Some funny things happen on that ring, and here's a whole bunch of 'em in my first such compilation…

(5:30) Various levels and difficulties. This shows 25 freaky or amusing incidents, most of which occurred while recording footage for one movie or another - so you may recognize the situations if you've been following my series. I've been retaining such clips for possible future use, and finally I've put some together. Expect more such movies in the future!

Released October 17th 2012, gameplay recorded 2009-2012.

00:02 (Supergrunt) Speeding into a rockslide megabattle, six Grunts dive to try and avoid my wheels - some with more success than others - but watch for the last one. Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it's Supergrunt! I remember thinking something like "Whoa!" when I saw that. Also noteworthy is the fact of having six Grunts diving in quick succession. You can see me taking the same route in BCM43 starting around 1:42, but there was no super-dive that time. November 2011 footage from when I was recording for BCM43. Level 2, Heroic.

00:11 (Flying Ghost) As I circle-strafe a Wraith, eventually destroying it, an enemy Ghost clumsily bounces up over the Wraith pretty high. I've let the footage continue on until I destroy the Wraith, as I thought that would be worth including. April 2010 footage. Level 5, Heroic I think.

00:27 (Boosted Hunter) When three of these massed Hunters swipe at me simultaneously, I dodge clear and they boost one of their colleagues into the air instead, hee hee! April 2011 footage from when I was recording for BCM34. Level 4, Normal.

00:38 (Handy shunt) Up on the plateau in a rockslide megabattle, my frag blast catches a red Elite as he starts to dive clear, which shunts him nicely into range for a good solid whack to finish him off. Rather satisfying. August 2009 footage from when I was recording for BCM1. Level 2, Heroic.

00:45 (Going nowhere fast) Johnson's making a right fool of himself here. After being dropped off by the Pelican along with others, he's got caught up in a Banshee I destroyed. When I carefully nudge it aside he resumes his run and finally becomes inactive as scripted, as do the other Pelican Marines. Interesting. September 2011 footage from when I was recording for BCM41. Level 5, Heroic.

01:10 (The covies are at it too!) At the end of a twin bridges megabattle I found this panicking Grunt running into a tree. Naturally I endeavoured to put him out of his misery without further delay, but my attempt at an amusing launch got scuppered by the branches. I tried to launch him off to the right with the rocket, but I think the plasma went off first. June 2011 footage from when I was recording for BCM36. Level 5, Normal.

01:22 (Chain reaction) During a path base defence in the spiral path megabattle, I got this particularly excellent chain reaction when I sent in a rocket, and for a moment it's like the air is full of Elite bodies. Examining the footage, the leading Elite was killed by the rocket and another four were taken out by the chain reaction. I put this after the previous clip because it sort of followed on nicely, in view of the rocket launcher reload (though I didn't have enough footage to make the reload animations join up exactly). November 2009 footage from when I was recording for BCM5. Level 5, Heroic.

01:29 (Jackal help) Why bother firing my weapon when I can let covie troops finish off my enemies for me? In this rockslide megabattle I'm assisted by a couple of Jackals, who then run off hoping nobody noticed. I also swipe the Elite's plasma rifle as he falls. August 2012 footage recorded a few days after releasing BCM52 and BCM53 (I was having so much fun with the far area defence, I just kept on playing). Level 5, Heroic.

01:37 (Wake-up call) At the start of a cavern megabattle this dozy Grunt gets a nasty wake-up call after I disembark from a hog, and I can't resist subsequently using him for a spot of target practice. June 2012 footage from when I was recording for BCM50. Level 5, Normal.

01:48 (Jackals strike again) While fighting a plateau base defence in the rockslide megabattle, a Jackal's plasma ball amusingly finishes off a red Elite who was approaching down the plateau alley. Sounds like the blue Elite is pretty angry about it too! November 2011 footage from when I was recording for BCM43. Level 2, Heroic.

01:58 (Plasma wash-off) When I tag this incoming Banshee, the pilot appears to take a quick dip in the stream to wash it off. That's cheating! I don't think it's actually to do with the water though. Plasma grenades can apparently become unstuck when the carrier hits something, though I've never investigated this. There's a loud boom from the stream about 3.5 seconds after the Banshee hits. Could that have been the plasma grenade? Either that or it was a fumbled frag. You might also have noticed a lack of muzzle flash from my AR. From past testing I know it can become unreliable when there are three or more grenades in the air, but here I don't think there were more than two, if that. January 2011 footage from when I was recording for BCM26. Level 2, Legendary.

02:11 (Blue on blue) While tackling massed Hunters on the beach, one of them took this magnificent smack from a careless colleague. KLUNK! Lights out. I would've included a bit more lead-in footage to build things up but this is all I had. UPDATE, 2018: Actually, now that I check frame by frame, I think the Hunter was killed by my AR fire, fractionally before the whack. April 2011 footage from when I was recording for BCM34. Level 4, Normal.

02:17 (Hog flip) In this cavern megabattle a Hunter blast sets off dropped grenades which send the hog spinning away. Johnson is killed but the passenger flies off still alive. You can see him near the top of the screen when I turn back towards the cavern entrance. He didn't survive the fall to the ground though. June 2012 footage from when I was recording for BCM50. Level 5, Normal.

02:30 (Grunty vandal) This crazy-firing Grunt seems to be enjoying a spot of wanton vandalism, making a right mess of that pipe structure. Or maybe it's some kind of abstract graffiti attempt? Actually, I'd carefully blasted this guy out of his Shade a few seconds earlier. February 2012 footage from when I was recording for BCM46. Level 5, Heroic.

03:02 (Long arm of justice) After my Marines take a nasty fuel rod blast from an incoming Banshee, I miss with my first throw but get my revenge with an ambitious follow-up, a tag quite similar to one included in BCM26 starting 3:52, though here the grenade actually travels further. It's a pity the other Banshee wasn't a touch closer to the explosion, otherwise I might've got two with one blast. January 2011 footage from when I was recording for BCM26. Level 2, Legendary.

03:17 (Unwelcome return) In this rockslide megabattle I throw a plasma grenade towards some attacking Elites. Unfortunately it gets blown back my way by a Marine's frag grenade, with terminal consequences. Stacker is not impressed with this teamwork. November 2011 footage from when I was recording for BCM43. Level 2, Heroic.

03:26 (Something on your tail) After doing a bridge descent I tackle the Banshee. For a moment it looks like it's getting away, but I throw my grenade to catch up and intercept it. April 2011 footage from when I was recording for BCM33. Level 5, Heroic.

03:38 (Clutter removal) In this rockslide megabattle a Marine frag sets off a plasma which blasts an Elite body clear rather nicely. Incidentally, I joined things so the pistol reload follows on seamlessly from the previous clip. June 2009 footage from when I was recording for BCM1. Level 2, Heroic.

03:44 (No stopping on the bridge) Here I'm trying to stay undetected as I closely tail this Shade gunner back through the level, but his head turns a fraction too much and I'm spotted. Silly Grunt - you're not supposed to see me! Now we've got to do it all over again! As he stops I give him a firm thump as punishment, and it's kind of amusing how the needler pops out of his grasp after a short delay. March 2011 footage from when I was recording for BCM31. Level 5, Heroic.

03:56 (Happy Stacker) After tackling covies at the plateau base I go in search of the dropship 4 Elite lurking somewhere past the island plateau, and Stacker gives a "Woooooo-hoo!" as we make a perfect jump off the island. There's a similar jump near the end of BCM43, but this one is more pleasing, right down to the cry Stacker uses. November 2011 footage from when I was recording for BCM43. Level 2, Heroic.

04:07 (Triple whammy) On this bridge descent via patrolling Elite, I stun him with a plasma ball, tag him on the head, and smack him off the ledge as I arrive. Quite satisfactory I think. Admittedly he didn't need the grenade, but what can I say, I'm a generous fellow. February 2011 footage from when I was recording for BCM29. Level 5, Heroic.

04:15 (Cabaret act) After blocking Marines with a Scorpion during the set-up work for a cavern megabattle, I returned to find them in this freaky formation. Eleven in a row, with one guy taking centre stage in some sort of rudimentary dance routine. I guess they just got bored waiting around! May 2012 footage from when I was working out the set-up details for the cavern megabattle (later depicted in BCM48). Level 5, Heroic.

04:31 (Painful exit) While battling Banshees at the bottom of the valley, one of them flew into the tunnel and seemed to get lost. When I catch up with it as seen here, I tag it and it goes into a spin. The pilot gets ejected - due to clipping the ground I think - but gets caught by the grenade. April 2012 footage from when I was recording for BCM47. Level 2, Legendary.

04:41 (High-flyer) Conducting a far area defence in a rockslide megabattle, I send a stream of needles into an arriving red Elite. He dies in the same spot a couple of other Elites did, and gets blasted almost straight up in a tremendous chain reaction, going higher than I think I've ever seen before in open play. I watch the spectacle as Johnson gets killed and Stacker takes a beating. I guess I was quite fortunate that I didn't get attacked myself, which would've interfered with my view. If only I'd survived this battle, I probably would've released it as a movie because of having such a freaky launch in it, but I got caught by a plasma ball as seen in the follow-up footage, and died shortly after as the covies pressed forward, not letting me recharge my shield. I was a bit too casual. August 2012 footage recorded a few days after releasing BCM52 and BCM53 as I continued having fun in the far area. Level 2, Heroic.

05:06 (Look before you leap) In trying to get the Grunt on the left to go grenade crazy, I accidentally clip him with a shot, which makes him fumble a plasma. Although it doesn't really land close to him, he's spooked enough to make an evasive dive but he doesn't quite clear the hole, and goes down the shaft. I have to pause briefly to let a loose plasma go off, but I'm just in time to get a view of him disappearing into the mist as he comically cries out in despair, which I thought would make a good ending for the movie. So long grunty! August 2011 footage from when I was recording for BCM38. Level 5, Legendary.

Closing remarks A clip compilation such as this was long overdue, because when I checked over my spare footage, I realized I had enough to make at least two decent movies, maybe three. So expect another dose of freakiness and fun before long, and more later. I'm also going to do a better job at saving footage from now on, as I like how this first compilation turned out.

In arranging the clips I tried to keep things fairly varied, and there are elements of patterning in places, with similarly themed clips tending to occur close together (often separated by a clip for a different level, as part of the variation style). I also paid attention to how one clip joins with another, sometimes trying to get a sort of continuity. For example, in one case some AR fire continues into the next clip, and in another case I made two pistol reloading animations blend, so it's like a reload carries over into a new clip. You can expect to see this sort of styling in later 'freakiness and fun' movies too.

With a few of the clips I would've liked to include a bit more lead-in or lead-out footage (i.e. around the main incident), but I didn't always have enough because I'd cut things a bit tight when originally saving the footage (getting rid of excess, as footage takes up rather a lot of disc space). In future when I save a clip, I'll be a bit more generous over how much I keep, now that I've got a better sense of the style I'm going for.

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