100K cR for Reach in 10 Minutes

OD pointed out a tip at 343 Industries for an easy 100,000 cR in Halo Reach.  We have both verified that it works, but you may need to actually go into Reach and play a game for it fully register.

There is a secret terminal called the 'Threshold' terminal (which is supposedly the name of the gas-giant seen from Halo). To unlock it:

• Unlock all terminals in the campaign
• Write down the symbols which appear at the end of each one (also included below)
• Start up Halo Waypoint
• Press button
• Press the buttons on your controller that correspond to coloured circles that appear on your screen
• Enter the 5 symbols from the end of each terminal

Do this for every terminal and you'll receive:

• 7,000 cR per terminal (37,000 for the last one)
• The terminal to watch in Halo Waypoint
• The secret "Threshold" terminal after entering the ten sets of 5 symbols

Halo CEA Bandana Skull

There are skulls hidden around Halo CEA.  They unlock achievements, but they also modify the game in different ways.  They don't affect your achievements, so some of them can be very useful.  Arguably the most useful is the Bandana skull which gives you unlimited ammo, making those Legendary runs a lot easier.  Also negates the Famine skull to make it easier to get your 3 skull achievement.  Being the most useful, it happens to be the hardest skull to get (so far).  This video makes it a hell of a lot easier:

Achievement Unlocked Sounder

With the newly released iOS5, you can now specific custom sounders for incoming text messages on iPhones.  This coincides nicely with Microsoft (via Major Nelson) making the "Achievement  Unlocked" blip sounder publicly available.  It's very satisfying.  :)  Download here.

Please Be a Team Player

Occasionally, I will ask the clan to work together and leverage our advantage in numbers to do stuff.  This is typically centered around achievements, but may also be for in-game challenges or other entertaining tasks.  I try to make it as fair as possible so that people don't get bored and so that everybody who wants to get the achievement or challenge has the opportunity to do so.  I ask you to please be patient, participate, and be a team player, or excuse yourself from the party until we are done.  Most of us learned in Kindergarten that sometimes we have to play a game that somebody else chooses, even if it's not our first choice.  Please remember that lesson.

• Achievements: There are a handful of achievements in each game that are a lot easier if you have friends to help you boost for them.  When those opportunities present themselves, I will generally coordinate the clan to help.  If you know we are boosting for achievements, please help, or at a minimum, don't hinder the progress.  As an example, an achievement will often require a special kind of kill, so we'll have dummies line up in a configuration to make that a lot easier and have other folks setup to get the easy kill.  Unless it's your turn to get the achievement, don't kill the dummies.  Definitely don't kill the people trying to get the achievement.  If we have enough people, you don't always have to be a dummy if you'd rather do something else, but don't ruin it for others.
• Wins for the Clan: Based on the blog poll, when we have 5-6 folks on-line, people would prefer to be split up into separate 4v4 teams rather than play on the same team in Invasion.  If there is a daily challenge requiring a certain number of wins, I will ask those on the other team (1-2 players) to sandbag so that the 4-player clan team can log a win.  Because of the skill disparity within the clan, we will typically be matched against random players at a higher skill level than many of the folks playing on clan night, so this is the most efficient way to log wins for the most people.  It can be boring to sandbag, and you don't want to get booted for obvious griefing or betrayals, so the standard rule is to allow assassinations only when you're on the other team.  This basically makes it a 4v3 or 4v2 game so that the clan team has the best chance of winning, and also gives the sandbagging players something incredibly entertaining to do while they wait.  I think we can all agree that it's hilarious to assassinate your friends and then laugh in party chat while you abuse their body.  It REALLY sucks if the sandbaggers don't play nice.  If AT ANY POINT the 4-player clan team is losing, or winning by less than 10 kills, I will take exception to any sandbaggers that aren't playing nice.  That includes:
• Getting kills with guns or grenades
• Punching people in the face
• Working on "assists" (unless there's a challenge, in which case I may allow this on a case-by-case basis)

If you're worried about your K/D ratio, you can go hide in a corner.  Getting kills with guns or grenades means you're explicitly not following the clan rules.  Punching people in the face is fine if you're following somebody and they turn around at the last second, but don't punch them again in the face for the kill.  The proper thing to do is to run away if you can't get behind them -- if you die, you're helping the clan. Assassinations are hard to get.  THAT'S THE POINT.  When available, I will try to pick games like Slayer Pro where there's no radar to help folks get their assassinations.

Boosting and sandbagging are things we do for the greater good.  If we are on different teams, it just makes sense to help the 4 people log a win, at the cost of 1 or 2 people logging a loss.  Matchmaking does a decent job at shuffling folks around so you're not always the odd man out.  If it's problematic, I will take us into different playlists so people aren't stuck.

As I said above, you always have the option to exclude yourself from the party if you think boosting or sandbagging is lame.  Moving forward, if I have to continually remind somebody to play nicely, I will go ahead and boot/exclude you from the party myself so that you can play a few games on your own.  I want this to be a fun environment for everyone.

If They Came to Hear Me - SPLAT

Posted at xkcd:

Finally, #1

It's taken several years, but I have finally surpassed FishBone10 in achievement points to claim the #1 spot in the clan. FishBone10 has 21,786 points from 86 games (253 pts/game). I now have 21,835 points from 43 games (508 pts/game). w00t!

Halo Wars Progress Tracker Updated

I've updated my tracking workbook in Microsoft Excel 2007 format that allows you to track your progress easier and give you a better idea of how to get your achievements as quickly as possible. I've added the full UNSC and Covenant Tech Trees with resource costs for each item. Version 3 is posted, feedback is welcome.

Halo Wars Skulls and Black Boxes

There is a Skull and a Black Box hidden on every campaign level. The Skulls all require killing a certain number of enemies before they appear. Here are some tips that OmniscientDeath and I picked up on our playthroughs.

• Xbox Life has the best guide for Skulls and Black boxes I've found yet, including screen shots
• Xbox Life only goes up through Mission 12 however, so for the last three, Xbox 360 Achievements does an adequate job
• Unlike Supply Crates, Skulls and Black boxes can be claimed with any unit, including air units. In fact, some are only accessible with air units.
  
• Mission 1 Look Daddy! skull: The tricky thing here is having enough Grunts available to kill. You want to be sure the Spirit dropships don't get killed before delivering their Grunty payload. I recommend rushing into Alpha base and taking out the Wraith before the Shortsword is called to extend the battle. Then concentrate on the Covenant units around the edge of the base, ignoring the ones that get dropped in until the end. Be sure to leave a unit right next to where the Skull spawns (see Xbox Life screenshots) because you have very little time after the 100th grunt is killed to grab it. It's easier to just switch to that unit with Down on the D-pad, then to try and race a Warthog back.
• Mission 5 Fog skull: I recommend not jacking Wraiths until you've killed all 5, otherwise you may run out of Wraiths that spawn.

Halo Wars Campaign Special Achievements

There are special achievements associated with each campaign level. Here are some things OmniscientDeath and I picked up on our playthroughs.

• Xbox 360 Achievements has a decent achievement guide posted
• Mission 1 Everything's Better with Bacon: This is hard because your Warthog gunner tends to kill grunts before you can splatter them. I recommend using the queue movement command. If you press and hold "X", your unit will go there after it's done with its current action. Send in one Warthog at a time and click "Y" on the Grunt as soon as its visible so the gunner stops shooting. Immediately (before your hog gets to the Grunt), queue up a Warthog move to retreat back out of range so that your Warthog automatically turns to come back as soon as possible and doesn't gun down any remaining Grunts. Do the same thing at Alpha Base, but be careful to position Forge and your Marines well out firing range. It took my 81 Grunts to get 50 splatters. Take your time.
• Mission 3 Coveneant "Hot Drop": You don't have to get all 5 kills at one time. If you don't get all 5 the first time, just turn the bridge back on and try again.
• Mission 4 The Real Winner: See the screengrab from Xbox Life. Open the console next to the black box and Adam should come running out.
• Mission 7 Micro Manager: You can get this by just hitting the Scarab with the MAC cannon, and not moving any of your units. The only caveat is that the Scarab will likely burn through the ruins and start hitting your base before you can get enough MAC blasts in. Spend your time building up resources. The Scarab will take out the closest turret and closest building before starting on your command center. Once those are gone, just keep building Supply Pads in the empty space, the Scarab will hit that one first before going back to your command center. It costs 100 resources every time and they go quick, so be sure to keep an eye on your MAC recharge time.
• Mission 10 The Procrastinator: Recommend building Scorpions and Wolverines to escort the Gremlins.
  
• Mission 12 Battened Down the Hatches: As soon as it starts, use all your resources to build Cyclops until you max your headcount. Don't forget about the two airlocks furthest from the power core. Be efficient, it takes almost exactly 4 minutes on easy if you are perfect
• Mission 15 Thinkin' About My Doorbell: Be careful, when you open a door, the glass panels fall away. Any ground units you have parked on them will die. Also, the doors will only if you have cleared all the aliens away from the control panel.
  

Halo Wars Progress Tracker

There are 50 achievements in Halo Wars that span 15 campaign levels, 14 skirmish levels, 6 leaders, skulls, black boxes, local play and Xbox Live play. I've created a tracking workbook in Microsoft Excel 2007 format that allows you to track your progress easier and give you a better idea of how to get your achievements as quickly as possible.

Version 1 is posted here. Feedback is welcome.

[Update March 10, 2009] Version 2 is posted with bug fixes and improved progress tracking.
[Update March 12, 2009] Version 3 is posted with bug fixes and full tech tree with resource costs.

Halo 3 Being Phased Out

If you are an L4D holdout and really want to continue playing H3, you should voice your opinion now.

The Mythic map packs are becoming available next month, coincident with the Halo Wars launch. There's a good chance I'll get them if you want to finish the H3 achievements with me.

Left 4 Dead Parties

L4D only allows team chat, and because of the way the game proceeds with no post-match lobbies, teams may never change. Which means you'd never be able to talk to the other 4 players.

Please ensure that you can hear everyone and that everyone can hear you. If you're not hearing anybody talking, something is wrong, try to fix it. It's SUPER SUPER SUPER SUPER annoying (Beer4Porter) when, for example, we're working on an achievement that require cooperation from both teams, and one jackhole keeps killing the Boomer and preventing the achievement.