FyreWulff has a new Fire Team Zulu challenge for you, and if you complete it, you could earn a site award that will be visible when the site relaunches in November. Read about the challenge here, and the relaunch here. Then go wander through ONI Sword Base!(Louis Wu 13:31:44 UTC)

Computer and Video Games has an article about the Two Towers trick, which finally fell to Halo tricksters this past June. It’s a surprisingly in-depth article; I’d have thought this sort of activity wouldn’t earn attention like this from a general gaming mag… but I’d have been wrong. Give it a read – pretty cool stuff! (ElzarTheBam started up a discussion thread on our forum, if you’ve got comments.)(Louis Wu 13:30:52 UTC)

ncsuDuncan wrote up his experiences at last month’s Halo Fest in an article he’s just published at his website, Misriah Solutions. Great memories – go read it! (Louis Wu 13:30:12 UTC)

Tony ‘ubald’ Marcotte is back with a new render – he calls it ‘Reaper #6’, and it’s got some great atmosphere! Take a look.(Louis Wu 13:11:55 UTC)

Dennis Powers let us know that the Halo CE community has a new resource – it’s a website called ‘The Art of Halo Custom Edition‘, and it’s devoted to highlighting some of the more aesthetically pleasing fan creations. If you want to be kept informed, they’re fully ready to help – an email newsletter, a Twitter account, and a forum are all there for you. (Louis Wu 13:10:52 UTC)

Paula felt we weren’t doing Nyan Cat Halo tributes justice, so she sent us two more (one | two). Your sanity is your own business. (Louis Wu 13:10:10 UTC)

Jack and Geoff are pretty busy this week with Gears of War 3 – but they found time for a quick game of Achievement PIG (YouTube | AchievementHunter.com). Cool maps! Thanks, hezekiah. (Louis Wu 13:09:47 UTC)

Apparently, I forgot to update the Fan Fiction section last week – apologies! This week, there are five new pieces! Go read ’em.(Louis Wu 13:08:25 UTC)

bs angel dropped us another Bulletin last night featuring the remake of Timberland for Halo CEA: Ridgeline.  This map comes from one of the classic Halo: PC maps and is a pretty good pick for a remake (I still think Chiron TL34 would have been cool…).  There are some pretty screenshots of the environment and is probably one of the prettiest maps we’ve seen in Reach so far.  On a Forge note, people will be glad to hear that trees are now a forgeable item for Ridgeline (like there weren’t enough trees already).

The Title Update also hit this week, but you won’t see any immediate changes.  In order to celebrate a little though, Waypoint has released a Zero Bloom Slayer Game Variant for download.  There’s also a nice wallpaper for Halo CEA that you should go download and put to use immediately.

Discuss in the forums

The delightfully tactful folks at the Drunken Halo Podcast have let us know that Episode 29 is live. In this edition, hosts Travis and Justin examine their sack. We just give you the news, folks, it’s your job to listen and make your own judgments!(GrimBrother One 20:30:22 UTC)

If you’re looking for a tough challenge, swing by HaloChallenges.com – they’ve just set up A Call to Arms, designed by the 40th Assault Battalion (a HaloCharts community group). The challenge involves Bomb and Flag games, and completion will be quite the feather in the collective hat of your Big Team group! Check out the Challenge Page for full details.(Louis Wu 18:33:40 UTC)

Nak3d Eli told us about some commentated gameplay using the Zero Bloom gametype – check it out if you want to see what you’d be getting into.(Louis Wu 17:24:48 UTC)

On the last day of Halo Fest, a rather large number of HBO denizens and friends got together for breakfast – a photo was taken, and now that photo is online. (Thanks, Mig!) See if you can recognize folks! (Louis Wu 17:22:24 UTC)

Robowski let us know that Post Game Carnage Report has released Episode 89 of their podcast – still loaded with Halo discussion, even in the face of the GoW3 release! Go listen. (Louis Wu 17:21:32 UTC)

Devin Olsen stopped by last night to point out the No Bloom gametype Halo Waypoint released – it requires the TU to function, and is currently only available in Custom games. Folks have already modified it to work with, for example, MLG settings (GAF’s eeblogue released two versions, described here), and with crazy kill-real-fast gametypes (FyreWulff put together Super Swat 64, described here). Some love these, some hate them. Try them for yourself! (Louis Wu 16:54:33 UTC)

This one slipped my mind when I first saw it, but fortunately, Beckx had my back and gave the reminder. Kotaku recently ran a small feature highlighting the new Halo Anniversary Minimates. These might just be too cute to pass up. Go and check it out!(GrimBrother One 15:26:30 UTC)

DPS Sundown wanted to let everyone know that the sign-ups for the new season of the International Grifball League are now open, and will remain so through October 1st. More details can be found at their site. If you are looking for an extra avenue to get your Grif on, go and give it a look!(GrimBrother One 15:08:53 UTC)