Hehe – isn’t it always that way? This week, the Bungie Weekly Update is right here at HBO… and I’m too busy playing Death Island CTF on Homelan_HBO_East to get it posted. OUCH! Go read it – it’s full of tasty morsels about dual needlers, glass shaders on the Pelican, and flank-forcing. Rockin’!

So the Fan Fiction section contains a seven-part story from Stuntmutt… and today’s One One Se7en takes a shot at Stuntmutt’s fanfic-writing ability. What are the odds?

Trickster and longtime forum resident vshields ash has posted information about an upcoming Halo LAN at his local EB; if you live within driving distance of Lanesboro, MA (near the confluence of the Massachusetts, Vermont, and New York borders), you should consider stopping by the Berkshire Mall on April 17 to join in – you’d get to meet one of the most persistent Halo stuntmen out there. First prize is an Xbox and a Halo 2 coupon. (Fest starts around noon.) Comments can go in this thread.

Halo: Resolution looks at what might happen if Nightmare Armor expands their manufacturing base.

Twenty Three pieces for you today in the Fan Fiction section… but remember, 7 of them are Stuntmutt’s Oh Thirteen series. It’s not as overwhelming as it looks.

• OlahJust your average halo spoof, by Mr.Elite of Antioc
• Summaries of a Sanctified Crusade, by xitWOUND117
• Halo 2: Judgement Day Chapter 2, by Mibu Wolf
• Forever Credo certe ne cras., by Dispraiser
• Oh Thirteen Part 1, by Stuntmutt
• Oh Thirteen Part 2, by Stuntmutt
• Oh Thirteen Part 3, by Stuntmutt
• Oh Thirteen Part 4, by Stuntmutt
• Oh Thirteen Part 5, by Stuntmutt
• Oh Thirteen Part 6, by Stuntmutt
• Oh Thirteen Part 7, by Stuntmutt
• A Series of Wierd Events – Sequel, Part Thirteen, by Hunter_Killer
• Battle for Azura City, by Hell Starter
• A Series of Wierd Events – Sequel, Part Four [STERFRYE], by Hunter_Killer
• The Iron Hands of the Prophets (Part 5): Sword of Light, by MadJackal
• The Siege of Zion Base; Part Three: Revelation -Chapter 12, by Scimitarex
• The Siege of Zion Base; Part Three: Revelation – Chapter 13, by Scimitarex
• Nemesis, by Reiyou
• The Fall of Rye: Chapter 4: Death From Above, by teemus
• Operation: Stingray, by Nick Kang
• Civilian Assault, pt. Two- Beginning of a Suicide Mission, by ONI_operative_343
• Salvation Unlooked For Ch. 01: Journey to Hope, by Spartan99
• When It’s Too Late For Prophets, by Flu

You WILL have to get started, though, if you want to be finished before the next batch…

There’s a new strip up over at Halo Babies – I liked it! Great hunters.

Last night, Crispy Spartan posted Update 6 for the First Strike mod. It contains information about the modeling they’ve been doing (what vehicles and weapons are coming along), but the big news is the need for voice talent; there’s a list of all parts needed, and an address to mail an application to if you’re interested in playing one of them. There’s also a trailer (2 min, 5-27 mb depending on format, spoilers if you’re worried) to show you where they stand. They’re hoping that Update 7 will be displayed on their new website (so new it’s not resolving for me yet)…

I hate days like this. The whole day is gone before all the news is up… I almost didn’t get to today’s Calvin and Halo, which would have been bad, since it provides fantastic advice on how to get your children to eat vegetables. Game spoilers, for anyone still keeping track.

Just a reminder – The Gamespy.com Titlefight for the winner of the Abandoned Base bracket commences today at 12 noon, PST. Halo squares off against Goldeneye 007… again. (Halo beat Goldeneye in the first round, but Goldeneye garnered enough votes to win an ‘extra life’ slot… and used it to make it to the finals.) If you want to see Halo win, voting is important; all the frustrated Quake fans who were beaten in last week’s very close match will likely be casting a vote for Goldeneye. (Rembember, there is an IP-address-based check on the votes; hitting ‘vote’ a dozen times from the same computer will do nothing useful.)

There’s a new Subzero Rivalries posted; I’d guess it was forged in frustration. Thanks to NickLee808 for the heads-up.

Sharp-witted Canadian wonder-boy Finn has braved the behemoth that is the Halo Story Page mailbag, and returns victorious with another update. Go! Ponder!

Wow, icanttype is converting the Truth and Reconciliation hangar to netmap; screenshots can be found here, on Halo mods. Looks fantastic! Thanks to Devin Olsen for pointing it out on our forum.

HUDless screens – there are lots, but some stand out. And CuBaNo is one of those who make the stand-out kind. His latest batch (17 shots) can be found here. There are a few doozys.

The MC proves once again that comprehension IS important in today’s One One Se7en. (FWIW, I loved this strip.)

Halo: Resolution gets thrown by the little guy. (Happens to me all the time.)

Interesting. There’s a 9 mb video of a new ‘multi-inject mod’ from Madrox, over at Halomods; it’s an entirely new level. (Architecture is pretty plain so far, but man, it’s all brand new.) In the absence of the HEK, I find it amazing how far folks are pushing things – but then, I saw an identical pattern in 1995, after the release of Marathon. Bungie games are good enough that it’s worth building the tools to mod them, even if the developers don’t provide any. Thanks to Neo-genesis for the heads-up on our forum. Update: Reppyboyo clarified that it’s not an entirely new level – it’s the top of Boarding Action. That doesn’t make the new additions any less cool, though…

New Wallpaper over at Yayap.com, DocOctavius’ site. Your favorite Gold Elite, rendered by the Doc himself. Comments can go here.

Pico has submitted Lethal Rage 3, a massive (10:11 long, 35.7 mb) tale of heroism and courage, of finding the strength within to carry on when all hope is lost… and, well, to act like an idiot when you win. Cinematography is awesome, storyline is great, and there are some very nice stunts. VERY nice. Watch this one. (And mirror it for us, if you’ve got the bandwidth – it’s gonna be popular.) It’s currently available in QuickTime format from Mythica.org and files.bungie.org, but if you want to put up a copy, send us a link, and we’ll announce it. A DivX version will be coming at some point. Update: DOH! Pico had asked me to link to a thread he started last week about this, for discussion. I forgot. Luckily, he started a new one today; comments can go here. Update 2: Another couple of mirrors – enough to warrant a mirror page. We’ll add more as they come in. Thanks, folks!

Caskey has posted a new no-weapons mod over at HaloMods; the heads-up for us was the teaser screenshot he posted on our forum. Very cool!

We got a submission of a clan vid – Elite Army Drycape put together 4:18 worth of nice clips. Unfortunately, as I said earlier today, after a long dry spell, there are suddenly many good movies vying for our limited bandwidth. nof, of Ninjas On Fire (and the upcoming Halo National), has come to our rescue and hosted this 10.4 mb, WMP9 vid. When its turn comes up, we’ll host it here, as well (in more formats)… but for now, go check out some great gameplay. (High points for me were the first base jump, the hog-in-bg-base flag capture, and the rocket-launcher-at-blue-base grab in hang ’em high.) Update: Thanks to Yayap, who added a mirror of this movie, as well. (FaulkSoft is based in the UK.)