B SiK: "Combat Evolved" [Comp Entry]

I vividly remember all the angry messages and people who supposedly lost respect for me when I was a bit negative about Roots. Mainly because I thought it lacked several aspects of production-value. It was 'nice' overall, but not in a single way did it feel outstanding or polished the way the other entries did in that comp.  The gameplay was the best part (as far as I was able to judge), but I was told that 100% of it was very old and gave the vid a much beloved 'oldschool vibe', which looked like it slowly became the only reason that video did so well. I personally thought that should never be a major requirement for a video to do well in a movie competition of this kind. Though it's good to stand by what you enjoy most, I couldn't help but think it was some form of  the 'ermagerd H1 glory dayz' syndrome. It deserved to have won some 'classic favorite' sub-cat at most in my honest opinion, and not be placed above the entries that had significantly more effort put into them. Entries that were the culmination of great gameplay and editing. 

Which is why I am so happy that this video is an incredible improvement over your last one in those regards. It touched on literally everything that I  thought deserved to be better in Roots. In fact, I'm amazed by how incredibly smooth the entirety of this video is. It feels like you left the gameplay relatively raw, but still managed to reach visual fidelity through perfectly executed subtle effects. The flow is insane, and paired with the soundtrack it almost makes for a mesmerizing experience.  Aside from a handful of shots, the syncing and cuts perfectly match the overall tempo/feel of the vid. But what I love most about this vid is probably the atmosphere, there's just something about it .. something I really like and actually haven't sensed in a montage for a long time.  

I never thought a CE video would be able to become one of my  favorite videos from the past couple of years. I truly think this is near-perfect in terms of how the gameplay is presented. Absolutely amazing and incredibly enjoyable. 

Great stuff B. Secretly wished you didn't rush this to get it out for the comp. But I also know how fun competing can be, so I totally get it. I would love to see more video's of this level from you in the future. 

Edit: Watched it about 5 times now and I came to love the gameplay a lot more. I find it tough to get into CE gameplay. Not because I don't like it but because I don't feel like I know enough about the game to truly appreciate it's standards. I've played a decent amount on MCC but it makes me feel like I'm only getting half the picture. I truly wish I had played more back when it was massively popular on the OG Xbox.

You have so much style though, it's very soothing to see you play. And the fact all of this is 2v2 is just insane. 

Hoping to see you back in CE eventually, Doodle. We haven’t spent enough time gaming. And thanks a ton for the birthday wishes. I really appreciate it.

Really appreciate you watching and commenting my dude. Really hope to see you some work for you before the deadline! Weren’t you working on Thiz’ vid? I hope the project wasn’t dropped I believe  I saw a little snippet but nothing more.

I appreciate the comment here and on YouTube. Very glad you liked it, man.

I really, really appreciate your honesty and sharing your view like you did here. I absolutely understand what you’re saying regarding Roots but I do think there was a bit more to it then what was understood from the video. I agree wholeheartedly that there were other entries that deserved to make it further than Roots however seeing how it placed outside of prize positions I feel the final outcome ended how it would’ve anyways regardless of which other entries were bumped early. I agree with what you’re saying about the GP and edit and it not appearing to be polished but what I think carried the video was a combination of things that hasn’t been seen before instead of nostalgia. The gameplay at the time was 8 years old but the cool thing was it was unreleased, never shared. But what I was getting to is that there has never been a CE (Xbox) video from those days that used angles nor has there been a video captured at that high a quality so aside from the gameplay being offhost (that’s why you see the whip and extreme leading) it was a combination of firsts. Looking back and having watched it again, believe it or not, I do prefer it over this video but for personal reasons that people likely wouldn’t be able to understand. Both videos were made using the same computer just different capture devices. The gameplay was recorded before HD was a standard so I feel what hindered it most was technology. I spent an entire year prior to the competition upscaling and restoring the footage to try to bring it to a modern level but there’s only so much that could be done. (upscaling and restoring was occurring before tourney was announced). Comparing the workload involved with each video, I likely put in 25% more work on Roots than I did this video here.

I just wanted to post that to try to give you a better understanding of why some people may have liked it perhaps, or at least to give a response to you for you taking the time to share like that. Again, I really appreciate your honesty a great deal and do agree with a large part of what you said. At the end of the day, I do believe that the video did make it to where it did because of the reasons you listed, not because of what I said. It’s really cool of you to bring that video up in comparison and going in depth the way you did. I feel like a broken record but again I am very thankful for your honesty and feel it’s very important to hear the good and bad. I actually wish I was able to hear more back then to help me better prepare for this video but I’m pumped that the majority of the issues were resolved and you enjoyed the fuck out of this video. I secretly wish I had more time as well but I promised myself that I would get the video out the deadline were extended and it actually ended up happening. Had we not had this last month to use then I would’ve taken my time and released around October or so, once everything was completely finished. I had plans on reshooting the intro and also the song transition from the first to the second but ended up very pleased with where they were so I felt proceeding on and coming back was best. One thing that prevented me from coming back and reshooting them is hardware. I am constantly working on beater computers. In fact, that’s partially why I didn’t have much in the visual FX dept. in the video. While I prefer to leave the gameplay raw, I actually had several ideas that I had tried and scrapped because I wasn’t pleased with what I was able to accomplish. Render times nearly doubled and I feel my computer is on its way out the door so for months I was working under immense stress, all brought on by myself, that my hardd rive was going to fail because my computer overheating or something bad. It was terrible. Additionally, I felt that just getting the video out would be best because my IRL job is in the midst of releasing our first major system overhaul in 10 years and the thought of this alone made me realize my October/November release date would likely get pushed back. I had a major fear of losing interest in the project because of always being mentally drained from work and not wanting to edit. For a minute I almost scrapped it all together when we were unsure if the competition was still occurring here, because of mental exhaustion, and because of constant hardware troubleshooting/issues. I am very fortunate I was able to keep a pace that was somewhat convenient and that everything smoothed out with the competition. Had it not, this video wouldn’t be out until later this year/beginning of next, at a much lesser level if it were to even be released at all.

I just realized how long this is. I am going to end it here. I hope everything above in my post makes because at this point I only feel I’m rambling and I haven’t reread my post, haha. Please just know I very much appreciate you taking the time to comment.

Thanks a ton for watching and commenting. I really appreciate you taking he time to do so.

B, 

I would like to formally submit my resignation from the contest, as you and I are both aware this is your fault and I will not accept your apology. 

Best wishes.

Your friend and pal,

Blackhawk

p.s. I gave this a 7/10 for lack of hustle (quit taking so long to edit videos)

Wow these intro angles are amazing B.  Did you and Ray ever get your 50s in the CE playlist?  This is probably the best 2v2 montage I've ever seen, not just H1.  Cross map spawn sticks make my junk tingle, half of these look like an accident too.   God you make sniping in this game look so freaking easy when it's anything but that.  

I've said this before but I'll say it again.  Halo 1 is not so great for montaging because it just isn't a flashy game.  A lot of the interesting stuff happens behind the scenes (backpack reloading, predicting spawns,  blocking spawns, being aware of randoms, reading your opponents, nading items/weapons to yourself or a teammate, etc).  The subtlety, combined with the fact that there are no medals, make for a seemingly "dull" experience to an outside viewer.  However with that being said, I think you've done a fine job of making H1 entertaining to watch for 9+ minutes, as well as showcasing your audience the skill level you've attainted in 2v2s.   It's actually brilliant.

It's mind blowing to think how far H1 fragvids have come since 2002, but if there was a standard for 2016, look no further than content by B Sik.  

The Derelict tac and the following killtac on Prisoner were two of my favorite clips.  The syncing is well done in the second half of this montage.   The superjump into the the sniper double kill on Damny was fine as hell boy.  The soundtrack and editing are certainly on point here, not too much, not too little.  The tac on Creek in front of blue base was just disgusting.  The last clip on Pris was also pretty stellar.  Without a doubt one of the stronger entries I've seen so far.  Thank you for keeping H1 alive and submitting an entry into the contest man.

Thanks again for watching, pimp. I really appreciate it the kind words. Great fuckin' job again on your video.

Unreal, it's certainly been quite some time, hasn't it? Thanks so much for watching! Likewise, homie. I really hope life is treating you fairly.

Thanks a lot for watching and commenting, Ash. I appreciate it, man.

REALLY appreciate the lengthy comment, Morpheus. You're absolutely right about the launches and campaingers killing it for a long time. I actually first start to love Halo CE because of the glitches and tricks that could be done. Not sure if you remember then but I used to trick with Ms. Man (godfather of H1 tricking) as well as a few other notables but Ms. Man taught me the most. You should definitely make a CE video if you're interersted, don't let someone else's video stop you from doing that. If people thought like that then there would hardly be videos in general let alone in the current state of Halo. As far as the flycam/3rd person views, some of it can be done in game on console if you're able to think outside of the box however you will ideally want to use DevMode on Halo Customer Edition for PC. That's what makes it easiest. However, don't let that thought hold you back. You just have to be creative and think up ideas, man. I'm sure you could do something similiar.

Again, thanks a lot for the comment. I really appreciate it.

Thanks a lot for the comment dude. Congrats on the banger you and Fatal ended up creating. Really, really top notch shit, guys. You're going to do great in the comp I'm sure.

Right on, very glad you watched. Thanks a lot for dropping a comment. And I agree 110% dude. I'm trying to get Ball3s hyped up again about CE but right now he's on that H5 kick. I'll see you online soon, homie.

Damn, Bx, thanks a lot for the long post here. Unfortunately Ray and I still haven't gotten 50s. Actually, we haven't played since you and he last spoke/played together so we haven't been playing for the last two+ months. I am not worried about it right now but we'll definitely get it the next few sessions we're on. It took like, 3 days to go from a 21-40 when we tried running the playlist so it ain't shit, haha. Soon enough!

I couldn't really agree more with your second paragraph. CE isn't the greatest for montaging, or at least for keeping up an exciting level throughout the video. I will never play with medals or any of that shit because it's unnecessary bloatware that simply distracts instead of informs. I think H2's medals are wonderful. If we were able to replicate something similiar I likely would play with them on but you get a fuckin' medal for breathing basically so I am not interested in seeing all of the medals that I would have. Medal count in postgame is usually between 60-90 so I definitely can't imagine having all of that shit display during the gameplay. I am a competetive player first and foremost. What comes from the gameplay I turn into a video. Actually, the launches that you see in this video are the first montage type shots that I've ever purposely tried to hit or have thought of in advance so it was definitely a new experience trying to "hit" a clip, haha.

There are a few clips in here that I think are amazing and are certainly going to be forever unnoticed because of the reasons you listed. A lot of what makes a clip goes on behind the scenes and if edited poorly context is thrown out the window. As an example, one of the Tacs in the video starts off by headshotting camo, 3 shotting (snipe) OS guy, and then getting the random spawner for triple and then tac. So, basically, taking out both camo and OV which leads to a tac. Another example is that a majority of the singles that you can see in the begining of the video were hit during the period were aim assist was removed froma patch meaning it had to be nearly pixel perfect. That's what made me save a lot of those headshots aside from the reaction times.

As far as spawn sticks go, there was only 1 in this video that I would consider random or accidental. Everything else was 100% predicition and awareness which again, is something you don't really see from single player footage. Much more common in splitscreen footage. Also, unless the spawn stick was a part of a multikill, I stopped saving them probably 4-5 months before starting this video. I still have a folder of like, 25 that I didn't use or that were "duplicates". Duplicates meaning I hit a spawn stick in a similiar spot on the same map and didn't want to use it in the video. If you notice the spawn sticks, every single one is from a different spawn (no two the same). I genuinely do not believe I've ever seen Rat Race spawn sticks OR 2v2 tacs and it was very important to me to include Rat Race footage. I think Rat Race is a sniper away from being one of the best CE maps believe it or not so I was glad I was able to include all competetive maps. Oh, by the way, the random spawn stick that I was referring to was on Chill Out when I spawn stuck the guy and then sniped him before the nade went off, haha.

This post went on way longer than expected. Thanks again for such kind words.

Thanks so much for commenting man. That was one of my 3 goals going into it, making something exciting enough for fans of other games in the series to enjoy it. I honestly wish I had more time to add the real final polish that I had imagined but as I'm sure you're aware, time isn't on our side these days. Again, thanks for taking the time out of your day to watch.

I didn't like it as much as I wanted to. Not being interested in Halo anymore certainly did not help, but there were some other factors:

- Although the overall flow of the video and transitions meshed really well with the soundtrack (I can definitely see that you've put many hours into the transitions and it was all worth it!), it felt as if the game itself was really slow. The game also seemed a bit unrecognizable due to the HUD and soundclip changes 343 made, but that's their fault and not yours.

- I can't believe I'm going to say this, but I believe there were too many spawn kills. There wasn't much variation in gameplay other than some creative kills like the overshield jump to top of Damny.

It's good to see you're still around playing Halo though. I'm looking forward to more of your videos. Make it happen!