The long-standing “voice” of Bungie Content Manager Frank O’Connor, is leaving the Halo studio in order to “work more closely with Microsoft on the Halo franchise.” In his final Weekly Update, O’Connor sends a heartwarming thanks to the community for a number of things, among them for “not following through on the death threats” (his emphasis, not ours).
The most interesting part of his goodbye letter is the tease on the “coming years.” Said O’Connor, “I was busy working on a story for one of our next games, an experience that is destined to surprise, amaze and entertain like nothing we’ve ever made before. That game has an amazing team invested in it, and one that will be tasked with building the Next Big Thing. You should see what they’ve already achieved, you truly should.” We’ll be watching with eager eyes. Take care, Frank, you’ll be missed.
(Oh, and be sure to check out all the fun Frank O’Connor Photoshops.)
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As is beginning to be customary every weekend, Bungie recently made available a new double experience point weekend playlist that will make sniper fans giddy with headshot happiness.
The new (and weekend limited) Halo 3 Team Snipers double EXP matchmaking playlist is live right now, will end sometime during the early morning hours this Monday and requires both the Heroic and Legendary Map packs. Secondary requirements for enjoying Team Snipers is a steady hand, a talent for shooting people’s heads and we’re sure a previous preference for the sniper rifle would help too. Have fun, rack up the EXP and earn that General Grade 3 already.
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Filed under: News
Australian site Gameplayer recently managed to snag a few minutes with Graeme Devine, lead designer on Halo Wars at Ensemble Studios. While there are no earth-shattering announcements to be pulled from the interview — sorry kids, still no confirmation of playable Covenant or Flood — there are still a few tasty bits to be gleaned. First of all, Devine reemphasizes that one of the main goals of Halo Wars is to prove that RTS games can work without a keyboard and mouse.
With this in mind, the team at Ensemble created simple controls, consolidating similar actions — such as different types of unit selection to presses of a single button. For example, single press of the A button will select one unit, a double click will select all units on screen, and a triple click will select the entire army. Another addition, all levels have been designed so that they can be completed without rotating the camera. Sure, players can rotate the camera, but they don’t have to.
Finally, Devine mentions that there may be a level editor included with Halo Wars and also details Ensemble’s plans for downloadable content. At the moment, new units and maps are definitely in the works. Even more exciting, Ensemble is considering releasing extra campaigns as well. Hit the “read” link for the full interview.
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Frank O’Connor leaves Bungie for Microsoft to work on Halo franchise
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