Looks like Aquaduct 2 (the mac Xbox Online client) is coming along; the first phase of beta testing took place this weekend. You could read about it right now on Postpose’s front page… if it were up. Because it’s not, you can see the relevant news item at Rampancy.net, which is where I learned of it.

Wow. A new 2d sidescroller looks to be in the works; Halo: Blood Covenant, from an Italian team. The site is in Italian, but you can get a decent sense for what it’s looking like so far by following the screens link. _ib noticed this over at Battleground: Halo. Coolness!

We’re tight on bandwidth, but that doesn’t mean we’re OUT of bandwidth. Thanks to Mythica.org (which is having minor connection problems at the moment) and HaloNational (nof, you rock!), we have a pair of mirrors for you for The Lord of the Ring, a movie made by Mark Gursoy, and turned in by Ben Roth. It’s just under 3 minutes long, 372×279, 11.2 mb in QuickTime format. It’s a very nice trailer – nice timing, nice choices for characters, and classy composition. Ben says Mark did this to learn Premiere – I’d say I’d love to see his more polished work, because this shows real promise!

DocOctavius has posted a rigging tutorial for gmax over at Yayap.com; if you’re interested in learning how to rig a character, this is worth a read!

Before the emails start pouring in… files.bungie.org has been turned off for the next 4 days. We hit our bandwidth limit, and rather than incur a several-hundred-dollar overage fee, I’ve decided to simply take it down until April 1. Almost all the files available there are also available at mythica.org, and even the ones that aren’t will be back on Thursday… so please be patient. Thanks!

Blackstar put up images yesterday of a new poster he received… I don’t know that I’d have the wallspace for this puppy, but it IS gorgeous.

BOLL points out that HHHT 1.40 has been released; The Helpful Halo Hacking Tool has a few bug fixes, and some nice new features. There are also some (untested) spawn patches for download. See what you can find!

If you try and visit the Nightmare Armor website, and fail… don’t worry, they’re not dead, just over their bandwidth limit. They’ll be back soon, with the name of the winner of the Helmet Raffle. Thanks to Webshift for the clarification.

There’s another collection of HUDless Halo shots posted to our forum that’s worth a look; MarkHawk, of the Ice Fields team, has posted 26 pictures capturing some pretty intense scenes. (Spoiler warning, if you’re keeping track of that stuff.)

As is normally the case, Red vs Blue released a new episode on Friday for Sponsors; Episode 28 focuses on Lopez and his HORRIBLE Spanish. Someone should give that dude the Dummies Guide, or something… For non-paying visitors, the episode should be available tomorrow.

The Gamespy Titlefight between Halo and Goldeneye ended yesterday, in a predictable fashion; Halo trounced Goldeneye – again. On April 2, Halo will square off against Half-Life… and THAT will be a fight. Can Halo win out? Tune in next week and find out!

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.)