Only a small one, but what do you expect when we're just getting back to normal?

Wow! Over a month since the last written Halo Update. It's nice to get back into the swing of these. By the way: big thanks to everybody who showed up at the Fanfest last week, especially those who transcribed the live Halo update for the benefit of folks who couldn't show. In general things went well, though there were definitely things that could have gone more smoothly. We already have several pages of ideas for making the next one even better. As always, the lion's share of the credit goes to Miguel Chavez, truly Bungie's #1 Fan and an organizational mastermind. As I type these words the Second Annual Bungie Pentathlon has drawn to a close. The Halo team took first, followed closely by the Phoenix team in second, and the Oni and Sin-O-MatiXXX/Online Coalition tying for third. As soon as the collective Bungie Blood Alcohol Level dips a bit, everyone will head over to the celebratory dinner. So now seems like the perfect time to write up a Halo Update. Unfortunately there's not much to talk about this week, but hey...sometimes it's just a slow week. - This week has largely been a cleanup week; the programmers fixed bugs in the engine and editor for the artists, and the artists took advantage of the fixes to get things done. If any of it was earthshaking I'd report it here. Much of it is labor-intensive, detail-oriented stuff. - Work continues on unit variations. It's a different alien unit this week, with a nifty energy shield. - Matt Segur started work on Halo's scripting system. - Chucky performed some sort of bizarre coding miracle that allowed vehicles to navigate indoors, which they were not able to do previously. He demonstrated this to me by driving the jeep into a building, down several flights of stairs, and ultimately into a portion of the level known as The Shaft. Watching the sucker flip and spin as it plummeted to the bottom made my day.

Heh... can anyone say indoor tank battles ? You could make a Combat mod (from the Atari 2600) if you wanted to! What about extracting your team from a tight spot? Hrm... I wonder how much indestructium will be on the Halo... It would be SO awesome if you could reproduce a certain extraction scene from Aliens, wouldn't it? All wild speculation, of course...