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Takin' care of business...
Yeah, we missed the bus; this is one news post I almost hope slips under the radar.
Frankie and his Question and Answers have generated quite a bit of interesting information. (I wanted a story. No dice. And I'll have you know it took far too long to fall asleep that night without it.)
Unfortunately for the tech savvy, info-on-demand children of the children of the Sesame Street generation (with their whimsically short attention spans), recent these are not.
But, as with most truly awesome things, the awesomeness is just as poignant now as it ever was. Plus, these posts are more for posterity and for filling out the search capabilities of the site than anything, so bear with me :)
For the complete updates in question, check out here and here. Lots o' stuff.
Transport now.
-Finn
Earth. Or what's left of it.
xTr1GGeR HaPPYx asks,
"I'm guessing those ruins in the back are Old New Mombasa, so, whereabouts is the Chief and this Forerunner structure?"
Frankie responds,
"That is indeed the ruins of New Mombasa. The artifact and the Chief are where they appear to be, on the desert outskirts of New Mombasa, and many miles inland. The mountain behind him is Kilimanjaro."
---
ThreeShot asks,
"Seriously though, how long have the covenant had control of Earth before the cutscene started? Days? Weeks?"
Frankie responds,
"The Covenant have basically been in control of Earth since the final events of Halo 2. What was left of the human forces was either distracted by Delta Halo, or already overwhelmed by the sheer force of the Covenant onslaught."
(Distracted? They actually left the home planet less than fully protected?)
---
MarkoM asks,
"Does the canyon / hole in the trailer have something to do with New Mombasa and that spacejump the Covenant Capital Ship made at Halo 2? "
Frankie responds,
"That's an excellent question. A Slipspace jump in-atmosphere would have a devastating effect on an environment, don't you think?"
(Yeah, I'd say so.)
---
Schedonnardus†asks,
"Also, are those rings sticking up in the background remnants of the space elevator?"
Frankie responds,
"Yes, that is the wreckage of a fallen "tether." "
(Or "The Spoke" as I've heard a few people refer to it. Tethering what? I'd like to hear the background on that piece of equipment; that's a lot of mass.)
-Finn
Cortana and that old familiar feeling.
Jonrap asks,
"My wife didn't recognize Cortana when she watched the announcement. I thought Cortana looked exactly the same. But my wife is smarter than me. So, I better ask.
Is Cortana any different? She seems somehow different. My wife didn't recognize Cortana when she watched the announcement. I thought Cortana looked exactly the same. But my wife is smarter than me. So, I better ask.
Is Cortana any different? She seems somehow different..."
Frankie responds,
"Women know things John. I don't know how they do, they just do."
---
SlimJim0045 asks,
"Please have Cortana's lines pronounced so that I don't see 36 threads about it."
Frankie responds,
"I have defied gods and demons."
"I am your shield, I am your SWORD."
"I know you, your past, your future."
"This is the way the world ends."
"But there's obviously something terribly wrong..."
Dah dah dah. Or is there?
-Finn
No one but you.
A lot of speculation had been going around wondering if the Spartan in the H3 trailer was actually Fred, Linda, &c. And, it made sense in a way, considering the upgraded components of the armour (as in First Strike). However, Frankie was quick to shoot this one down: "...and the Chief (no it's not Linda, or Kelly...)"
Good to know, if not slightly disappointing ;)
-Finn
And again from the Halo 3 FAQ:
"Q: I noticed the Master Chief's armor was scraped and damaged, what happened to him?
A: Lots of things."
As though perhaps this desert scene was at one point not just a piece of artwork? ;)
-Finn
That Ever-Elusive Local Year
Nogard asks,
"Is 343 Guilty Spark's idea of years based on Threshold orbiting its star? No weird Lagrange point concept of years?"
Frankie responds,
"Technically a year could mean either the time it takes Earth specifically to revolve around Sol, specifically or some other rhythmic celestial phenomenon. The concept might not have much meaning if you're from a planet whose orbit is stable enough to have no seasons, right? So the question is; Does Guilty Spark's translation into a language understandable by Chief and company simply refer to some rotational indicator - either the Halo itself, Threshold or the closest star? Or does his translation include knowledge of their solar system? Or did I JUST BLOW YOUR MIND, MAN?"
How coy. All things considered, such as the rather casual, non-cagey response from Joe Staten on the same point, as well as the need for at least some semblance of standards in a sci-fi story (like Gravemind or the UNSC speaking English) our (my?) money is on a Halo 04 Local Year equalling an Earth Year as simply a matter of convenience.
And that's final! (Give or take... ;)
permalink | Halo Installations
-Finn
Hunters: More Than Meets The Eye.
Scarab asks,
"Did Bungie ever consider having the Heretic as a playable character? Are there other kinds of Hunters that we haven't seen yet? Cool ones with different armor and weapons. Or do they just have the one shape?"
Frankie responds,
"Bungie did not consider having the Heretic as a playable character. Only Chief and Arbiter. As for the Hunters, we've only seen they're deployed combat type. Hunter society is complex and we have seen but the tiniest fraction of it. There are some fundamental facts about Hunter biology that mean the combat type is just the tip of the iceberg."
Ooooh. :o
-Finn
Hope springs eternal...
Denkriston asks,
"Is it possible that sometime in the future, Bungie may work on another Marathon game?"
Frankie responds,
"Of course it's possible. We're not doing that at the moment, however. Two suggestions get leveled our way frequently - do a Live Arcade port or make a full-on Next Gen Marathon game."
To dream! (said in a rolling, Monty Python drawl)
permalink | Marathon Connections
-Finn
Cassandra
UNSCDF asks,
"In the LE Booklet it speeks of a female named "Cassandra" is she a Spartan or not?"
Frankie repsonds,
"A better question would be, "was" she a Spartan?"
Hmmm. This strongly implies what has been assumed for some time: that Cassandra is the "Spartan too injured to continue active duty" mentioned in the The Fall of Reach.
Although I can already sense the clatter of emaily fingers composing their masterpiece about how she could be a Spartan converted to an AI (as in ILBs), her mentions of "rehabilitation" and being "skinned once again" point to flesh and blood (and titanium) :)
-Finn
