Site Update, August 2nd
"Rain pesters the highway and the surround trees relentlessly as the Sun slowly sinks beneath the horizon. Lightening cackles and cracks in the nearby trees, slicing sharply in a small sapling. The highway goes on for miles on end, barely readable the mile markers wiz by, and drivers switch highway lanes all too frequently. Covered in rain, the road has become glossy and mirror-like. It’s in these times were drivers who drive carelessly will wind in a ditch somewhere. A trailer truck pushes through the wetness to its destination. Its cab is red and labeled number V11. Red and blue wires connect from the cab to the trailer. The trailer part of the truck is all white besides the vinyl lettering of a company logo reading “Conflict Packaging” and the hazard sign. The wheels spit up water outward into other lanes, sometimes spraying enough water to cover compact cars.
“That’s a big 10-4, Mike; we got a Smokey on yardstick 46”. “Heh heh. Smitty, remember that time when that hot city kitty pulled ya over for speed--- hold up I think I got a tree branch on the roof or something”. Another thud, Smitty rolls down his window and look in his side view mirror. A black cloth ripples off to the side of the truck. A man in a trench coat ascends to the top of the truck. Mike whispers “Smitty, I think someone’s trying to hijack my truck” The man firmly places both feet forward and takes the bo staff off of his back and waits. Mike slams on his breaks and skids along the highway approaching a bridge. The trailer now unstable skids forward almost independent of the truck. As the truck jackknifes under bridge the man jumps off the trailer with ease. The cab bursts into flames igniting the trailer along side of it.
The man now in clear view is wearing a black trench coat with only the top five buttons done with black slacks, dress shoes, and black Ray Band Sun glasses. He pulls his sleeve up and looks at his watch the clock ticks once and sounds like a slicing immediately he raises the Bo above his head as a sword connects with the staff. “Tiff, when you said you wanted to fight me, I thought you were going to fight fair”. Tiff chuckles “Now, that isn’t fun now is it!” She hastily raises her sword to strike again as he kicks her in the gut. She falls to the ground dropping her sword and letting out a cry of defeat. “ You can never handle facing me mano y mano, wimp ."
And with the announcement of the 1v1 tournament this excerpt will conclude the series of cryptic mini stories written by our good friend Transactionzero. Good work bud.
Promotions/Retirements
Speaking of Transactionzero, he has made the tough descision of hanging up his Journalistic quill and ink and returning to the Loyal role once more. Thanks for all the good work, we'll miss you man. We'll also be saying goodbye to our good friend thesilencebroken, sadly he is hanging up his full time banhammer for a more part time role as Guardian. Longstanding Forge Hub devotee Orangeremi has done quite the reverse, moving back to his former position of Moderator. Watch out for him around the forums, almighty banhammer ready to strike. And finally, swapping sides from the Blue team to the Red team to help pick up the slack left by TZ's retirement is myself, Creeping Death.
Forging 201 Launch
The Forging 101s have long stood as the go-to resource for key information regarding forge techniques and know-how, but with the increasing diversity and depth of forge knowledge, we felt that something more was needed to cover all angles. As such, we are proud to unveil the Forging 201 section which, as the name suggests, seeks to take the principles put forward in the F101's in to the wilds of in-depth forging theory. These F201's will cover more complex topics, relating to aspects of forging such as map design, achieving desired gameplay, and generally refining maps of all kinds to achieve their potential. The F201's will work in tandem with the established F101 section to offer a full spectrum of valuable resources, ranging from the basics right up to the intricacies of truly refined forging, keep an eye out for the upcoming articles which will be gracing the front page in due time.
This new Forging 201 section is located alongside Forging 101 in Halo Forge Discussion, but for the impatient amongst us, position that mouse right about here and click away.
Halo 3: ODST Forum
You may have also noticed the brand new Halo 3: ODST forum gracing our pages in Halo Discussion. Feel free to drop by and brush up on all kinds of info on everything ODST. From campaign news, to new weapons, to the much anticipated Firefight mode, we hope this section will help you get excited for one of the most anticipated games being released this fall.
For those who didn't see the announcement yesterday, the mystery of the 264BCE counter has been well and truly put to rest. With all the speculation tossed around since this enigmatic page first emerged, we can finally announce to one and all that our latest event is taking the form of a 1v1 tournament of epic proportions. Backed up with some very tasty forge creations, cooked up by some of the most venerated forgers this site has seen, which will play host to a wealth of tense, competitive matches, the 1v1 Conflict promises to be something truly special. For a full rundown of all things Conflict, as well as some sumptuous map previews to get your competitive juices flowing, mosey on over to the original 1v1 Conflict Announcement Thread. Or, if you already know all about it and are ready to sign up you can go straight to the Sign up thread.
New Skin
Tonight you may or may not notice a pretty sweet new skin we will implement for your viewing pleasure. Fans of the old school skin should absolutely love this addition, and you may even find yourself switching over from ForgeHub X if you crave some change. Scroll on down to the bottom of the page and try it out as soon as it's available. It won't bite, we promise :)
Best of Forge Reminder
Not to be overshadowed by all of the other news is our bi-annual Best of Forge competition. Nominations are still underway so make sure you drop by, check out the guidelines, and start nominating your favorite maps.
Adios Mis Amigos
Well, that about wraps it up for this weeks update. We hope you guys enjoyed it and above all else we urge you to sign up for the 1v1 tournament, what have you got to lose? Well, those freakin' sweet prizes of course.