Halo

Since the observer is generally closer to the light source, crystal orientation matters less in the formation of these pillars. Volume 2 is in the making. Pillars forming from ground-based light sources may appear much taller than those associated with the sun or moon. Volume 2 also has music composed and played by Incubus, Hoobastank and Breaking Benjamin:. Light pillars can also form around the moon, and around street lights or other bright lights. Two soundtracks, both composed by Martin O'Donnell, have been released based on the Halo game series. The crystals tend to orient themselves near-horizontally as they fall or float through the air, and the width and visibility of a sun pillar depends on crystal alignment. There should, according to previously established canon, not be a SPARTAN-458.

Plate crystals generally cause pillars only when the sun is within 6 degrees of the horizon, or below it; column crystals can cause a pillar when the sun is as high as 20 degrees above the horizon. Since they were sequentially numbered, all SPARTAN-II soldiers should have numbers ranging from 001 to 150. Hexagonal plate- and column-shaped ice crystals cause the phenomenon. Of those, only about 35 completed the augmentation process to become fully-capable SPARTANS (the rest died or were crippled by the side effects). A sun pillar appears most often as a vertical pillar or column of light rising from the sun near sunset or sunrise, though it can appear below the sun, particularly if the observer is at a high elevation or altitude. It should be noted that the Halo novels state that 150 children were selected for the SPARTAN-II program, and that only 75 were brought in because of room and funding issues. When the sun dog phenomenon is seen around the Moon rather than the Sun, it is called a mock moon, moon dog, or by the proper name paraselene. For the time being Nicole-458 is trapped in the 21st century; guarding Nassau Station's secrets with all but lethal force (she realizes killing someone in the past could have dire consequences), waiting for the "bubble" to collapse and hopefully returning her to the year 2552.

The crystals are hexagonal cylinders, and they have to be oriented vertically. The anomaly intersected Nassau Station; creating a semi-stable "bubble" in the space/time continuum on its way back to the 21st Century. The orientation of the ice crystals involved in this process is important. SPARTAN-458's unit was preparing for a classified mission on Nassau Station when the ONI stealth ship Apocalypso (see I Love Bees) tumbled into real-space – being carried along in the wake of a freak slipspace anomaly. Sun dogs are uncommon and typically appear only when a low sun shines through loose cirrus clouds, e.g., in a milky-white winter afternoon sky. The SPARTAN-II program was the UNSC's highly successful military project to augment and hone perfect soldiers. Sun dogs, also known as parhelia (single parhelion), appear as near-horizontal colored spots or bars on both sides of the sun, at nearly a 22 degree angle. At six years of age she was abducted by the Office of Naval Intelligence and conscripted into the SPARTAN-II program.

This sign is supposed to have prompted him to become a Christian. Nicole was born in the year 2531 in the city of New Legaspi on Mars. Emperor Constantine I of the Roman Empire is said to have seen such a halo in 313 near Trier. This is the result of a collaborative effort between Bungie and Tecmo's Team Ninja. Halos can also have unusual shapes, for example a cross. A female SPARTAN character, SPARTAN-458 (Nicole), appears in the fighting game Dead or Alive 4 as an unlockable character, along with a Halo-themed environment as an unlockable stage. Atmospheric phenomena such as halos were used as an empirical means of weather forecasting before meteorology was developed. This is due to the reason that Halo manages to appeal to both casual and hardcore gamers, and broke sales records, making gaming more mainstream entertainment.

The crystals behave like jewels, refracting and reflecting sunlight between their faces, sending shafts of light in particular directions. Recently, the creators of Halo were listed in Time's 100 most influential figures of the past year. Sometimes in very cold weather optical halos are formed by crystals close to ground level, called diamond dust. Other machinima have been created, ranging from the like minded Fire Team Charlie to the sharply contrasting The Codex, a more serious series. A more Christian interpretation, less dualistic in its assumptions, is that the halo represents the light of divine grace suffusing the soul, which is perfectly united and in harmony with the physical body. Not Halo canon, the series is largely comical in nature and can be found at RedvsBlue.com. Some think the halo symbolizes the saint's consciousness as 'radiating' beyond the physical body, and that it serves as a pictorial reminder to the saint's devotees of the saint's transcendence of the physical body. Red vs Blue chronicles the Civil war that supposedly ensues between differing human factions in the time between the two Bungie games, specifically the story of the men and a woman (Tex), a robotic female tank with impeccable manners(Shiela), a Spanish robotic head(Lopez), and a load of religious maniacs who worship 'The Flag' posted at both armies' outposts at Blood Gulch, a dried creek bed in the middle of nowhere.

Tibetan Buddhism uses halos extensively in the Thangka paintings of Buddhist saints such as Milarepa and Padmasambhava. Virtually all of the footage of the series is taken from Halo and Halo 2 gameplay. In Pure Land Buddhism the halo is used in depicting the image of Amida Buddha. Red vs Blue, a production of Rooster Teeth, is a machinima series based on the Halo universe. In Zen Buddhism, ink brush paintings also commonly use the halo in depictions of saints such as Bodhidharma. The URL was discovered when it was briefly flashed on an official Halo 2 trailer. Halos are found in Buddhist sculpture and painting from the Gandharan period, influenced by Greek artists brought to India with the army of Alexander the Great. The game was centred on a website at ilovebees.com, and was created by 4orty2wo Entertainment, commissioned by Microsoft and endorsed by Bungie.

The halo has been widely used in Buddhist iconography as well since at least the 1st century AD. The Haunted Apiary (aka I Love Bees) was an alternate reality game used to promote the release of Halo 2. This form of halo is still used in many popular depictions of angels and of blessed souls in heaven. Additionally, fanfiction.net hosts a selection of Halo-inspired fiction whose numbers, as of December 2005, had just crept over 1000. During the Renaissance, when rigorous perspective came to be considered essential, the halo was changed from an aura surrounding the head to a golden ring that appeared in perspective, mysteriously floating above the heads of the saints. Fanfiction authors like Mr_Clark, Scorptank, soulguard, sir_brilliant and, AxE, garner no small amount of prestige as some of the more famous writers of the Halo community. The term "glory" may also refer to a glowing effusion —used in art to cover up depictions of genitalia. Indeed, there are several works of fan fiction that run to the length of a novel or more, and are well-known among the Halo community.

This whole-body image of radiance is sometimes called the 'aureole', a lemon-drop-shaped item that appears to radiate from the entire body of the saints' being. The sites bungie.net and halo.bungie.orgboth host collections of Halo fan fiction. Of the many stories about saints, some reports claimed that a saint was literally glowing. A large body of fan fiction based on the Halo series has been written, covering both the past and future of the setting. Some faithful believe the halo to be equivalent to the Eastern religion aura, and as with the latter, believe that halos are visible to those with perception. They are expected to be released sometime in 2006/early 2007. In popular piety, this practice has led to the literal belief that saints' have visible halos around their heads, rather than it be understood as a metaphorical representation. Bungie has confirmed that at least two novels are in development, one by Eric Nylund, the other by an unknown author.

Especially noteworthy in this respect is Michelangelo Buonarroti's statue of Moses in San Pietro in Vincoli. Many fans had hoped more Spartans would appear in Halo 2, but this did not eventuate in the final release of the game, most likely due to balancing issues. This description was taken literally by Medieval and Renaissance artists, who depicted Moses with small horns growing from his forehead. There are a number of differences between the novels and the games, most notably that there are no Spartans besides the Master Chief in the games, whereas by the end of the novel series at least 4 additional Spartans are shown to survive. Jerome avoided this by translating the phrase into Latin as "cornuta esset facies sua" (his face was horned). Dietz. However, this would have implied a halo, which was reserved for Christian-era saints. Both the Fall of Reach and First Strike were written by Eric Nylund, while The Flood was written by William C.

When Moses came down from Mount Sinai carrying the tablets of the law, he is said in the Hebrew text (Exodus 34,29) to have a glowing or radiant face. The Flood is a novelization of Halo: Combat Evolved, while First Strike describes events that take place between Halo: Combat Evolved and Halo 2. The use of halos to designate Christian saints presented a problem in the translation of the Hebrew Bible. The Fall of Reach leads up to Halo: Combat Evolved, and describes how the Spartans came into being. Square halos are used to depict unusually saintly living personages. Three licensed novels based on the Halo series have been published: Halo: The Fall of Reach, Halo: The Flood, and Halo: First Strike. Triangular halos are used for representations of the Trinity. Chief's genetic, chemical, and otherwise unnatural enhancements do qualify him for "cyborg" status- at least loosely.

A cross within a halo is used to represent Jesus. Candidates for the SPARTAN-II program were chosen for natural genetic superiority, and thus were naturally taller, stronger, smarter, and faster than most humans even before augmentation. people considered as spiritually gifted. Despite this, he would certainly not be average by any Human measure. Round halos are typically used to signify saints —ie. Master Chief is entirely Human in appearance, as his armor is in no way permanently attached. It first appeared culture in the art of ancient Greece and Rome, and was incorporated into Christian art sometime in the 4th century. Bungie's own statements identify Master Chief as being a cyborg (down to dialogue from the Covenant Grunts), in addition to comparisons between Master Chief and the military cyborgs from Bungie's earlier game series Marathon.

The halo represents an aura or glow of sanctity which was most prominent around the head and was conventionally drawn as a circle. The SPARTANs were originally created to bolster the UNSC's own defenses against piracy and other jacks as part of the upgrades necessary to don the MJOLNIR armor, in addition to other measures. The halo has become an object of religious iconography in both Christian and Buddhist traditions. He was taken from his home world Eridanus II as a child and brought up in the military's Spartan II program on the planet Reach (Epsilon Eridani) (resulting in his other designation, Spartan-117) to be a super soldier. . Master Chief is also known as "The Demon" to the Covenant. Light is reflected and refracted by the ice crystals and may split up into colors because of dispersion, similarly to the rainbow. In the Halo universe, Master Chief and the entire SPARTAN project are under the command of the United Nations Space Command Navy.

The particular shape and orientation of the crystals is responsible for the type of halo observed. This rank roughly corresponds to the modern rank Master Chief Petty Officer of the United States Navy in the 21st century. There are many types of optical halos, but they are mostly caused by ice crystals in cold cirrus clouds located high (5-10 km, or 3-6 miles) in the upper troposphere. His birth name was effectively erased, and so he is known by his rank of Master Chief or Spartan-117. Halos, also known as icebows, are also optical phenomena that appear near or around the Sun or Moon, and sometimes near other strong light sources such as street lights. Master Chief's true name is John, and his surname has never been revealed. In Christian sacred art (Eastern and Western churches), holy persons (saints) are depicted with a halo, a golden, yellow or white circular glow, around the head. Halo uses a number of common plot devices, although often they are not immediately apparent.

They are often used in religious works to depict holy or sacred figures. Starhammer, written by Christopher Rowley, details the story of a genetically altered man who escapes slavery by a race of blue overlords, and finds an ancient weapon that was created by an ancient race to destroy a parasitic alien life form than may have been a partial basis for the Flood. A halo (also known as a nimbus or Gloriole) is a ring of light that surrounds an object. Ringworld, written by Larry Niven is a likely source of inspiration, with the first introduction of self-sustaining giant ring structures into science fiction literature. From reading Ender's Game, one would notice a plethora of other small similarities, from the fleets, down to the alien species. Johnson as "Buggers, heading over the rooftops!" There are numerous other references and links, such as the Spartan program, which closely mirrors the super soldier program from the novel.

The Drones that appear in Halo 2 resemble the "Buggers" from Ender's Game, as in the third level they are referred to by Sgt. Halo seems to be inspired by a number of other science fiction books, particularly Ender's Game. Furthering this theory is the fact that the Covenant resemble in no small measure the Idiran race, religious zealots bent on eradicating The Culture, which they regard as heretical. These smaller structures have the advantage of not needing additional machinery to generate a day/night cycle.

Banks, as they are ring-shaped megastructures that orbit stars or gas giants, rather than rotate around them. Alternatively, it's possible (or even likely) that "Halo" was inspired by the Orbitals featuring in The Culture novels by Iain M. Some of these names include:. It is probable that Halo took names from world history and mythology to aptly name objects and important characters in the Halo universe.

In both Halo and Known Space, humans develop space travel on their own and later encounter a hostile and technologically superior alien civilization. This idea has been copied numerous times in science fiction, although normally on a larger scale than in Halo. Ringworld is a megastructure 95 million miles in radius that resembles the Halo installations, albeit on an enormously large scale. A film adaptation of the game, with Peter Jackson and wife Fran Walsh as executive producers, is expected to be released in 2007 (see Gamespot.com press release).

Both characters even use the line "They're not paying us by the hour, marines!" Also in the realm of movie quotes enemies will sometimes use the line "its only a flesh wound". Finally, Halo's Sergeant Johnson is very strongly based on Aliens's Sergeant Apone - both are very enthusiastic, black, cigar-smoking squad leaders. The colonial marines' dropship resembles a Pelican and the Pelican pilot Foe Hammer is based on the dropship pilot from Aliens. Also, there are numerous similarities between the marines of Halo and those of Aliens.

The Flood Spores share a similar purpose with the Face Huggers in the Alien film series. The shape of the Elites' heads is similar in shape to the creatures in the Alien filmseries and have mouth parts similar to the Predators'. There are notices near the Pillar of Autumn's bridge looking for a cat named Jonesy (the name of Sigourney Weaver's cat in the Alien film series). For instance, the Active Camouflage power-up is very similar to the type of camouflage used by the alien Predator in the Predator film series.

Some film parallels in the games have been pointed out by various people. On Bungie's own Marathon page, there is a Q&A which states, "Is Marathon the prequel to Halo? [...] No, Marathon is a separate story, with wholly different characters, story and gameplay." [1]. However, due to technology differences (the lack of transporter technology in Halo, for one), this is impossible. According to both the Halo video games and books, the events in Halo coincide with the events in Marathon.

These large similarities led to early speculation that Halo took place in the same universe as Marathon, only with different time frames - however, this was later proved highly unlikely. There are two multiplayer gaming options, a version of king of the hill and a game called Oddball (called "Kill the Man with the Ball" in Marathon), which are present in Marathon's multiplayer mode. Also, both games use uniform color to differentiate between different ranks of aliens (and crew members), with higher ranks being stronger and harder to kill. A type of alien that was modeled for Halo 2 but later cut is nearly identical to the Drinniol from Marathon.

The Hunters from Halo, though much larger, also clearly share design elements with the Hunters from Marathon. Hunters appear in both games filling the same roles. The Elites from Halo are somewhat similar (in their appearance, not their role) to Marathon's Pfhor. Upon close inspection, crew members of the Pillar of the Autumn have the Marathon symbol on their uniforms, and the symbol is even embedded in the Halo logo itself.

These include the concept of MJOLNIR "cyborgs," the supersoldier main character, the weapons, artificial intelligences, and even some of the alien creatures. A number of weapons and plot devices seem to borrow from ideas seen in the Marathon series of first person shooters made by Bungie in the early to mid-1990s (see List of weapons in the Halo universe). No comment has been made about these possible influences by the developer and these ideas are only speculation. These include StarCraft, the Alien and Predator movies, the Marathon series, and Larry Niven's Known Space universe.

Some fans believe Halo and Halo 2 were influenced by a number of other games and pop culture references, partially based on the game series own references to some of these pop culture icons. Since the posting of the script, the message board has been closed down. Bungie said in this news article that the script was in fact fake. On October 4, 2005, ivanjrn, a user at www.richeswillrust.com deployed a fake script for Halo 3.

The pre-order page has since been taken down, but other retailers have followed suit. Soon after the Xbox 360 was unveiled in May 2005, EB Games and FYE started taking pre-orders for "Halo 3", despite having no official word from Bungie on whether they would make another Halo game. Wideload Games has been suggested by fans as a potential such outside developer, reasoning that the third Marathon game was developed by a company which was, like Wideload, founded by former Bungie employees. This view could explain Bungie's reluctancy to speak on their next project, as if they have indeed handed Halo 3 to a third party, the two announcements (of Bungie's next project and of Halo 3) would likely be made concurrently.

An alternative possibility is that, following the precedent of Marathon Infinity, either an outside agency or a contractor to Bungie is developing the content of Halo 3 and using the existing engine, or possibly porting the engine to the Xbox 360. An article in Game Informer in November 2005 reports that: "Halo developer Bungie is so paranoid about the storyline for Halo 3 leaking out that two different storylines are being worked on so that even the company's employees are in the dark as to the plot of the game.". Bungie has also recently stated that Sapien and Guerilla, custom-made programming tools used to build Halo and Halo 2, are being worked on. Though no official statements have been made regarding what that next game is, most believe it is indeed Halo 3, and that Bungie is just being coy about the project in typical Bungie fashion.

Bungie has recently made regular references to "our next project" in their website's weekly news updates. However, the studio is known for being highly secretive and even occasionally misleading regarding development of their games. Bungie has not denied that another Halo game is in progress, but they have not officially announced the game. We'll work with the Bungie guys and let people know [when they have something to announce]".

With all respect to Bill, I don't run Bungie's studio, and neither does he. When asked shortly afterwards however, Microsoft senior vice president Robbie Bach was less definite, saying: "We haven't announced anything on what Bungie is doing or where we're going with the future of the 'Halo' franchise.. "It's perfect," Gates said, "The day Sony launches [the new PlayStation], and they walk right into Halo 3."(Time.com article, registration required; relevant quotes on Gamespot.com). Bill Gates, Microsoft's chairman, stated in a May 2005 Time Magazine interview that Halo 3 would be released in the "second wave" of Xbox 360 titles in 2006, as close to the PlayStation 3's launch as possible, to divert sales.

Steve Ballmer, the CEO of Microsoft, was quoted as saying that Halo 3 was in development alongside Halo 2; however, this quote was recognized as a slip of the tongue and debunked before the release of Halo 2. Sources from inside both Microsoft and Bungie have made contradictory claims regarding whether Halo 3 is currently in development. It is speculated that Halo will become a trilogy, after which Bungie may be done with the series. The cliffhanger ending of Halo 2, as well as the success of the Halo franchise, makes a sequel extremely likely.

With the move to Windows Vista, Halo 2 for PC can be expect to have improved graphics, and to take full advantage of the modding community due to the afforementioned map editing tools. Bungie has also commented that Halo 2's gameplay balance is finely tuned, making such additions as new weapons or vehicles less likely, although new maps are certainly expected. Halo 2 PC will have some new features, potentially including some sort of map-editing software like the Halo Editing Kit, released by Gearbox Software for use with Halo Custom Edition. The game will only be compatible with Microsoft's upcoming Windows Vista, a move that is likely intended to entice users to upgrade to the new Operating System.

Announced on 9th Feb 2006, Halo 2 is coming to pc later in the year. Arguments are mainly directed at the multiplayer aspect of the two games, with emphasis placed on Halo 2's greatly simplified learning curve and controversial matchmaking modes. There is heated debate over whether the game is superior to its predecessor. Halo 2 is much more ambitious than its predecessor.

The cliffhanger ending suggests that another sequel is in the works. The Halo universe expands as well, with new worlds and characters being introduced, as well a deeper look at the culture and society of Covenant. The aborted countdown in response triggers a fail-safe protocol that allows remote firing of all the other ring-worlds from one place: The Ark. In the end, the second Halo is almost fired, but the Arbiter and human Commander Miranda Keyes, with the help of Sergeant Johnson, are able to prevent this occurrence.

Meanwhile, the Covenant slides into civil war and a disgraced Elite commander known as the Arbiter is introduced to the series as a second playable character. In Halo 2, Master Chief battles the Covenant on Earth and later continues the fight on a second Halo: Delta Halo. No ports to other platforms have been announced so far. It also has Bungie.net integration and rankings and tracking of every online match, pushing the envelope of online console gaming further.

It has an advanced graphics engine that utilizes normal mapping and bloom effects, helping to make it one of the best looking games on the Xbox. The sequel features new game mechanics such as dual wielding, new vehicles and weapons, better AI, the ability to hijack vehicles, and Internet-based multiplayer via Xbox Live. It was recently announced that a port for Windows Vista operating system is currently in development. Halo 2 was released for the Xbox on November 9, 2004, generating a $125 million dollar entertainment record on its premiere day.

During an online match, players with the same user-created map can play together on it. This version does not have the option to play in campaign mode. Halo: Custom Edition (commonly known as Halo CE) is a free stand-alone expansion for Halo: Combat Evolved (for the PC) that has the ability to load and play user-created content and maps. Halo ends with the Master Chief and Cortana destroying the Halo and escaping in a Longsword fighter.

After learning that the ring is a weapon that would destroy all sentient life in the galaxy if activated, Master Chief embarks on a mission to destroy it. Stranded with the rest of the crew of the human ship Pillar of Autumn, including the AI Cortana, he fights against The Covenant (an alien alliance waging a 'holy war' of sorts against humanity) while attempting to uncover the ring's secrets, which include the sinister parasitic lifeforms known as The Flood. The story deals with the adventures of the protagonist, referred to in the game only as "Master Chief". It was later ported to both Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X operating systems.

The game was released on November 15, 2001. Halo was then converted for development for the Xbox game console. However, during its many years of development, it changed into a third person shooter and then to a first person shooter. When Halo began development, it was a real time strategy game that would have been released on Apple and Windows PCs.

Halo was the most popular application for the Xbox console up until the release of its more ambitious sequel, Halo 2. . The Halo series is a popular series of video games developed by Bungie Studios and published by Microsoft. 2 : Original Soundtrack (Unreleased).

Halo 2, Vol. 1 : Original Soundtrack. Halo 2, Vol. Halo Original Soundtrack.

Halo 2 Hacks: Tips & Tools for Finishing the Fight by Stephen Cawood. Secrets Of Halo 2 by Greg Orlando, Russell Garbutt. Trautmann. The Art of Halo by Eric S.

The Unauthorized Halo 2 Battle Guide: Advanced Combat Techniques by Stephen Cawood. Halo 2: The Official Game Guide by Piggyback Interactive. Halo 2