Bungie weekly update, Fusion core edition!

In Bungie's latest weekly update, Frankie talks cinematic's and the return of the ever popular Fusion core's from Halo 2. 

Frankie says that the cinematic's in the Halo 3 cut scenes will be rendered with the in-game engine, just like the previous Halo games.

In Halo 3, the animation resources available to us are deeper and broader, and the sheer volume and quality of animation is increased exponentially this time around. I’ve already been watching some of the roughed in animations, and more excitingly, the fully integrated stuff in-game. Right now, it has a lot of placeholder audio and music, but as those layers are spliced in, it’s going to become even better.

I noticed this with a subtle example - a Marine tech sits on a muddy berm and examines a pice of equipment. He shuffles to get comfortable. Now, this kind of subtlelty is hardly new to any form of animation, but it's a good example of how much extra care and energy we're committing to this important area of the Campaign game.

Although there are a ton of straight up technical improvements – such as better lighting, or more realistic faces – stuff like our new lip-synching tech takes a back seat to the actual events going on in the cinematic's and the vignette-style cutscenes. From the first level of Campaign, to the final moments of the trilogy itself, we hope to bring you a compelling and stunning conclusion to the story arc and the technology ramp that we’ve built ourselves.

And finally, Frankie talks Fusion core's:

Fusion Cores can be used as weapons, or as traps. Personally I liked tipping them off the elevator in Ivory Tower, or shooting them as an opponent walks by, rather than wasting bullets on multiple headshots. In Halo 3, you’re going to need to use them a lot. Especially in High Ground. Conserve bullets – shoot Fusion Cores - It’s the green thing to do. Also, do not hide behind Fusion Cores. Why are we giving out all this information and imagery about Fusion Cores you ask? Well because they’re about the least top-secret thing in all of Halo 3, and also to distract you from the slightly bad news below. But keep reading, because the news eventually gets better. And then much better.

Click here to read the entire weekly update!