Weekly Update Message Discussion [BWU - 5/30/08]

Discussion of anything and everything that happens within the Iris Alternate Reality Game.

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Ibeechu
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Re: Weekly Update Message? [General Discussion]

Unread post by Ibeechu »

You brought up a big hole in the timeline that I've wondered about sometimes, and that is, how did the Forerunners have time to build the rings if the Flood was nagging them. I've tended to assume that the time between first finding the flood nd building the rings wasn't that long. They were really advanced and could probably do such a feat in a small amount of time. And they discovered the spores when they were mining in gas giant, right? So they must have been able to contain them somehow without the Halos. Colossus' gas canisters...
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Re: Weekly Update Message? [General Discussion]

Unread post by uncle_trubble »

Bad word usage by me, by installation I basically meant "facility," I wasn't speaking of a Halo ring

And Ibeechu, I think that there were a few centuries between initial contact and activation of the rings, and my guess is that the were built 250-ish years into the fight

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Re: Weekly Update Message? [General Discussion]

Unread post by ii otnemem ii »

This may be obvious (and therefore unmentioned thus far), but there are numerous previous Halo maps referenced in this WWU segment. Containment from Halo 2, was a snowy level (plus "lowering ambient temperatures", etc.), Derelict from Halo:CE, remade in Halo 2 as Desolation. We also saw 2401 PT floating around and humming in Halo 2's Backwash, which was a Flood-themed level. Could it be a big ol' pack of remade maps?
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Re: Weekly Update Message? [General Discussion]

Unread post by DHalo »

300 years passed from first contact with the Flood to the creation and deployment of Mendicant Bias. From there, it was 43 years until Mendicant made his decision to turn.

350 years is plenty of time to come up with the idea and construct the installations.
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Re: Weekly Update Message? [General Discussion]

Unread post by alstrong »

Ibeechu wrote:Well maybe we just never went to parts of the ring that had population centers. Remember how, from above, the Ark looked like it had streets or something? But we never saw that in the game. Maybe they kept Halo cities away from the Flood for obvious reasons.
Well... the Ark is... the Ark. It was meant to be a refuge for a number of organisms, ( besides being the forge for Halos and the final activation point of said halos).

The other thing to consider is that Cortana et al would have had plenty of time to find any signs of advanced civilizations (i.e. abandoned cities) when they accessed the Silent Cartographer.
But I would look at it like a scientists who also sleeps in his lab. He's there everyday. Why commute back and forth everyday when all you're going home for is sleep?
Teleportation. ;) But indeed, why travel back and forth when he/she could just stay in one science building? There would be no need for any population centers on such a research installation.


Ibeechu wrote:You brought up a big hole in the timeline that I've wondered about sometimes, and that is, how did the Forerunners have time to build the rings if the Flood was nagging them. I've tended to assume that the time between first finding the flood nd building the rings wasn't that long. They were really advanced and could probably do such a feat in a small amount of time. And they discovered the spores when they were mining in gas giant, right? So they must have been able to contain them somehow without the Halos. Colossus' gas canisters...
Considering the war was 300 years long, and it only took a few months to get close to completing a single installation (Halo to Halo 3), is it so difficult in the grand scheme?
Strife17O7 wrote: But still...it just sounds really rather excessive to build something that massive and complex for that one purpose right? or no?
Does it have to be limited to one purpose? The Halos as weapons were designed to contain the flood from spreading beyond the milky way galaxy. As for studying... they could study anything they wanted to study on such a controlled environment. At the same time, they need not disrupt naturally occurring environments on spherical planets.

Also, having a larger environment allows them to observe organisms in an environment that is benign to the Forerunners. That is something that cannot be observed within a building. Take for instance, the Flood's ability to change the atmosphere (Halo: CE).
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Re: Weekly Update Message? [General Discussion]

Unread post by Strife17O7 »

Ibeechu wrote:You brought up a big hole in the timeline that I've wondered about sometimes, and that is, how did the Forerunners have time to build the rings if the Flood was nagging them. I've tended to assume that the time between first finding the flood nd building the rings wasn't that long. They were really advanced and could probably do such a feat in a small amount of time. And they discovered the spores when they were mining in gas giant, right? So they must have been able to contain them somehow without the Halos. Colossus' gas canisters...
Ok, I'm back again.

About an estimate for the timeline...I also always thought it must've happened fairly quickly. At least comparatively so leastways.
I say comparatively because logically, Forerunner society as seen in Halo would've just about had to have been around for at least 2000 years prior to the outbreak. It could've even been at nearly the same state for that long. And there's no telling how long it may have taken them to reach such a state of advancement. Sure they probably had some sort of "hand up" by the Precursors, whatever they were, but still.
Human society as we know it has been around for at least 10,000 years in reality and in the Halo universe with no where near that level of advancement.
SO...to the point.
While a "short" amount of time to the Forerunner could've been up to 250-300 earth years(from 1st contact to activation), I still have my doubts that they could've constructed both the Ark and the Rings in that amount of time. As I mentioned before, it's been demonstrated that the Ark could build a Ringworld installation from scratch in only a few standard months, but how long did it take to design and complete the Ark?
:idea: :!: ...ah wait a moment.... I'm about to drastically contradict myself, sorry.
Well that would make it a lot more plausible...
The only limit to the time then would be the design phase, and that would be fairly easy left up to an advanced A.I. given a set of specs.
Anyways, I suppose I should explain myself. Some of you have obviously already considered this though.
It just occurred to me that the Ark likely wouldn't have necessarily been itself complete at the time the Ringworlds were being constructed.
All that would've really been necessary at the time would've been to design and construct the mechanism by which the Ringworld installations could be "mass produced".
Once they were cranking out rings by the 7, they could've taken as much time as they needed(or that the Flood would allow) to build the rest of the facilities and landscapes that make up the rest of the Ark.
That would make the only significant construction time the Ark's "forge", let's call it for now.
So...without doing any math...
Thousands of fast, accurate, probably massive slipspace vessels hauling ungodly amounts of raw materials to the build site where they were all processed and assembled. The materials processing/construction could've very well been entirely automated and itself very rapid...though perhaps not as fast as the construction as the Ringworlds to come. Oh and not to mention, the could've started construction in an astroid belt or some other celestial body rich in materials, shearing off even more of the construction time of the "forge"
Uhmmm....100-150 years?

But as anyone reading could see...
That is a lot of "ifs".
It's all pretty much still open to interpretation.
Supposing Bungie does already have all this thought out I'd bet a few$ that I'm wrong somehow on at least half of that...

Still...food for thought. :ugeek:

Oh, wait yeah, as for where the flood was initially discovered. I really do not know. Either I had never heard that it was discovered at the gas facility seen in Halo2 or I'd just completely forgot...
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Avateur
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Re: Weekly Update Message? [General Discussion]

Unread post by Avateur »

This topic is unfortunately going very far away from the Terminals and even this most recent message into Forerunner history and such. While that's fine, I think people are forgetting the novels (specifically Ghosts of Onyx) and how truly advanced the Forerunner are. Considering what Onyx is made of and the fun little thing that our heroes end up going to at the end, it's beyond a shadow of a doubt that the Forerunner are supreme and awesome (except when it comes to fighting off evil galaxy sized plagues).
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Re: Weekly Update Message? [General Discussion]

Unread post by AfRo SaUcE »

Avateur wrote: Considering what Onyx is made of and the fun little thing that our heroes end up going to at the end, it's beyond a shadow of a doubt that the Forerunner are supreme and awesome (except when it comes to fighting off evil galaxy sized plagues).
I lol'd...

Oh. By the way, I saw in an earlier post that mentioned the "Ultra-lethal flood bio-mass (pureforms, perhaps?)"
Pureforms haven't been around long. One of the Elites on "Flood Gate" mentioned the flood had evolved and seconds later pureforms stormed the area.
That's my input for now...

Also! Glad to be back... Its been almost a year since this whole mess started (Iris I mean, not that it's going on anymore, but yeah :P)
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Re: Weekly Update Message Discussion [BWU - 5/30/08]

Unread post by tygron »

ok so last week I wastrying to post here and it wouldn't let me... I blame the hotel wifi where I was at in florida. Well i'm back and i'm a bit late but i'm still going to post this since it needed to be said at the time. (yes I copied it and saved it.... pretty long post)

But I would look at it like a scientists who also sleeps in his lab. He's there everyday. Why commute back and forth everyday when all you're going home for is sleep?
Teleportation. ;) But indeed, why travel back and forth when he/she could just stay in one science building? There would be no need for any population centers on such a research installation.
ok but why would the halos need teleportation if there was no reason to go anywhere? Yes it could be a cleaver plot devise, as are alot of things.... but theres a story and a reason behind it that bungie has put into the story. Now why there is a need for teleportation I haven't figured that out.... and if there is a reason for it why are there teleporters in the multiplayer maps? Could there be a few beings who could teleport when they wanted or what.

(now i've thought about it a bit)

what if they needed the teleportation system for when they needed to get people in and out of places in an emergency... so that would explain the need for an actual teleporter and a system that lets you teleport any time anywhere.... just speculation though, what do you all think?
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