GAMES
Silver Debrief: Just Beyond Our Reach | Halo
“There’s something out there. Just beyond our reach.”
That ‘something’ is the Halo television series, which is now just days—yes indeed, not years, days—away from release!
It’s been a tremendously exciting time as we’ve seen a flurry of content and attention around the series in recent weeks. We debuted a new trailer (which we’ll be breaking down soon!), we’ve got interviews with the cast and previews behind the scenes for how things were made, our first two episodes premiered at SXSW, and we’ve got even more to dig into…
But first, let’s begin with some words from Kiki Wolfkill, for whom this moment—the bated breath before the plunge into nine weeks of Halo goodness on the silver screen—must feel quite surreal!
“It’s been just a week since we had our world premiere at SXSW and in a few short days, we will have our first official release on Paramount+!
I want to thank everyone for coming on this journey with us. I know we will get a lot of different reactions based on the different things people care about most within our franchise, but know that we approached this with so much respect and care working to pull from all parts of our Halo universe.
I hope the sights and the sounds and moments from the games will come alive for you in a completely new way and that we’re able to surface and pay homage to the many corners and crevices of the extended universe as well. This show would be nothing without our game foundation and all of you, both are at the heart of this effort.
As we come up on this premiere, there are two things I am most excited about. The first is showing the world an expansive view of Halo in live-action so everyone can see what we see and love in the games every day. The second is starting the journey of this series. We learned so much along the way in making this show both from a production standpoint and creatively and taking those learnings, feedback from our fans and audience, and bringing that into Season 2 is a gift and means we will just keep getting better.
So, thank you again for your patience and support. All of us here at 343 and all of the series cast and crew hope you’ll enjoy the story we have to tell.”
MJOLNIR EN SCÈNE
Among the previews for the Halo TV series, these two provide a great look into the making of the show—starting with IGN’s ‘Inside the Master Chief’s Armory.’
Join Senior Franchise Writer Kenneth Peters and find out more about how the creative team behind the show brought the iconic weapons of the Halo universe to life, pulling all sorts of details from across the expansive lore of the series for those ‘blink and you’ll miss it’ details.
As we’ve said before: while the show is its own branch of continuity (and you can read more about the Silver Timeline in our first Silver Debrief), it is very much grounded in the authenticity of the Halo universe—that verisimilitude was a matter of great importance, both thematically in terms of the story we’re telling and in the depth of detail that fans expect. In some cases, such as the Sangheili language, we’ve managed to push that further than ever before…
IGN’s second video preview is an exploration of how the Halo television series aims to honor the games and what that really means. It also provides a look into the overall production process, highlighting some of the work done by hundreds of incredibly talented individuals across countless disciplines to make this show a reality.
Concept art, set design (including a quick look at some amazing miniatures made before the real thing was built on location), costumes, props, and more—these are among the building blocks of that indefinable ‘magic’ that comes together in the final release.
IGN’s coverage for the week concluded with a clip of Dr. Halsey and Margaret Parangosky from the first episode, hinting at some of the large-scale events and personal and political conflicts that are adding layers of complication to various plans.
Our final video is not so much a ‘making of,’ but a look at the wonderful chemistry between some of our cast members (Pablo Schreier, Yerrin Ha, Olive Gray, Natascha McElhone, and Jen Taylor) as they answer a series of very important questions about the Halo television series.
What did they steal from set? What scent would the show have? Does Jen Taylor truly possess the quick thinking of humanity’s smartest artificial intelligence?
PARAMOUNT PERKS
In case you missed this Xbox Wire post from Kiki, we can indeed doubly confirm that Xbox Game Pass Ultimate members will be able to stream Halo through an exclusive offer of Paramount+ for 30 days free via Perks, available to claim from March 23.
TRAILER BREAKDOWN
Here it is, our third and final trailer…
Though we’re just days away from the show’s release, there’s still a great deal to say about some of the stunning new moments showcased in the trailer released last week. Let’s dive straight into it!
Is there anything that says “Halo!” more than the Master Chief looking at a Covenant ship in the sky, hanging over a vast vista filled with imminent peril?
We have some lovely renders of this ship which we’ll absolutely look to share with you all later!
A wonderfully evocative shot that captures the essence of the relationship between the SPARTAN-IIs and Dr. Halsey in a nutshell: she is both that light in the darkness for them, a steadfast symbol of certainty in their world, and the one who put them there in the first place.
Halo has been exploring the depths of that relationship for over two decades now, it’s a wellspring that never runs dry, and we can’t wait for you all to see it unfold on the silver screen…
While the magic of VFX will make this look so wonderfully real when Silver Team take the fight to the Covenant, a shoutout must be given to the incredible work of the folks on-set who were performing fight choreography and capturing the kind of locomotion you expect to see from a Sangheili warrior… while mounted on stilts.
As we’ve said before: every effort was made for there to be a physical presence on-set to keep the action grounded in a sense of reality. While we were unable to make contact with Sanghelios itself to get the Arbiter to send over some of his finest performers, come March 24 you’ll certainly think we had!
If there’s a single exchange that sums up Dr. Catherine Halsey, this might be it.
In core canon, we know that Halsey was romantically involved with Jacob Keyes and that Miranda is their daughter, and we’ve seen a few glimpses into the tensions within that relationship, but in the show it’s something that really comes to the foreground as the three are stationed at Reach’s HIGHCOM tower.
Perhaps the core thematic question of this show is how much of our own humanity we have to lose in order to save our species from a threat as monumental as the Covenant. Catherine Halsey is not particularly interested in that question when it comes to what’s necessary—in fact, she’s already picked up the carving knife…
Those who have read the novels and delved into the expanded universe may appreciate the significance of this scene. Even then, it’s something that certainly hasn’t been depicted (and certainly so viscerally) before.
Let’s just say that there are very good reasons for the UN Colonial Mortal Dictata…
Do yourself a favor and go and search up Shabana Azmi, who is as much a legend in our own world as the Master Chief is in his. She has been involved in more than one hundred film projects in a career that’s going on half-a-century, she’s set a record as five-time winner of the National Film Award for Best Actress, and those accolades are rivalled only by her equally expansive social activism.
To see Shabana Azmi on-screen as Margaret Parangosky, Commander-in-Chief of the Office of Naval Intelligence, is its own reason to be excited to tune in every week.
We see her quietly saying to Miranda Keyes that she’s interested in finding a way to be less reliant on Dr. Halsey in the future, knowing that there is a price and a level of unpredictability that comes with Halsey’s brilliance.
Seeing SPARTAN-IIs in action is something that always feels special. Whether it’s reading about their incredible feats in the books or seeing Red Team hold their ground in the ‘Monsters’ cinematic of Halo Wars, there’s a certain level of expectation that when one of these soldiers shows up the combat is going to be taken to the next level. They are the masters of any weapon, pilots of any vehicle, and their Mjolnir armor—combined with their biological augmentations—enables them to do things nobody else on the battlefield can.
And where others would retreat and fortify their position at the sight of an approaching Spirit dropship, it is a Spartan that sprints headlong towards imminent danger. As our trailers thus far have shown, you can definitely expect to see some thoroughly compelling action sequences!
During their war with humanity, the Covenant was led by three Prophets known as Truth, Regret, and Mercy.
Truth was cold and calculating, a master manipulator; Regret was the youngest, the most excitable and militaristic; and Mercy, shown here, was the oldest and most pious of the triumvirate.
The Prophet of Mercy takes a more central role in the television series than he’s ever had in the past. In core canon (spanning both the games and expanded universe media), Truth and Regret have primarily been in the spotlight, which left a lot of room to do some interesting things with Mercy.
Readers of the novel Halo: Contact Harvest may recall that Mercy, unlike many San’Shyuum politicians, believed wholeheartedly in the divinity of the Forerunners, to the point where—even when held at gunpoint—he was willing to allow High Charity to be destroyed when the awakened Mendicant Bias attempted to launch the ancient Keyship at the heart of their holy city.
Even when considering the irony of the hierarchs’ names, Mercy is unique. Truth chose his name because of the lies he would have to tell to keep the Covenant together; Regret chose his name because, even in death, he showed no regret for his actions. And while Mercy received none from the Prophet of Truth when the Flood arrived at High Charity in Halo 2, he was shown mercy by the Master Chief—a human—who removed the infection form from his neck and allowed him to die.
Soren-066. Former SPARTAN-II conscript, wanted by the UNSC, notorious pirate, and—in the words of the inimitable Bokeem Woodbine himself—a loveable rogue.
Readers of the Halo: Evolutions anthology novel (specifically the short story ‘Pariah’) have known of Soren since 2009, and he was among the first characters revealed to be in the show. He’s an enterprising man who truly understands what it means to be an independent, who has sought to make the best life for himself and others after escaping the UNSC and the SPARTAN-II program.
Silver Team’s deployment from low orbit here strongly evokes imagery used in Halo 4 and Halo 5: Guardians.
In the former, Dr. Halsey’s narration is visually overlaid by the depiction of a Covenant invasion, showing a human city overwhelmed by Covenant forces until the SPARTAN-II super-soldiers arrive to turn the tide on the ground, deploying from a Pelican with the shot angled upwards.
In the latter, the game opens with Fireteam Osiris deploying to the icy surface of Kamchatka in the middle of an all-out battle between Covenant and Promethean forces. Spartan Jameson Locke takes the lead in the descent to the planet’s mountainous surface with a very similar shot.
Those visual parallels are another very rich part of the core language of Halo, even as each game assumes many different cinematic styles (whether that’s the fluid ‘one-take’ camera of Halo Infinite, the almost ‘military documentary’ style of Halo: Reach, and everything before and between).
END OF DEBRIEF
And there we have it. Just seventy-two hours to go and you’ll be hot dropping in your ODST pod onto the surface of Paramount+, ready to explore a whole new take on the Halo universe.
Over the next nine weeks, after each episode drops, you can look forward to more regular weekly instalments of the Silver Debrief that will keep you up to date on all the latest goings-on in the show, sharing behind the scenes details and more!
Until then, set your cryo pod’s timer for this coming Thursday—that’s March 24!
We’ll see you on the other side.
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This Week’s Deals with Gold and Spotlight Sale
GAMES
The German Empire Marches to Italy in a Free Expansion Today
We have a new expansion for our WW1 Italian Front FPS game Isonzo releasing today! It’s the first part of our Caporetto season of free expansions, and features a whole new faction with the arrival of the German Empire on the Italian Front, and brings a new map for the Offensive game mode. There will be two more releases in the Caporetto season, each one with a new map to ultimately link together into a three map Caporetto Offensive.
The German faction comes with more than ten new weapons, as well as historically accurate uniforms and equipment. This first Caporetto map sees you taking part in the early stages of the Twelfth Battle of the Isonzo, with German troops assaulting Italian positions on the road to Caporetto. Historically it was a military disaster for Italy which brought down the government – but maybe things can go differently with you on the battlefield?
The update sees new uniforms and equipment from the German Empire for Isonzo’s six classes: Rifleman, Assault, Engineer, Officer, Marksman and Mountaineer. For those who aren’t familiar with the game, each class has different weapon, gear and perk options that allow you to specialize your play style within the overall focus of the class. For instance, Marksmen are always sharpshooters, but a lot depends on your loadout. You could be a long-range sniper and observer identifying and eliminating high value targets with a scoped rifle, or you could equip body armor to take and hold a front line position with deadly accurate mid-range fire. Every class has choices to make in this regard.
In Isonzo’s signature Offensive game mode, one side must attack and break through multiple defensive lines. Thick layers of barbed wire, trenches, and whatever extra defenses the enemy engineers put together will stand in the way of a successful attack. Objectives can be taking and holding key points, or planting dynamite to sabotage enemy supply stashes or heavy artillery guns.
The new Caporetto map – the first of three in the season – is a huge battlefield based on the strategically important Monte Kolovrat. There are five defensive lines, where each line has two objectives for the attackers before they can advance further. While in the historical Battle of Caporetto both German and Austro-Hungarian forces were involved, in Isonzo we’ve chosen to focus on the German contribution, so the map recreates the stunning German advance from the town of Tolmein all the way to Kolovrat Ridge. It’s a damp, overcast day when the attack begins, and the attackers must first cut their way through lines of wire to break into a devastated town – including capturing a church defended by multiple heavy machine gun positions. Fortunately, in Isonzo there are many tactical options available to deal with such strong points: artillery barrages, smokescreens, snipers, rifle grenades, even poison gas. From there, it becomes a literal uphill battle for the German attackers as they begin to climb towards the peak of Kolovrat Ridge. They’ll need to sabotage bunkers and capture command posts while navigating rocky trenches and steep forested slopes. At the penultimate fourth defensive line there is a huge siege mortar to sabotage and a cluster of houses providing cover to the Italian defenders – then it’s one last climb to reach the final objective: Hill 1114. If the Germans can take it, the Italians will finally be the ones fighting uphill as their reinforcements stream in to try and counterattack.
Of course, things are no walk in the park for the defenders either – although it’s easier to maneuver when going downhill, and it’s much simpler for officers to deploy flares to call in support, the extensive trench lines can become a liability once the Germans get a foothold, providing cover as they advance. Some of the Italian defensive positions can be exposed against the sky, making it easy for German marksmen to pick off targets. Italian engineers should make good use of their construction abilities to put down additional sandbags and lay out extra wire to prevent German assault troops sneaking through the trees to flank trenches with their grenades or light machine guns.
As we mentioned before, historically the Battle of Caporetto was a disaster for the Italians. Appalling leadership led to poorly motivated and unprepared troops falling apart in the face of the combined Austro-Hungarian and German armies using cutting edge infiltration tactics. The Italian soldiers were not allowed to retreat until too late, and in the end hundreds of thousands would surrender. After Caporetto the top Italian general was fired and replaced by someone far more competent, who managed to turn the war around for the Italians. In Isonzo, it’s a more fair fight where both sides have an equal chance of winning, if they can use all the tactical options available better than their opponents.
The release will also bring other improvements to the game, including a prestige mode and higher level cap. Additionally, for those who want more options for visual customization of their character, the Royal Units DLC is releasing alongside the free expansion and contains uniforms from the German Kingdoms of Bavaria and Württemberg. Though part of the German Empire, these states had their own distinctive uniforms which we’ve carefully recreated with the same accuracy and attention to detail as with the other uniforms in the game.
The Battle for Caporetto Begins…
Isonzo is available right now on the Microsoft Store for Xbox, and the free Caporetto expansion is out today! Plenty of time to master the art of mountain warfare before the German Empire joins the action on the Italian Front. Follow us to get the latest development news as we add the finishing touches!
We’ll see you in the trenches!
Isonzo
BlackMill Games
$29.99
World War One expands to the mountains of the Italian Front – beautiful but deadly in equal measure. Inspired by the two year struggle for control of the Isonzo river valley and the Alps during World War One, Isonzo elevates the WW1 Games Series, figuratively and literally.
From the makers of Verdun and Tannenberg…
Take part in historical offensives from the Sixth Battle of the Isonzo to the Strafexpedition. Reflecting the course of the actual battles, as the attackers advance the fighting will shift through vastly different landscapes within a single offensive: from hillside fortresses to mountain trenches and fierce urban combat on city streets. Everything is recreated based on research and field trips, from sound effects and uniforms down to the houses, vineyards and trenches you’ll be fighting over.
The new Offensive game mode puts you right in the middle of key historical offensives on the Italian Front. Lead the charge across stunning Italian landscapes as you choose your path to victory – cut paths through barbed wire, flank your enemies by following mountain trails, or man a mortar to blast a way through. Shape a dynamic battlefield by laying sandbags and wire, placing ammo crates, deploying trench periscopes or sniper shields, and more.
Call in support with a unique historically accurate flare system: flare guns can mark targets for artillery or biplane flybys, or different colored flares can be used to guide your team. Once the big guns have softened up the enemy, finish the job at close quarters with an Arditi dagger or mountaineer’s pickaxe. Man heavy machine guns, mortars and even mountain guns for more direct fire support.
Choose from six classes based on historical combat roles and build your loadout from a selection of weapons, equipment and perks linked to that class, giving flexibility and variety while staying grounded in what real soldiers might have carried. You’ll be operating wire cutters, bandaging yourself and wounded teammates, and blowing the whistle to start an assault. One shot can kill and even lighter injuries can lead to quickly bleeding out.
Being an effective soldier in Isonzo is not just about being a good marksman. Mastering the terrain is also key – the mountain can be a friend or foe. Learn how to navigate well to maintain cover and surprise your enemies or support your allies.
Finally… watch out for the dreaded poison gas. You’ve never experienced WW1 action quite like this!
Isonzo key features include:
• MOUNTAIN WARFARE: Assaulting mountain fortifications, battling through ruined towns, and fording rivers are just a few of the challenges you’ll face as you fight your way through numerous enemy positions
• TACTICAL MULTIPLAYER FPS: Choose your role and loadout carefully to survive this high altitude combat – play a sniper to pick off the enemy engineers before they can cut your wire, use rifle grenades to clear enemy machine guns, and much more
• WORLD WAR ONE GAMEPLAY: Historical Offensive game mode based on real battles and focused on the unique challenges of Alpine warfare. Fight with 30+ WW1 weapons, poisonous gas attacks, and intense artillery barrages
• BUILD FOR VICTORY: Place your own wire, sandbags, trench periscopes, and more! Whether you’re digging in or on the attack, shaping the battlefield to your advantage will be key to victory
• FACES OF WAR: Make every class your own by picking from a variety of historically class-appropriate uniforms, accessories and headgear. As a finishing touch, you can even pick your mustache from several famous period-accurate styles!
• AUTHENTIC WW1 ATMOSPHERE: Accuracy in everything from maps and weaponry to music and the uniforms – fight for the Kingdom of Italy, the German Empire or the Austro-Hungarian Dual Monarchy
MORE GAMES IN THE AUTHENTIC WW1 GAME SERIES
Immerse yourself in more WW1 action with our other standalone titles Tannenberg and Verdun. Experience trench warfare on the Western Front in Verdun, or maneuver for control of key sectors in Tannenberg on the Eastern Front. These authentic WW1 shooters let players choose from a range of squads from across the war, as they fight for control of the ever-changing frontlines.
GAMES
Transport Fever 2: Console Edition is Bringing the Full Transport Tycoon Experience to Xbox
Today, we proudly share a sneak peek into the development of Transport Fever 2: Console Edition, and how we managed to bring the full transport tycoon experience to Xbox.
Transport Fever is a very popular and highly rated transportation tycoon franchise on PC. Its latest entry, Transport Fever 2, delivers a level of size and detail never before seen in the genre. The goal of the game is to build a successful transportation company by constructing railroads, streets, water and air lines. Starting in the 19th century, the player connects towns and industries to transport both passengers and cargo. In addition to a customizable free game mode, there is also a fully-fledged campaign mode with challenging missions set in real-world transportation history.
After the huge success of Transport Fever 2 on PC, it was only logical to bring the experience to consoles as well. Not only that, but no efforts were spared to give the console community the full experience that made the game great on PC. In order to achieve this, the engineers at Urban Games had to pull some rabbits out of their engineers’ hats.
Always providing the freshest layer of paint
One of the most cherished features of Transport Fever 2 are its highly detailed vehicles. The game comes with more than 200 lovingly hand-modeled trains, ships, and airplanes, each sporting multiple 4k textures and normal maps.
On PC, it is easily affordable to have all the models and textures in memory whenever needed, as a typical rig has 16 GB of RAM and a GPU with a dedicated extra memory. Consoles, however, are built differently. They have a unified architecture with an overall smaller amount but ultra-fast memory. The key to make it work on consoles is texture streaming, which allows to clear textures of models that are not in view anymore. Moreover, this technology is used in Transport Fever 2 to constantly load textures at the highest affordable resolution to present the stars of the show, like the classic Class A 3/5 steam locomotive, in their best coat of paint at all times.
Keeping the ground like a console pro
A trademark of Transport Fever 2 are its huge maps. During development of the game, it was always paramount to provide a real sense of scale. The engine should allow for maps where a high-speed train, such as the famous Japanese Shinkansen, can really make use of its superior speed. So, a lot of effort was put into designing a highly effective terrain rendering pipeline that can handle maps of more than 120 sq miles of size with a detail resolution of almost 1 yard. Central to this is a dynamic terrain tessellation algorithm on the CPU that, while costing a bit of extra memory, makes sure the engine can render these maps on a wide variety of PCs.
Now, enter the world of consoles with their incredibly well-designed GPUs and graphic APIs. Here, the hardware can be leveraged very well for terrain rendering by making use of the GPU tessellation feature. This feature generates the render mesh for the terrain fully on the graphics card, saving valuable processing time for the complex economy and city growth simulations. While generating more triangles, the hardware approach still costs less memory overall due to its efficiency. So vast maps can be viewed from a bird’s view high up in the sky and seamlessly zoomed in down to individual rocks on a riverbank.
Inspiring the inner architect
Finally, let’s talk about constructions, a central and defining part of the Transport Fever 2 experience. Constructions are large assemblies that consist of dozens of assets, street segments, ground decals and terrain modifications. Think of structures like airports, train stations, docks, highway crossings, and many more. Anything that is needed to build a vast transportation empire.
For a smooth construction experience, it is key that the player really feels that he has precise control over the building placement. On PC, constructions are typically built using the mouse. As the average PC user is very well adjusted to this method of input, it is sufficiently performant to calculate the entire construction each frame and place it under the cursor. However, on consoles, the best way of building constructions is to have them always kept in the center of the screen and move the camera along the map for placement. And moving the camera needs to be as smooth as silk.
So, for the console release of Transport Fever 2, the construction preview pipeline was overhauled. All dynamic calculations are now performed in the background while a static preview of the structure and its underlying ground plan are shown. Not only are constructions now completely stable in terms of FPS, but they also give feedback to the player on what environment features the construction would tear down when built.
Let’s get tycooning on console
We are very excited to bring the Transport Fever franchise to consoles for the first time ever with the release of Transport Fever 2: Console Edition on Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One in February 2023, and we hope you will enjoy it as much as we did developing it.
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