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Carnage Fest Report
Posted By: Louis Wu <halo@bungie.org>Date: 1/1/02 2:31 p.m.

The party actually got underway on Saturday evening - the first guests arrived around 6 pm, and we immediately got started hooking up equipment. The kids jumped on the Dreamcast to play Sonic Adventure 2, while the adults ran cable, moved TVs around, and attached Xboxes. After dinner, we got down to a 2-Xbox, 7-player lan game (or 6) - but we lost two players around 9:30; it was bedtime for my youngest. The core group was pared down to 5, and we jumped into a 3-on-2 capture the flag game on Sidewinder. Whoa, did that go on for a long time... the 2-player team decided that defense was the only way to go, and though the 3-player team ended up winning 10-0, it took almost 90 minutes and cost over 200 lives. Whoa!

At this point, our youngest player (and best sniper) headed to bed, and we dropped down to 4 players... we called it a night, multiplayer-wise; I went back to updating websites, Freewill did his own online stuff, and Don and Mark co-oped a few levels. They were still at it when I went to bed around 1.

The morning started early, since Don (my brother-in-law) had to get to the airport; my wife and kids left with him at 8 am, and I got down to waking up the rest of the crew and getting the rest of the furniture/TVs set up for the upcoming carnage. By 10 am, everyone was fed, and we played around with some single-player tricks while we waited... it wasn't long until Lophan showed up (at 10:30 - 2 and a half hours to drive 210 miles; you decide if he was breaking any speeding laws). Soon after that, the Historian rang the bell... and we had 3 on 3. A bit later, Oldirtae showed up, all the way from Boston - still a little fuzzy from 3 straight days of partying (but not so fuzzy he couldn't shoot us). By lunchtime, we were 10, and chowing down on pizza hauled all the way from New York, by Freewill. Yum! We played 5-on-5 team games, as well as free-for-alls, for a couple of hours, until Spooner showed up - we actually had enough TVs for 5 of the 6 Xboxes in the house, but we were having too much fun with 4 box games that we simply never set the last one up. (We originally thought we'd have a TV or two running co-op games, or even other consoles; I had a Dreamcast, and Oldirtae brought a PS2 - but it never happened; Halo carnage was simply too addictive.) People started showing their strengths; Rafi and Spencer were the master snipers, Dan was death in a Scorpion, Kevin proved to be a fatal Slayer opponent, Mark showed off his Warthog skills... it seemed that each change in gametype/map brought out a new strength in a new player. Lophan took great pleasure in lining me up in his sights, then shouting through the doorway, "Hey, Claude!" "Yeah?" BLAM! Oldirtae always managed to be right where you didn't want him, with some weapon you just weren't expecting. Death reigned supreme (mixed with enormous amounts of laughter). Team games proved to be the most popular, with Team King of the Hill narrowly beating out Team Rally for pure enjoyment. (Highlight of the day for me; coming over a rise in Blood Gulch at top speed, hitting another Warthog; I headed straight up into the air, and did 4 complete end-over-end (front-to-back) flips, before landing on my wheels and continuing on.)

We took another break for dinner (more pizza, some salad this time), then headed back down for more carnage. We learned that invisible snipers only on Damnation is simply insane, while Oddball with 11 players on Longest will bring out the melee attack from the most timid player. By 8:30, people started packing up to head out, and by 9 pm we were down to the core we started with. A little coffee for the road, and the house was once again quiet... more than 24 hours of Halo-drenched goodness.

Kudos to everyone who showed up and made this a success, to Miguel for bringing all the pizza, to my wife for letting it all happen (and providing everything from chips to soda to coffee, to BROWNIES fergoshsakes!). Lophan forgot the beer (okay, it was a misunderstanding), but the stuff in the fridge was just fine. (Plus, I have more room now!)

Biggest lesson of all: Halo is, without a doubt, a total success as a lan-party generator. People drove from hours away, and NOBODY regretted it. The option for other Xbox games, or other console games, was present at all times... but nobody took advantage of it, because Halo was just TOO MUCH FUN. To those who say they're bored of it... get more than 4 people together, it's a whole new game.


Message Index




Replies:

Carnage Fest ReportLouis Wu 1/1/02 2:31 p.m.
     *drools on self*Jester 1/1/02 2:58 p.m.
     Re: Carnage Fest Report*Ar-Isildur of *WP* 1/1/02 4:12 p.m.
           Re: Carnage Fest ReportPCDestroyer 1/2/02 10:07 a.m.
     Re: Carnage Fest ReportThe Historian 1/1/02 10:07 p.m.
     Re: Carnage Fest ReportJäger 1/1/02 10:57 p.m.
     Help Me Louis... or anybody! :)PanZer 1/1/02 11:27 p.m.
           Re: Help Me Louis... or anybody! :)Impact 1/2/02 2:16 a.m.
                 Re: Help Me Louis... or anybody! :)Kanen Faud'r 1/2/02 2:23 a.m.
                       Re: Help Me Louis... or anybody! :)Louis Wu 1/2/02 7:33 a.m.
                             Re: Help Me Louis... or anybody! :)vector40 1/2/02 2:47 p.m.
     More firsthand experienceMark Levin 1/2/02 11:56 a.m.
     PICTURES HERE! :)Miguel Chavez 1/2/02 12:41 p.m.
           Re: PICTURES HERE! :)PCDestroyer 1/2/02 1:24 p.m.
                 heh, rice cooker :) *NM*Miguel Chavez 1/2/02 1:31 p.m.
                       LOL... Ours is...PCDestroyer 1/2/02 9:13 p.m.
     this is how my day wentTrevor Humphrey 1/6/02 9:21 p.m.



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