Halopedia:Bungie Weekly Update 03-31-06

This is the Bungie Weekly Update of March 31st, 2006, the day many people post early April Fools' Day jokes.

Bungie Update
LOTS more movie rumors and speculation this week. Best of all, some news, and even images from ONP (our next project).



First off, the links to Flood on a Plane you sent us are obviously an April Fool's gag since it's already April 1st somewhere in the world, but it is a cute one. Hey, I'd pay to see that film. You know that Flood Combat Form behind Kenan is totally going to kick the back of his seat for the entire flight.



On a more serious note, about 200 of you sent me scans early this week of an allegedly leaked Universal movie script asking us to comment. Well, we can't pretend not to have seen the script in question since it's been all over the internet for a week or two, but regular Bungie.net followers will know that it is our official policy to never comment on rumors and speculation. Until you hear an announcement from Bungie, any script leaks you see should be treated as rumor.



We won't comment on this one at all I'm afraid, especially since we're sensitive to the needs of our partners, including Universal and Peter Jackson.

In other news, Mat Noguchi has been promoted from tools manager to Bungie PR Ambassador. He took some time out to answer questions about this sensitive new role.

What's your main set of responsibilities?


 * 1) It's like a riddle, wrapped in an enigma, smothered in secret sauce.
 * 2) Shut up.

What makes you so ideally suited to be the Bungie PR Ambassador?


 * 1) I do not know where the body of the old PR Ambassador is.
 * 2) Shut up.

How will you deal with cheaters and modders?


 * 1) I cannot confirm nor deny the existence of a bowling ball to stab cheaters and modders with..
 * 2) Shut up.

What do you say to readers who want to know more about our next project?


 * 1) I can neither confirm nor deny the existence of anything.
 * 2) Shut up.

How would you describe Bungie's corporate philosophy?


 * 1) Malevolent dictatorship.
 * 2) Git to werk!

Thanks Mat, that made a ton of sense.

Soundtrack Stuff...

The Halo 2 soundtrack is on iTunes! That's Vol. 1, not Vol. 2, which doesn't come out until April 25th in CD form. But it does mean you can go get yerself some iTunes action right now if you didn't already pick up the soundtrack on an olde fashioned optical compact disc. I would give you a link, but you sort of can't do that with iTunes, which is weird, but whatevs. You guys can figure out how to get to it.

Marty, because he's a sweetheart, has agreed to let you all hear a little sample of what to expect in the H2 Vol. 2 soundtrack and this is one piece that nobody has ever heard before. 10 seconds of hot Marty action. Click HERE to listen to a teeny snatch of never-heard music.

OK, now for the big thing you were all waiting for, news about our next project. Well, we've told you a few things about this project in the past. That we've been working on it for years, that it is action packed and more recently, that it's for Xbox 360. Well, some of you have guessed what it is and while we can't officially announce it, we can show off a couple of images from it.

Pimps at Sea: Avast Me Bitches...

Pimps at Sea has been a long time coming. Bungie fans will be well aware that the game's magnificent scope and ambitious scale have led to countless delays. The good news is that none of the constant iterations and additions have gone to waste. We're utterly convinced that when this game ships (excuse the pun) it will revolutionize the very notion of what an RPG can be.

This will undoubtedly be compared to Oblivion - and there are some parallels - a deep combat system, resource and weapon management, a robust in-game economy and of course, vast worlds.

The screenshot you see here represents just a quarter of the entire game world. And even zoomed out to street-scale, you can see that it is densely populated with AI driven pimps and hos.



The AI is probably our most ambitious creation. The code that drives their behavior and interaction with the game world is called, "Cognitive Pimponance," and aside from simple pathfinding, it enables the in game denizens to behave independently - turning tricks, retrieving trick-funds, even buying rims and upgrading ships independently of your control.

Our Servicing-Based Economy works like this:

You start the game as a low grade Pimp-Privateer. You can choose your race, physical appearance and build, customize your character in a number of ways. You start of broke without even a single Ho to your name and only a scrawny Cabin Boy named Timmy Timmins in your stable. Job one is to either earn enough money using Timmy to get a real Ho, or ramp up your powers of persuasion, charisma and "gab," to convince ladies to take employment with your organization.

Remember, at the start of the game, you don't even have a canoe to your name. There is only so much business in the fishing hamlet of TurnTown, so you'll need a ride to start expanding your empire. And rides cost money.

These can of course be customized, with velvet sails, gold rigging and even spinning rims. This isn't just for fun - the more pimped-out your ride, the more ladies and posse will want to associate with your organization. Invest enough time in the game and you can end up with quite an army.

The graphics as you can see from the screenshot, are heavily stylized, rather than photorealistic - we looked at classics like Jet Set Radio, Zelda: Wind Waker and Ogre Battle for inspiration. We call the technique, Ho-toscoping. Seeing the world in Isometric 3D really makes it come alive, as do our detailed textures and shaders. The World of Pimps at Sea practically pops off the screen.

Look carefully and you'll even spot a guest character or two from one of our other games.

Now before we sign off for today and leave you to enjoy and digest this amazing announcement, there's one more treat. Since it's a 360 title, that means Achievements. For those unfamiliar with "Achievements" on Xbox Live, they're basically points and medals awarded for achieving certain goals. These goals can include anything from playing the game once, to finishing it on the hardest difficulty level possible, without losing a single life.

As you can imagine, picking what goals in the game are worthy of Xbox Live achievements is more than just arbitrarily applying points - it's a matter of picking challenges that you know players will want to see. So without further ado, here's a snapshot of our in-game Xbox Live achievements from our next project. Enjoy.