Freno

The final update for 2007, eh? It's been a hectic year for Halo: First Offensive... but a year of progress nonetheless. I'd like to thank all of our staff for sticking by us this year and making us the best Halo mod around. It's been a pleasure working with you guys, and I'm looking forward to next year. I simply cannot list the achievements each staff member has achieved this year, as there is just too much that we have achieved this year to fit in a simple update like this. I'd also like to thank our fans for hanging by us through the year, especially those who signed up on our forums (at http://z7.invisionfree.com/Ascendancy_Stud...dex.php?act=idx ) and followed us on Moddb. It's been a difficult ride moving throughout forums and the such, and to know that we have people willing to follow us throughout that time is fantastic. I also want to show appreciation to all those who voted for us during the Moddb Mod of the Year awards this year, as well as supporting us on other forums and websites, as without you guys, this mod wouldn't be as popular as it is today. We want to also extend thanks to the Halo: Homefront team for working with us during the final weeks of this year. (Their forums are located at http://z15.invisionfree.com/Broken_Line_St...dex.php?act=idx. ) http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/dd77/Halofirstoffensive/HolidayHFO-2.png Merry Christmas from the Halo: First Offensive and Ascendancy Studios team! As our Christmas present to you, we decided to throw together a render of the latest units to be completed, and the final units to be shown this year. Each model and skin has been made with care and skill by each of our staff members, which means you get to see only the very best pieces of art or code. Thank you all for a wonderful 2007, and we hope to have an even better 2008! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, ~Freno and the Staff at Halo: First Offensive and Ascendancy Studios! http://z7.invisionfree.com/Ascendancy_Stud...dex.php?act=idx

Hey guys, Freno here. It's been too long since our last update, so I'm going to make this a juicy one to make up for it. So, straight to business: Our Beta test was a huge success. Thanks to all our testers, as without their help, we wouldn’t have hunted out all our bugs and finally got that crucial balance factor implemented. That said, it’s not like the only thing they did was work. We got many reports and a lot of feedback about how fun and interesting the gameplay was, along with more than a few happy comments just for being able to play it. It has assisted progress in many ways, and we’re finally able to say that Covenant ships aren’t as tough as they’re cracked up to be. If you didn’t make this one, don’t panic, as chances are we’re going to have another beta before the official release. Moving on… It’s been floating around our forums for a while now, but now we’re going to officially announce it… Halo: First Offensive is going to release a public demo! Yup, we’ve finally confirmed it. It’s not like us to give away any concrete information though, so a release date is still sketchy at the moment. Things we can promise - - The demo will give you a taste of the space gameplay we’ve implemented so far. - Both the Covenant and the UNSC will be playable. - A selection of ships will be playable. - There will be no heroes at this stage. - Everything in this update is subject to change without warning. Moving on, we’ve now got a completely finalised rival for the Seraph; The C709 Longsword-class Interceptor. Our updated skin was created by our new skinner, Kalo Shin. The Longsword is the main fighter the UNSC use to fight back the Covenant in space, and used for bombing runs on ground engagements. In most respects the Longsword is an equal counterpart to the Seraph (which we detailed in our last update), although some Longsword squadrons are armed with a Shiva tactical warhead which can make even the most powerful Covenant ships think twice. http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/dd77/Halofirstoffensive/LS1-2.jpg The other piece of hardware we have to show today is the Master Chief himself. Modeled by myself, Skinned by Kalo Shin and animated by Codeuser, the Master Chief has undergone a few changes. He is now primarily armed with a Battle Rifle, but he is able to be armed with many weapons through upgrades. The Master Chief is (as most of you know) the hero of the UNSC forces; using the Spartan-II technologies the Master Chief may be humanities final hope. http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/dd77/Halofirstoffensive/Spartanpic1-1.jpg http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/dd77/Halofirstoffensive/spartanpic3-1.jpg Well, that’s about it for now. Sincere apologies for the lack of updates, but there’s been so much work going on lately it’s hard to document. Rest assured, the 30 minutes that would usually be spent writing an update was spent on making this mod better and more enjoyable to play. ‘till next update then, I guess. Adios, Freno http://z7.invisionfree.com/Ascendancy_Studios/index.php?act=idx

Nomada, what did you mean by your question? Omega - I use 3ds Max 8 for modeling, simply because it's just a powerful tool and has exactly what you need for almost every job. Remember guys, we're still accepting the beta testing applications!

Yo, I have seen many people post things like ‘how do I get on a beta testing list?’ and ‘come on guys need beta’ (that’s right you know who you are!). Even if you didn’t post you can’t deny the burning desire to get that chance to be one of the first to play the mod. Now is when that hope becomes reality, (for a select few), the Halo First Offensive team require a small handful of beta testers to receive a very early edition of the mod to help us gather data about multiplayer, how the mod runs on different systems, game play and balancing. In the case of this beta, unlike most other betas released by other games, people will not be picked at random for this stage, as we need people who we consider responsible and who we think would give us the most useful feedback and technical data. We also want to be able to reward people who have shown this mod support in the past. Now ladies and gents on to how you get in on this - Unlike Microsoft we aren’t packaging our beta with another game, mainly because no game developer asked or offered to pay us to (not that we wouldn’t accept should someone with a large truck of money pull up outside.) We are offering two methods of application: Number one is the one I’m going to talk about now because it’s the only method currently open to you guys. All you gotta do is send us an email at hfobeta@googlemail.com saying that you would like to join the beta. Also to increase your chances of getting accepted included a small list of your system specs (Dxdiag.txt will do) and why we should choose you, try to resist the urge of lying. When it comes to system specs we will be looking for a wide range so please don’t stop yourself entering if you think your pc specs aren't good enough. This opportunity will close on the 31st July, so get in quick! The skin was originally created by Dark Ultima, but has been redone by Stealth-011 (aka Tay / The Grunt Council) - to quote Freno - "I dunno, for added nice-ness and detail...ness?" You may have seen this skin before, but I assure you this is the final version of the skin you've seen several previous incarnations of. http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y239/Topazfreno/Render-skin1copy.jpg Adios, Freno

Yo, Freno is away on business... or he has a hangover... hell, or both. So I’m filling in as PR guy this week, and as this is the first time I have done one of these news release things I think the actual news I bring this week is a good place to start my mission to usurp Freno’s throne. So down to the task at hand - Because I rarely speak about the mod on forums or the moddb profile because the other guys beat me to it but, I still check them. I have seen many people post things like ‘how do I get on a beta testing list?’ and ‘come on guys need beta’ (that’s right you know who you are!). Even if you didn’t post you can’t deny the burning desire to get that chance to be one of the first to play the mod. Now is when that hope becomes reality, (for a select few), the Halo First Offensive team require a small handful of beta testers to receive a very early edition of the mod to help us gather data about multiplayer, how the mod runs on different systems, game play and balancing. In the case of this beta, unlike most other betas released by other games, people will not be picked at random for this stage, as we need people who we consider responsible and who we think would give us the most useful feedback and technical data. We also want to be able to reward people who have shown this mod support in the past. Now ladies and gents on to how you get in on this - Unlike Microsoft we aren’t packaging our beta with another game, mainly because no game developer asked or offered to pay us to (not that we wouldn’t accept should someone with a large truck of money pull up outside.) We are offering two methods of application: Number one is the one I’m going to talk about now because it’s the only method currently open to you guys. All you gotta do is send us an email at hfobeta@googlemail.com saying that you would like to join the beta. Also to increase your chances of getting accepted included a small list of your system specs (Dxdiag.txt will do) and why we should choose you, try to resist the urge of lying. When it comes to system specs we will be looking for a wide range so please don’t stop yourself entering if you think your pc specs aren't good enough. This opportunity will close on the 31st July, so get in quick! The skin was originally created by Dark Ultima, but has been redone by Stealth-011 (aka Tay / The Grunt Council) - to quote Freno - "I dunno, for added nice-ness and detail...ness?" You may have seen this skin before, but I assure you this is the final version of the skin you've seen several previous incarnations of. http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y239/Topazfreno/Render-skin1copy.jpg So to also quote Freno again here - Adios, Crome (Posted by Freno, obviously)

Hey lads, Freno from Halo: First Offensive here, as usual. This time, the Halo: First Offensive team has sad news... (Well, it's actually not that bad) Our "Massive update" has been pushed back for a little while. This is due to the fact that we're a tad short-staffed in a certain area as explained later, so I'll have to hope you're content with what I've got to show today... First up - http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y239/Topazfreno/UNSCBarracks.jpg The UNSC Barracks are the first structures a planet needs to begin the requisition of troops. The Barracks produce the infantry of the UNSC forces, including Marines, Heavy Marines, ODST's and much more, which I'm not revealing just yet. All the infantry need this to be constructed, so you'd better protect them if you want absolutely any chance of holding back the Covenant tide. Infantry are the core of all armies, and as such, Barracks should be used to their full advantage during the heat of battle. http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y239/Topazfreno/UNSCAIGUN.jpg The UNSC Anti-infantry emplacements are the bane of Covenant ground troops. Utilizing the full power of two triple-barreled chain guns (Similar to that of the Warthog, but stabilized and using different loading techniques) the cannons are capable of ripping through enemy infantry at a truly terrifying rate. The 360 degree field of fire is what really makes the AI gun shine, as it will track the most dangerous targets and eliminate them before they can cause havoc. However, the lack of mobility hinders the effectiveness if countered properly with long-range artillery or vehicles, when the cannons are rendered useless by superior armour or range. They will form the core of base defences, and could be the difference between a swamped defeat or a massive victory. http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y239/Topazfreno/UNSCMachineGun.jpg A step down from the Anti-infantry emplacement, the UNSC Machine Gun Turrets are a smaller, but still potent anti-infantry structure. Using a single-barreled drum-fed style of fire, it is also capable of extremely high rates of fire and sustaining them for long periods of time, yet are not quite as tough as their larger counterparts. However, these guns are available much earlier during the game, and are cheap enough to place anywhere you deem to be vulnerable to infantry attacks. The downside of these guns are that friendly infantry have to garrison the gun, and as such are extremely vulnerable when unsupported. A limited field of fire also reduces the effectiveness if placed incorrectly, while range is not as fantastic either. On the plus side, they are relatively effective against light troops when circumstances are right, and will form a major part of your battle line. As for our 'Massive Update' being pushed back, it was because of lack of staff members who specialise in the Sound or 2D art areas. We can't find a skinner to help skin our beautiful models... http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y239/Topazfreno/HelpWanted.jpg If you can Skin or Texture, please apply now, as we need all the help we can get in this department right now. Our current skinner needs a well-earned break (after modeling most of the above pictures to boot!) and we need someone who specialises in that area. You will be required to have at least a basic knowledge of skinning, but we don't expect you to be proffesional artists. We just need to have someone willing to see the mod through, providing skins or textures throughout the time periods. Of course, you'll be full staff and get all the perks and bonuses... We also need someone capable of providing sounds and music throughout the modding process, for trailers, in-game music ect. You will, of course, also receive staff access and get the advantages of being mod staff. Well, sorry to have to push the 'Massive Update' back, but be safe in the knowledge that every second of delay means you're seeing a much higher quality mod... Adios laddies, Freno -|- Halo: First Offensive Forums - http://www.petroglyphgames.com/forums/index.php?showforum=76 [url=http://eawnexus.com/forums/index.php?showforum=75]http://eawnexus.com/

Hey lads, Freno here. Sorry the PFF got neglected, but to make up for it I'll post up something now. Halo: First Offensive In this mod, you will have many choices over where, when, and how you will fight. Will you fight them in space? Or will you fight them on the ground? Will you defend Earth against the ever slimming odds of victory? Or will you destroy the humans last remaining human colonies, and inevitably... Earth... How Will You Fight? Halo: First Offensive is a Total Conversion Mod for the ever-popular game Star Wars: Empire At War, bringing the Halo Universe to EaW. Everything is going to be redone and overhauled to portrait the Halo Universe perfectly. Forums http://eawnexus.com/forums/index.php?showforum=75 http://www.petroglyphgames.com/forums/index.php?showforum=76 Moddb http://mods.moddb.com/5939/halo-first-offensive/ Site http://halo.eawnexus.com (Undergoing server problems, so our old site is back up for the time being... apologies!) Random picture of the week - http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y239/Topazfreno/Longswordart2.jpg -Changes on a weekly basis- Adios, Freno