Tip of the Spear BOB Hunt (MAJOR UPDATE)(Solved)

[Lord Friendship]

The following is from Niles Sankey, lead mission designer for Reach, via Urk:

Dear Lord Friendship,

I took a little time to look into the case of the missing Gold Ranger Elite. It�s been a while since I�ve looked at these scripts. At first I thought there was (as you suggest in your post) a bug that prevented Bob from spawning 25% of the time. At the top of the script I noticed the random value assigned to the spawn variable was set to a value ranging between 1-4. The script was then evaluating this variable but there was were only three values it was checking for: 1-3. This confused me at first but then someone (thanks Dom!) pointed out that the last function checks for a value greater than or equal to 3. So basically the likelihood that Bob will spawn in the final area is 50% and the other two are 25% each. Also, it should be noted that the three Bobs that spawn in your lower screenshot are all controlled by the same spawning function but this particular Bob squad (even a single AI is referred to as a squad) has three starting locations that the engine randomly chooses from.

In any case, it appears that the script is working as designed and I don�t see any reason why Bob wouldn�t be spawning in.

All of that being said, it would appear that you have not identified one of the locations of Bob in this mission. According to the scripts and the object placements in the level editor, there is one more place that he should be spawning. On the other hand, with the amount of time you�ve put into the game, I can�t believe you wouldn�t have seen him unless there is a bug preventing it. Ahhh, the mysteries of life.

Thanks for posting your question. I hope this reply was at least somewhat interesting.

Niles

This means that there is one undiscovered BOB on this level!!

I've made two videos to aid in the search.  Both are on Legendary:

Tip of the Spear: Where's BOB? (Short)

In this game, no known BOB spawns, suggesting our missing BOB is somewhere to be found.  I skip most of the enemies to advance through the level in about 12 minutes on Legendary with no deaths.  A good video if you want to peruse a certain area quickly.

Tip of the Spear: Where's BOB? (Long)

Once again, here no known BOB spawns, suggesting our missing BOB is somewhere to be found.  However, this video clocks in at around 50 minutes, and I methodically take down each and every enemy, including one flighty Phantom.  Legendary again, with 5 deaths, all equally embarrassing.  If I get the time, I'll make another one with no deaths.

If you get time, please watch one of these videos, post your thoughts, etc. in the search.  Also feel free to let me know any random theories you might have, and I'll try out whichever ones I can.  Thanks!

Also, whoever finds the mystery BOB will get credit in the video guide; it's not much, but at least you'll get a little recognition!

Just to clarify, here are the known BOB spawn points (images from Halo Creation):

One spawn point overlooking the first Tyrant Anti-Air gun:

Click for video
Click for image

Three spawn points near the Spire:

Click here for Spawn Point 1 Video
Click here for Spawn Point 2 Video
Click here for Spawn Point 3 Video

Click for picture of all three spawn points

Here is a list of some of my theories to get the ball rolling.  If you have an idea, feel free to post it!  I'll add to the list as people post theories, and mark them as confirmed, false, etc.

Theory 1
Using level skips somehow prevents the BOB from spawning.

Status: Busted

In the above video, the level is played normally, and all enemies that can spawn into the game do so.  Yet, no BOB spawns.

Theory 2
The leftmost Banshee that flies overhead at the beginning of the level will, occasionally, not fire.  This could possibly indicate a Banshee BOB.

Status: Busted

Using the grenade launcher, it's possible to EMP this Banshee, dropping him off the level.  You get credit for a kill this way; if this was a Banshee BOB, this should by all accounts grant the Golden Opportunity challenge.  However, on 11/2 I EMP'd this Banshee in a game where it did not fire; no challenge was awarded.  Note that the left-most Banshee is not firing.



Theory 3
It is possible to enter the Garage in the bottom of the BXR Mining Facility if the Rocket Warthog is brought in.

Status: Busted

Bringing the Warthog here does nothing.  Same for the Spade.



Theory 4
There is a random chance that no BOB will spawn on this level.

Status: Non-Falsifiable!

Theory 5
One of the Banshees that sometimes approach the BXR Facility is a BOB.

Status: Busted

Using the Rocket Warthog, it's quite easy to blow up these three Banshees.  None awarded the "Golden Opportunity" challenge.  All three Banshees will fire on the player, usually with Banshee Bombs.  This was done in a game where no BOB spawned, specifically the second game above, which can be viewed as a Saved Film.



Theory 6
One of the marines on this level is a BOB.

Status: Plausible

It's possible, but would be unique to this level.  Be careful if you do this; killing too many Marines will turn Jorge on you, even if he doesn't get a chance at revenge until after he gets out of the Falcon.  In the first of the two Saved Films above, I killed the "OTA" Marine, but did not get the Golden Opportunity challenge.

Theory 7
The Falcon that flies overhead at the beginning of the level is a BOB.

Status:

You can't EMP the lowest-flying falcon, which is driverless but not jackable.  There are actually three Falcons here, but the other two fly very high.  The pictures below were all taken on Easy.

If you can keep the Fuel Rod Shades from taking out the Falcon, you can melee the gunners yourself:


No driver!  I didn't try to headshot the driver, who may be invisible.


Plasma Pistol has no EMP effect, so you can't flip it to eject the driver like the WC Falcon:


The Falcon is very weak; a melee or two will destroy it. 



You can get on it if it gets stuck, but once it's stuck it doesn't seem to ever get un-stuck.


Theory 8

Serious backtracking is required. For example, the BOB spawns on the bridge to the BXR Facility as you leave the facility from the other side.

Status: Plausible

This will take some time to check; basically people will need to watch the videos very closely, and focus on where the player has been rather on where they will go.  It's possible to backtrack from the BXR exit all the way back to the broken road section. Climb objects and/or grenade jump up out of the hole, then jump across the gap to the BXR entrance.  From there, you can just run or drive back.  An invisible wall prevents further backtracking.



Theory 9
The Zealot is a BOB.

Status: Busted

In both of the videos above, I killed the Zealot.  This did not register as a BOB kill or award the challenge.

Theory 10
A BOB spawns during the Falcon ride.

Theory 11
Some sort of button or trigger must be used to spawn in the missing BOB, if it is chosen.

Theory 12
The missing BOB only spawns on Legendary.

Theory 13
Getting the missing BOB to spawn requires saving the "doomed" Falcons at the first encounter, and each of the Tyrant guns.

Happy hunting!

[Scatcycle]

Theory 3
It is possible to enter the Garage in the bottom of the BXR Mining Facility if the Rocket Warthog is brought in.

I do believe that Monx tried to get into that only to find that there's nothing there, correct me if I'm wrong Monx, and I also doubt that a BOB would spawn in a place that you can't walk to or see from inside the playing fields.

Also, if the Golden Challenge is up, you should kill everything, including marines.
On that note, do you know if a marine spawned in the falcon that you enter near the end of the mission?

And what about the first falcon that flies over you in the beginning? We have to check everything.

[ColdGlider]

GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY IS ON NOW!  So this is the perfect time to go hunting for this!

Theory 8?: The Zealot that you can race to to kill (and for which there is an achievement granted if you kill) is also a BOB.

I haven't reviewed the clips yet, so please spare me if this was already done during LF's game.

[Lord Friendship]

GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY IS ON NOW!  So this is the perfect time to go hunting for this!

Theory 8?: The Zealot that you can race to to kill (and for which there is an achievement granted if you kill) is also a BOB.

I haven't reviewed the clips yet, so please spare me if this was already done during LF's game.

Yeah, I got the Zealot in both of the above games, on Heroic, and no dice.

[Lord Friendship]

Also, if the Golden Challenge is up, you should kill everything, including marines.
On that note, do you know if a marine spawned in the falcon that you enter near the end of the mission?
And what about the first falcon that flies over you in the beginning? We have to check everything.

In the first video I killed what I believe people are calling the "OTA" marine, the one with a darker uniform and a grenade launcher.  I don't believe I killed any others.  In the second, the OTA marine lived.

I didn't think to look in the Falcon, but I do believe one spawns in with Jorge.

Check above, I've added some stuff on that early Falcon from a game on Easy.  If we could jack that Falcon, it would make speedrunning the level ridiculously easy!

[The Arkaeologist]

Footage of one of the Tip of the Spear Bravo BOB variants (assuming there's more than one) is available on my file share.  It's in two parts because in a fit of pink bow-tied BOB lust, I decided to run directly into a FRG blast.

I believe this is a well-documented BOB but I did confirm that he grants the Golden Opportunity Challenge.

[Insane Monx]

@Scat, I don't remember any of that, lol.

But any chance a Bob might be somewhere on the Falcon ride to the Spire?

I'll check today, then try another level if it doesn't work.

[Lord Friendship]

@Scat, I don't remember any of that, lol.

But any chance a Bob might be somewhere on the Falcon ride to the Spire?

I'll check today, then try another level if it doesn't work.

That's definitely a good idea!  When I watched my videos, I looked around a lot during the Falcon ride.  I didn't see anything, but it would be easy to miss.  It also might have something to do with which side you choose; I believe I chose right side in both videos, but I'm not sure.

[ColdGlider]

Footage of one of the Tip of the Spear Bravo BOB variants (assuming there's more than one) is available on my file share.  It's in two parts because in a fit of pink bow-tied BOB lust, I decided to run directly into a FRG blast.

I believe this is a well-documented BOB but I did confirm that he grants the Golden Opportunity Challenge.

Thanks for the confirmation and the clips!

I went and got this same BOB myself and recorded it to DVD-R, so we have video confirmation of the G.O. Challenge.

Now on to the missing one!

[Scatcycle]

Footage of one of the Tip of the Spear Bravo BOB variants (assuming there's more than one) is available on my file share.  It's in two parts because in a fit of pink bow-tied BOB lust, I decided to run directly into a FRG blast.

I believe this is a well-documented BOB but I did confirm that he grants the Golden Opportunity Challenge.

Thanks for the confirmation and the clips!

I went and got this same BOB myself and recorded it to DVD-R, so we have video confirmation of the G.O. Challenge.

Now on to the missing one!

But remember, that BOB has 3 different spawns in the final arena. Shouldn't we confirm all of them?

[Lord Friendship]

But remember, that BOB has 3 different spawns in the final arena. Shouldn't we confirm all of them?

In my opinion, the Golden Opportunity challenge should be used to verify stuff that either is commonly confused for a BOB, or is not clearly a BOB.  All of the BOBs discovered on Tip of the Spear thus far have clearly been Gold Ranger Elites.  Maybe you guys should use Golden Opportunity to show, once and for all, that the Package Banshee is not a BOB, or that the Spec-Ops Elite on Winter Contingency is not a BOB. (so, pause the game, show the challenge is active, kill the non-BOB, then show it's still active)

Just my two cents.

[Scatcycle]

But remember, that BOB has 3 different spawns in the final arena. Shouldn't we confirm all of them?

In my opinion, the Golden Opportunity challenge should be used to verify stuff that either is commonly confused for a BOB, or is not clearly a BOB.  All of the BOBs discovered on Tip of the Spear thus far have clearly been Gold Ranger Elites.  Maybe you guys should use Golden Opportunity to show, once and for all, that the Package Banshee is not a BOB, or that the Spec-Ops Elite on Winter Contingency is not a BOB. (so, pause the game, show the challenge is active, kill the non-BOB, then show it's still active)

Just my two cents.

I feel that it's more of a confirmation, especially since you can sometimes kill a BOB and not get a medal.

[ColdGlider]

In my opinion, the Golden Opportunity challenge should be used to verify stuff that either is commonly confused for a BOB, or is not clearly a BOB.  All of the BOBs discovered on Tip of the Spear thus far have clearly been Gold Ranger Elites.  Maybe you guys should use Golden Opportunity to show, once and for all, that the Package Banshee is not a BOB, or that the Spec-Ops Elite on Winter Contingency is not a BOB.

This is a great idea, actually.  This will allow us to point to a video when someone mistakenly posts false claims about non-BOBs.

I also agree with Scat that we should continue with our confirmation videos on existing BOBs, including their variant spawn points in a particular area.  I confirmed two spawn points of the Spire BOB yesterday with GO- one on video, one- unfortunately- not.

[ColdGlider]

New BOB Video on our YouTube channel:
http://youtu.be/z4eZUYB6j5g

I cataloged all three spawning points of the Spire BOB yesterday, this is one of them (5-B-1.1) and contains the challenge notification for GO from 11/02.

I have some disturbing news.  While continually restarting the missing after getting the Spire BOB spawn, I eventually got a restart with non BOB at the Spire.  Initally this was exciting- I thought I found a new spawning variant and perhaps LF's missing BOB.  After hours of searching (including jacking the Banshees, running up through the spire checkpoint and kill the Ultra with the sword, etc) I never found another BOB.

I think that there may be a "5-B-1.4" variant that- when chosen- doesn't actually spawn anything.  Not good.

Otherwise, the Restart Mission function doesn't work as we thought.

There are new film clips in my share for these BOBs.  This could be very bad for prospective Vidmaster Runners.

[Scatcycle]

I doubt that it would just not spawn. Just doesn't seem like Bungie would do that. My bet's on the fact that there is a fourth mini-spawn of the 5-1-1 BOB. We just can't find it. Possibly it's out of map, but it obviously isn't clear. I say we work extra hard looking in that area when no BOB spawns.

I'm pretty sure the Restart Mission does work as we thought. It will not alter a BOB spawn on solo if you restart the mission, but, as proved by LNoS, if can alter a mini-spawn.

In that last Spire segment, check on cliffs, out of map, everywhere. There really isn't any reason why it shouldn't be there.