Alert carry

The alert carry, sometimes referred to as "ceasing fire", "standing down", or "gun down", was introduced in Halo: Combat Evolved, and has since appeared in all games since, and in the upcoming game Halo 4. The feature allows gamers to holster or lower their in-game weapons; it is commonly used when making a machinima.

Halo: Combat Evolved
The alert carry can be performed in Halo: Combat Evolved by simply looking down (or up, although arm is often in the way of the players face from a third person perspective.). Although the player is looking at the ground (or in the air), others will see them as looking forward. Generally, using an M6D Pistol or a Plasma Pistol resulted in a nicer effect; using a Needler or an Assault Rifle tended to bend the left arm inwards.

Halo 2
Noticing that Red vs Blue, which frequently used the alert carry effect, helped the Halo franchise, Bungie made it easier to perform the technique in Halo 2 by assigning it its own button—down on the D-Pad.

The alert carry is shown by looking down at the player's legs, they will not be as bent as normal. Other players will see it as your weapon being lowered. Shooting, pulling grenade trigger, meleeing, dying, or pressing down on the D-Pad again will end the effect The trick can also be performed by holding "L" (Left Trigger). When using the left trigger to perform this trick, the player is able to melee, reload and fire his/her weapon. The melee and reload animation however, when performed using "L", the actions seem to deform the players torso posture (hands, arms, and weapon often go through body). Players arms seem to be double jointed at some moments during the animations.

In Halo 2, not all weapons can be put into ready position, such as dual-wieldable weapons, the rocket launcher, fuel rod cannon and the Energy Sword. The trick seems to work on two-handed rifle type weapons, as when the Brute Shot is lowered, but on closer inspection, the player's arm is bent slightly and the Brute Shot itself is slightly tilted.

In the Windows Vista version of Halo 2, the effect can be achieved in campaign through use of the Blind Skull, or in multiplayer only in Oddball games. Make a gametype in which the starting weapon is a plasma pistol, with no secondary weapon. Go close to the Oddball, overcharge the plasma pistol, then without releasing the trigger, pick up the skull. Then, let go of the skull while walking backwards.

Halo 3 and Halo 3: ODST

 * Note: This does not work on Xbox Live due to the possibility of exploits, according to Bungie.

The Halo 3 alert carry was first performed in public by Red vs Blue cast members. In Halo 3, the feature is activated with a button combination. The player can cease fire by pressing and holding the following in any order:
 * LB
 * RB
 * A
 * 1) Left Thumbstick (Crouch)
 * 2) D-pad "down"

After holding the combination together for three seconds, a player will find that their weapon has disappeared off of their screen; the weapon is lowered and visible to other players. Some weapons, however, are barely or not at all affected by this trick; such weapons include the Energy Sword, Brute Shot, Sentinel Beam, Plasma Cannon, Machine Gun Turret, and Flamethrower. The trick looks odd when performed with the Rocket Launcher, Fuel Rod Gun, Spartan Laser, and dual-wielded weapons.

The animation of the Rocket Launcher, Fuel Rod Gun, and the Spartan Laser will look similar to that of the assault rifle in Halo: Combat Evolved (unless the player uses an Elite model, then there's no change). If a player is dual-wielding, looking around will desynchronize their hands.

Shooting, throwing grenades, meleeing, going into Edit Mode on Forge, dying or re-entering the button combination will end the effect.

Machinima directors, along with players and fans, launched the Lower the Guns Campaign in order to have Bungie enable this feature on Xbox Live.

Halo: Reach
The alert carry option returned in Halo: Reach and was first seen being used in the Red vs. Blue Halo: Reach PSA: Deja View. The player can alert carry by pressing and holding the following in any order (different according to button layout):


 * 1) Reload (Default X Button)
 * 2) Switch grenade (Default B Button)
 * 3) Right Thumbstick (Zoom)
 * 4) D-pad "down"

After holding the combination together for four seconds, a player will find that their weapon has disappeared off of their screen; the weapon is lowered and visible to other players. Like Halo 3, players will be unable to perform it on Xbox LIVE.

Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary
Alert Carry can be performed the same way that it is performed in Halo: Combat Evolved by looking down in Co-op Mode. Again, using an M6D Pistol or a Plasma Pistol results in a nicer effect. However, the possibilities for machinimas become limited as only the Chief is the only character.

Halo 4
Alert carry is also seen in Red vs Blue Save the Date. Like in Halo 3, jumping and reloading will make Alert carry a nuisance aesthetically to perform.


 * 1) Reload (Default X Button)
 * 2) Jump (Default A Button)
 * 3) Crouch (Default B Button)
 * 4) D-pad "down"

The weapon is lowered and visible to other players. You can lower your weapon in an online game and you don't have to be offline to preform this.

Trivia

 * When it was first introduced, the concept of alert carry was generally unused. When Red vs Blue was created, the technique was widely accepted for gamers who started making Machinima.
 * A tip for machinima makers - in order to create the impression that a character has no weapon and is walking normally, use the alert carry on an empty sword. The hilt will go relatively unnoticed and the other hand will be empty.
 * In Halo 3, by executing this trick in Forge while Edit Mode, you can create a permanent, lasting effect. This way, the effect will last until you die. Also, if you man a turret or enter a vehicle and then get out, your weapon will appear, but it will be misplaced (this effect is most notable with the Brute Shot).
 * Executing this trick in conjunction with an Energy Sword and it will disappear. See Silhouette Sword.
 * In Halo 3 local Split-Screen, this trick may be a possible method to combat screenwatching due to not being able to see what weapon you have equipped. It is, however, inefficient, as firing one shot will cause the weapon to snap back up.
 * A tip to Halo 3 machinima makers: when you want to view someone lowering their weapon while standing up, the most commonly known, and probably the easiest, method is to simply reverse the footage of them raising it. However, the button combination can be performed in any order. If you're talented enough, you can "crouch" while running, which negates its effect, and hold down (A) after you have jumped. If you hold these down while puppeteering your character, and complete the combo, your character will lower his/her weapon while neither crouching nor jumping, giving it a smoother look. It is tricky to master, and most find the reverse-footage method more convenient. This trick is not very effective for Elites in general, and is only really visible when the player does not move. Running will cause the weapon to lift back up again in third-person, although it will still appear normal to the player. An easier method is to simply disable the crouch feature on the game options menu.
 * During an alert carry, when a player enters a vehicle and exits, the player will see in his HUD that the weapon is frozen at the highest point of being drawn and the player does not appear to breathe as during holding a weapon off of cease fire. However, it will disappear if the player swaps or switches weapons, fires his weapon, or throws a grenade.
 * In Halo: Reach, using an Armor Ability while Alert Carrying will not affect the Alert Carry.
 * In Halo: Reach, Alert Carrying any Turret weapon while as an Elite results in a somewhat humorous "Hold" posture- It will appear as though your left arm is merged with your chestpiece.
 * In Halo: Reach, if the player Alert Carries and enters a vehicle's passenger seat, it will look like he is holding the weapon normally. However, when exiting the vehicle, the player will still be Alert-Carrying. This may be because there is no animation for the player to Alert Carry when in a vehicle.
 * If you do Alert Carrying while holding an Energy Sword in Halo: Reach, it will vanish like any weapon, but static and electricity will still emit from where the Energy Sword originally was. In third-person, it is still fully visible.
 * In Halo 3 there is a glitch with the shotgun. Empty the gun's current load, then load a shell and perform the combination while reloading, the result will be your shotgun sticking up in the air. This looks quite humorous, especially when you walk up to a character it looks as if the barrel is aimed at the person's head. Sadly to others it will look as if the shotgun was in the normal alert carry stance. It does not work on other weapons and is unknown if it works in Reach.
 * Alert carry has been confirmed for Halo 4. While it is not a Bungie game, it has not yet been confirmed or denied that alert carrying in Halo 4 will be possible over Xbox LIVE.