How To: Pepakura!!

Pepakura is a paper modeling software and method for building things, which is a common way for fans to make cool cosplays of their favorite characters. Halo armor is possibly the most common thing constructed using the Pepakura method. First, you want some supplies. You definitely want a self healing cutting mat. This will extend the lifetime of the extra x-acto blades you are also gonig to buy. A metal straight edge is also recommended. You are going to want to buy 110 lb cardstock to print these on; regular paper is too flimsy, and cannot support the weight of the structure you are building. Later, you will also need a hot glue gun with plenty of extra glue.

Next, follow the links in resources to get either pepakura viewer or designer (I recommend both. They're free). After downloading the software, go to the 405th.com and become a member, which is free. You can find links to these places under resources. After making an account, go to the file archive and browse the available armor pieces. Download the ones you like and open them using the Pepakura designer or viewer. If you want to scale the object to your body size, look up a sizing tutorial, as there are several on Youtube. When open, It should look like this:

When you go to print on your card, don't worry, the program won't print the image on the left, but the templates on the right. You are going to want to buy 110 lb cardstock to print these on; regular paper is too flimsy, and cannot support the weight of the structure you are building. Now it is time for cutting! There will be three types of lines on the print out: Solid, dotted, and dashed. 

Cut on all of the solid lines. at the end you should end up with something like this: 

Before gluing, you need to prepare the folds. That is what the dotted and dashed lines mean. The dotted lines equate to a mountain fold, which looks like this: ^. And the dashed lines equate to a valley fold which looks like a V. Now it's time to glue. There are numbers all along the edges, and they tell you what pieces line up with what. for example, if there is a 21 on one edge, and a 21 on another, those two edges get glued together. As you have noticed, there are several tabs that are just used to glue the pieces together. 

After gluing them all together, you get a whole armor piece. In this case, I mad a low definition forearm piece of the MJOLNIR Mark VI armor. 

The higher definition they are, the smaller the pieces, which means more time cutting and gluing. Here is a medium detail forearm for the opposite arm that I made recently. 

These are the the other medium detail forearm along with some ultra high detail hand plates that I have already made. 

Sadly, they are all being scrapped, because I am going to swap the forearms with ultra high detail models, and the hand plates were scaled to large. So that is like 16 hours down the drain. On the bright side, those are just "practice" rounds for when I am making the real deal. I plan to have a full suit completed by Halloween 2016, and after that, I can bring the armor to some Cons. 

After the model has been fully put together, you need to use fiberglass resin to coat the card to make it hard and rigid. Then automotive bondo is used for fine detailing, along with several layers of paint. 

But all of that is for another day. :) 

Guess Who's Back

Hello everyone, welcome back if you are a returning viewer. If you are new, welcome! Be sure to view any of my previous content. For those who do not know me, my name is Conor. If you've read any of my previous posts, you would know that Halo has been a passion of mine since I was first able to play the original game when I was five or six. I love spreading knowledge of this franchise, and this school assignment was the perfect excuse to do so.

In this blog, you can expect to find anything Halo related. There is any number of things that I may cover, like from upcoming Halo game titles (H5: Guardians is just around the corner!), novels, bits and pieces of Halo lore, or news on the television series being produced by Steven Spielberg. I have actually started a project that is Halo related recently. I am currently in the process of building my very own MJOLNIR Mark VI Power Assault Armor, or the Spartan armor that Master Chief wears during Halo 2 and Halo 3. The project is still in the early stages, and is a very long term project. But you can definitely count on some content based on the processes and methods that I am using to construct the armor.

If you have any questions that you want to know more about or want me to publicly answer in a blog post, just comment, and I will do my best to fulfill your requests. Hope to see you guys soon.

The Story of the Precursors

For those who are unfamiliar with lore from the Halo Universe, this may be a bit confusing.

The Precursors were ancient beings, almost God-like, who had the ability and technology to create, and accelerate the evolution of intelligent life.

These are the creatures that created the Forerunners and Humanity. They had a philosophy, called the Mantle, which the holder of the Mantle had the responsibility to keep peace and preserve the biological diversity within the galaxy.The precursors eventually wanted to pass this responsibility to one of their creations, as their legacy. They chose the humans for this fate The Forerunners found out about this, and wanted the Mantle to be their responsibility, as they saw themselves as superior. The rose up against their creators and ruthlessly annihilated them and drove them to (near) extinction, so they could seize the mantle for themselves. As a fail safe, the last remaining precursors transformed themselves into a powdered dust forms, which could be later revived into their former selves. But after eons of waiting, the dust became flawed and corrupt. When ancient humans found the dust, (prehistoric humans were an extremely advanced, space faring race before they lost  the Human-Forerunner War and were devolved by the Forerunners), it had become the cancerous plague we now know as the Flood.



So there we have it, the mystery of the origins of the Flood are no longer mystery. The Flood, all this time, had been perverted, insane, remains of what was left of the ancient Precursors.

Happy New Year!!

For the first blog of 2015, I am going to talk about is my Halo new years resolution. This year, I am not going to pre order Halo 5 Guardians, like I have with other Halo games. My main reasoning for this is because I do not want 343 industries to release another broken game. If any of you heard of the master chief collection or bought it, you know that the game's launch was a colossal failure, the worst in Halo's history. There were several issues and bugs, the most notable group of them all being the almost unplayable multiplayer. Several months in advance, 343 industries knew that they were giving us a severely broken game. By pre ordering games, you show the developers faith that you have already committed to buying their game. You also do not know how well the game will perform until after the release date, but if the game performs like junk, you have already bought the game. If you are going to buy Halo 5 Guardians, at least wait until the release date this year, and for the day one reviews start pouring in. This way, you are assured that you get a quality game, or get out of being ripped off by a bad one. This also show 343 industries that our money is not as easily earned, and that they need to work harder to take it from us.

If you want a more in depth explanation of why you shouldn't pre order Halo 5 Guardians, here's a link to a video ( warning: viewer discretion is advised. there is swearing in this video)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCC499Gf4DY 

Happy HaloDays!!

Hello everybody! First off, I would like to wish everybody happy Holidays (or Halo-Days)!

Because there isn't really anything Halo which is holiday themed, besides fan-art like this magnificent masterpiece I have found (above), I am doing this blog on the upcoming Halo 5: Guardians multiplayer beta coming out this month on December 29. I will be talking about all of the new features that are being implemented into the beta.

Thruster Pack

The thruster pack can be used pretty much at any time to boost the character in any direction except for up. This can be used to dodge bullets, get behind cover, and maneuver places faster.

Ground Pound

When using your thruster pack in a downward fashion, you can ground pound. This eliminates any targets within the redicle that pops up on the ground. However, this move can be hard to use during combat because it leaves you exposed in midair for a short amount of time.

Clamber

When close to an edge of a surface, you can clamber onto it, making environments easier to traverse and easier to get a good vantage point. It also makes it easier to make longer jumps. This should be interesting to see in the Halo 5: Guardians campaign, as getting out of the playable areas has always been a big part of skulls, easter eggs, and fun glitches.

Slide

When sprinting at full velocity, you can crouch to slide into cover, or get below a players sights and shoot them in the face with a shotgun.

Charge

This one is also used when sprinting. When sprinting, you can hit the melee button and bash through a player, causing damage to them, or killing them.


Sprint

Sprint is obviously making a return from Halo 4. By sprinting, you move faster than you would if just walking and can get to places faster or to hide when being shot at. There is, however, a twist. To balance things out, by sprinting, your shields do not recharge.

Smart Scope (ADS)

This one made people mad. People thought that by putting ADS (Aim-Down-Sights) was turning Halo into Call of Duty. I was even enraged when hearing of this. BUT, after further inspection, Smart Scope was just actually a better zoom animation. Smart Scope is available for all precision weapons, like the DMR or the BR55, but when using it on an MA5 Assault Rifle, it just zooms hip fire slightly. Smart Scope still keeps the old school mechanic of descoping when being fired upon.

How To Play Halo

Hey guys, today's blog is going to be a step by step tutorial on how to play Halo.

1. Destroy your Play Station

In order to play and appreciate Halo, you need to accept that the Xbox is better (Xbox 360, not the Xbox One). The best way to let go, is to blow that stupid Play Station with low cost explosives or smashing it with a hammer. Keep in mind, this step is only necessary if you own a Play Station. Some may argue that this step is completely unnecessary, but I highly recommend doing it. 

2. Buy an Xbox. 

In order to play Halo, you need an Xbox, because Halo is an Xbox exclusive, therefore Xbox is the best console ever. I recommend buying an Xbox 360 because it currently plays all of the Halos that have been released so far, and is now only around a hundred bucks, depending where you get it. If you have the money, buy the Xbox One, because Halo graphics will look better, and you can get the Master Chief Collection, which is the four numbered Halo games for the price of one game. 

3. Buy Halo

This step is obvious. How will you play the game if you don't have it? There have been 8 Halo games released so far, 9 come November when the Master Chief Collection comes out. I have all of the Halo games except for Halo Anniversary. I highly recommend getting the Xbox One and getting the Master Chief Collection, so you can experience the full story of Master Chief, the main protagonist of the Halo games. 

4. Get extra controllers. 

X Boxes only come with two controllers, and Halo has up to four player split-screen, so I highly recommend buying two extra controllers so you can grab a few buddies and play at your house. Halo is great to play with friends, and adds to the experience. 

5. Get Xbox Live Gold

To get the full experience of Halo, you need an Xbox Live gold Membership, which is sixty bucks a year. This is for after you beat the campaign, because there are endless hours of multiplayer to be played. Players from all around the world fight with, and against you in teams of red and blue. 

6. Have Fun! 

Now you have all the components to play Halo. Now, all you need to do is have fun! Because that is what Halo is all about, having fun. 

Welcome to the Halo Universe!

Hello Internet, my name is Conor Brown (on the left). Halo has been a passion of mine ever since I can remember (in other words, I'm a huge nerd). I have always been fascinated by this expanding and immersive universe. People don't realize how much there is to explore within Halo. There have been stories upon stories, people, and cultures developed around it.  So it upsets me when people say, "Halo? That's just a game where you shoot stuff." Halo is much more than this. 

Don't get me wrong, I will talk about game play and tactics, or anything else regarding the Halo Community that I deem worthy of my blog. This includes any coverage on upcoming Halo games (which I hope 343 Industries doesn't screw up) or on the upcoming Halo digital series, both the one produced by Ridley Scott, or Stephen Spielberg. But for the most part, I will try to focus mainly on the story and lore of Halo. This alone should give me plenty to talk about. I could literally go on for days on this topic, and I plan on doing so.