Chat Log

August 8th, 2026 I've said this many times before while I was still primarily using Tumblr about how nice it was to have a Neocities and to have my own website where I can exist in my own space. I'm really satisifed with the way the site looks and how things are coming to be organized, and I look forward to seeing how it'll look in the future as I look to code more stuff. I don't really use Tumblr anymore, and I only use social media to keep in touch with people and to look at fanart, but I find myself not interacting with fandom anymore, which feels unsual for me, and I do miss being surrounded by people who shared a lot of interests with me, met a lot of really great people, but at the same time I find fandoms to be draining, and finding good people while weeding out the bad ones is too much work I find. Well, I find that it's better time spent working on my website than it is mindlessly scrolling. I've also been working on some Halo characters shrines, so that's something I look forward to doing more before school starts back up in about a week. I've been making good progress editing and adding magazines, as well as finally scanning my game demo discs, so I'm really happy about that. It's been good work! I've also been making some progress on Halo Campaign Evolved, not yet finished with it. I don't think I'll do a full fledged review as I have seen some others do, but so far it's good in some ways and bad in other ways... though given the track record of Halo gaming recently, that is not something that comes as a surprise.

August 2nd, 2026 Thinking about creating fanshines like some ones I've seen while looking around, specifically for Thel 'Vadam and Rtas 'Vadum... much to think about. Some other stuff: Halo Campaign evolved on my CRT monitor ^_^

I also found some of my other images while looking around:

July 28th, 2026 Halo Campaign Evolved released today officially. I'm going to be playing it tomorrow with my sibling, I look forward to seeing it for myself. I was watching some gameplay footage for the level 343 Guilty Spark because I was extremely curious as to how it looks since many were raving about it and... IT LOOKS SO GOOD. IT'S LOOKS GREAT. A frequently heard complaint among Halo fans about the 2011 Combat Evolved Anniversary Edition remaster was that this level was too bright, too colorful for what the level is meant to represent and the overall tone. The original tone being dark and eerie, as though the player was about to stumble upon some eldrich horror so terrible that an ancient species had to wipe out all life in the galaxy just to stave it off; and, it's in this level where the tone of the game changes... and they did it so well in the remake. After disembarking from the drop-off, the first thing the player is going to notice is the crashed pelican just up ahead, as the bright, orange flames provide a nice contract against the dark blues that surround it. There's a distress signal that rings out, talking about "some new kind of hostile that isn't Covenant", and that mixed with the unsettling landscape around, a downed Covenant ship just ahead, an explosion and human gunfire ringing out (...but there's no humans around to be seen, no chatter on the comms, only the Covenant Grunts and Jackals), all of it must give first-time players only a mere curiousity as to what might be ahead. Again, the atmosphere of the level is so well done that a part of me wishes that I could play this game for the first time just to experience this particular level fresh. Yet, in a way, despite the fact that I know what lurks ahead and what it is that hides in the shadows, watching you from the trees in the distance and running when you get too close, after all this time... I'm still afraid, naturally. Who still doesn't feel just a slight chill? I also imagine being Victor 933, the downed Pelican mentioned before. Shot down after an attempted take off, and stuck in this dark swamp forest, though they might not understand too well what the Flood is, I do, and knowing the sort of fate that awaited them... hm. I only looked at the outside atmosphere of the level and not too much of what the inside of the structure looks like, though I did see a little of what happens after the cam footage of Jenkins and it's... soo dark, which I don't mean in a bad way! But I was shocked compared to the 2011 version and the original 2001 Halo CE, and that with the Flood biomass around, it reminded me of the Dead Space Remake.. . *Halo CE demo ending Johnson voice* It makes me shake just thinkin' about it! I have also heard much good about the Library level but I'm... not ready for that.
Other updates: I have about a two week period in between the ending of my summer semester and the beginning of my fall semester so I want to use some of that time to work on uploading more magazines and demo discs as well. I also have some with Half-Life 2 stuff (including a playable demo on it!) that I haven't looked at yet but I'm looking forward to. I also like that they fit well on the magazine page and the section is a good way to take up space because I had always felt that the magazine page was a bit too... empty, and I wasn't sure on what to include or change to occupy more of that space.

July 25th, 2026 I saw some of the early access for the new Halo: Campaign Evolved, and they even released all the cutscenes already onto YouTube? Oh, how the times have changed! I don't really care for a Halo remake, but also I will admit that the game looks great.

I won't discuss whatever gripes I have with it until I actually play the game, or watch my sibling play it in the upcoming week. That moment in the escape pod where Cortana says "Look," to Chief and the Halo ring slowly makes its appearance on screen with the classic Halo choir in the back, it was beautiful. It really did look majestic, all I could think about was the Prophet of Regret, "When you first saw Halo, were you blinded by its majesty?" I watched all the original cutscenes, Johnson at the end talking about see you in the sequel? Halo 2 remake is on the horizon. Am I ready for that? Unsure... unsure. I mean, if it's going to happen, it's going to happen, right? I don't know... I wonder what they would add to the game? Prequel missions? More Arbiter content? Much to think about. Again, I hate game remakes only for the sole reason that everybody's doing it now!! Can we make something new? If it was a rare event, I'd say "Oh, a Halo remake? This could be well." But man... we did have a remaster already, is that not enough? Oh well, it is what it is, and the way everybody treats 343/Halo Studios, I do...feel sorry for those guys. At least the game is beautiful, and for that it makes up a bit. I'm happy the game is on PlayStation too, I think it's such a petty thing to whine about, who cares? The more people who play Halo, the merrier; Now all I can think is how I can't wait for them to play the rest of the series! The console wars are pointless. When I saw those Flood levels an immediate rush of gratefulness came over me for the addition of sprint, I can get away from those things faster. I detest the Flood so much, they are great of course, love them in terms of story and whatnot, actually playing the levels though? No way, I'm running out of here. Towards the end where the Chief was trying to make his escape and the Flood tank form shows up!!! I liked it, I still can't believe they added that to CE, I'm curious to see what the Library level is going to be like... *shiver* Oh, but then he shoots the Tank with the magnum and kills it instantly? I told my sibling, "How the hell did he do that with just a pistol?" And my sibing just replied: "Pie, it's the CE magnum." Right... right, right, how could I forget how powerful that thing was?

June 24th, 2026 I'm replaying a bit of Halo again, the MCC on Steam. I'd like to capture more scenic screenshots, and I'm thinking of perhaps making a page for that too here. I orginally created this wesbite so it would hold all of my magazine scans, but slowly I find myself expanding it to include everything Halo-related, including my thoughts and screenshots, little things of that nature. I was also thinking of creating a Tumblr blog to hold them, I was discussing it with a friend, much to think about! I was also thinking of changing this website's layout, but man... that would certainly take up so much time, no? But I've seen some really good ones out there. Updating this chat log later on in the day, or night actually, I've spontaneously decided to rehaul my entire website! New layout and organization, new everything! Check out the banner at the very top now, much better than the old marquee I had haha. It was also made by my good friend @remichu on Neocities! If you're reading this, go check them out. Super cool website. I'm looking forward to making more progress on this overhaul. I'd like to also give magazine reviews and include what other stuff may be in them, much to look forward to!

June 17th, 2026 I want to use this log to discuss more of my Halo thoughts, and thoughts in general. I picked up the new Halo Waypoint novel, but I have yet to read it :) I am happy they're releasing stuff like this, it reminds me of books like Halo: Fractures and Evolutions as well. I'm already looking forward to seeing whatever sort of content they release in the future. I also saw that Game Informer is releasing a new magazine for the Halo: Campaign Evolved! I hope to get a copy of it, I'm really excited for that. I don't think I'll buy the new remake, but my sibling is planning on it so I'll play the game through him. I look forward to seeing more Johnson!! I miss him so much. I also saw the space battles?! That looks cool too, it reminds me of the space battles in Star Wars Battlefront II, very nostalgic to me. Very cool.

May 20th, 2026 I'm adding this chat log so I can use this website to discuss my own thoughts, and maybe share stuff I come across within my own time! I thought about how nice it is to have my own website so I'm going to make the most out of it :)