The Idea Forms

Looking around bungie.net and its Optimatch Playlist Forums, I began to see certain requests for maps being mentioned, among them “put a warthog on High Ground” and “a hornet/banshee on Construct”. This was what actually first piqued my interest in creating what was and is to be a series of maps forged, balanced, and play-tested for a refreshing new look at some of the old maps of Halo 3’s Matchmaking. High Ground seemed like an interesting map to toy with, seeing as it is a well working map already, but with some changes, could become much different but still play well.

Initial Ideas

At first, the main point was to squeeze a warthog into High Ground. In fact, I had done this once before – my first experience with forging was messing around on High Ground and trying to put a Gauss Warthog on here… Of course, being a newbie to Halo, Matchmaking, and any sense of balanced gameplay, I loaded the map with power weapons. Now, though, with some experience under my belt, along with quite a few readings of weapon theory and thoughts about map balance, I began on this, starting with a push of the X button to spawn a Warthog into the bottom base of High Ground.

Someone on the Optimatch Forums had pointed out that keeping the Spartan Laser on the map would obliterate any chances of the Warthog scoring more than one kill per spawn, so basically this set off a chain of events leading to what is now Ground Hog. I think the ideas went something like this…

Warthog = No Spartan Laser

No Spartan Laser = Power weapon needed for top base.

Power weapon needed for top base = Why not another sniper? Rockets are against the wall, so they are still an effective weapon. This provides a long-ranged power weapon for top base.

Sniper = No hope for bottom team’s infantry?!

No hope = Switch OS with Camo, Active Camo now spawns at old OS spawn point.

This was when the idea of “need more anti-vehicle weapons” came to my head… I looked around for all the brute shots/power drain on the map.. but realized that they are extremely helpful but barely used.. tried spawning people near the power drain but it leads to a weird opening view.. So I decided to see what a Grav-Hammer could do in the Overshield spawn. As a short-ranged ground weapon, on a pretty long spawn time, it will be a good vehicle defense weapon while not being overpowering. On the topic of being out in the open to the Warthog’s chain gun, I decided to throw in some cover at the top of the underground bunker, as so many deaths there seem to happen simply from being out in the open.

Pictures w/explanation

Here we have 3 objects of interest.. I will write up reasoning behind their placement etc.

1. Active Camo – With a sniper rifle now at the Spartan Laser spawn, the Overshield could be burned with just one or two shots from a good sniper. I decided that Camo would allow for one man to survive just as well as an OS would have worked previously. 180 Sec. Spawn.
2. Short Barrier – Cover was definitely needed here, I cannot count how many times I have killed/been killed on that platform on top of the bunker. Although it wont shield you from a lurker up in the snipe tower, it will prevent shots from raining down from the beach side of things.
3. Warthog – Obviously, this was the main point of the map, to have a warthog in here. I debated on a Gauss Turret, and still might put that in after some play-testing, but decided that the chaingun can do some major damage to shields, and your teammates can pick up the slack with their BR’s. 150 Sec. Spawn (I think… lol should check)

1. Need I point this out? Here we have a thunderous Hammer of Gravity. As I heart it put, “This will turn a Warthog into a flying pig in no time”. On a slightly shorter spawn than the Warthog, further into the game, the spawn times will be offset and controlling it at the right time will become tricky.

1. To start, we have the sniper rifle. With a run-time maximum at 5, and a fairly short respawn timer for a power weapon (120 Sec.), you have a potential for some long-ranged mayhem in here. Don’t worry about this becoming a sniper fight, though; the invisibility along with your AR starts should do some damage to a sniper at close range.
2. What is this? Yeah, just something I thought I would try out. The difference between plasma and human is that human turrets are projectiles – they can hurt a person, but it takes longer to break through their shields. With a plasma turret here, a Warthog driver caught in the open for a little too long can soon find himself redbarred.

Concluding…

There we have Ground Hog, a Halo 3 map forged by Knight Kninja. Well balanced as forged, but I haven’t had time to play-test it yet. Add me GT: knight kninja and we can get a party going and brainstorm some good ideas for a second version etc.

Links Mentioned

Bungie.net

Bungie.net Optimatch Forums

Download Ground Hog

We can’t escape it, Christmas is round the corner! And this week’s news includes an update on Santa’s favourite animals, as well as news of some more births at the zoo!

Reindeer are of course a favourite Christmas-time animal. How would Santa power his sleigh without them? Nevertheless, before the reindeer can get in training for their seasonal duties, they first have to go through the last of the changes linked to their annual rut.

By this time of year, the rut has ended, meaning that the males can now loose their redundant (and rather heavy) antlers. Antlers are required throughout the rut for attracting and impressing females, as well as fighting off challenging males. Over the rutting season, adult males may loose a lot of weight as they expend energy on rut activities, and have little time for feeding. This puts them in a pitiable position ahead of the bleak winter months. Carrying around the unnecessary weight of antlers would make things even harder! Adult males will therefore shed their antlers during November/ December, leaving them with just two pedicles (a permanent point or nub, protruding from the skull, and covered in skin). The shedding process takes two to three weeks to complete, and is pain free for the reindeer. Adult males can then focus their remaining energies on finding food.

Reindeer are the only deer species for which females also grow antlers. Females do not shed their antlers until after their calves have been born in spring/ summer. At this time of year, females have reached their maximum weight and are far better prepared for the long winter months. Their antlers are also much smaller than males, and therefore far less cumbersome. It may therefore be advantageous for females to remain armed with antlers during the winter months to assist them in self defence, whilst carrying young. The male reindeer will certainly have lost all interest in watching over the females by this time!

Young males will also retain their antlers until springtime as they do not yet have the hormonal cues which trigger the behavioural and physical changes linked to the rutting season. Why not pay our reindeer a visit, and take a look at the one adult male still resident at the zoo, ‘Eskimo’? He looks far less impressive after loosing his antlers, and may even have to endure being pushed about by the females and younger males a bit!

Spot the pedicles!

You may recall that our bird keepers worked very hard over the summer on breeding vulturine guineafowl.  This involved artificially incubating the eggs and then hand rearing chicks in order to greatly increase the potential number of hatchlings within the breeding season.

A vulturine guineafowl pair will typically produce four to eight chicks within one season, if left to their own devices. This is because caring for eggs and rearing chicks exerts an energy demand on the parents, limiting the number of young they can successfully raise. However, if these parental responsibilities are taken on by the keepers instead, the guineafowl will continue to lay clutches of eggs, and can ultimately produce more young.

We are pleased to announce that a grand total of 23 chicks have now hatched and have been successfully raised by the keepers. Due to this large number, the youngsters are being kept off show before leaving for other zoological collections. Vulturine guineafowls are in demand in captivity, as their total captive population currently only amounts to around 300 individuals. These youngsters should therefore make a great contribution to captive collections. This success is also a tribute to the hard work and expertise of our bird keepers. We hope that they will be able to apply these reproductive techniques to other species in need of captive breeding efforts, in the future.

The very funky looking vulturine guineafowl!

We are pleased to announce that a warthog piglet was born on the 25^th Sept. The youngster has been identified as a female, but has yet to be named. This birth is excellent news as it is the first since a new male, 2 year old ‘Otto’ arrived at the zoo to be paired with our 5 year old mum, ‘Blister’. Warthogs reach sexual maturity at around 24 months, and so Otto has certainly not wasted any time!

Blister’s youngster should be starting to graze now, but will not be weaned completely until around 4 months of age. Blister has proved to be a good mum, and can still be seen feeding her youngster, playing with it and protecting it from grumpy Otto! This is particularly important as male warthogs can be significantly larger than females, and do not usually live as part of the family group. They have no natural paternal instincts, and sometimes accidentally harm their own young!

Why not pay the warthogs a visit next time you are in the zoo? Unsurprisingly, you are more likely to see them out and about on sunny, warm days, rather than cold, wet days!

Blister acts the protective mum

Here’s an animation I did in AE to practice basic animation keyframing. The warthog used here is the one that was built by Peter Jackson’s WETA workshop in New Zealand for the live action Halo shorts. I spent most of the time cutting this out in Photoshop as the edges of the tyres are really dark and blend in with ground. The windscreen has lowered opacity so you can see the background through it. The warthog and the background are actually on two different planes in 3D space. As it crosses the gap it moves towards the back (except you probably can’t see it.).

For Nature and Scenic, we are meeting to discuss which images should be pulled into the portfolio for this class. Here are my submissions:

AJ

I’m here! And so-fari so goody!

I arrived in Nairobi late last night feeling extremely dazed and disorientated. I quite enjoyed the flight as I got a birdseye view of the Sahara and the Sudan and BA also gave me free socks which made my feet very comfy indeed. I’m so used to flying Ryanair now that this seemed like a real treat.

Fortunately everything went smoothly at the airport and none of my concerns like baggage going missing or my driver not being there came to fruition, and I managed to clear immigration in a matter of minutes. On the drive to Helen’s apartment I obviously couldn’t see a whole lot as it was dark, but we did cut through the centre of Nairobi so I got to see what the downtown area looks like.

Helen’s sister greeted me at the apartment and showed me around.  After she left, I rather mournfully ate the sandwiches I had bought at Manchester Airport yesterday morning, unpacked, and unsuccessfully tried to connect my laptop to the internet. It’s very cosy here and three stories up which makes me feel quite safe. Nevertheless, the strange new noises kept me awake for a while last night until I managed to establish that none of them were coming from inside the apartment.

Despite feeling lonely and bit homesick, I slept like an absolute log last night and awoke this morning to find that Helen’s husband Alex had arrived back from Johannesburg. He was extremely friendly and laid back and sorted me out a taxi to take me the Giraffe Centre and the Karen Blixen Museum this afternoon. He also helped me connect to the internet and warned me that the boys living upstairs were extremely noisy (although I had already discovered this during the night).

The taxi drive did not help me to feel any less overwhelmed about being in Africa. The first and most obvious thing I noticed was that people here seem to be less keen on sitting indoors and even if they aren’t doing much, they just seem to hang out on the street. There are people everywhere and colourful stalls and outdoor shops all over the place as well. Animals graze freely on the sides of the road; some of them, I must add, looking very frail and bony.

Another thing I could not help but notice are the masses of barbed wire and ten feet plus walls that surround many of the properties here. The apartment complex I’m staying in is gated and has a security guard, but it has no barbed wire on the walls; then again it is not particularly showy and glamourous. I must say that I am surprised how conspiculously the rich people do display their wealth here. In the upmarket suburbs I travelled through today some of the houses were extremely extravagant, even by British standards, and probably need all the barbed wire and security and guard dogs they can get.

I have yet to see much of life at the other end of the spectrum, although you sense poverty lingering here. I did catch a glimpse of the Kibera slum today out of the back window as we sped away in the opposite direction though…I’m sure there will be more to come on this subject later. We did have a few hairy moments on the road today as well, where no rules seem to apply and matatus jump all over the place, leaving you with the sense that a collision may well be imminent. Matatus are Nissan minibuses and the main form of public transport here. They are painted with crazy designs and often have music pumping out of them. To be honest, they scare the living daylights out of me, but as I will be here for quite some time, I really need to learn to use them. Im sure there will be more to come on this subject as well…

My taxi driver wasn’t the most talkative in the world and there were no seatbelts in the back of the taxi but he waited for me everwhere I went which was pretty good. First I went to the Karen Blixen Museum which I quite wanted to see, although I wasn’t that fussed about. According to Lonely Planet it was only 200 KSH (about £2) so I thought I might as well go, but when I got there I found it was 800 KSH! For this, a tour of the house was included and there was a huge Kenyan wedding going on in the grounds which created a lovely atmosphere, but overall it was still a bit of a rip-off as there was not that much to see. My tour guide was a very friendly guy, as was the house security guard who took a picture of me in front of the house and also tried to find a chameleon in the garden for me to look at.

The Giraffe Centre was an absolutely charming place where, if you were prepared to be slobbered on, you will have an amazing time. This too cost more than Lonely Planet stated (I’ll be throwing it in a dustbin sometime soon) at 750 KSH, but it was well worth the money. Giraffes are without a doubt one of the world’s funniest creatures and there were many at the centre ranging from very tiny babies to huge adults. Not all of them came over to be fed, but even just the sight of them swaying through the trees around Giraffe Manor (easily one of the world’s best located hotels) was magical in itself.

Feeding the giraffes was a brilliant experience. They reach out their tongues and curl them around the bits of food you hold out to them, although some of them are more adept at this than others and the less skilled ones don’t seem to be able to do it without getting your whole hand in their mouth first, which is certainly an interesting feeling. The guy that supervised the feeding showed me some tricks to get good photo poses and took pictures of me hugging and kissing the giraffes. He was a very happy guy (probably because he had a really great job) and chatted to me about what I was doing in Nairobi and the giraffes which was nice. There was also a warthog (another hilarious animal) mooching about and picking up the food that fell out of the giraffes mouths, which it could only do by crawling around on its elbows. As soon as one of the rangers went close to it however, it pelted off rather comically into the forest.

So on the way back, we passed the shopping centre that Helen’s sister told me about, and it is literally 200 metres down the road. Still, I have yet to gather the courage to venture out! My couscous and loaf and bread is not going to keep me going for much longer however, so I am going to force myself to get up and go tomorrow morning. I feel very self-conscious at the moment but need to get over it very quickly and learn how to do things for myself! There were a lot of men hanging round the gate of the apartment complex earlier and one of them stopped my taxi driver and clearly said something to him about me in Swahili, but I obviously have no idea what it was. They were still there when we got back and I didn’t really want to have to walk past them alone, which was why I didn’t go to the shopping centre…how very cowardly of me!

Anyway, I’ve been back at the apartment ever since and there is plenty for me to do here, especially now I have internet connection. I think I may be suffering a little bit from jetlag as I had to have a nap before and keep getting that overwhelming feeling of needing to drop off…actually nothing unusual there! It has been very noisy this evening, with music playing and people shouting and talking and singing happy birthday. I can also hear the crickets and some interesting bird noises that I’m not used to, so I will have to keep an eye out of the window for things fluttering around in the trees.

So finally, the weather has been good so far, and the temparature is around 19-22 degrees which is really just perfect. There has been the odd smattering of rain but it has only lasted for a couple of minutes each time and hopefully it will continue that way.

I’m off now to have couscous and tear up my Lonely Planet guide, but hopefully I’ll get another chance to write again soon!

Damit meine ich Fairchilds A-10 Thunderbold II und zwar in der Typ-C-Konfiguration!

Warum?

Nun, anknüpfend an meine Überlegungen bezüglich der Anschaffung von AC-130, sollten auch einige A-10C beschafft werden, da auch hier die dort gesagten Dinge über Low-Level-Konflikte, Präzisionsangriffen, minimalen kollateral-Schäden und Außenwirksamkeit, bei gleichzeitiger voller echter Kriegseignung gelten.

Dieses seit 1976 bei den Amerikanern im Einsatz befindliche Bodenkampfflugzeug, mit dem wenig schmeichelhaften Spitzennamen “Warthog” (Warzenschwein) auch bekannt als “Tank-Killer” bietet trotz seines Alters allerhand Vorteile.

Es ist richtig, die Amerikaner wollten es schon mehrmals komplett ausmustern und seine Rolle ihren F-16 und ähnlichen überschallschnellen Jets übertragen, doch überzeugte sein Einsatz (und deren Versagen in dieser Rolle) in beiden Golfkriegen und in Afghanistan, es noch eine ganze Weile zu behalten und ihm gar ein bitter benötigtes technisches Upgrade zu verpassen.

Die Kosten für das Gesamtupgrade der noch aktiven Flotte von einigen hundert Stück, betrugen dabei weniger als die Anschaffungskosten einer einzigen F-22 (oder F-35 so sie endlich auf den Markt kommt).

Dabei wurde nicht das Cockpit digitalisiert, nein auch Daten-Uplinks und die Einsatzfähigkeit bei schlechtem Wetter und in der Nacht entscheidend ausgebaut, so das diese Warzenschweine zu hoch effektiven und sehr präzise, im Verbund einsetzbaren Waffen auf dem modernen asymmetrischen Schlachtfeld wurden.

Während die Piloten der alten Versionen dieses, zum Aufhalten der massiven Panzerkolonnen des Warschauer Paktes entwickelte Flugzeuges, dessen Einsatzdoktrin vorsahen das es kurz hinter der Frontlinie unter schwersten Bedingungen und auch auf unbefestigten Flugpisten operieren kann, noch mit Ferngläsern und einer einfachen Papierkarte zur Navigation sich ihre Ziele mühsam suchen mussten, sind nun moderne Zielaufklärungen und Zuweisungen und weit bessere Sensoren verfügbar.

Zahllose Soldaten der Koalition im Irak und Afghanistan verdanken ihm ihr Leben und waren auch in weniger lebensbedrohlichen Situationen höchst dankbar, wenn sie die Silhouette dieses, zugegeben recht hässlichen, Flugzeuges im Tiefflug zwischen den Hügeln Afghanistans erspähen konnten und es ihnen auf Funkruf zu Hilfe eilte um ein Bedrohung am Boden für sie auszuschalten.

Seine geringe Geschwindigkeit, die hohe Wendigkeit, die Fähigkeit zu extremen Tiefflug, seine hohe Überlebensfähigkeit auch unter Feindbeschuss und ganz besonders seine enorme Feuerkraft, machen es auf dem modernen Schlachtfeld fast unbezahlbar.

CAS in Perfektion!

Für all die Situationen, in denen das Überleben der eigenen Soldaten, z.B. durch geraten in einen Hinterhalt, wirklich auf der Kippe steht und die Gefahr eine sichtbare und schon mit Blut getränkte Linie in den Sand des Gefechtsfeldes gezeichnet hat und viele andere mehr.

Wenn Kampfhubschrauber zu langsam, durch leichte Luftabwehr zu gefährdet, richtige Jets zu ungenau, das Gelände für Panzerunterstützung oder wegen der Gefahr durch moderne Panzerabwehrwaffen nicht geeignet sind, möchte man diese Pfeile im Köcher haben.

Dabei unterstützen sie durch ihre robuste Bauweise und mehrfach redundante Auslegung wichtiger Bauteile und die nachgewiesene Fähigkeit, selbst nach massiven Treffern noch nach Hause humpeln, dort feldmäßig gewartet und schnellstens wieder eingesetzt werden zu können, die Designpilosophie der israelischen Armee ebenso wie beim Merkava.

Der Verluste von Menschenleben wiegt dabei stehts schwerer als von Material und das nicht nur weil man einem Zahlenmäßig vielfach überlegenem Feind gegenübersteht und ist deswegen bestmöglich zu vermeiden.

Während dies beim Merkava-Kampfpanzer ducrh modernste Panzerung, aktive Abwehrmassnahmen und ein vor dem Kampfraum mit der Besatzung angeordneten Triebwerk geschieht, so das auch nach einem Volltreffer die Besatzung möglichst lebend aussteigen kann, schützt bei der A-10 eine massive Titanwanne den Piloten und alle wichtigen Teile, während deren redundante Auslegung zusätzlichesn Schutz und Überlebensfähigkeit gewährleisten.

Auch wenn zur Reduzierung der feindlichen Panzerwaffe entwickelt, was beispielsweise im 6.Tage und Yom-Kippur-Krieg höchst wünschenswert gewesen wäre, eignet sich das Warzenschwein auch hervorragend zum Einsatz gegen Bunker und befestigt Stellungen wie sie Hamas und Hizbollah so gern verwenden.

Davon abgesehen sind sie massive Moral-Booster bei den eigenen Truppen und verringern den Kampfwillen des Gegners bei Gefahr ihres Einsatzes, durch spezielles Geräusch ihrer Bordwaffen und ihre Plötzlichkeit, nachhaltig.

Beim Einsatz durch die Israelis wären allerdings einige Änderungen vorzunehmen.

1. Nur Verwendung von Wolfram-Karbid Geschossen für die Hauptwaffe – keine Verwendung von DU-Munition (diese könnte zu Propagandazwecken benutzt werden, stellt auch ein gewissen gesundheitliches Risiko dar und ist deswegen mit den Grundsätzen der Reinheit der Waffen der Tzahal nicht vereinbar, auch wenn die Wirksamkeit höher wäre)

2. Anpassung und Verwendung israelischer Waffen- und Sensorsysteme

3. Integration in die israelische Führungsstrategie, besonders außer dem frontnahen Einsatz, dem Kampfverbund mit kleinen schlagkräftigen Gruppen.

4. Integration eines modernen Datenlinks für Zielzuweisungen, Command and Controll und Übersicht über die Vorgänge auf dem Schlachtfeld, daneben außer zu Kommandostellen auch Up- und Downlink zu Bodentruppen, UAV’s und anderen Lufteinheiten.

5. Einsatz eines effektiven IFF-Kennungssystem für die Bodentruppen.

6. Weiterentwicklung des Systems, gegf. Erweiterung auf 2 Besatzungsmitglieder d.h. Pilot- und Waffensystem-/Datenbeobachtungsoffizier.

7. Full-Time-In-the-Air-Readyness im Krisenfall für schnellst möglichen Einsatz.

Israel sei wie ein Igel – bewaffnet, doch als Friedensheld!

So kann es gehen. Vor kurzem habe ich einen Eintrag über Spiele-Soundtracks geschrieben. Daher habe ich mir einige Musik-Stücke auf Youtube angehört. Später habe ich mal bei Amazon geschaut, was es denn so für Soundtracks zu kaufen gibt. Ich bin beim Halo-Soundtrack hängen geblieben, weil es inzwischen die Soundtracks von Teil 1 bis 3 in einer Box zu kaufen gibt (von Teil 2 sind nicht alle Lieder enthalten). Ich bin sehr zufrieden mit der Halo Triology.

Halo Triology: The Complete Original Soundtracks: Vorderseite

Rückseite

Inhalt

Wieder etwas später habe ich dann die Demo von Halo heruntergeladen und ein bisschen gespielt. Okay, ich besitze die ersten beiden Teile für meine Xbox, die habe ich nur gerade nicht griffbereit. Aber gut, die Demo war auch ganz unterhaltsam. Von der habe ich am Wochenende zwei Videos geschnitten: Eines vom Einzelspieler-, das anderer vom Mehrspieler-Teil. Außerdem habe ich auch ein paar Screenshots von Mehrspieler-Gefechten gemacht.

Viel Spaß beim Anschauen,

Felix

The ‘Classic’ challenge is probably one of the more annoying achievements ever to grace the Xbox 360’s icy cold heart(Aka, Achievement List). As most know this is one of the dreaded seven achievements that you must have in order to receive the highly regarded recon armor. The armor merely being a trophy in and of itself, showing ones most inner leetness. So thats why Dom, after spending hours trying to get this elusive one for ODST am here to help out those wondering why in the fuck they can’t collect this one.

Firstly you will need of course,

-A Xbox 360

-Halo 3 : ODST

-Xbox Live Gold Account

-Balls (Perferably steel)

You may be asking, “Dom, What is it I must do to get this awesome achievement?”  Well simply you have to beat a entire level without firing a SHOT or throwing a Grenade, there are some little annoying rules you have to follow as well..

-No shooting, none. Don’t even lay your finger on the triggers. Even if you charge the laser and don’t fire it spoils it, so don’t fuck with the triggers.

- No Grenades, just like up above.

-No horn honking, I don’t know why but the game won’t give it to you if you honk the horn on the warthog.

-No power slides in Warthog

-Boosting in Ghost is ALLOWED

-What you can do is, jump, melee, switch weapons, and hop in and out of vehicles and you can have gunners and shotgun riders.

-You MUST play on Legendary,

-Must be a solo game, no help.

-Must be connected to Xbox Live with a Gold Account

-Probably should do it on Uplift Reserve, easiest level to complete it on, (Not saying much :/ )

First, load up the level with all the prerequisits mentioned above intact.

Move forward into the large circular battlefield and keep to the left, ignore the turned over warthog and move towards one of the two driving around on the left, don’t worry one will eventually stop for you. When it stops kick out the driver and give him your spartan laser as you wont be needing it. Jump in the drivers seat and let him ride shotty, it really helps to have him/her with the laser. You might wanna sit afar and let the gunner take out the choppers as they can fuck you up major with a simple love-tap.

Head across to the west side of the circular battlefield and zip between any enemies and into the trail, you will meet one chopper, one ghost, and two wraiths, remember DON’T powerslide, just be quick, it may take a couple times and follow the trail to a large metal entrance. There is a ghost there, you can use it if you want, its possible but you die a lot easier, and you can’t fire the weapon. You can boost, so you are faster. Whatever you decide to do continue through the cave entrance ( if you need it, theres a medpack on the little ( Bus Stop? lol) on the right side of the cave entrance. Theres some pavement and once you come out, go to the left, don’t deal with the enemies there, follow the shore to the left and to the north there is a ledge you have to get on, theres lots of stationary plasma guns and a few ghosts, just try to make it past them. DON’T go into the tunnel, go to the east and follow the ledge, it should bring you to a ledge you jump down and will follow another little twisty canyon. There will be a ship dropping off troops, just head to the left as its not railed off, follow the trail down and head to the left side of the large structure in the middle. Theres a few soldiers, a spartan laser, medpack, and a warthog. If you want a warthog or a new one, grab a medpack, grab the laser, give it to one of the soldiers then jump in the drivers seat. The soldiers will jump in after you. Head out and to the opposite side of the round battlefield, theres another windy canyon, you will run into Two Wraiths, a ghost and a chopper, there will also be a gunner above. This is probably the hardest part of the level, if you can get past this the rest is cake. When you pass them by you will go through a tunnel and then you will cross a bridge, some conversation will happen as the tunnel system collapses above, if you need a new Warthog theres one halfway across the bridge.  When you get to the other side, make sure to grab the medpack on the well next to the exiting bay door. You will follow yet another windy canyon and will come to a small circular field with a ramp leading up the right side, there should be a covenant anti gravity tower in front of you ignore it. As you go up the ramp you will see two gunners, don’t hesitate, just run them over or you won’t make it out alive. As you head up the trail there will be another bus stop like building on the left, theres a medpack there as well. Continue foreward, you will come to another large field with a big covenant plateau in the middle, keep to the right to the entrance to another long windy canyon, theres one wraith and one ghost, zig past them and continue up the long canyon.  You will see a series of purple covenant shields on the ground, ALMOST THERE!

Keep driving and as you come around you will see two wraiths, drive between them both and hug the wall as the canyon wall curves behind them, it will come to a ledge that leads to nowhere. Jump it! a cut scene will play and DON’T skip it, I heared it can fuck with your achievement, and I am superstitious so don’t temp the devil. As the next level loads the achievement should pop up.

If it doesn’t work the first time try and try again making sure everything you do is up to par. I know when I did it it took 10 tries to get it right, its hard to train trigger fingers NOT to fire.

Cheers,

-Dom

Posted on June 15, 2009 by blaze97531 |

I found this video footage at http://jalopnik.com/5146932/. Apparently the halo movie has been suspended.

The Warthog has already been in its first accident.

Posted on May 16, 2009 by haloboyy1928 |  

Hey everyone! We have some new great news on the Halo 3 Warthog and a TON of new pics. The Warthog was built in only 6 weeks and was about to start being used in the film until the movie was put on hold. The Warthog was built in Wellington, New Zealand by Peter Jackson’s WETA workshop. Peter Osborne was the head leader of the WETA workshop when building the vehicle. The Warthog was actually not built from scratch. They used the Nissan Patrol as a base then built off of that. The Warthog is almost completely custom. The Warthog has heavily-reinforced solid axles instead of the fully independent suspension in the video game. Everything else on the Warthog is pretty much exact from the game. The details go from the body of the vehicle to the “No Step” sign painted on the Warthog. That’s all for now! Our team thanks Anthony for providing this info to us! Enjoy a whole bunch of great pics of the Warthog here:

 Pics and info from http://jalopnik.com/5146932/

Posted on April 7, 2009 by blaze97531 |  

The bus warthog is only found in campaign mode, though you can see one outside the boundries on the multiplayer map “The Pit”. The bus warthog has no turret, but instead has extra room to carry more three more passengers in the back. It should be noted though, that the Master Chief cannot ride in the back seat.

Posted on March 10, 2009 by blaze97531 |  

Armament: Gauss Cannon on the back, passenger can use their weapons but cannot dual wield

Crew: 3

1 driver, 1 passenger, 1 gunner

Good against: vehicles

Weak Battling: Missile pod, Heavy Weapons, Heavy vehicles

Posted on March 1, 2009 by haloboyy1928 |

Hey everyone! This is the warthog built for the new Halo Movie! There has been announcements and rumors about a Halo Move in production, but this is proof. This actual working Warthog was built by Peter Jackson’s WETA workshop. This is just one of the props in that movie that have been built. The Halo Movie is expected to brought to theaters sometime in the year 2011. Will post more about movie soon.

Posted on February 28, 2009 by haloboyy1928 |  

 armament: Machine Gun on back, passenger can use the weapons they carry, but cannot dual wield

crew: 3

1 driver, 1gunner, 1 passenger

good for: killing ground units and light vehicles

weak battling: missle pod, heavy weapons, and heavy vehicles

by Tuppence Stone, Director/ Producer, Grasslands and Deserts team

On location in Namibia

 The enthusiasm of the first dawn was tangible. We rebuilt the grass hide, destroyed by elephants the night before, and I saw our cameraman Toby Strong plus camera and the two Bushmen hunters, Nao and Kun, creep inside. Their view of the waterhole was good and there were fresh kudu, oryx and ostrich tracks around.   Arno, our guide, and I withdrew to observe as safety cover and I set up to film second camera – concentrating on the wildlife shoots, to complement Toby’s main action.

 I spent hours crouched on a sloping grass-topped earth bank, craning my neck to see anything that might come into the waterhole without giving myself away. The sun was hot and I was shrouded by a camouflage string scarf which allowed me to see, but broke up my outline. Silence and stillness stretched through the hours. Parts of my body went to sleep, then pins and needles poked me alert again.

It is impossible to remain totally focused when there is precious little to focus on.  I found my eyes wandering as I noticed the tiny action going on around my hiding place. Termites in their hundreds were crawling through the grass around me, nipping the stems into tiny lengths and posting it down the holes. Given long enough they would expose me..

A bull elephant gets dangerously close to the hide (on the right)

 It was great to have a role, but I knew I couldn’t jeopardise the crucial shot. If my actions spooked the wildlife, the hunters would not get a chance at their shot, then our story wouldn’t begin.  Straining to see ostrich through the camouflage, I froze as they looked in my direction.  The camera was recording, though it was above my head and the angle I had to twist to see the screen quickly became painful. I fought the aches, until the giant birds lumbered away.

 The first day passed into sunset, without success. By Day Three the enthusiasm had passed, pessimism was rife and the wind had changed. The heat of the first day had been superseded by a blustery wind which carried our smell across the waterhole. This unseasonable weather was not what we needed. When the kudu approached they were edgy, and fewer came because the cooler air reduced their desire to drink.

 Yet, slowly they came in, stepping, looking – again I froze. Again the mud bank crumbled under my inclined boots, again I strained to see the screen. With the bright light I couldn’t be sure they were in focus.  I cursed and ever so slowly slipped my hand up under the scarf to adjust the camera. It’s tiring on the eyes to look through so many layers of focus: the weave of the scarf, the near grasses masking my face, then the middle distant brush and beyond that the approaching kudu. The concentration is intense.   The kudu came closer. But then they stepped into the invisible zone where our smell tainted the air. They stamped, reeled round and were gone. No shot fired. No images today. 

Toby, Nao and Kun in the hide

Day Three did bring a real surprise though. A leopard came into the waterhole at mid day, and it was intrigued by the hide. Slowly, slowly it approached the mound of grass, probably because it saw the potential of this cover as a good place to lie in wait. But the bushmen certainly didn’t want a leopard in the hide with them. Toby, sitting behind then, noticed their buttocks quivering alarmingly. As it wandered to within 20ft they lost their cool, shouted and crawled out of the hide to scare it – Kun pushed the younger Nao out in front of him, then clung to him as they saw off the predator. They didn’t seem such fearless hunters at that moment.

 By Day Five we had changed our tactics. The wind had turned again, but the temperature remained low. The hunter’s hide was moved closer in and the morning doves in their hundreds didn’t mind the intrusion – but would the game be as relaxed? Arno and I had backed off further, initially to a distant hide and then the penthouse platform. So far from the action that binoculars were my only connection. But through them I willed the kudu into the waterhole. I was willing them to their death.  Was it bloodthirsty, was I hard hearted? I cherish and respect wildlife, so shouldn’t I will the game to flee?  

Nao softens the glue to repair an arrow Toby trod on

Though we had asked the bushmen to hunt in our time frame, the fact they were hunting was not unusual.  If an animal was killed it would be because of us, yet if we were not there attempting to record the hunt, a different animal would have been taken by the hunters.  Any kill is the only meat the bushmen families eat and a carcass provides a feast for the whole village as well as sinew for bow strings and twine, skins for bags and bone marrow to eat as well as knuckle bowls for preparing poison.  What Nao and Kun were aiming to do was more honest than my weekly trip to the supermarket.  Imagine how far our consumption of meat would go down if we had to sit for a week to catch that lamb or that cow, and then share it amongst our whole community! 

Capturing the sounds of the grasslands

Finally 2 male kudus with statuesque horns sauntered in. They came closer and the wind was kind.. The kudu were alert, frozen, staring at the hide for the longest time. This is your chance guys – do it! do it! I yelled in a whisper inside my head. But the males retreated, grazing close by for over an hour.

 I could relax, stretch, move around because I was so far away, but I knew in the hide they would be frozen, silent, stealing glances, easing apart the grasses to make way for a shot. After what seemed like an eternity the males came closer again. Close enough to shoot surely. I saw the kudu react, turn, run, stop and look back. A shot had been fired, but missed. Our waiting continued. 

A red headed weaver bird in its 'hide' near our platform lookout

60 hours stretched to near 70 before another opportunity. A group of females were tentative, smelling and sensing something strange, but unsure quite what the nature of the danger was.  A warthog ambled into the frame – likely to blow the hunter’s cover with its superior sense of smell. But instead of disaster, he was the perfect decoy. Drinking casually from the waterhole, he was oblivious to the hunters just feet away.

 The kudu began to drink, the tension rose as I watched but could not influence events.  Just as with the males, I saw them react and flee, but this time the walkie talkie crackled into life ‘It’s a hit, perhaps two’, said Toby, with real elation. The waiting was over.

Nao takes aim

Nao had wounded his first kudu.  His excitement was genuine and proud.  But the hunt was still far from in the can.  From here on we were no longer dependent on luck to bring the animals to us, but on the Bushmen’s skills as trackers to keep us on the trail. What we witnessed can be seen in the Grasslands programme, but needless to say – it didn’t go according to plan.

Almost two weeks ago on October 1st, my nature and scenic class traveled (despite the weather) to the Kansas City Zoo. As usual, Mapquest managed to get me perfectly loss but I managed to find my way there anyway…

Here are some of my best (or personal fav for various reasons) images from that day:

AJ

y hoy no les voy a hablar de mi hijo… el cual es una preciosura y cabron como el solo…. bueno una foto no hace mal… ademas desde el post anterior les debia una foto.

a poco no es chulodebonito?

ok… ya, dejamos eso de lado…

Desde la semana pasada avisaron en la oficina que tendriamos auditoria, quesque habia que ordenar los lugares, mantener al minimo papeles en los escritorios, nada de objetos personales, y cero musica… como mal mexicano, su servilleta es un pinche desordenado, de esos que siempre dicen, aunque este desordenado se donde estan las cosas… aja… pero bueno, ayer llegaron y nos quitaron mucho tiempo con sus preguntas: que si los procedimientos, que si esto por que, y aquello por que no… blablablabla… a final de cuentas sali tarde ayer y hoy no es muy temprano que digamos, aunado a esto tendre que viajar en fantabuloso H. transporte publico hasta mi casa, pues mi mujer me dejo a pata por que ella tenia que llevar unos papeles a otra oficina y de ahi se iba para la casa… ni pedo… eso me saco por pinche desordenado, ya me hice como proposito ser mas ordenado, pero no puedo ordenar mis ideas para como hacerle para ser ordenado… ya valio…

volviendo a que voy a tener que irme en democratico transporte publico, es prioridad que me compre un carro para mi solito, donde puedo oir la musica que quiera, donde pueda colgarle lo que quiera del retrovisor y no un rosario, al que le pueda poner estampas estupidas en la facia trasera como esta:

 o esta otra 

que es lo mismo, pero no es igual…

Aunque mejor desechamos la idea de las estampitas y me consigo un Warthog de verdad… pero necesito un compañero de viaje, ya sea para que conduzca o para que maneje la torreta, por que por que tener un warthog si uno no va a disparar la torreta, el trafico me la pela… en ese aspecto es mejor el Warthog que el Junker de Gears, o al menos desconosco si hay otra version del Junker que tenga otras armas en lugar de la torreta de luz pa’ matar krill, por que de ser asi si estan bastante parejos… bueno, despues sigo con mis divagues por que ya me largo a mi casita…

——————————————————————————————

Este post se escribio escuchando… nada… no les dije que hay auditoria???

As promised, I went out and took pictures. At first I drove the Jeep out to a nearby nature trail. I walked the trail some, took a few shots and then walked back out to see how epic the beautiful Jeep looked on a semi-wild backdrop. I thought it was absolutely perfect so I snapped a shot. It has been gorgeous outside today. No rain, a little cooler than normal. Perfect day to be driving the Jeep around. So I think this picture really tells the story about my day =). Bonus points if you can tell me where I got the title for this shot from.

Photographer of the Day: Today I have to say that portrait photography is something that I really enjoy. It takes a certain eye to really capture the true essence of the person. And this photograph to the left really portrays what I mean. The wonderful photographer Arthur Sasse captured the madness behind the brilliant mind that is Albert Einstein. I think it’s a great shot and, as a portrait, even better.

Manual Page of the Day: Today I read about the different flash settings. Very interesting and definitely something to be testing out when I get my own flash and studio set =)

Stay Focused on the Moment,

Ben Riddick

Esta semana hemos visto que en nuestro videoclub han traído juegos nuevos y uno de ellos es Halo: ODST, el nuevo juego de Halo. Primero vamos a presentaros este título. Empezamos con la historia que nos explica que el Covenant ha podido penetrar en las defensas terrestres y han arrasado la ciudad de Nueva Mombasa. Nosotros somos “El Novato” de la última esperanza de acabar con la nave que había penetrado la barrera defensiva. Miembro de un comando especial con los mejores agentes. Pero algo sale mal y caemos a Nueva Mombasa solos y teniendo que buscar a nuestros compañeros para intentar llegar a la nave que está encima nuestro.

Salimos de nuestra cápsula en un espacio lleno de Covenant y muy peligroso. Llevamos la típica Pistola de Halo, pero con silenciador y una ametralladora semiautomática. Lo primero que deberemos hacer es curarnos, si vamos hacia la derecha encontraremos un puesto con vida, recordad que los grandes saltos des de una zona a más altura no las soportaremos demasiado bien, tened cuidado. Después de conseguir vida, puede que nos sintamos un poco desorientados, pues tocamos la “X” para activar el “Visir”, que nos ayuda a posicionar a los enemigos, a los aliados y a poder analizar la zona en busca de pistas o algo útil. Así podremos avanzar hasta una zona con Covenants, así pues, tras acabar con todos deberemos llamar por teléfono para poder conseguir el mapa que nos guiará durante el juego. Veremos que encima de la vida aparecerá una brújula en la que se nos apuntará cual es nuestro objetivo. Nuestra misión: localizar a nuestros compañeros y para ello tendremos que ser un poco detectives y buscar pistas de por dónde han pasado ellos.

- La primera pista, un casco y el recuerdo de una de las conversaciones que hubo a bordo de la nave.

BUCK

Después de una pista reviviremos los pasos del personaje al que corresponde la pista encontrada, hasta que cumplamos una misión que debe realizar y volveremos a ser “El Novato” para seguir investigando y avanzando tal y como lo hizo este personaje.

Buck, el jefe del escuadrón. Empezamos viendo a través de las cámaras de la ciudad como cae una de las naves, en la que va Buck. Nuestra misión será encontrar a Verónica, la técnica del grupo después de contactar con ella y saber que no puede salir de su cápsula. Avanzamos acabando con leves amenazas del Covenant hasta encontrar a dos compañeros. Estos nos recomiendan que entremos a través de los edificios para poder franquear a los Brute que hay en la calle. Pero cuidado porque estos dos aliados no tienen mucho aguante y si nos despistamos los Brute nos atacarán por detrás. Una vez acabamos con la amenaza, bajamos y seguimos por la calle y en poco recorrido encontramos a otra compañera y Verónica nos habla, deberemos entrar en el edificio para intentar acabar con todos los Covenants que nos encontramos. Si podéis os aconsejo que llevéis a mano un arma de largo alcance, ya que hay un Brute con una Carabina de plasma y tres o cuatro más con armas de corto alcance. Además en un puesto privilegiado hay un Chacal con otra Carabina. Os aconsejo tener una Carabina también y apuntar a la cabeza de los Brute para intentar acabar con ellos, normalmente en 5 o 6 disparos salta el casco y luego con un tiro más en la cocorota lo mandaréis al otro barrio.

Pasando por el puente donde estaban la mayoría de sus efectivos, encontraremos una puerta, recomiendo que no la toméis, ya que es una trampa y acabaremos en la calle delante de dos Hunters. Si queréis un reto bajad por ahí e intentad que uno de ellos entre por las escaleras, así podréis con él. Para acabar con el segundo podéis usar el mismo método o salir a la calle y utilizar el autobús chamuscado para cubriros.

Para no caer en la trampa deberemos ir por la calle de la derecha si miramos des de dónde venimos. Cuidado! Porque hay un cañón de plasma, con un arma de larga distancia acabaréis con él fácilmente. Si no tenéis balas hay más en el puente, recordad que un Brute llevaba una. Seguiremos adelante y llegaremos a una plaza donde hay tres Grunts atacando a una cápsula, bajamos, acabamos con ellos y la abrimos. Verónica no está…

NOVATO

Volvemos a la noche, donde “El Novato” tiene que seguir buscando pistas y encontrar a sus compañeros. Debemos salir a la calle y en el mapa se nos marca una baliza que tenemos que encontrar. Emprendemos el camino, recomiendo ir con sigilo, porque estos personajes no son como el Jefe Maestro y no cuentan con escudo. La dificultad a la que he jugado es Normal y ya tenía problemas por culpa de la vida. Llegaremos a una plaza y tened mucho cuidado porque hay tres Brute y un Rastreador, una aparato que parece de Biotecnología y que nos rastrea con dos rayos de luz hasta encontrarnos. Si lo hace nos seguirá y cuando se acerque explotará a nuestro lado. Ojo! Cuando lleguemos a la baliza, atentos a los francotiradores que hay en las posiciones más altas.

- La segunda pista es una cámara tirada en el suelo.

DUTCH

Este soldado ha caído en la Reserva Natural de la ciudad (cambiamos los escenarios de ciudad por un escenario abierto y muy bien iluminado). Tenemos suerte y en este tramo del juego encontraremos muchas de las armas pesadas de Halo, el láser Spartan, el rifle de francotirador, el lanzacohetes… Tenemos que usar el Warthog, pero recomiendo que subáis y bajéis para que los compañeros lo usen y cojáis vosotros la moto de los Brute. Para acabar con los tanques de los Covenant yo he utilizado el láser Spartan a larga distancia, pero si os gusta más la aventura podéis ir con la moto Brute. Si después de esta primera escaramuza tenemos poca vida, a la derecha de la puerta que tenemos que pasar hay vida y un Ghost. Yo lo he cogido, es más manejable que la moto de Brute pero un poco más frágil. Entramos a un valle, con dos tanques Covenant y cuatro torretas láser. Primero acabad con las motos de Brute y los Ghosts que hay en la valle y después ir al edificio central, allí hay un lanzacohetes y un rifle de francotirador. Si os quedan disparos del láser, usadlo para el tanque, si no es así (como yo, que acabe con las torretas con él), usad el lanzacohetes, si falláis (como yo, jajajaja) no os desesperéis, usad el rifle de francotirador para acabar con el Brute que controla la torreta del tanque (nunca fallo con este rifle…) entonces acercaros al tanque con cuidado y con un par de granadas de plasma o granadas Brute estará listo.

No hemos acabado. Avanzamos montaña arriba y encontramos una zona que un estructura Covenant, acabad con los enemigos como más os guste. Después seguid subiendo por la derecha de la valle. Bajarán un par de Banshes, pero con acabar con uno los demás se acojonarán. Destruid las torretas (creo que son 3) y luego tendremos que saltar al vacío.

NOVATO

Llueve si seguimos el rastro de los demás. Me ha costado entender el juego, pero ahora lo veo claro. Mientras avanzamos tenemos que ir usando el mapa, porque nos indica donde están los enemigos y podemos ir rodeándolos por dentro de los edificios o pasando por otras calles. Si no podemos evitar toparnos con uno de ellos, puede que la marca signifique un grupo o uno solo. Si es un grupo recomiendo la larga distancia para acabar con ellos rápido y antes de que los refuerzos lleguen de otros puntos de la ciudad. Si es uno solo, podemos matarlo a golpes y así no haremos ruido. Tenemos que ser un poco Splinter Cell cuando jugamos con “El Novato”. Cuando llegáis al punto de la baliza, no os desesperéis para encontrarlo, mirad arriba.

- La tercera pista un cañón Gaus que tenéis que ir a mirar. Subid al edificio por las escaleras para llegar allí.

MICKEY

Aparecemos en una plaza en la que vemos el Escorpión, que tendremos que conducir para llegar a través de las calles destrozando a los Covenant como si matásemos a moscas a cañonazos. Cuando lleguemos a nuestro destino, no demasiado difícil con el tanque, hay dos barreras que no nos dejan pasar a donde está Duck y tenemos que bajarnos para seguir. Entonces en el punto de reunión nos tienen una emboscada, con un tanque Covenant y una horda de Grunts, Chacals y Brutes. Recomiendo acabar primero con la infantería, podéis cubriros en las zonas altas que hay a derecha e izquierda porque sino os franquearán por ambos lados. Cuando acabéis con la infantería, acercaros al tanque para destruirlo. Hay un sistema de puentes por el que podréis ir para acercaros sin ser vistos des de la perspectiva del tanque. Usad las granadas de plasma para dejarlo frito!

NOVATO

La tarea de “El Novato”, sigue su curso y nosotros no queremos desvelar más datos de la trama para que os enganchéis y descubráis los demás retos y pistas por vuestra cuenta. Pero antes de acabar para los nuevos seguidores de la saga y para recordatorio de los más expertos, vamos a ver los puntos débiles de los enemigos.

ENEMIGOS:

- Los Grunt: Un tiro certero en la cabeza acabará con estos pequeñines sin problemas.

- Los Chacal: Algunos van con escudos y otros no. Para los que no, cualquier tiro va bien. Pero para los que llevan escudo, deberéis apuntar en la pequeña entrada que tiene el escudo para desequilibrar al atacante y entonces podemos llenarlo de plomo.

- Los Brute: Unos cuantos disparos con una carabina des de la lejanía es lo más sencillo a parte de usar las armas pesadas del juego.

- Los Rastreadores: Necesitaremos unos cuatro o cinco disparos de un arma de francotirador para poder hacer que explote.

- Los Hunters: Tenéis que dispararles en la espalda, en la parte naranja de la misma. El arma que me parece más efectiva en caso de no disponer de armas pesadas es la pistola de munición perforante.

Para finalizar me gustaría daros un par de consejos:

- Usad el sigilo y la oscuridad de la noche para pasar desapercivido y no tener que enfrentaros a los enemigos sin aliados.

- No malgastéis los tiros de las armas pesadas porque seguro que más adelante lo lamentaréis.

- Cuidado con la vida, manteneros a cubierto, estos soldados no tienen escudo.

- No saltéis des de lugares muy elevados, al igual que el Jefe Maestro no le sentaba muy bien.

Bueno espero que disfrutéis de este juegazo, con grandes gráficos y con una banda sonora verdaderamente muy acertada. Con canciones llenas de acción el las batallas y con desesperación en los momentos en que buscaremos pistas y avanzamos por la ciudad desolada y arrasada.

Os dejamos con el tráiler con actores del juego.

Coming in as Animal Planet’s sixth ugliest animal in the world, the poor little warthog has made an unfortunate name for itself. With long, thin legs, a hairy back and head, two sets of tusks (four individual tusks all together), and a wart covered head, it’s no wonder this unpopular creature is getting picked on. But, to the contrary, if you observe the warthog in its entire splendor, you may find them to be quite cute!

As relatives of the pig, warthogs are delightful to watch in the wild as they prance side by side along the moist and arid African savannah, nibbling on grass, plants, and roots. The average weight of the warthog is 120 – 250 lbs., with an average life span of 15 years, and an estimated height of 30 in.

Weird Warthog Facts:

• The warts on the sides of the warthog’s head are not actually warts. Rather, they are thick pads that help protect the warthog from sharp tusk wounds from other warthogs during male-on-male fighting.

• The warthog lives in groups called sounders, which are usually comprised of up to a dozen individuals.

• Baby warthogs are born in burrows beneath the ground, where they stay for 6 – 7 weeks after birth. On average, one female warthog will have anywhere from 2 – 5 babies in one birthing. Warthog offspring will stay with their mother for up to two years before leaving.

• When a lion, leopard, or any other predator charges after a warthog, the warthog will scurry as fast as it can—sometimes reaching speeds of up to 30 miles per hour—to the nearest burrow and go down the burrow backside first in order to protect itself with its husks if the predator gets too close.

• The warthog can go without water for months at a time if need be.

• Warthogs can be—well, pigs. Marking their territory with saliva and urine, warthogs aren’t the cleanliest of creatures. In addition to these icky habits, warthogs also love to roll around in mud to keep cool and scrape off parasites.

Are you ready to take an adventure of a lifetime, full of wild game-viewing, and thrilling activities? You can on an unforgettable African family safari or honeymoon safari. Let Hills of Africa Travel create for you a detailed itinerary tailored around your every individual preference. Contact us today at (800) 940-9344. A world of spectacular beauty and adventure awaits you . . .

The beautiful photographs in this post are provided by Dave Estment a well-known South African photographer and are copyrighted by Dave Estment.  To see more of Dave’s gorgeous work, please visit http://www.naomiestment.wordpress.com.  Thank you very much Dave & Naomi for sharing your work with us and everyone wanting to Live the Magic of Africa.

Posted by SuckaFish

The Supreme Court has been asked to hear arguments in a case that says the Washington Redskins team name is so offensive its trademark should be revoked.

My understanding is that basically the Redskins will have to change their name by next Sunday’s game. Back in college I minored in U.S. History so I’m kind of an expert on this stuff. Best case scenario, the team will need a new name by next season so let’s get ahead of the curve and come up with the one now.

First, it’s important to note that some of the best names are already taken. I really liked Patriots but a guy at work said there’s already a football team called that. And the Washington basketball team is the Sea Dogs so that’s out.

Maybe Generals does work.

I thought maybe another patriotic name would work. Americans would give them a national following but the logical move would be to switch to a red, white, and blue color scheme. The team has such a long history as the maroon and black that the colors shouldn’t be changed so Americans is out. Generals is the crappy basketball team that always loses to the Globetrotters and the team wouldn’t want to be thought of as an organization that could have a losing record over a 10-year period so scratch that. Federals, Senators, and Nationals have already been used in DC to great success. I’m sick of trying to think of patriotic names so on to the next category.

An obvious idea is and animal that starts with W. I Googled it and there are some good ones like Wallaby, Warthog, and Weasel. But none of those had any real connection to the DC area, except the last one that could be in honor of the owner. Oh, and they listed Water Dragons which made me think of another one the owner might like. Dragons, as in Dungeons and Dragons, which I’m pretty sure he played a lot as a kid. But it wouldn’t speak to the masses so let’s pass.

The Wizards have a winning formula. Alliteration and no real tie to the area or reasoning behind the choice. We have a winner and as a bonus it vaguely conjures up images of Native Americans. From now on the local professional football team will be known as:

The Washington Warriors

The best part, they can come out of the tunnel each week to this:

And the gang’s get up is almost maroon and black.

Mission Report:
Valhalla
Multi Flag CTF
Red Team debrief

Spartans involved:

ozDuck & Hazamataza

Medal Awarded:
Spartan insignia of Extreme Heroism for the most legendary Flag Capture ever

Mission Description:

Banshees were shooting overhead and things were looking grim. Two flag scores down and the Red Team were being massacred from every angle. There was a sniper in the middle of the canyon, wreaking havoc on us. Responding to our feeble attempts at victory with headshots from afar.

One last desperate stand was needed.

A mongoose was dropped in and Major (Grade 2) “Hazzardous” Hazamataza  and myself (Lieutenant Grade 2 ozDuck) knew what to do.

While he may be the superior officer, Major Haz was not a spectacular driver. We ran quickly to the mongoose and hopped on. Immediate cover fire was requested and a Warthog with three more Spartans answered the call, drawing the fire to them.

Across the canyon we drove. Silently and unnoticed we were approaching the enemy base. It was in vision. Another Banshee flew out to give air support to the Blue Teams troops.

We delivered the message.

“Red Team, this is Delta 1. Bring the rain”

The air exploded into a barrage of gun fire as turrets and missiles flew from the Red Base. Finally it looked like we had a chance as our very own Banshee entered a dog fight with the enemies’.

Our luck was not to last.

A Warthog came from behind the enemy base and our pilot lost his battle in the air. Nothing else remained. The Red Spartans were falling back and our base was about to be breached.

The Major and I said nothing. We knew what had to be done.

“SPARTANS! HOLD YOUR POSITION! WE WILL NOT SURRENDER!” echoed over our radios.

I floored the engine and we flew over the cliff to the enemy base. Still undetected. Leaping off just before our mongoose crashed we showered the enemy with our grenades.

Rattled by the explosions we burst into the base guns blazing. Major Haz and I achieved double kills and proceeded to beatdown the last remaining enemies. With reinforcements only 12 seconds away we commandeered a Blue Team Warthog and headed back to base.

The few Blue Team soldiers that remained attempted to stop us and I gave them a Warthog to chew on while Major Haz let them taste the end of their own flag.

A trip mine was in the middle of the field and time seemed to slow down. I slammed the brakes and we power slided at the very edge of the mine. Missing it by inches we jumped the river and Major Haz captured the flag.

Wasting no time we proceeded to the beach for immdiate extraction via Pelican as the Blue Team managed to capture our third flag.

The Blue Team had won the battle but we will win the war.

Valhalla will be ours.

Mission Statistics

End Brief.

]]>