Let's Talk Games

[Aaron-BBY Community Connector]

Hey everyone,

I'd live to give a big round of thanks to all the folks that attended our Halo 3: ODST live chat session with Brian Jarrard and Joseph Staten from Bungie.  Although there may not have been enough time to answer every question, I hope that everyone had a good time and gained some insight on this exciting new game!

As far as the transcript is concerned, please note that some chronological editing was necessary in order to present the content of the chat in an easy to follow, conversational manner.  Regrettably, not all answers could be paired with their respective questions, so an ellipsis (...) has been used to identify where this occurred.

[Aaron-BBY Community Connector]

Transcript for "Halo 3: ODST Developer Chat", Tues Sep 15 2009 (Part I)

Aaron-GS: Welcome to the Halo 3: ODST Developer Chat! You may start to ask questions. We currently have Joe Staten and Brian Jarrard online with us today.

Guest-15: What is the current status of the Halo movie? Is it going to be made? With all of the awesome live-action halo videos and now the Live Action ODST commercial I'd hope it's still being worked on, those clips rocked!

Brian-Halo: Great question. The movie, as far as we know, is still "on hold." We'd love to see it happen someday but it's ultimately up to the Microsft folks. Glad you liked the ODST ad!

Guest-16: Brian I heard your favorite color is blue? Confirm or Deny

Brian-Halo: I do lean towards Blue.

ItheGuardiansI: hey, i asked in the forum and just wanted to ask again here. i was curious if you ever considered releaseing a standard edition of the ODST game with no halo3 MP experience so that the original lower price point could be kept?

Brian-Halo: Actually it wasn't the inclusion of the 2nd Mp disc that had an impact on the price, it was the fact that the ODST campaign and Firefight grew so much in scope. In many ways that 2nd disc is something we view as a bonus for our fans.

Aaron-GS: It may take a few minutes for the developers to answer your questions. To help them out, please ask short, concise questions and try to refrain from asking multiple part questions to be fair to the other participants.

Guest-12: Good evening, Joe and Brian. As developers and script writers, did you guys attend a college or university? And if so, could you tell me which one(s)? Thanks.

Guest-15: have read the other posts and have also wondored if there would be a multiplayer like the Halo 3 experience. would there in the future be a DLC that might be multiplayer like Halo 3 or Call of Duty style battles?

Brian-Halo: right now our team focus is on our next big game, Halo:Reach which comes out next Fall. there will be a multiplayer beta that is available on Xbox LIVE earlier next year.

Joe-Halo: Yes, I went to college and grad-school where I read a lot, and hopefully learned to write well :-) Yes, the new game ODST has a new co-op mode called Firefight that you can play with up to 4 people.

macdjinn: Is the music in the recent live action trailer part of the game? Or was it composed specifically for the trailer?

Brian-Halo: The music in the recent ODST tv ads was composed originally just for the commercial. Glad you liked it!

Lucas: i was wondering if there was going to be a novel released based on the ODST percpective i think i heard about a shor comic but would there be a full length novel

Joe-Halo: No novel planned right now. But there is a pretty cool new ODST comic out right now from Marvel called "Helljumper" that stars two of the ODSTs from the game, Dutch and Romeo.

Zephyr: Hey Brian, glad to meet you. I was just curious, taking into account that one plays as an ODST rather than a Spartan, will the jump height and other physical properties change accordingly?

Brian-Halo: Yes, it's a subtle change, but ODST's do run a bit slower, jump a bit lower and the player height is more like a normal person as opposed to a 7 foot tall super soldier.

nike07: In firefight will you be able to use bubble shields and regenators?

Brian-Halo: ODSTs are unable to use equipment in the game, but the Brute's will still use them against you.

Guest-11: Good evening, Brian and Joe. Have you considered a new choice of vehicles, like a Hummer? This will fit into the rugged theme of the Halo adventures.

Guest-22: Is there any new vehicles in Halo 3: ODST?

Joe-Halo: Well, I drive a really beat-up old Corolla so I'm the wrong guy to ask :-) There is one new vehicle in OSDT... but I can't talk much about it w\o ruining surprises from the campaign.

Guest-19: I was dissapointed to find out that ODST's will not be able to use equipment in Halo3DST. Whilst this will still be a fantastic game (obviously) , I believed things like Deployable Cover, Trip-Mines and Power Drainers and sentry turrets could've really spiced up firefight as they would have allowed the player to use them tactically to increase an area's defensibility, a play style which I believe would have flowed well with the tactical theme of ODST. Is there a reason they made unusable by the ODST's?

Joe-Halo: Equipment was one of those things that worked great when you were the Chief i.e., they made you super powerful, But equipment was a little too poweful for the ODST. The "X" button now controls the VISR vision mode, however, which is a really useful tool!

sparton1199: will we be able to play as DARE in firefight?

Brian-Halo: Rumor has it that something like this may be possible upon beating the game on Legendary.

Guest-8: I was wondering why the ODST's can carry the Machine Gun turret at the same speed as the Spartans in Halo 3. Also can the ODST's jump with the turret when they are using them, because I can't recall seeing them in any of the videos jumping with it.

Joe-Halo: ODSTs saw how much fun the Spartans were having, hit the gym, and are now super strong so they can carry the turret and have fun too :-) Seriously, carrying turrets IS fun. We didn't want to take that away in ODST. And yeah you can jump while you carry them.

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Aaron-GS: It may take a few minutes for the developers to answer your questions. To help them out, please ask short, concise questions and try to refrain from asking multiple part questions to be fair to the other participants.

hi25114: since after ODST comes out, many people will complete the vidmaster challanges, will there be an armor other than recon that everyone will beg you for?

Joe-Halo: I think people will ask us for the Sergeant Johnson armor... but the only way to get that is to pre-order the game. From Best Buy, for example! :-)

Guest-47: will firefight be avalible like matchmaking, you just play with 3 other random people that the xbox chooses for you

Brian-Halo: Firefight, like the campaign co-op, works through 'custom games' that you assemble with your own friends.

Aouqess: Earlier on you mentioned that because ODST is a cooperative multiplayer game, instead of a competitvie one, some of the weapons are a little less balanced then in Halo 3. i.e. Automag SOCOM pistol. My question is did you bring back the Rocket Launcher's ability to look in like it did in Halo 2?

Joe-Halo: Do you mean the way the rocket launcher locked onto targets in Halo 2? If so, then no. The rocket shoots where you aim just like in Halo 3.

ItheGuardiansI: thanks for the anwser. another question is, i have noticed that there are NO firebomb grenades on any of the MP maps. i was wondering if any of the new maps would have them because i really do like them. they were rarely used in the story line as well. i was excited to see that "the rookie" used one in one of the Viddocs that was released. is there any reason the fire weapons have been put in the shadows in the games so far?

Brian-Halo: I like firebombs, but the reason they don't really appear in matchmaking is generally an issue with performance. all that fire can cause problems on latency depending on what kind of connection you have.

rawrjoeynashomg: Will there be unlockable Armor for the ODST soldiers, and if so, what types or armor? (ex. Chest, shoulders, etc.)

Joe-Halo: In ODST you unlock whole characters not armor pieces. The characters you unlock are the cinematic cast from the campaign, and you can use these characters in Firefight.

Guest-22: Can you use the skulls from Halo 3 in ODST? Or do you have to unlock them again.

Brian-Halo: All of the skulls are unlocked from the get-go!

striker777: Would you be able to tell us how many people can play at once on a local console for playing LIVE, Co-Op, and System Link?

Joe-Halo: Up to 4 people can play via Live or System Link. We have support for 2 player split-screen in the ODST Campaign and Firefight.

Guest-24: Is there any chance of a silenced weapon of some kind making it into multiplayer via DLC in the future?

Joe-Halo: Not Halo 3 competitive multiplayer, no. The sound-suppressed SMG and pistol are unique to ODST.

Guest-23: Will there be meta-game scoring for campaign?

Brian-Halo: Yes, you can turn on campaign scoring just like in Halo 3!

Aaron-GS: Thank you for all your questions! We are currently pausing the queue to allow time for the developers to answer questions that have already been submitted.

Aaron-GS: Thank you for your patience.

Guest-14: Will there be an ARG (Alternate Reality Game) for Halo 3 ODST like there was for Halo 2?

Joe-Halo: We've certainly entertained it... :-) But at this point, other than HALO: REACH, Microsoft is calling the shots as far as the future of Halo goes.

hi25114: Will forge be making a return? And if so, will there be any more features?

Brian-Halo: Forge is availalbe on the 2nd disc, the complete Halo 3 MP compilation. It doesn't have new functionality but there are three brand new maps to use it with.

Guest-30: Hey. Bran stated that, "All of the skulls are unlocked from the get-go!" In a big open-world city, wouldn't there be numerous places you could hide skulls?

Brian-Halo: I didn't say there weren't things hidden in that large city.

tomrslever: I'm looking forward to ODST and have already pre- ordered it, but I have a question that may stray a bit from a safe PR perspective. We know ODST contains two discs, with the second disk being competitive Halo 3 multiplayer. And yet for people who have been strong supporters of this multiplayer for the last 2 years, is it fair to consider this a portion of ODST when all that will be truly new on this disc to them is 3 new maps? It seems like the hardcore fans are getting shafted a bit, when they are paying for a half of ODST that they already mostly have. A person-to-person answer would be greatly appreciated here. Thanks guys.

Brian-Halo: no straying from safe pr-perspectives!

Joe-Halo: The honest answer is, ODST on it's own has a lot of value. The campaign is nice and meaty. Firefight is super fun. I've worked on all the Halo games, and ODST is the one I'm most proud of. I can only say, it's worth it from my point of view. Hope you like it too.

LinkMcCloud117: Will there be a Matchmaking-like search system for Firefight?

Brian-Halo: Firefight doesn't have matchmaking, it works like the campaign co-op, you create a custom game and invite friends to join.

Guest-17: Who is your favorite spartan from the Halo books? To both Joe and Brian

Joe-Halo: As long as we're counting Spartan 1s... I'd have to go with Avery Johnson!

owenimholte: Why not call the game "Halo 3: Helljumpers"? The alliteration sounds way cooler

Brian-Halo: Turns out that "**bleep**" isn't loved by everyone. It's a cool name for hardcore fans but ODST directly speaks to the new heros in the game.

Guest-28: What made you decide not to have Sangheili (Elites) in ODST and since Firefight isn't canon, what made you decide not to have Elites and Flood in Firefight?

Joe-Halo: ODST takes place right between Halo 2 and 3. At that point, the Brutes were on the rise and the Elites were on the way out. We decided to stick with the Brutes for fiction reasons, but also because we figured out some devious ways to make them a LOT more fun to fight in the ODST campaign and firefight.

Lucas: were did the idea come from for the word firefight itself was it cause someone liked firefly

Brian-Halo: Clearly we all are huge fans of Firefly, we borrowed most of the cast. But "Firefight" came about as a cool internal name to describe what you're doing in the game.

muelstool: hey guyys does martin odonnell have a fan mail address?

Brian-Halo: You can reach Marty via Bungie.net, he has his own group, "The Marty Army."

Guest-52: is the campaign co-op?

Brian-Halo: This is the way it was designed.

DarthPiette: On the subject of novels, I'd really like to know if there are any plans to bring back Eric Nylund to contunie from where he left us in Ghost of Onyx.

Joe-Halo: Not sure. That's a good question to ask Frankie and 343 Industries, Microsoft's internal Halo studio.

Guest-35: i remember hearing that firefight uses the entire halo sandbox. Does that mean we will be able to face scarabs in firefight?

Joe-Halo: There are Scarabs in ODST, but not in Firefight. As cool as that would have been, Scarabs demand a LOT of space to move and we needed the Firefight spaces to be a little smaller to keep the pacing nice and tight.

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Zephyr: Hmm, do the ODSTs have any major in-game benefits that the Chief didn't have, besides Visor Mode?

Joe-Halo: They have a really cool realtime map of the city of New Mombasa that does a great job of keeping you from getting lost as you explore!

Guest-27: will i be able to put the 3 new multiplayer maps on to my original halo 3 so that i can still play campaign while having the maps on that disk so that i dont have to swap?

Brian-Halo: @guest27 - you'll need to load the maps off the disc in order to play them, so yes, unfortunately this does mean you'd need to swap betwen discs if you wanted to play H3 campaign and then new MP content.

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Aouqess: Is there, or will there be a way for two players to swap thier primary weapons, like you can do with computer controlled allies? Perhaps if they were in close proximity, facing one another, and both holding down the Right Bumper (standard mapping)? How hard would that be to implement using the current game-tech?

Brian-Halo: You can't do this with another human player, but you can still swap out weapons with your AI buddies (pro tip: give the Warthog passengers a power weapon!)

Aaron-GS: Thank you all for being so patient! The queue will be open again for questions shortly.

Guest-34: How many ODST's does it take to potentially kill or disable one Spartan?

Joe-Halo: Not sure... is the Spartans sleeping? ;-)

WillyQ: Will there be any new Humpday challenges after ODST comes out?

Brian-Halo: Sure we will try to keep on doing Humpdays with multiplayer and we can have fun issuing Firefight high score challenges with our fans. And sorry, we can't talk about Reach yet.

vashkey: Will you guys be able to show off a compilation of ODST art work at any point?

Joe-Halo: No plans to show any art right now. Again, a good question for Frankie and 343.

macdjinn: Can the ODSTs pilot covenant vehicles as well as MC? Specifically, is it possible that Banshees might appear yellow under VIST mode?

Brian-Halo: Sure, ODSTs are well versed in the operation of most Covenant vehicles.

Carnage115: In Firefight, will there ever be a way to take off the Rookie's helmet such as unlocking all the achievements? Or is he just going to stay faceless?

Joe-Halo: The Rookie has specific orders never to remove his helmet :-)

HaloNerd: While playing Firefight, if someone drops out, will the whole game end? Pardon our dust!

Joe-Halo: No :-)

Guest-11: Since Halo has a shield plating on his helmet, do you think that this can be updated with the ability to zoom in/out, use thermal / night vision, or lock on to an enemy?

Joe-Halo: No downsides to playing with your helmet off. It's all cosmetic.

Brian-Halo: Wow, so many questions! Thanks for all the interest, please bear with us, we're trying to keep up.

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Brian-Halo: Right now our team is focused on Halo:Reach and we don't currently have any plans for ODST DLC.

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Aaron-GS: It may take a few minutes for the developers to answer your questions. To help them out, please ask short, concise questions and try to refrain from asking multiple part questions to be fair to the other participants.

Guest-89: Why is Sgt. Johnson so BAD **bleep**?

Joe-Halo: Because he's Sergeant Johnson.

TheLead: In Halo 3 ODST, if you play through the campaign in co-op does it remove some cutscenes and story elements from the game like it did in Halo 2? Thanks.

Brian-Halo: you can play the game with up to 4 players and everyone will see the cutscenes (unless someone presses A to skip them!)

Guest-19: I haven't seen the energy sword in any ODST videos, can you destroy my fears and confirm it'll be in the game?

Joe-Halo: Sorry, no sword in ODST. I am the unfortunate confirmer of your fears. But the new SMG and pistol are awesome.

Guest-50: Will there be boats in ODST?

Joe-Halo: No boats, sorry. But that would have been sweet!

Tobadsanta: also , the reach beta , will it only be avalible to the first " run " of cds?

Brian-Halo: Anyone with an ODST disc will be able to eventually access the Halo : Reach beta directly through the "Extras" menu.

[Aaron-BBY Community Connector]

Transcript for "Halo 3: ODST Developer Chat", Tues Sep 15 2009 (Part II)

ItheGuardiansI: its an honor to talk to you tonight, thank you so much. did you ever have a test version of a ODST vs ODST MP? and if so why was it cut and how did it go?and also, tell marty that so far "traffic jam" is my fav song. and BTW, the ODST tour truck was AMAZING also, any chance of getting a humpday chanllange with a group of us xbox live mabassadors?

Joe-Halo: Marty and I tease each other because we love each other. His music is terrific.

kiddboo: So will we still be able to change our armor for online play

Brian-Halo: In Firefight you can choose from any of the primary ODST characters and you can customize emblems, primary and secondary colors and even remove their helmet if you choose.

HaloNerd: In new Mombasa, at night, would it be possible to find/rescue surviving marines/ODSTs as the rookie? Also, I read somewhere that in a review that got to play half the campaign they found one dead elite, out of curiousity, is there truth to that statement? Are there any water vehicles? Thanks a ton; it's an honor. :3 Tru7h

Brian-Halo: During the daytime you'll come across friendlies quite often. At night though, the city has long sense been abandoned and the ole Rookie is going to have to solve the mystery on his own.

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Donaldduck287: Will there be references to Master Chief or even Halo:Reach in ODST?

Brian-Halo: Well, Buck, the ODST squad leader, is a known survivor of the battle at Reach....

DarthPiette: How long is the campaign? Also, is there an email address to either Frankie or 343 Industries to?

Joe-Halo: Really depends on the difficulty level you pick, how much time you spend exploring the nighttime city etc. But there's a lot of campaign to enjoy, trust me.

Guest-74: What are the odds of hearing something of Reach this year?

Brian-Halo: Sorry we're not discussing details of Halo : Reach just yet, but if you read the book, then you already know how important the events were and what role it played in the UNSC-Covenant war.

Aouqess: Is there a Firefight map/mode where you spawn out of a drivable Elephant or Garbage Truck?

Joe-Halo: LOL no. But that would have been amazing!

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Brian-Halo: Naturally we still need to get ODST out the door and then get all our cool Bungie.net stuff online and make sure we're off to a great start... then, I suppose, maybe there's a small chance of more Reach info. For now, don't forget to hold onto that disc so you can get into the beta next year!

hi25114: Will there be seperate bungie favorites for Halo 3: ODST and for Halo 3 itself?

Brian-Halo: yes there are separate favorites for both, at least, I think there is... I've been on the road too long

Jordan117: In Halo 2, a lot of effort was put into making New Mombasa geographically faithful to modern-day Mombasa. For instance, a road map of the city in Terminal showed that it was very similar to the current city, with a few subtle changes that reflected 500 years of progress. It also tied everything in the campaign to a real-world place, making the game world feel compellingly real. But in ODST, the street grid, the large-scale geography, and landmarks like the space elevator are totally different. It's especially confusing since ODST uses the names of real Mombasa locations like Tayari Plaza and Kizingo Boulevard to refer to parts of an imaginary city. Why was the decision made to abandon the realistic New Mombasa for an invented cityscape, and what connection does ODST's city have to the Halo 2 version (or the real-life Mombasa)?

Joe-Halo: Short answer to a complex question: we redesigned the city for ODST to make it as fun as it could be.

Aouqess: If all of the Halo 3 skulls are in ODST, does IWHBYD affect the first person dialogue used by the ODSTs?

Brian-Halo: Yup, it sure does, and their new combat dialog is awesome, especially in Firefight.

LinkMcCloud117: Is there anything else that is going to be added to the "Extras" section other than the beta for Reach?

Brian-Halo: Yes! Between now and the beta release, we plan to offer up content such as new Vidocs, developer commentaries, etc... Stay tuned to Bungie.net for news on what's coming and when.

rawrjoeynashomg: How do i beat free roaming on legendary? I understand that the flashbacks would have a difficulty setting, but you switch back and forth between roaming the city hunting for evidence so must you play the whole game through on legendary at once to beat it like that?

Joe-Halo: Yep. You have to beat all the flashback missions on Legendary. But once you beat the game on normal etc. you can select individual missions from the campaign lobby.

nike07: How many different maps are there for firefight?

Joe-Halo: 10 total Firefight maps.

HaloNerd: Is it true that you guys are done with the Halo franchise for good? :[ lol joe was marty really "leadin from the back"? edit: darn i was hoping the rookie would find some buddies i hated playing some missions in Halo CE because i was all alone oh well -- sorry one last thing will the new hotness drop in with ODST, september 22?

Brian-Halo: We're still working very hard on Halo, which we still love very much. Our next game is Halo : Reach, next Fall. Beyond that, who knows, we're not able to speculate about the future right now. And yes, the new Bungie.net hotness is coming just before 9/22

Guest-77: Are the audio logs hidden throughout the city and if so how many are there?

Joe-Halo: If I told you how many audio logs there were I would spoil the fun!

Guest-90: What was the reason for taking out dual-wielding? Also, can Sergeant Johnson really shoot lasers beams from his eyes like Rooster Teeth has said?

Brian-Halo: I hear that Paul Bertone, design director, doesn't like dual wielding! But it also opens up some new, different gameplay mechanics. And no, sadly, Johnson can't shoot lasers in real life.

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Guest-103: Please tell me that I can play firefight with xbox live finding me 4 random others to play with and if not why did you not include that?

Brian-Halo: sorry, there is no matchmaking option for Firefight or campaign co-op, which is the same underlying system. You can always find people to play with over at Bungie.net.

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Jordan117: The "Hub" world (Mombasa Streets) looks symmetrical, if you go by the VISR map. Any chance it could host a giant CTF map? Why else is the street grid a mirror image of itself?

Brian-Halo: As fun as that sounds, there is no CTF option available in the ODST campaign. I can only surmise that the city is built that way purely because in the future, urban planning is just that efficient. And, it makes navigating it as a player much easier.

Guest-31: When you are playing the Halo 3 : Mythic disc, what shows up on Games played? Will it just show up as "Halo 3" or a completely new title?

Brian-Halo: The two Halo 3 discs are uniquely recognized, but they do share a common pool of gamerscore.

Aaron-GS: We have reached the half-way point in our chat! The queue will be open for questions again shortly, so hang in there!

Guest-11: THANKYOU FOR TAKING THE TIME OUT OF YOUR SCHEDULES TO ANSWER MY QUESTIONS!!! How can I become a tester for your Halo games? I enjoy drawing characters like in Halo, and designing web pages, what advice do you have for me?

Brian-Halo: You can keep tabs on any available job postings, including contract test positions, at www.bungie.net/jobs.

Guest-19: Is it true that Morgan Freeman makes a cameo appearance? This topic has been quite hot on forums.

Brian-Halo: I'm not aware of any Morgan Freeman cameo and I've played through the game many times. I think this is just an urban legend.

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rukizzel: Where would you like to see the Halo franchise go in the coming years? Granted it is under the direction of 343 now. But being your brain child, what would you like to see happen most?

Brian-Halo: Personally I think I share the same interest as many of you - we all would like to see what happened to Master Chief at the end of Halo 3 and what mysteries lie on that planet he was drifting towards.

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HaloNerd: is automag/smg ammo plentiful or scarce in the nighttime city? will halo 3/odst be ported to the PC?

Brian-Halo: In my experiences, ammo is not exactly plentiful in the city. You have to scavenge, pick up Covenant weapons and you can also ocassionally find left over UNSC weapons stashed here and there.

D3athAngel: I've noticed several times the appearence of the Brute Plasma Rifle in the trailers. Is there a reason you haven't mentioned it as a returning weapon? Or is it just a regular plasma rifle coloured red?

Brian-Halo: It is indeed the Brute Plasma weapon and it's awesomely lethal. One of my personal go-to weapons in Firefights for taking out Buggers or Brute shields.

Guest-31: Is there a max Rate of Fire on the new pistol to hold modders back? (By modders I mean people with rapid fire controllers)

Brian-Halo: Hmm I'm not sure if there is a technical hard limit to the rate of fire. I don't have a modded controller but I can fire off rounds as fast as I can pull the trigger. It's great fun to clear a room of Grunts in a few seconds.

LinkMcCloud117: What is the max number of a grenade type can an ODST carry? IE: Chief was able to carry 2 of each type.

Brian-Halo: ODSTs can carry 3 of each grenade type.

owenimholte: How do bullets sound underwater? Thanks for taking your time to answer Qs!

Brian-Halo: Our audio team actually applies proper filters to emulate the distortion that water would cause to the sound. You can jump into the river in the Sierra-117 mission of Halo 3 and hear it first hand.

Tobadsanta: if the helmet is off, technically wouldnt the VISR mode not work?

Brian-Halo: Pfft. Technicalities... don't always equate to fun! We shared many a laugh internally about this same subject. Perhaps it's super futuristic contacts.

Lucas: Is there any other reason the BR and dual weilding are not in ODST or is it just because paul hates it, i dont mind since you brought back halo:CE type pistol and health system

Brian-Halo: Sorry Joe had to step away briefly and I want to keep the queue movin' - Honestly, besides Paul disliking the BR, we often talk internally about how the BR dominates the entire game experience. Halo 3 players seldom have a need to pick up any other weapon. The pistol now easily fills the role of a powerful zoom weapon but you also tend to broaden your arsenal more over the course of the game.

Guest-19: Will ODST have any other new weapons? Also, I know the carbine has been tweaked, has this been the case for other weapons?

Brian-Halo: There are really only two new weapons, the pistol and SMG. You can definitely sneak by patrols in the city if you choose to, I've done it plenty of times myself because going up against two Hunters with low ammo on Legendary is a risky proposition. It's still Halo though, not a "stealth" game per say.

moderateUSE: Any tips on how I can get my wife to let me play more Halo?

Brian-Halo: I once bought my wife a multi-hour day-spa treatment to free up my afternoon for gaming.

Aaron-GS: Thank you for your patience, everyone. The queue is currently paused to allow the devs time to answer questions that have already been submitted.

Guest-74: I heard that Mircrosoft will be closing the Halo 2 servers. Will that be happening for real?

Brian-Halo: As far as we know, there's no truth to this internet rumor.

Aouqess: Did you ever consider an Infinite Ammo skull that also might negatively impact your meta-game score?

Brian-Halo: I can only speculate here because I'm not one of the design leads but you know historically the team hasn't ever offered anything that's a real "cheat." As a fan I always wanted this, as a developer I often use our internal tools to get "deathless" or "unlimited ammo" while taking screenshots. I don't know if it was ever given real consideration as a public feature though.

Guest-111: hey Joe! Is it possible to play firefight on local play, and up to 4 players local?

Brian-Halo: Sorry Joe isn't back yet - You can play Firefight and campaign co-op with up to 2 players per box, split screen and up to 4 over system link/Live. We aren't saying the total number of missions yet. Hmm from my fuzzy recollection, you resume the night time city sequences with the same weapons you had before you trigger a flashback.

Guest-11: What university did you attend to prepare you for a career as a game developer?

Brian-Halo: Honestly our team comes from all sorts of different schools and background. The one constant is that everyone worked super hard and everyone spent a lot of time outside of school working on projects, mods, etc.. to build up a real portfolio of work beyond just the 'book smarts.'

DarthPiette: With fantastic games such as Battleship, Candyland, and The Sims getting their own films, a lot of IMDb.com regulars are just dumbfounded as to how a Halo film seems to have gotten the shaft. Any insight or personal opinions???

Brian-Halo: Candyland, the movie!? sign me up! In all seriousness, we don't have much insight into the fate of the Halo movie. We'd all love to see it happen someday and hopefully it still well, there's certainly a big enough fan audience and an interesting enough universe to make a film out of it.

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HaloNerd: brian/joe will there be a pc port of ODST? when will WAYPOINT come out for the 360?

Brian-Halo: I'm not aware of any current plans for a PC version of ODST but that is ultimately up to MSFT. As for Waypoint, you'll need to ask the 343 folks!

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Guest-125: I'm not sure exactly where but I remember viewing something online that mentioned "weapon caches" scattered through the city that seem to grow with the discovery of more of the 2nd story terminals. Can you tell us a little more about this? Are these things that refill every time you drop into the hub? for that matter, is there a way for you to just drop into a fully open hub with co-op or do you have to progress to open it every time?

Brian-Halo: We don't want to give away spoilers at this point... but I will answer that once you complete all the missions, you do get the option to drop back right into the full city to continue exploring and finding audio logs.

ItheGuardiansI: how would i go about setting up a humpday challange with some of the XBOX live abassadors? i almost had one going years back (halo2) but things fell through. who would i contact to start that again?

Brian-Halo: Contact Urk via Bungie.net.

Aaron-GS: Thank you all for your patience! Brian & Joe are currenlty working through previously submitted questions, and the queue will be open again momentarily.

Guest-19: Will there be vehicles you can use to traverse the HUB? The thought of having my co-op friends with me in an Elephant as we tear up the city mowing down Covenant is awesome.

Brian-Halo: It's possible that the Superintendent may at some point opt to make your city travels a little easier on the feet.

[Aaron-BBY Community Connector]

Transcript for "Halo 3: ODST Developer Chat", Tues Sep 15 2009 (Part III)

rawrjoeynashomg: Brian and Joe: Favorite book besides the halo series for each of you? thanks.

Joe-Halo: Best books I've read recently: Shelby Foote's 3 book series on the civil war.

Guest-31: Can you destroy city cars around New Mombasa? Including the ones you cannot drive?

Brian-Halo: The cars blow up good. Real good. Especially when Hunters go smashing through them.

Brian-Halo: @rarjoeynashomg - I guess not technically a real book, but the last thing I (finally) read was Watchmen on the trip back from the ODST reviews in San Francisco. I'm behind the times.

hi25114: How many easter eggs would you say were put in to that one drop pod at the beginning of the E3 gameplay? Also, where did the idea for skulls come from? And lastly, do you like gears of war?

Joe-Halo: Enough easter eggs that it's worth looking around your pod and outside the windows :-)

Guest-130: I heard Halo 2: Episode 3 will feature the Portal gun, be set in the Arctic, and will also feature Mossman, as we saw in Halo 2: Episode 2 she was in the arctic exploring Aperture Science's Borealis. Is any of this true? Or is it all merely speculation?

Brian-Halo: If the internet said it, it must be true.

rukizzel: How many team members does it take to create the "Halo" story per game? Is it something that is ever changing from multiple sources while being developed? Or is it primarily set in stone before development of actualy gameplay?

Brian-Halo: (what's up rukizzel! that man there got the highest all-time 10 minute Firefight score at the Penny Arcade Expo)

Joe-Halo: Usually the story starts with a few people. In ODSTs case it was myself and Paul Bertone, the Design Director. But ultimately telling a great story is the responsibility of the entire team.

Aouqess: Non-Halo question, my apologies. Are there any plans to bring the rest of the Marathon series to XBLA? if not, is there any way to procure it for the PC atm? >.> Perhaps Best Buy has a copy?

Brian-Halo: I'm not currently aware of any plans to bring more Marathon to XBLA but anything's possible down the road. There is still an active Marathon community online and much of the orignal content is now considered freeware. Check out the Aleph One remakes if you're interested (google err.. Bing it!)

LinkMcCloud117: Will you be able to record clips of ODST's Campaign in Theater mode? And are you able to rewind and fast forward? We weren't able to do none of these in Halo 3's Theater for it's Campaign......

Brian-Halo: ODST campaign and Firefight are built on top of the Halo 3 foundation so they share the same feature functionality. So sadly, that means no cips or rewind. You can still upload films to your share and you can render them to web videos using BungiePRO.

Guest-126: For Joe or Brian. I understand that the city of New Mombasa is completely open world and you are free to roam around and explore the city. There are tons and tons of buildings. Is each building explorable? As in, are all the buildings within the city, that have entrances, fully built and explorable buildings or are there some buildings that are just aesthetic and have no actual physical interior? Thanks!

Joe-Halo: Some buildings are open for exploration, but not every building. That would have been a crazy amount of work :-)

Guest-11: I'm in highschool and would love to play a part in your Halo Movie. I WOULD EVEN CONSIDER PLAYING THE "GRUNT" ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

Joe-Halo: Sorry, but the role of Grunt is already filled... by me ;-)

Brian-Halo: (you'd have to fight Joe for that role!)

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Brian-Halo: You can totally play Firefight by yourself if you choose. The game will actually keep track of your highest individual AND team scores. Be warned though, the enemies do not scale down with 1 player versus 4.

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CloudStrife7: Why is there no standard ODST multiplayer modes - Slayer, Capture the Flag, Oddball, etc? I would like to play as an ODST in Slayer even if it's with all other ODST's and no Spartans. Thanks.

Joe-Halo: You're in luck! Halo 3: ODST has a survival mode. We call it Firefight, and it's all about beating waves of enemy alien AI -- fighting with your friends for as long as you can last.

Guest-57: Is the ranking system gonna be like the same as halo 3 or different and will u be able to unlock new armor like in halo 3 through achievments/firefight/or skulls?

Brian-Halo: You unlock armor/characters for use in Firefight as you play through the campaign. You can also unlock the Halo 3 MP Recon armor by completing all 7 Vidmaster achievements. There's no 'ranking' per say for Firefight, but on Bungie.net we will be tracking your lifetime medals, awarding a makeshift rank and having friends high score leaderboards for each map.

fishiekun: will there be any changes to the AI to make them well smarter unlike the arby who is mentally **bleep** and runs randomly and gets owned every time he is with me so when i actually need him he is knocked out somewhere.

Joe-Halo: We actually did spend a lot of time on OSDT making the enemy a lot more devious and generally fun to fight. This is especially true in Firefight.

Samwapp: I have had this question ever since the rumors started, will this game be on games on damand, and if yes, when?

Brian-Halo: Who knows, MGS ultimately makes that decision but it seems like more and more games are showing up there these days. I'd pre-order mine, right now, from Best Buy just to be safe.

Jordan117: The ambiguous name and faceless figure made some people speculate that the Rookie was a woman, or that you could choose your gender at start-up like in multiplayer. But later details said he was, in fact, a dude. Did you ever consider going the non-dude route, though? (Thanks for taking the time to answer all our questions, btw!)

Joe-Halo: We did consider making the Rookie a woman. But then we created the character of Veronica Dare, and we decided she was plenty of woman for one game :-)

Lucas: Q for brian: ive noticed youve been doing crazy pr for ODST when do you find the time to sit down and play some xbox (or whatever system you perfer) PS: Grats to Rukari i want you to be on my firefight team lol

Brian-Halo: I have been promotin' a lot lately but that's my job and let's face it, there are far worse things to be doing than playing ODST and meeting awesome fans. I haven't had time to play regularly of late but last week I did get to play through the entire ODST retail campaign during the review events and that was a real treat.

Guest-137: IF ODST was built using the Halo 3 engine, why was matchmaking removed?

Brian-Halo: Matchmaking was never part of the Halo 3 campaign, which is what ODST's campaign and Firefight are built upon.

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Guest-130: Out of all the silly questions you've been asked this evening, which has been your favourite? (I'd like an answer from both of you)

Joe-Halo: I like your question the best.

Guest-140: In regards to matchmaking for Firefight or Coop, was is a game design choice to not have matchmaking or was it because there wasn't any structure inplace since there wasn't matchmaking for H3 Coop. Or was there just not enough time? PS Its awseome that you guys are opening up more with things like a twitter account and a youtube account.

Brian-Halo: Well it was definitely an issue of those features not even being there with the game engine carrying over from Halo 3 and the amount of work to try and do that was not trivial and out of scope. It's arguable if something like Firefight would be fun with strangers or not but we know not everyone has friends online to play all the time. I'd suggest trying to build up a Firefight squad list over at Bungie.net and get to know some active players.

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Aaron-GS: Thanks for joining us, everyone! Our time is winding down, so Brian & Joe are currently answering what may be the last few questions of the evening.

moderateUSE: How will you guys be celebrating the release of Halo 3DST?

Joe-Halo: I will be celebrating with sleep.

Brian-Halo: We're having a big fan launch party in downtown Seattle on 9/21 and then we usually all go online and play all into the night. It's a real treat watching our fans start to play and show up on Bungie.net and finally being able to play the real game with our own friends outside of work.

Brian-Halo: Joe has been celebrating for months already, FYI.

Guest-57: Will SGT. Johnson be realesed to the public for download later on?

Joe-Halo: Nope. If you want him, you'd better pre-order the game!

Joe-Halo: It's true. I can sleep for months.

Guest-121: While playing Firefight and you teams lives hit 0 does the game end or do the players get to live out their current life? Can players only play firefight with people they know or can they find and play with random people (such as in Matchmaking)? And does bungie have summer internships for people who love to program and play video games?

Brian-Halo: You get to live out your current life but when your pool hits zero, it means you can't respawn anymore and if you die then, you're out. Unless of course your teammate brings you back by completing the round and being a hero. (scroll up for answer to the 2nd question)

vashkey: Has new combat dailogue been recorded for Grust and Brutes?

Joe-Halo: Yes, we did record new dialog for Grunts and Brutes. They're not fighting Spartans after all... ;-)

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Guest-103: for firefight is there power ups such as active camo or an overshield you do not carry them but rather aquire them so can a ODST get to use them in firefight?

Brian-Halo: There aren't any power-ups but there are power weapons to be found on the maps, things like rocket launchers, turrets, etc...

Joe-Halo: The ODSTs can't use equipment, but the Covenant still can! So fight carefully kids! :-)

Tobadsanta: thanks for answering my obsurd questions i love bungie , and just wanted to say bye <3 i also sent my 3d rendering of 7 steps of world domination through email , it took me weeks to make , did y'all get it?

Joe-Halo: Bungie loves you back.

TheLoot: Is the look of the Engineer in the new Vidoc a visual update, or will it be explained in ODST? And do ODST juice so they can melee brute

Brian-Halo: Well we never really truly rendered a real Engineer completely before. Now we have and they look awesome and they do have fictional reasons for their appearance. As for juicing.. every good soldier starts his day off with a healthy breakfast and some OJ

Guest-11: We really enjoy playing Halo 1 and 2, and think the story line is fantastic. How did you come up with the idea for HALO??? How can I get your autograph??? Is there any chance of releasing these new HALO games for the XBOX----I only have an XBOX.

Joe-Halo: The idea from Halo came from the whole team at Bungie. It's the creation of dozens of smart, talented people.

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Guest-130: Joe, I've always thought the grunts are cute.. and I guess you're the closest thing in real life. Will you marry me?

Joe-Halo: Sorry, already married. But that's for saying I'm cute (not short and crab-like).

Joe-Halo: I meant to say "thanks for saying"

Samwapp: Is there a maximium time limit after ODST comes out to get the Reach Beta?

Brian-Halo: No, all you have to do is keep your ODST game disc. There's an option in the main menu called "extras" and once the Reach Beta is activated, you'll be able to access it.

CloudStrife7: I was looking forward to fighting the Elites in ODST like in Halo 2- Why are the ODST's fighting Brutes?

Joe-Halo: Because Brutes are HUGE jerks.

Brian-Halo: ODST takes place during the events of Halo 2, at this point the Covenant ranks are in turmoil and its the Brutes who are doing the Prophet's bidding.

Brian-Halo: Joe hates Elites though.

Joe-Halo: Not true. I love to kill all Covenant equally.

LinkMcCloud117: How often will the ODST say something in 1st Person? Will he/she say something every minute, or every now an then? Thanks for taking the time to answer these, sometimes odd ,questions. o7 <--salute

Brian-Halo: Approximately every 56.3 seconds they will let loose with a quip or smartass saying.... Actually who knows, the cinematic characters (Mickey, Dutch, Romeo, etc..) do all have first person dialog, some of which is specifically scripted for missions and the other is flavor. I really enjoy having these new perspectives that you haven't had before in a Halo game and it's not ever to the point where you get annoyed.

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D3athAngel: Is there an age limmit for artists at Bungie? I know a company that does, so I was just wondering for future refference.

Brian-Halo: No age limit, we have people fresh out of school and then we have... Marty. We just hire people who are the best at what they do and share our passion for making great games.

Aaron-GS: The queue is currenlty closed, so we'll be wrapping up here in the next few minutes.

muelstool: guys please tell marty im am his biggest fan and i have listen to his music since halo 1

Joe-Halo: I hate to break it to you, but Marty is Marty's biggest fan ;-)

Guest-140: Which Halo Game is your Favorite?

Joe-Halo: Honestly? ODST. Then Halo: CE

Brian-Halo: Hmm that's like asking which baby is your favorite... there's no real answer there for me. I really like them all for different reasons but naturally I'm really enjoying ODST right now.

Joe-Halo: But I'll always have a special place in my heart for the Arbiter.

Guest-120: Are you allowed to dual weapon with guns that aren't alike....Human guns or Shotguns with Covanent weapons? Also, for when you guys play XBOX Live, could I have your usernames this way I can play against you all?

Brian-Halo: ODSTs don't dual wield any weapons actually. And sorry, my friends list is always at max capacity with the max capacity of pending invites. We do jump in random games still from time to time though.

Guest-145: Do you think that you will be able to answer questions on Halo: Reach at E3 or PAX of next year. ( I hope that is answerable)

Brian-Halo: Considering Halo:Reach is RELEASING next Fall, I sure hope we're talking about it by next Summer!

Guest-151: So Joe, what was it like making the game? Was it hard? Because im 11 and i love your games and when i get in college i might be a level desinger and a character modler.

Joe-Halo: It was hard. But very fun. I'm glad you're Halo playing isn't compromising your hopes for a college education. Read more, play Halo less! :-)

Joe-Halo: Err... "your Halo playing"

Turducken: Are There Plans For A New Recon?

Brian-Halo: I think all the crazy amount of content and stats that are packed into the ODST section of Bungie.net will still be a surprise to many... and as for Recon, you can complete the Vidmaster achievement and get it yourself as of 9/22!

Brian-Halo: Well that was really fun, time flies...

Brian-Halo: Thanks everyone for chatting with us, sorry if we couldn't get to you all

Aaron-GS: That's all the time we have for tonight, folks. Thanks for joining us! We would especially like to thank Joe Staten and Brian Jarrard for their time and insight.

Brian-Halo: Stay tuned to Bungie.net for all the news and info about ODST, Reach and Bungie.

Joe-Halo: No, thank you guys! Hope you like the game!!!

Aaron-GS: Happy gaming!

Brian-Halo: G'night folks, see you online on 9/22!