Check out possibile locations and extra use for the ark I found (Sorry if this was already posted)
The Ark, in the Halo video game series, is a mysterious Forerunner facility from which all the Halos can be controlled. If the naming of the game's enemy, The Flood, is in reference to the biblical Flood, then the Ark may be a place that is safe from the Halos' firing when the Halos are activated. The name is also possibly a reference to the Ark of the Covenant. In the end of Halo 2, Delta Halo is armed and then unexpectedly shut down, causing it to send a signal to all other Halos in the galaxy, putting them on standby mode. 343 Guilty Spark informs the Arbiter, Miranda Keyes and Sergeant Johnson that the Halos can all be remotely activated from "The Ark".
Location and fan speculation
With the release of the recent Halo 3 announcement trailer, Earth appears to be the location of the Ark. More specifically, the Ark appears to be somewhere in between Mount Kilimanjaro and New Mombasa, as the Bungie team has said that the mountain in the background of the trailer is Mount Kilimanjaro, and that the trailer takes place inland from New Mombasa. The trailer shows a Forerunner installation in the Earth's crust opening and firing a blinding beam of light into the sky. It is speculated that this may be the confirmation signal to activate the remaining Halos, as explained by 343 Guilty Spark in Halo 2. It can be concluded that this is somehow related to the Ark. Furthermore, the remnants of either the suspension bridge that entered New Mombasa in Halo 2 or the enormous space elevator are visible in the background.
The Ark is also rumored by many fans to be located in the planet Reach, which is the planet where the SPARTAN-II project took place. In the novel, Fall of Reach, it is mentioned that several SPARTANs took refuge from the Covenant bombing of Reach in an "Unidentified Forunner Structure" that the Covenant did not attack. A motive that the Covenant bombed everywhere except the structure is because it may in fact be The Ark that can remotely activate all of the Halos, which is the Covenant's main objective in the Halo series.
Also Confirmed facts about Halo 3
+Bungie has confirmed via their Weekly Update at Bungie.net that multiplayer as well as singleplayer testing are currently in progress for the title, in varying stages of completion.
+The Bungie website also alluded to "a devastated and Covenant controlled Earth".
+Bungie revealed that the game would have a new "materials system" so advanced that "you could see light reflect off the ground and onto his armor", which will be able to "[show] the difference between his armor and the rubber undersuit". The site also includes that "It's so detailed that if you bring the camera close to the Master Chief's visor, you see everything in front of him reflected in it, right down to the ammo counter in his rifle" [7]. In addition, there would be new advanced texturing to reflect permanent, persistent damage.
+In the trailer, Master Chief's Mark VI armor (with newer parts) is battle-worn and plasma-scored. Developer Marcus Letho's response: "The Chief is shown as warrior who has seen horrific battle – and it shows. The Earth is dry, barren, ravaged by the Covenant."
+With the release of the trailer Bungie has declared publicly that Gravemind, who originally appeared midway through Halo 2, is an intelligence of Flood origin.
+Bungie has confirmed the following basic plot points from what the teaser trailer revealed: Master Chief is back on a thoroughly conquered and Covenant controlled Earth. Cortana is still trapped with the Gravemind. Finally, the Covenant ships are hovering over an excavation site only a few miles from New Mombasa. [8]
+Bungie has also stated that the rising structure seen in the trailer should be familiar to Halo fans. To that end, seven pairs of tower structures ringing the dome call to mind the Rampancy logo. In addition, speculation suggests that it might also be the mysterious "Ark" mentioned at the end of Halo 2.
+The Master Chief from Halo and Halo 2 is confirmed to be the Spartan in the Halo 3 trailer. Bungie have yet to release any information on the whereabouts of other Spartan soldiers mentioned in the Halo novels.
+Halo 3 and the Halo movie could come out at the same time, however "The two will not affect each other in terms of release dates." [9]
+Although Halo 3 was planned to end the Halo series, future Halo games haven't been entirely ruled out. On the Halo 3 FAQ[10] from the official Bungie website it says, "Q: Is this the last ever Halo game? A: It is the conclusion to this story arc." Fans note that it is therefore possible that future games could be produced in the Halo universe, even if this particular story arc isn't continued.
+A quote from the end of the short film released by Bungie about the making of Halo 3: “You won’t just finish one fight, you will finish all of the fights that you started in Halo 1."
+Bungie has confirmed that the Warthog will return.
Succession Theories
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Humanity as Forerunner
It has been hypothesized that humanity may actually be Forerunner who were protected from the original activation of the Halo weapons, possibly by The Ark in the same manner that Noah's ark saved life from God's flood.
When confronted about the true function of Halo after retrieval of the Index, 343 Guilty Spark comments:
"But you already know that. I mean, how couldn't you? (...) Last time you asked me, if it were my choice, would I do it? Having considerable time to ponder your query, my answer has not changed."
When taken together with the knowledge that the Forerunner apparently destroyed themselves with Halo (see "History," above), it suggests that 343 Guilty Spark believes that Master Chief was present when the Halos were originally fired. This would explain why only humans can use the Index to activate Halo (e.g., Tartarus uses Miranda to activate Delta Halo at the end of Halo 2). Guilty Spark's comments may also hint at why the AI Cortana states in both Halo and Halo 2 that something seems "familiar" about the Forerunner computer systems.
During the Halo 1 level "The Maw" section "Light Fuse, Run Away", 343 Guilty Spark is seen in a cutscene extracting information from consoles in the engineering bay. As he madly hums, zapping boards with some unknown device, he comments to the Master Chief:
"To have a record of all of our lost time! Human history, is it?"
The use of the pronoun "our" may or may not be inclusive of the Master Chief, but it does suggest either that humans are heirs to the Forerunner or at least that Forerunner events are entwined with the affairs of humans, as it is presumably human data logs that Guilty Spark is extracting.
Finally, during the Halo 2 level "The Great Journey", Tartarus seems aware that only a human can activate the Delta Halo. This is not conclusive though, as both Spartan soldiers and UNSC captains have cybernetic implants - and it could be this that singles them out as reclaimers, rather than their species. Gravemind also referred to The Master chief's "machine and nerve" body as "complete".
Although the Humanity-Forerunner connection is probably the most popular Forerunner succession hypothesis, one of the most significant flaws is that no one has been able to comprehensively explain how or why Humanity forgot its Forerunner heritage. Some have also pointed out that the Forerunner's angular gray architecture and technology looks similar to human technology, though that could simply be a result of the extreme contrast between Humanity's gray color scheme and the Covenant's purple color scheme.
As it stands, a possible answer to the above flaw lies in the ancient Forerunner relic, the Ark. It is believed that the Ark may have sheltered the only surviving Forerunners. In addition, it is also believed that the Ark is Earth, or at least it is on or near it. One theory as to why the Covenant chose to land in New Mombasa is its proximity to the Great Rift Valley, a place rich in anthropological history and possibly a point of origin for the Forerunners' colonization of Earth. If, in fact, the number of Forerunner survivors had been low and their location of was on or near Earth, then Humanity's relation to the Forerunner may have some more validity. It is further hypothesized that the rebuilding of the race would have to occur right on or near the Ark (considering that, if it were a vessel for preserving life, it would be well equipped for rebuilding a race). Over time, notions of Forerunner ancestry would be lost due to lack of records and Humanity would arise. This is, however, based on the presumption that the Ark protects sentient life from Halo being fired, of which there is little to no solid evidence it does so.
One other theory is that humanity were the Forerunners and took shelter in the Ark, as mentioned above. However, the theory explains that humans lost their superior intelligence and technology by intentional devolution.
A similar theory is that all humans have slight memory of their time as Forerunners. The Master Chief made several comments in the book series that the Forerunner writing looked similar to Aztec pictography. It's possible that the first civilizations on Earth used Forerunner language or some form of it has their own. This memory could explain the myths that appear in most cultures, that humans once lived in paradise until they fell from grace for one reason or another. The loss of technology could have come from some accident in the Ark en route to Earth or just because it couldn't be brought with them as they fled. If this or the previous theory is true the Covenant could think humans are mocking the Forerunners by taking their physical form and by living on a world that may have some religious importance. Also, the Master Chief remarked that the symbols used to operate doors, bridges, and the like, were almost intuitive, as though he had seen them before.
A similar theory is that the forerunners deevolved themselves into a species of animal (homo erectus for example) which would be nonsentient (and hence would survive the Halo activation) and this form eventually evolved into humanity. The flaw in this theory is the uncertianity in how the Halo activation works and what species are killed by it. It is also inconsistent with the theorised time span (100,000 years) since the last Halo activation. This time span would be inaccurate.
A newer theory maintains that the Forerunners kept humans as a slave race. This can be implied through the Covenant's actions. The Grunts are a lowly race with little intelligence and battlefield usefulness, except to clog the guns of the enemy. Yet, they are in the Covenant. Jackals are also a low class, physically weaker than humans, and seem to possess little intelligence, yet they too are members of the Covenant.
Humans, of course, are not as physically strong as Elites or Brutes. However, one could argue that humans are of equal or greater intelligence to the Elites, and probably superior intelligence to the Brutes and Hunters, though not enough information is available in the books to verify this. Why then are the humans not given an opportunity to join the Covenant? Their territory seems to occupy many important Forerunner artifacts and the Ark (or key information leading to the Ark); it would have been much easier to ally with humans and take the artifacts than the war which, despite the Covenant's success, has been costly.
It is known that Prophets have information regarding the Forerunners. One theory holds that they know that humans are Forerunners and do not want to lose their holy status to another race, especially one technologically inferior to their own. However, in this scenario the humans could have been assimilated into the Covenant without releasing that information.
A logical conclusion is that the humans were a slave race to the Forerunners causing the Prophets to deem them as unfit for the Covenant, thus justifying their eradication. The fact that they're primates doesn't matter; Brutes are primates. A theory to this is that the Covenant doesn't want anyone else capable to complete the great journey.
Another reason supporting the fact that humans were slaves (or disliked by the forerunners) is that in Halo: The Fall of Reach, in the first contact between the covenant and the humans, the covenant broadcast a transmission in English (meaning that the covenant had been studying humans for a while or had previous knowledge of the language from the forerunners, if humans were not slaves and in fact just disliked by the forerunners) "your destruction is the will of the gods (forerunners)... and we are their instrument."
The theory of Forerunners being early humans is similar to the theories of Larry Niven's books about the Pak.
Good job copying and pasting off of Wikipedia, Lord JLR!
Originally posted by DarkC
Good job copying and pasting off of Wikipedia, Lord JLR!
Owned.
Halo's campaign was nice in the beginning. Bungie just needs to stop making levels that have every single hall looking the same. If it manages to fix that problem the campaign will be great IMO. I just love how Halo's campaign is all about non-stop action. An online co-op wouldn't hurt and they should be able to do it this time. They have to.
Originally posted by Superboy Prime
Halo's campaign was nice in the beginning. Bungie just needs to stop making levels that have every single hall looking the same. If it manages to fix that problem the campaign will be great IMO. I just love how Halo's campaign is all about non-stop action. An online co-op wouldn't hurt and they should be able to do it this time. They have to.
I would cherish an online co-op.
Originally posted by Vinny Valentine
Halo 3 will be like Halo 2 and 1, sucky offline but really fun on line.Thats how halo has always worked.
Or, sucky offline, and ever so slightly worse online.
What would you rather do, backtrack down the same corridor for the fifth time and face Wavofenemies#52, or go online, where you can be shouted at by bizarre sex-starved angry Americans and get cracked in the back of the head by your own team-mates, over ownership of the sniper rifle?
Crazy fact: People pay money for this.
I'd personally take the third option: smother my genitalia in fish paste and dangle them in a pool of hungry pirahnas while I gouge my eyes out with a spoon and let horseflies lay their larvae in my eye sockets.
All they have to do, really, is make Halo 3 not suck as much as the other two. Maybe kill their user base because most online Halo players are retarded and are a disgrace to online gaming, and then, ooh, I dunno, start incorporating things such as interesting level design. Maybe, instead of having a fully normal mapped Master Chief and sky that blinds you (seriously, how many f*cking games are gonna use this shit?), time would be better spent making Halo 3 the first Halo game that doesn't actually suck. Then I'd be sold.
Originally posted by Red Superfly
Or, sucky offline, and ever so slightly worse online.What would you rather do, backtrack down the same corridor for the fifth time and face Wavofenemies#52, or go online, where you can be shouted at by bizarre sex-starved angry Americans and get cracked in the back of the head by your own team-mates, over ownership of the sniper rifle?
Crazy fact: People pay money for this.
I'd personally take the third option: smother my genitalia in fish paste and dangle them in a pool of hungry pirahnas while I gouge my eyes out with a spoon and let horseflies lay their larvae in my eye sockets.
All they have to do, really, is make Halo 3 not suck as much as the other two. Maybe kill their user base because most online Halo players are retarded and are a disgrace to online gaming, and then, ooh, I dunno, start incorporating things such as interesting level design. Maybe, instead of having a fully normal mapped Master Chief and sky that blinds you (seriously, how many f*cking games are gonna use this shit?), time would be better spent making Halo 3 the first Halo game that doesn't actually suck. Then I'd be sold.
I doubt you ever have played Halo 2, you're just being a biased ass like most people. Halo isn't full of psychos, if you think it is you deserve to be shot in the face.
Originally posted by Vinny Valentine
I doubt you ever have played Halo 2, you're just being a biased ass like most people. Halo isn't full of psychos, if you think it is you deserve to be shot in the face.
Erm, I do own both Halo games actually. Don't assume shit, because in this case, you are way off the mark, genius.
Halo 2 had a truly shitty single player mode, and the online mode was fun for a week or so. Most "random" games were ruined because people just cannot seem to grasp the concept of sportsmanship, and the game was flawed to hell anyway.
Am I biased? No. I'm a paying customer. I shelled out for both games and the XBox Live service. I have a right to ***** all I like if I feel a game is getting way too much praise for being essentially a bland, average shootemup that people seem to get all defensive about because they all seem to do is orgasm over some loser in a cool green spacesuit with fruity alien guns, running around killing badger munchkin things.
This isn't 1940's Germany, I can say whatever the hell I want. If a game sucks, I'll say it sucks. If it means Halo fanboys hate me, then.....great! I'd hate to think we had anything in common.
Also, I don't have much time on my hands. I just tend to type things incredibly quickly. It took me roughly a minute at most to type all of this. That's because I have what is known as an "education". I don't post a lot, either, I tend to say everything in one post, as opposed to most people here that just post barely coherant mono-syllabic sentences all the time, usually either flaming, or chatting up one of the few female members of this board and posting stuff about themselves in the off topic forum that they blatantly made up to sound cooler.
I don't HATE these games, either, I just think they're a bit crap.