Kaidu webmaster over at Halo Tip tells us that they are changing their URL again. It’s changing from http://www.halotip.com to http://halo.tip.nu. http://www.halotip.com will not work after March 2, 2001. Please adjusted your links.

Hey who needs Louis! We put our collective heads together and figured out how to add Wallpaper to the database thingie. This new piece is by Kaidu webmaster over at Halo Tip. We printed it out and shoved it until the door of Crux’s cell. You should have heard the howls!

Just great! Louis heads off to the sun and pina coladas leaving me here with a mad monk and an aging packet router for company. Didn’t bother to leave the keys to Crux’s cell either. Damn monk is starting to count out primes again. Louis won’t let us answer your HBO mail either not after the last incident. Well we can still post news. Head on over to the Marathon’s Story page for one of the weirdiest pics of Matt Soell ever. That’s the guy who writes us those Halo updates. Scary! 😉

Just a quick heads-up to HBO visitors – I’m heading out on vacation tomorrow morning, to a place that’s warm, and serves drinks with little umbrellas in them, and has no net access. Ding and Wirehead and Crux (well, maybe not Crux) will be here to pick up the slack… but mail will not be answered. (It will still be READ – you can send artwork, or stories, or whatever, and they’ll add it to the appropriate sections – but please don’t expect a reply before I get back.) Here’s hoping that no super-hi-res screenshots get released in the next 8 days… (I can’t believe I just said that.)

Snow in Seattle didn’t stop Matt from sending a seriously meaty Halo Update to the good folks of Rampancy.net… though it did make him rant a bit about SUV-driving wusses. Almost every point is tasty… but the two that got me were

• The chain gun for the Jeep is now fully textured. Rob is working on a new gun intended for “fodder-type” opponents; the geometry is almost done and texturing should be another couple of days.
• The script for Halo’s single-player campaign is about 30% done. (Don’t confuse this with the story itself, which is more-or-less finished at this point, and should completely satisfy those of you who like Bungie games for the story.)

Good story… that’s key. What I REALLY want to know, though, is… what’s a “fodder-type” opponent? And can I make my friends play as them in netgames? Go read all the details for yourself!

Finch adds more info to the bungiestudios.com mystery:

about that URL, I visited it shortly after the Microsoft/Bungie thing and at that time it had a few Myth II plugins available for download. They had used a corrupted version of the Bungie logo, and I just passed it off as someone trying to use the URL to make a buck off of Microsoft.

We received one other bit of mail about this earlier today, that seems to agree with Finch:

a third more likely scenario is that someone probably thought they could profit from the domain name.

Will we ever know the full story? Pax.

As noted by ax on our forums (and on the Marathon’s Story page), the registration date of the domain bungiestudios.com is either a curious coincidence… or a bitter statement. 24 hours after the announcement of the Microsoft acquisition (and, therefore, 24 hours after the change from Bungie Software to Bungie Studios)… you decide.

Psyrixx sends word that the Psyjnir Complex is back up and running. It’s not fully fleshed out yet (the front page says ‘nearing completion!’) but there’s quite a bit there, and if you send feedback now, changes can probably be made more easily. Swing by – looks like he’s ramping up to cover ALL Bungie games, not just Halo… should be a nice addition to the community.

Confirmation is always nice… When asked on the R.net forum whether Xbox Halo will actually be at Gamestock next month, Matt Soell responded

Unless Mt. Rainier erupts, covering us and our source servers in a thick blanket of molten death, we should be there.

Stranger things have happened… but we’re betting it’s a go.

Thanks to Griffon (of Halo Command Central) who noticed that one of the sites listed on our links page as “Halo Command” has changed its name to “Halo Generation“. (URL seems the same, though…) Links page updated.

The secret’s out! I just got back from giving my prayer wheel a spin, and noticed the Computer Dating Agency on the Marathon’s Story page. Well, I browsed around a little bit, and lo and behold – out popped a familiar face! If he’s looking for dates, I guess there’s no longer any need to keep his origins secret… Pax.

Thanks to ax, who noted on the R.net forum that Gamespot has a story that discusses Gamestock, Microsioft’s press-only event next month, which makes a welcome statement:

Bungie Software will be showing the Xbox version of Halo

This has been speculated for a while, but it’s nice to hear it in the context of an actual story on Gamestock. Read the rest of the details!

Thanks to black flag and a red star, who has sent in his own contribution to the Fan Fiction section – a fast-paced thriller whose title should help with the twist… Check it out.

glock writes to say that HaloNews.Org has put up a new poll – “Which group do you most look forward to playing in Halo?” Go let ’em know! Pax.

More fan fiction – Foxhound sends in the first chapter of ‘Group3’, a gritty story of soldiers under fire. Check it out in our Fan Fiction section!

A Halo paintjob on a Porsche 959? Maybe… The R.net thread asking for suggestions for Bungie gear has reached epic proportions. Chime in!

Thanks to Chris Cox, who’s sent in Part 2 of his fanfic “Prisoner” series. You can find it (along with Part 1, and his three-part “Warrior” series) in our Fan Fiction section. He’s envisioning two more parts… so keep your eyes open!

Seen on the R.net forum: Bungie would like to know

If you could have only one Halo-related doo-dad, what would it be? It doesn’t have to be conventional (t-shirt, poster, book, etc.) though if that’s the thing you’d want the most, by all means say so.

Matt goes on to say that they’re not promising anything… but it’s a fun thread, nonetheless. A couple of intriguing suggestions have already been posted… can you think of more?

Dorkonaspork writes to say that AOD Halo has been fleshed out a bit. Stop by… send him suggestions, if you have any.

It’s becoming an ugly pattern – grab the SETI stats page Monday morning, lack time to actually process it until Monday afternoon. The news – could be better. We have some new team members, and are very grateful for Jacob Ericsson’s 513 units, and SerialSPNKR’s 100, but overall, the Halo SETI Marines are slipping. Only 1510 units crunched this week. (Don’t blame DarthFlounder – almost 200 of those are his. In fact, the top 7 crunchers brought in fully one-third of the total units crunched – what are the other 559 members doing?) Check out all the gory details, and see if you’re doing YOUR part, on the 7 day stats page.