HaloMods "Classic" Read-only Archive

I'm within an inch of being able to create all new Halo maps, and change the mesh in existing halo maps.
All i need to do to complete the project (I'll post a tutorial along with my Sample map when I'm done) Is find a way to encode the files into .map format. If you can help me with this, let me know and I'll include you in the credits, etc. This is dookin HUGE!!!

Hmm, first post and not a clue. There is absolutly NO WAY to make new maps. Sorry. Post this in halo modding general.

Hmm... lets see, do you actually think that Bungie Studios sat and scripted all the levels longhand? Does any game? NO! all they do is take an existing program (there are many that exist) create everything that they want graphically, and then encode it to the particular format which they want, in this case, the .Map format. This is my first post for several reasons. 1. Why waste my valuable time posting about individual mods that are a dime a dozen? 2. Although i am a professional artist/ designer, i am relatively new to halo modding, thus the need to post here to see if anyone whos been around longer can tell me what they've found, thus saving more of myt valuable time. However, if all you're gonna do is tell me that its impossible to do, just cause you and your pathetic little brain haven't thought of it first, then maybe i'll just keep my findings to myself and enjoy completely new levels on my own... The point of these forums is to help each other out, not bash each other because they dont have a thousand posts. Don't regard someone as an idiot newbie just cause they havent talked out their butt as much as you. If you have something to help towards the project, lemme know, otherwise, don' t talk when you obviously don't know as much as you think you do. sorry if i sound like a jerk, but some people deserve it.
-Josh

and how exactly are you doing this...?

thats a good question .... both of you

i thought you could rebuild maps with HMT... but.. im assuming that you probably don't have your prerebuilt maps in that same format.. so.. im out of ideas...

ask the makers of the game..lol...

This should be interesting...

I dont wanna give 2 much away til im done, but lets just say that i stumbled onto a program that says that it's what Bungie used to design HALO, so i did some research and found that, although it costs about 3.5 grand for a single site license (out of the picture for my budget), it uses the same file formats as a program that I used back in high school in my advanced multimedia productions class, which i bootlegged from my class computer... long story, anyway; So I started looking into it more, and If i use an existing level as a donor platform (Meta codes, etc) then all i have to do is somehow port the first file into the existing halo .map file, for the new mesh (terrain) then adjust/edit positions and properties and voila: we have completely new maps. Only problem is, i'm not exactly used to doing things for games, before my emphasis has been on both movies and still art... So thats where all you hackers come in... Anyone who's not a total idiot about this, i could really use your help.

kaptainkommie wrote:This should be interesting...

lol indeed it shall

He's actually making an effor to make it belivable.

I'm not saying its fake or real till i get some ingame pics of a d/l

OMG... you people actually believe him!?!

You. Are. A. Joke.

I think he could be experienced in level design, he seems like a total noob though...but ne ways, i think if you ain't full of crap, your best bet would be to wait for the next release of hmt, which hopefully won't be too long

BlahBlahBlah,
Read Grenadiacs Tutorials on the .Map file. The only way I can conceive of this maybe being feasible is if you can create your map, break it up into the various subsections and/or have it partitioned in such a way (in hex) that you could write a parsing engine that runs through the whole thing and arranges it in the correct format.

This is all possible, but you'd have to be able to get your new maps stored in the correct tag/offset formats. As for the parsing engine...considering there are people around who can write HMT and SparkEdit that's possible also, surely?

Hey, I'm rootin for you, but I it's gonna be so very tricky.

Vegito619 wrote:He's actually making an effor to make it belivable.

I'm not saying its fake or real till i get some ingame pics of a d/l

yeah and to that guy who said omg you actually beleive him...nobody actually said that they did.

[quote="maca_

Dude, this guy might just have an idea how to make new maps. I just need to say to all you "flamers" out there and specifically on this post:
Shut the hell up.
If you have nothing to prove this guy wrong, then just don't post, you idiot. Leave the "newb" posts to the moderators, that's mostly what they're here for.
I would help if I could but have no real knowledge of programmingor anything of the sort.

[quote="HunterXI"][quote="maca_

Sorry, it's been a few days since my last post. As I said, i'm not too familiar with Halo mods, meta, hex, etc... however, there has to be hex code or something for the mesh, right? I'm still trying to locate it in the map code (could definitely use tip if someone knows exactly where this is in the map file...) Well, my theory... here goes... is that If i can isolate the landscape code in the file then I can convert it to binary and emulate it with new landscape, using one of a plethora of 3d modeling tools at my disposal, then convert the new mesh (landscape) back to hex, as long as the new file is smaller than the old, so as to not upset the syncro of the rest of the file, same as simple meta swapping... then re-texture with photoshopped dds files through HMT, sparkedit, etc... adjusting vehicles, spawn points, weapons, the whole 9 yards, so that we have new levels. I might as well tell you what my guinea pig level is: A lifesize monopoly board, hotels, etc to snipe from, a teleport on 'go to jail' that leads into a barred room from which the only escape is suicide, weapons in the community chest, occasionally booby-trapped health and ammo in chance, plus more. The best mode of play is in race (i might make the vehicles look like a shoe, hat, iron, etc if i get really bored...?)

could you give us some pictures?
maybe a video?

dude, thats where the *theory* comes in... i could show you rendered pictures of the level, but it wouldn't be actual gameplay, thus its pointless... Im trying to figure this out 2 see if my theory is right, it makes sense that a similar, albeit simpler, version of this was used to create the library mp, he (this is guesswork) extracted the scenery code from single player and inserted it into the multiplayer level... the only difference (and the tricky part) is getting it from an external/original source rather than an internal one.

As I said, i'm not too familiar with Halo mods, meta, hex, etc...

Umm... the thing is, theres tons of people here who are, and who are much more experienced with Halo modding, and as for you... well, no offense, but you have 8 posts, and you even admitted that you don't know much when it comes to this type of stuff. So, I highly doubt you can, if others with muuch more experience and expertise in these fields can't. Comprenda?