Heresy… If I had the cash to spare I would send you $20 right now so you could get the StarCraft BattleChest (includes the Brood War expansion as well as some guidebooks). Although I'm sure you could probably torrent it and get a CD-key generator.
If Vista won't run it, then there's something seriously wrong. I mean, the game is freaking 10 years old and uses less resources than Vista does on its lowest settings…
yeah…I knew that it was Roman, I have just had a long weekend, and now im trying to fix the problem with the font being all messed up on here and its not cooperating
So that pretty much answered all speculation from the last one.
And with the alt text, you sounds like you're making a reference to The Trinity, being One and yet separately 3 at the same time. I'm curious to know how you will keep them separate (if that is actually possible, or necessary)
Confused me a bit in the final panel. Ferial's leg looked like someone in hayabusa armour watching them. The I looked again. =]
Eagerly awaiting the rest.
SO…. if the Ferials are not clones then maybe in some way, they are all parts of a whole? What if all three "Ferials" are THE Ferial? What if his consciousness had to be split in some way to ensure his survival, but now he wants to recombine himself using Eternal Refuge to become whole again thus making him more powerful? :0 ARMAGEDDON OUTTA HERE!!!!
Mm, kinda… I'll be the first to admit that it's pretty complicated, what Ferial's done here – complicated enough that even I'm still having trouble wrapping my mind around it. I'll try to write something up soon that explains what's happening with the Ferialmind, as best I understand it.
...New reader who's now addicted (Welcome to the party, refreshments are at that table, and drinks are over there, OH, and over here is the dartboard where we've pasted up a picture of Jim…)
mythic goodness….that reminds me, some lucky sods somewhere (Jim being one of them, of course) have already got the Mythic maps! The playlist appeared and a notice came up saying "purchasers of the Halo Wars Limited Collectors Edition that have the Mythic Map Pack: a playlist is now open where the maps can be tested" I thought of Jim immediately and also…how when WE get the maps, people will already have mastered them and i for one…am going to get pwned. lol
WHOA I didn't see that coming and do you think my X-Box will be fixed by the time Halo Wars comes out I dropped it off on Saturday?
PS. How much sleep do you get, lately you've been stayingg up till midnight?
The comics are marked as being posted at midnight, but I'm in bed well before that. I just queue up the comics, and they automatically go live when they're supposed to.
That's the nearest comparison, sure, but Ferial's not nearly that divine nor is he is nearly that singular. Like I said above, it's pretty complicated. More of the nuances of this relationship will become clear as the story progresses, and I'll write up a full article on the topic at some point in the future to flesh it out more fully.
"The best laid plans of mice and men…" Well, I suppose it's a good thing the Ferials aren't mice OR men.
I just started reading this on Friday, and I think it's an absolutely incredible and intriguing take on the Haloverse. I wish there was more, though, I arrived at this point so quickly!!! But alas, even if there were more, I must go study for my physics lab exam now…
This may be an outdated comment, as we know the only relation Ferial has to the Flood is that he nearly definitely created them…but their unity yet separateness reminds me of the Gravemind. He can speak through any of the Flood, but the actual 'units' move around as they please, seeking out and destroying the enemy. Also, anything the 'units' see, the Gravemind sees aswell.
I've made canvases of Assembly and Orbital, which are out on my fileshare now. I'm going to try to make mockups of three different canvases for Sandbox over the weekend.
Have you ever heard of Photosynth? I believe it's still in beta so it's free; but it would be awesome to take screenshots of the maps (orbital sounds like it would be easiest) and use that to "stitch" them together (this would be especially awesome for people like me who probably won't see the maps "in person" for quite some time).
Oh, Photoshop stitches photos together to make panoramas just fine. In fact, go check out Haloramics for a few nice images from the new maps that were created by TT L Burritoh.
Photosynth makes more of "interactive" panoramas (not to say that panoramas are totally awesome), where if, lets say, I wanted to turn the corner of a corridor, I could drag the "frame" and it would turn; it automatically associates pictures to one another, so that it would show the corridor (using actual pics) as seen normally and I could "move" down the corridor or turn, or choose a path at a fork.
So it allows for some degree of exploration without actually being there, and also so I wouldn't be confused as hell looking at pics and going "where the hell is that?".
Ok, so this is a first time post for me, but I have some speculations on the three is one concept. I read the Naruto series as they hit the internet shelves, and there is a character refered to as Pain, who is in fact 6 different autonomous beings with a central mind. All knowledge is gathered individually but it is shared collectively. This in a way is what I feel like Ferial is.
By the way Jim this is some real good stuff you got going on.
I think they would become to weak…if you have read the book: HALO First Strike, then think about when Cortana copies herself (or splits herself into parts) to cover all sections of the Covenant ship much quicker. She gets much weaker and more vulnerable to attack. Thats how i piece it together in my mind, otherwise yeh, he could create an army of Ferials!
That is a good theory, and something that I was thinking about, however Ferial isn't an A.I., but is Precursor. While he could be something analogous to a construct, I doubt that.
Besides, three is a number of power in many religions and mythology. Ferial often refers to himself as the Holy Triumvirate, which could be analogous with the term 'Godhead', which, looking at it from the view point of the Christian religion, for example, is analogous with the term 'trinity' which means something like the unity of three. Three Ferials are really just one; he has the same goal, the same level of skill, etc. They really aren't clones or copies of each other, but a will divided in three physical bodies…if that makes sense. They aren't three-in-one, necessarily, but one-in-three
Ferial has a LOT of things similar to an AI; the holo-esque figure transformations; the way he took out Goddard; The way Reulard got hold of his Virus. Either Ferial IS an AI or has a neural implant.
Sweet. Have you tried putting a teleporter through the window on Orbital? That would probably make a nice background. Oh, and I'm guessing Reclamer is going to meet some old freinds (like Viper) on Orbital, and for Sandbox, I'm not sure. Maybe a Ferial monologue or something, but I'm hoping for something like either a battle or a sneak peak at a forge creation that we'll get on the third.
I haven't done any Forging on Orbital yet, other than to wipe everything off the map to turn it into a blank canvas – but believe me, I'll try it here at some point. Someone's already managed to get outside because I saw a nice exterior panorama the other day.
it just feels like everyone got the idea of what happened last comic. This one didnt really add much, and what it did add only really needed like 2 panels, its not like its a bad thing, i'm happy for a constant new comics, but i dont know it just feels overdone
Yeah, the evilness is there, but you don't have any plans to completely destroy/control the universe right? RIGHT? slinks away slowly then runs away froma gun wielding Jim
Obviously your vision is clouded ; other wise you would realized that Jim's plan is like Bungie's, make something really awesome (Reclaimer and Halo, respectively) so that everyone becomes your slave (but I don't think Jim's plan involves a slingshot into the sun).
We know how, when AND why Reclaimer killed Master Chief. ~When: being chased by the flood ~Why: They were going to infect Master Chief ~How: Reclaimer blew him up along with some of the Flood that were attacking him.
when i saw the first pic i was like wtf? then i realised that you had gotten the map packs early, i didn't realise you would get them, well i knew you would but that was the last thing on my mind, all i wanted to do was see some reclaimer… wow jim, your site has major lag, especially the message system… it looks like my computer is writing by itself!
If your having trouble typing, as in it is EXTREMELY slow, big delay…then type everything into your Google (or whatever) searchbar or the next best thing, then you can copy and paste your comment. I still have to do that because after i type, a letter appears less than every second…very slow.
A unified mind… intriguing. Reminds me of the Zerg overmind, actually.
Heh, I actually had to Google that reference. I've yet to play Starcraft.
Heresy… If I had the cash to spare I would send you $20 right now so you could get the StarCraft BattleChest (includes the Brood War expansion as well as some guidebooks). Although I'm sure you could probably torrent it and get a CD-key generator.
Question is – Will it run on Vista?
If Vista won't run it, then there's something seriously wrong. I mean, the game is freaking 10 years old and uses less resources than Vista does on its lowest settings…
Also, Vista does have compatability controls.. Right Click, Properties -> Compatability
Ah, you learn something new every day.
Vista runs it fine, I still play with my friends at universituy
Good to know. I might drop some cash on this game sometime soon, then.
I is well worth it, kinda addicting, do can take up some time… don't let it eat up on comic time
Never. Reclaimer is my first love and passion right now.
good to know that we have a dedicated writer
Even better to know we're spreading the joy of Starcraft to virgin players. _
Don't let your wife find out.
Dont you have a wife? lol
Yeah he's mentioned that before.
yes vista runs it fine i still play it daily
reminds me more of the borg from star trek
Not even close, really.
Triumvirate…this could end badly, as the Greek Triumvirates did
I have no doubt this will end badly, either for Ferial (failure, bad) or for Reclaimer et al (slavery, bad)
ROMAN, not Greek. And you have a Latin username…
shakes head
yeah…I knew that it was Roman, I have just had a long weekend, and now im trying to fix the problem with the font being all messed up on here and its not cooperating
Dude, email me a screenshot (or post one on the forum). I might be able to help you troubleshoot the problem.
i sent you an e-mail, hopefully this problem is one that is fairly easy to fix
So that pretty much answered all speculation from the last one.
And with the alt text, you sounds like you're making a reference to The Trinity, being One and yet separately 3 at the same time. I'm curious to know how you will keep them separate (if that is actually possible, or necessary)
Like I said, nearly a religious experience.
thankfully nearly is attached. Trinity is so beyond our true comprehension, but these guys seemed to have weakened themselves by splitting up.
Thus the comments they make toward eternal refuge and joining back together to be powerful again
Ah! The world doesn't actually work like that! Ferial is using mods, that's the only answer I can come up with. LOL
One minds made of three of that one… I think I'm starting to get it…
Explain your first statement.
Modification of a tangible source to your liking. For example, a mod for a game. Allows you to do something you couldn't before.
Confused me a bit in the final panel. Ferial's leg looked like someone in hayabusa armour watching them. The I looked again. =]
Eagerly awaiting the rest.
Yeah, Elite legs actually look kind of mechanical from that angle.
Ok, this is gonna get bad. Oh wait it has!
At least he answered some questions we had., if not directly. Now we know the Triumvirate are not clones and…. and well thats it
The plot thickens….
Nice addition.
Thanks. I know this is something people have been wondering about for a while.
Yeah, um only for 154 comics Jim!
stop encouraging Jim, it'll make it thicker, eventually becoming jelly!
What about molasses?
Shh! That's the secret ingredient in all my stories!
Oh shoot!
Throws a large tarp over his last comment, ties it off, puts cinder blocks on it, and throws it into the ocean.Drowns in pursuit
Drowns trying to save EVA
I'm thinking tar
So, wait, let me get this straight… Ferial made "copies" of himself, which in body are literal copies, but in mind are…
...the easiest way for me to explain it is his mind was copied then all three of them were merged…
...so they are able to operate separately (autonomously) but able to think as one?
SO…. if the Ferials are not clones then maybe in some way, they are all parts of a whole? What if all three "Ferials" are THE Ferial? What if his consciousness had to be split in some way to ensure his survival, but now he wants to recombine himself using Eternal Refuge to become whole again thus making him more powerful? :0 ARMAGEDDON OUTTA HERE!!!!
Eh, you're just going to have to sit back and wait for answers to those questions. It's not quite as simple as all that.
sigh Oh well
Mm, kinda… I'll be the first to admit that it's pretty complicated, what Ferial's done here – complicated enough that even I'm still having trouble wrapping my mind around it. I'll try to write something up soon that explains what's happening with the Ferialmind, as best I understand it.
well they start to think differently in a few hundred years
You know it's complex when it's a sound idea that even the person who wrote it has a hard time grasping it.
That is very true. I wonder if he'll trip himself up soon
You have no idea how many times I've nearly written myself into a corner like that.
It would be very funny to watch all the error alert comments people post
Finally! I have just finished reading the entire 154 comics. And I want moar!
This is just great. Although it took a while for those nagging Bungie Blog posts to get me to read it. I'm glad I did!
Well, I'm glad you found your way here. I hope you'll stick around!
Yay Bungie, two good things in a week (ish)...
...New reader who's now addicted (Welcome to the party, refreshments are at that table, and drinks are over there, OH, and over here is the dartboard where we've pasted up a picture of Jim…)
...AND Mythic goodness.
glances at dartboard
does double-take
Damn. How long's that been there?!
New addition, been up since… ummm… 'bout 75? I only play on that dartboard Tuesdays, Thursdays, and weekends.
I seriously had to LOL at that
But I had a personal one up for about oh wait from number 1 
I'm well aware. You got a little voodoo in you.
Bullseye! Oh, um yeah. Looks shiftily sideways
mythic goodness….that reminds me, some lucky sods somewhere (Jim being one of them, of course) have already got the Mythic maps! The playlist appeared and a notice came up saying "purchasers of the Halo Wars Limited Collectors Edition that have the Mythic Map Pack: a playlist is now open where the maps can be tested" I thought of Jim immediately and also…how when WE get the maps, people will already have mastered them and i for one…am going to get pwned. lol
One thing that confuses me though… I haven't gotten a code yet, so… yeah e_e Why put Halo Wars Limited Edition on there?
As a reminder to those who might yet be unaware that that's how you get the new maps early (Bungie codes aside)?
By the way, you get my email, Jim?
Edit: That explains it =) I forgot the damn UKers get Halo Wars before we do. Therefore, Mythic Maps before we get them.
I did. I just haven't had time to reply to it yet.
WHOA I didn't see that coming and do you think my X-Box will be fixed by the time Halo Wars comes out I dropped it off on Saturday?
PS. How much sleep do you get, lately you've been stayingg up till midnight?
I don't know. Where did you drop it off at?
The comics are marked as being posted at midnight, but I'm in bed well before that. I just queue up the comics, and they automatically go live when they're supposed to.
Slacker.
Yes. Yes, I am.
At least its consistent. We're not getting comics at all ours of the day (or night)
true, except when Jim has serious back pain/work
Hehehe, good to see that the theories of Ferial are concurrent with the plot so far.
If only this were true for me. One of us would go to school and the other would type up plans for all of my own ideas.
... and also re-read Reclaimer just for the refreshment of memory.
You know, why stop at three? Why not five? Or four? Or six?
all bad things occur in three's >:)
There is a reason for everything.
Three seems to be as holy for Jim as 7 is for Bungie.
Wow Jim, you never seek to amaze me. So i suppose now Ferial is something now like the Holy Trinity?
That's the nearest comparison, sure, but Ferial's not nearly that divine nor is he is nearly that singular. Like I said above, it's pretty complicated. More of the nuances of this relationship will become clear as the story progresses, and I'll write up a full article on the topic at some point in the future to flesh it out more fully.
"The best laid plans of mice and men…" Well, I suppose it's a good thing the Ferials aren't mice OR men.
I just started reading this on Friday, and I think it's an absolutely incredible and intriguing take on the Haloverse. I wish there was more, though, I arrived at this point so quickly!!! But alas, even if there were more, I must go study for my physics lab exam now…
Good luck with that! Hope you do well. Otherwise, you won't have time to spend here amongst all of us nerds
when do you post these i'm at school right now
This may be an outdated comment, as we know the only relation Ferial has to the Flood is that he nearly definitely created them…but their unity yet separateness reminds me of the Gravemind. He can speak through any of the Flood, but the actual 'units' move around as they please, seeking out and destroying the enemy. Also, anything the 'units' see, the Gravemind sees aswell.
Created or in some way controlled them
Well, stay tuned, because there's a lot more to come.
All comics go live at midnight (Eastern).
dang
Where are you?
No, not it; we also know how the Triumvirate came to be, oh that was last comic, ah close enough.
glances at dartboard
does double-take
Damn. How longs that been there?!
Dude, email me a screenshot. I might be able to help you troubleshoot the problem.
odd, Ferial always hgas a BR, does he have a heart attack without one or something?
Nah, I believe it's just to keep up the appearance, and to be honest, most other human weapons look kind of odd with Sangheilli.
Thank you for such great shots of the mythic maps, I hope we see Sandbox soon
btw, have you done any experimenting (forge on sandbox, skull hunting, etc.) with the maps yet?
Sandbox will be coming at the end of the week.
I've made canvases of Assembly and Orbital, which are out on my fileshare now. I'm going to try to make mockups of three different canvases for Sandbox over the weekend.
Have you ever heard of Photosynth? I believe it's still in beta so it's free; but it would be awesome to take screenshots of the maps (orbital sounds like it would be easiest) and use that to "stitch" them together (this would be especially awesome for people like me who probably won't see the maps "in person" for quite some time).
Oh, Photoshop stitches photos together to make panoramas just fine. In fact, go check out Haloramics for a few nice images from the new maps that were created by TT L Burritoh.
Photosynth makes more of "interactive" panoramas (not to say that panoramas are totally awesome), where if, lets say, I wanted to turn the corner of a corridor, I could drag the "frame" and it would turn; it automatically associates pictures to one another, so that it would show the corridor (using actual pics) as seen normally and I could "move" down the corridor or turn, or choose a path at a fork.
So it allows for some degree of exploration without actually being there, and also so I wouldn't be confused as hell looking at pics and going "where the hell is that?".
Ok, so this is a first time post for me, but I have some speculations on the three is one concept. I read the Naruto series as they hit the internet shelves, and there is a character refered to as Pain, who is in fact 6 different autonomous beings with a central mind. All knowledge is gathered individually but it is shared collectively. This in a way is what I feel like Ferial is.
By the way Jim this is some real good stuff you got going on.
I agree but i also think Jim wouldnt make it that simple. IF it not more complex then he is a good liar.
I think they would become to weak…if you have read the book: HALO First Strike, then think about when Cortana copies herself (or splits herself into parts) to cover all sections of the Covenant ship much quicker. She gets much weaker and more vulnerable to attack. Thats how i piece it together in my mind, otherwise yeh, he could create an army of Ferials!
That is a good theory, and something that I was thinking about, however Ferial isn't an A.I., but is Precursor. While he could be something analogous to a construct, I doubt that.
Besides, three is a number of power in many religions and mythology. Ferial often refers to himself as the Holy Triumvirate, which could be analogous with the term 'Godhead', which, looking at it from the view point of the Christian religion, for example, is analogous with the term 'trinity' which means something like the unity of three. Three Ferials are really just one; he has the same goal, the same level of skill, etc. They really aren't clones or copies of each other, but a will divided in three physical bodies…if that makes sense. They aren't three-in-one, necessarily, but one-in-three
Ferial has a LOT of things similar to an AI; the holo-esque figure transformations; the way he took out Goddard; The way Reulard got hold of his Virus. Either Ferial IS an AI or has a neural implant.
Did we even find out how he took out Goddard?
Not directly, no.
Didn't think so.
You conveniently slipped past that one.
Of course I did. I'm saving it for something else down the road.
Like you implied Viper was dead, but brought them back.
"He's a tricksy one…"
At least we know that the death of Goddard is in some way important.
Sweet. Have you tried putting a teleporter through the window on Orbital? That would probably make a nice background. Oh, and I'm guessing Reclamer is going to meet some old freinds (like Viper) on Orbital, and for Sandbox, I'm not sure. Maybe a Ferial monologue or something, but I'm hoping for something like either a battle or a sneak peak at a forge creation that we'll get on the third.
I haven't done any Forging on Orbital yet, other than to wipe everything off the map to turn it into a blank canvas – but believe me, I'll try it here at some point. Someone's already managed to get outside because I saw a nice exterior panorama the other day.
The plot thickens! Awesome as always.
Anyway, Jim, did you get my email?
I did. I just haven't had time to reply to it yet. I'll go do that momentarily.
In a few more years
Piffle. I've already replied to it. Don't start with me, boy.
looks for his banhammer to swing threateningly
You wanna be that way? Fine Threatens to turn computer off Ah hell I can't do it! Fine.
Wait do you really have a banhammer? ;0
For this site, you better believe I do.
Ok sorry. Looks down subserviently and ashamed
Bow before me, knave!
I'm bowing, kneeling and kissing you're shoes! Just don't hurt me! Cowers in the corner in fear
I see you've turned your comic rifle to full automatic, I'm assuming this is because of the mithic map pack. any way keep up the gunfire.
P.S. How do you lower your weapon, i've tried holding down LB, RB, R thumb stick click, and jumping
but it didn't work.
Yeah, it's a limited edition run of Reclaimer for this week only.
And yes, that's how it's done, but you have to switch to play Local in order for it to work. It doesn't work when you're connected to Xbox Live.
over-explaining much?
What do you mean?
it just feels like everyone got the idea of what happened last comic. This one didnt really add much, and what it did add only really needed like 2 panels, its not like its a bad thing, i'm happy for a constant new comics, but i dont know it just feels overdone
C'mon – this is Ferial. He's always had a flare for the over-dramatic.
Like his creator Jim? Are you channeling yourself again?
That is a good point, however maybe its not as binary. Maybe its a mixture of both, or something not yet considered.
Is the emphasis on the "now"?
Oh, Ferial takes it much further than even I do.
Yeah, the evilness is there, but you don't have any plans to completely destroy/control the universe right? RIGHT? slinks away slowly then runs away froma gun wielding Jim
Obviously your vision is clouded
; other wise you would realized that Jim's plan is like Bungie's, make something really awesome (Reclaimer and Halo, respectively) so that everyone becomes your slave (but I don't think Jim's plan involves a slingshot into the sun).
This comic explains a lot. But if he could just "copy" himself so easily, why didn't he just make a huge army of himself?
There has to be a side effect or a specific reason as to why he didn't.
Indeed.
Have watched stargate now Jim? I though you were channeling there…
Have you watched stargate now Jim? I though you were channeling there…
Big Stargate fan.
Who? You or me? I though you might be channeling Teal'c there
With his drab, emotionless "Indeed". 
Just think of some bit of info that has slipped past (like how, when an why RC killed MC) and well probably find it out down the road.
We know how, when AND why Reclaimer killed Master Chief. ~When: being chased by the flood ~Why: They were going to infect Master Chief ~How: Reclaimer blew him up along with some of the Flood that were attacking him.
when i saw the first pic i was like wtf? then i realised that you had gotten the map packs early, i didn't realise you would get them, well i knew you would but that was the last thing on my mind, all i wanted to do was see some reclaimer… wow jim, your site has major lag, especially the message system… it looks like my computer is writing by itself!
Actually, it looks like an IntenseDebate problem. Their main site is having some issues at the moment, too.
well that would explain it
But it's getting better
Actually, it looks like an IntenseDebate problem. There main site is having some issues at the moment, too.
wow, quick reply, cool! that would explain the problem, it seems it's fixed, at least momentarily…
great comic, was really fun to read!!!!
If your having trouble typing, as in it is EXTREMELY slow, big delay…then type everything into your Google (or whatever) searchbar or the next best thing, then you can copy and paste your comment. I still have to do that because after i type, a letter appears less than every second…very slow.
You could always get a faster computer, or faster internet. A text and picture based site shouldn't have lag…
The trouble is that IntenseDebate is exceedingly javascript-heavy, so periodically it bogs down while it's calling back to their server.
aw you got there first lol
Is that a mythic map???
It really is. If you go back to Sunday's comic, you'll see that this whole week is a preview edition of the Mythic Maps on Reclaimer.