When there's a cyborg on the loose, you do not want to be a covie all alone…

(6:20) Level 4 ('The Silent Cartographer') on Heroic. I think you could classify this under 'cyborg mischief'. It's all about creeping up on lonesome covies and giving them a nasty surprise. I had the idea quite a while back and figured it would make an amusing movie. Finally it's done, amounting to ten episodes in ten different outdoor locations. Maybe I'll do some sequels later!

Released March 26th 2019, gameplay recorded 2017-2019.

00:02 (Grunt outside main facility) My idea for this movie goes back a few years and this is one of the older clips I recorded, namely in May 2017 (along with the other clip involving a red Grunt). The comms unit provides a nice audio element here. Some of the takes I did with this guy were rather long and leisurely, but this shorter one was more what I needed, to fit a good number of episodes into the movie. When he notices me he jumps in shock, and gets an instant tag.

00:42 (Jackal below hill) If you're wondering why this guy has his plasma pistol on overcharge, it's because of what I did earlier. Namely, killing his two buddies from afar. I guess that put him on high alert. When I returned later after getting a checkpoint for doing takes, he was like this. I'm not sure if he was in a raised state of observation ability, but I often got spotted earlier than I wanted. As with all covies, I needed to pay attention to his head direction to try to stay out of his peripheral vision. Incidentally, the Grunt you can hear is the one up on the hill in a later episode.

01:18 (Elite on path to interior) I probably could've got this muttering Elite to jump in shock if I'd fired a shot in the air, but instead I just let him notice me, then did a stun 'n tag. Grunts and Jackals are the best subjects for shocking though, so I've only got this one Elite clip in the movie. Incidentally, I got it in one take and it was sort of a bonus. I was actually on my way to the interior, but I encountered him so I tried something and it turned out nicely enough. His death triggered a checkpoint, so I wouldn't have been able to revert for another go anyway.

01:57 (Jackal near entrance to interior) This episode is from October 2018 when I revisited this movie idea but again didn't complete it. Blasting the Jackal at close range was fun of course. There were a few Jackals I did that with in other places too, but ultimately I've only included this one instance of that kill method.

02:36 (Grunt on hill) Doing an episode with a Grunt on this hill was a must, and it was my first point of business when I returned to this movie idea on the 23rd. I shock him with an air shot, then tag and rocket him, and he goes waaaay up high.

03:18 (Patrolling Jackal near main facility) This time I've got a patrolling Jackal for a change. I eliminated his two buddies earlier. Did quite a lot of takes with him, including some where he continued patrolling in a new direction and I kept following. But this take had my favourite ending.

03:49 (Hunter on beach) This is the last episode I recorded. Originally I was thinking to go with just the nine others, having already tried out one Hunter and not been pleased enough with the result. But I did want to include a Hunter, so all four covie species were represented. This guy is from outside the main facility but I lead him away to have a different location (he's the only covie in the movie who's away from his normal territory). Once I got him set up, I did quite a lot of takes. Initially I was mostly using a rocket launcher but eventually I went with needling, partly to add some variety to the movie and partly because I love needler bangs. He was good at noticing me, so a lot of my takes were failures because of being noticed too quick.

04:25 (Jackal at substation circle) Here's the last of the five Jackals that came in on a dropship. I killed his buddies earlier, and for some reason he's ended up looking outwards towards the wall - which gave me something to joke about in a caption. When I tag and rocket him, he flies away very nicely.

05:10 (Grunt at LZ) This grunty trooper survived the beach assault but it's curtains for him now, with a double tag. Another of those communication units provides some audio accompaniment. Recorded 2017.

05:40 (Jackal on rock slab) Towards the end of the 23rd the movie was shaping up nicely, but all my Jackals had yellow shields. For variety I wanted some blue shields, so I put some work into that. I've ended up using two such guys, and here's the second. He has an excellent perch and the view from behind is very appealing. When he eventually notices me I throw a plasma hoping to tag him, but it settles on the ground. That's still ok though; I time a rocket blast to go off at about the same time and he launches high. Then I go for broke and attempt a mid-air hit, and it works! That trick shot made this clip an obvious choice for the finale. I actually did quite a few more takes trying for further mid-air hits, but although I got a few, this remained my choice clip.

Closing remarks I had the idea for this movie back when doing movies on goldie fireworks in late 2016 and early 2017. My set-up for that topic included leaving a lone Grunt near the entrance to the interior, in order to later kill him to trigger a checkpoint (see BCM212 around 5:09). I had fun giving him a shock, and I realised there was good potential for an amusing movie based on that sort of mischief. There were at least two times when I recorded some clips for possible inclusion but put the project aside for later. Finally it's done though, using three of those earlier clips plus seven new ones. Turned out nicely I think - and I wouldn't be surprised if I later do sequel movies for some other levels. Levels 2 and 5 would definitely be good subjects, although sadly there's no rocket launcher in the former.

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