Looks like (although it's not shown) it's only the force of the impact by the Pelican that temporarily disables Truth. You don't see him again after the crash until after Miranda gets shot.

I think I had always thought that the first figure she shoots was Truth, since that figure was only shown from the back, and it had red-colored uniform. However, the Brutes in the room do, too, and the hands of that figure are a brute's.

Of course, if that's not Truth she's shooting, as seems to be the case, you really do have to wonder what happened to Truth and why he doesn't act until he shoots Miranda-- not to mention, why Johnson fails to see that Truth is in a position to fire on Miranda until after it happens. Clearly they can see him even though the camera cannot. He's speaking to Miranda and she's answering.

I think I had always figured that the figure in red was Truth, but that he was injured but not dead. It explains why he can speak, but also why MIranda and Johnson do not consider him a threat until it's too late. With the figure in red identified as a Brute, how the scene plays out is a bit less clear.

I wonder if perhaps the Truth model wasn't rigged to react to being shot, and so an obscured shot, from the back only, of a Brute was used as a substitute. It explains all the characters' actions, but also why that odd shot is used (and why it's so quick).

Good catch, thanks for pointing that out.


Rampant for over se7en years.



Rampant for over se7en years.



narcogen's picture

In reply to: Re: Anger, Sadness and Envy Episode 9: The Covenant

Rockslider, thanks for all the detailed comments!

In short:

Yes, we have noticed that gunners leave turrets. No, makes no sense to us, either, except as a way of making things easier.

OGE: For me, stuff like this just doesn't break the illusion, whereas story inconsistencies and AI misbehaviors do. Having seen it in Oblivion and Fallout and Mass Effect and older games like Morrowind, I'm suitably preconditioned not really to notice it.

Notice how the VISR actually takes this effect and makes it work FOR you instead of against you?

Unlimitless possibilities-- not just a joke, it's a Ghostbusters quote.


Rampant for over se7en years.



Rampant for over se7en years.



Rockslider's picture

In reply to: Re: Anger, Sadness and Envy Episode 9: The Covenant

> I'm suitably preconditioned not really to notice it.

Maybe there's some clinic where you could get treatment?

> Notice how the VISR actually takes this effect and makes it work FOR you instead of against you?

Er, actually no, I don't see the connection. You'll have to explain that one to me.

> Unlimitless possibilities-- not just a joke, it's a Ghostbusters quote.

Ah, I'll have to listen out next time I see the film.

narcogen's picture

In reply to: Re: Anger, Sadness and Envy Episode 9: The Covenant

[quote=Rockslider]> I'm suitably preconditioned not really to notice it.

Maybe there's some clinic where you could get treatment?[/quote]

Maybe. If it takes away from my enjoyment of the games, why would I want it?

> Notice how the VISR actually takes this effect and makes it work FOR you instead of against you?

[quote=Rockslider]Er, actually no, I don't see the connection. You'll have to explain that one to me.[/quote]

It's not as obvious in Oblivion. Get a copy of Morrowind, or some videos from it. The way the fog works to hide distant objects, as you get closer, you see the outline of things appear as a series of lines, as if the art is being drawn right in front of you. It's very similar to the way the outlines of objects appear as you walk closer to them in VISR mode. It's a more pronounced effect than the gradual growing of grass in Oblivion.

> Unlimitless possibilities-- not just a joke, it's a Ghostbusters quote.

[quote=Rockslider]Ah, I'll have to listen out next time I see the film.[/quote]


Rampant for over se7en years.



Rampant for over se7en years.



blackstar's picture

In reply to: Re: Anger, Sadness and Envy Episode 9: The Covenant

[QUOTE]38:32 in Why Do Forerunners Need Such Big Doors?
Blackstar says "The possibilities are unlimitless!". I'm not sure if that was meant to be a joke or if Blackstar just stumbled over his language, but it gave me a chuckle.[/QUOTE]

That's sort of an inside joke. It originally was a line from "Ghost Busters" that we used when we were kids. He says 'limitless' in the dialog but it sounds like 'unlimitless' with the echo of his feet shuffling in the scene.

- Blackstar

-= No matter how fast light travels, it finds the darkness has always gotten there first, and is waiting for it. =-

"This is UNSC AI Serial Number CTN0452-9. I am a monument to all your sins."

No matter how fast light travels, it finds the darkness has always gotten there first, and is waiting for it.