Buckle up for a tag filled extravaganza of hog-based action with Banshees!

(6:32) Level 2 ('Halo') on Easy. This time I bring you an action-packed extravaganza of hog-based stunting and attacking with valley Banshees circling on the ground (see BCM303). In particular there's lots of 'dismount tagging', something I developed along the way. And watch out for my special 'tail kick' technique!

Released August 25th 2018, gameplay recorded August 7th-23rd 2018.

00:02 By way of introduction, here's a first stunting clip - a simple flip - which also gives an indication that I'm proceeding from an exit checkpoint. Weaving through the scenery was actually a very enjoyable aspect of doing the play for the movie, but in most of the remaining clips I've kept the approach footage fairly brief to keep the action tempo high.

00:20 Approaching over the mound like this was an early attack route I focused on. What you see here isn't quite a 'dismount tag', because I've got my footing by the time I throw. It's just a running tag, but the hog got me close before they reacted.

00:37 Although I got a few decent stunts out of the 'direct' approach route shown at the start of the movie, I fared better using this threaded route. It seemed to give a better element of surprise, and the dynamics tended to be stronger. So, it's the stunt route you'll see in the rest of the movie. All my stunting was done in a session of about 40 minutes, from the same checkpoint. Here I get a pretty good lateral spin.

00:51 Here's the first 'dismount tag' of the movie (I count 13; there are other tags which are only really 'running tags' because I'd established my footing by the time I threw). Notice how I get quite a push away from the hog. You don't have to have that for a dismount tag, but it does add spectacle and give you more time to throw before hitting the ground. It's something I worked on getting (though it seems unreliable), by dismounting at an appropriate time when coming over a hump. Here I also tag the second Banshee - something you'll see in many other clips.

01:08 This Banshee is rather slow to get moving (an interesting phenomenon I noticed), providing me a very easy target. Then the other one curves around, clatters into a few trees and gives me another easy target.

01:26 Hard to describe this stunt, but maybe you could call it an angled double flip.

01:35 Here's the earliest recorded clip of the movie; one of three from August 7th. I was trying out this stream approach but you can't really surprise the Banshees. It provides some nice action though. Here I get ejected after a fuel rod blast, but get my revenge with pistol fire. One thing I like about this clip is the shower of leaves the Banshee creates when it flies off.

01:48 An excellent new approach route, and the Banshees get nicely ambushed!

01:59 This dismount tag produces an amusing scream; apparently I tagged the pilot. A good selling point for selecting it for inclusion. I get the other Banshee with my next throw.

02:14 The geometry of this stunt is a bit messy but basically it's an angled triple spin. Pretty good!

02:25 Here's my first 'tail kick' example. I deliberately get the hog rolling over at the corner rock in such a way that the tail kicks me upwards, for an extra-spectacular dismount tag. Not easy to do, and you also need a suitable rock. If you look back to the 1:48 clip you'll see that the rock was much bigger. Rock geometry can vary across set-ups, because it's randomized. That big rock was the one I initially had, when starting to approach from this direction. It wasn't until I happened to use a different set-up that I realized the potential for getting a kick - namely when it happened by chance. Then I started working on it.

02:37 Another stream approach, but this time I dismount and tag the Banshees as they head my way. Actually, in the first case I tagged the pilot; you can hear his reaction. The second Banshee does a nice spin.

02:48 This running tag may look mighty impressive, but I'm not sure how much credit I deserve, because I was aiming to hit the other Banshee. After dismounting, I saw the direction the closest Banshee was going, so I panned and made an ambitious throw to try and intercept it at a point far along its estimated path. But it had quickly veered away, and it was the other Banshee I hit. Pretty lucky, but I'll take it!

03:01 This stunt clip is a bit of a comedy one. As I come into view of the Banshees, one of them viciously barges the hog, ejecting me. Pilot sounded really angry too. Guess he's starting to get tired of playing this game!

03:12 After scoring a nice dismount tag, I have time for a second throw, and it tags the pilot. You can hear him scream, and if you watch carefully after the first bang, you can briefly see him flying through the air with plasma attached. I had time to tag the other Banshee as well.

03:26 Another nice dismount tag, and you get to see the Banshee exploding close up, adding a bit of variety.

03:42 I didn't exactly get a tail kick here, but I did get a shunt from the side of the hog, so it's a similar type of thing. It sends me somewhat forward where I deliver a very close dismount tag, amusingly getting the pilot.

03:52 Nice flip! You already saw one of those in the opening clip, but here I'm using a different approach route and you get a bit of a side view.

04:00 Another early clip from August 7th. If I recall correctly, I was playing around with getting blasted. Impressively, the Banshees are able to get off a quick shot as you come down this slope. I get ejected, and subsequently shoot down a Banshee.

04:18 Remember the 1:48 clip where I quickly tagged both Banshees? Here's another instance, which was obtained a bit later (still using the same set-up). But this time I get the second Banshee with an essentially blind 'chaser' throw, based on the sound of it starting to head off. Quite pleasing.

04:28 With this running tag I just manage to get a Banshee on the tip of a wing. There's an impressive explosion, and if things look a bit odd that's because there are some graphical elements which briefly flicker out of existence (step through the frames to see). I guess the game was a bit stressed. As well as liking the look of the explosion though, I also like how the pilot is seen flying through the air and across the face of the moon. That's ultimately why I've got the clip in the movie.

04:40 Double roll! Wish I hadn't had lunch.

04:49 Remember the 3:12 clip where I had time for two tags on the first Banshee? Here I was going for the same thing, but the first grenade gets the pilot and he veers up, causing my second throw to miss. When I hear the other Banshee heading my way, I turn and throw, then see that it's actually already tagged! Apparently my second throw wasn't a miss after all!

05:03 Seems like I tag both pilots here! One after the other you hear them going "Oooh!" Most amusing, and a very rare event.

05:18 Final stunt - a nice clean double flip. Good work fellas!

05:28 Moving into an explosive finale, here's a short clip with a spectacularly close dismount tag that gets the pilot. It's a clip I added late on, to rachet up the closing action a notch.

05:37 In this my third and final clip from August 7th, I do a jumping tag right after dismounting. I was pretty pleased with that!

05:46 Another tail kick - but this one was a super-kick! That may well have been the highest I was shunted. Happily I score a dismount tag. I subsequently get the other Banshee too, and it explodes in front of the sun, then the pilot flies through the air and a blue beam shoots up. Perfect!

06:06 One last dismount tag. But the selling point of this clip is actually the second tag: a cheeky one in which I throw blind, based on the sound of the Banshee and, to some extent, on previous experience with its behaviour. It took a fair bit of luck as well though; I was pretty surprised when it actually hit! The other reason I thought this would make a good final clip is that after the Banshee crashes down, there are some bird calls which round things off in a comical way.

Closing remarks This hog fun and the accompanying movie evolved a lot. At first I was typically doing a stunt then dismounting to destroy the Banshees, and I figured I could make a movie out of that sort of stuff. I was also doing some sneaky foot-based attacks, which could add some variety. But later I started launching hog-based attacks and eventually discovered/invented 'dismount tagging', where you dismount then throw before you've properly got your footing. In particular, if you dismount in certain ways you can get airborne quite nicely, and throw in mid-air! So, dismount tagging became a core theme, and I started to see the movie as being mostly full-on attacking, with stunt clips interspersed. I dropped the sneaky foot-based stuff as it would've slowed the tempo.

But further evolution came in regard to attack vectors. For my attack work I'd been approaching only from the 'front' and along the stream, thinking that it would be hard to take the Banshees by surprise from the rear (i.e. from the far end of the valley). But when I tried it, I soon realized there was a lot of potential there, and obviously it would give the movie more variety; so I started working a whole new wave of clips in, replacing some of the old ones. And eventually I developed the 'tail kick' technique for boosting myself up, which added another dimension.

Multiple set-ups were used, which explains why the rock geometry varies and why the Banshees aren't always in quite the same spot, though they were always somewhere along that short section of stream.

There was so much potential for great footage, I anticipate returning to this topic for a sequel sometime. I may use try using Heroic or Legendary, because the pilots will have more grenades and I might able to get some spectacular chain reactions from that, which could add a new dimension. Another new element I could add is the use of an AR or plasma weapons.

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