____________________
*This tutorial starts right after you softmod your Xbox.
Getting Started
First, we need to set up up our connections to the Xbox.
It should be like this.
WALL>MODEM>ROUTER>Xbox/Computer
Now, if you have that we are ready to File Transfer Protocol. Or FTP.
They are various programs that will help you connect to your Xbox.
Such as
Flashfxp (Recommended by me.)(Will be used in this tutorial.)
SmartFTP
Ok, now, open FlashFXP, click "I accept", then the yellow lightning bolt. Now, hit Quick Connect.
---
Now a connect screen comes up. The server will be your Xbox's IP. Start up your Xbox and find it. It will be something like.. 192.168.1._.
Now, Type that as the Server.
The Username and Password are both 'xbox', with out the quotes.
Now, hit connect.
Ok, now your into your Xbox's drives/files.
The E Drive is where all your games/programs/files will all be stored.
The D(Disc) Drive is where the CD is. So, if Halo 2 is in your Xbox, you will be viewing the Halo 2 files.
Getting Halo 2 on your HD (Hard Drive)
Ok, now you know how to FTP, so now were going to get Halo 2 on your HD. Put Halo 2 in your Xbox, then FTP to your Xbox. Goto the D Drive, and find the 3 folders. In the Maps folder all the Old maps, (Maps that came on your Halo 2 disc.) will be there. Send all of them over. (You don't have to do the Single Player levels, but they have stuff in them that can help you with mods later.) Make sure you get the mainmenu and Shared files.
Now, Once all that is on your Computer, Go back to your Xbox in FlashFXP. Go to the E Drive, and find the Games folder. If it's not there, create it. Inside of the Games folder, Make a folder called Halo 2. Send all the files that you got from the D Drive, into it. Once it's done, you got Halo 2 on your HD. Goodjob.
BUT WAIT!?!? WHAT ABOUT THE NEW MAPS??
They are on your Xbox. Remember? You downloaded them. So.. To get them, goto E, then TDATA, and find the folder that ends in 64. Open it up, then go to the $c folder. There will be 3 folders. These are the mappacks you downloaded. Send them all over to your computer.
Once you do that, send the maps to the E/Games/Halo 2/Maps folder.
Good job. Now you go the New Maps on your Xbox.
Modding
Ah.. Modding, I am not that great with it, but, I can tell you, be creative. That doesn't mean, take Ice Cream bitmaps and paste them on some Bitmaps and call in Ice Creagulation.. But instead, Make a mod that has a theme, (Where stuff goes along with everything..)
And take your time on it.
Now, there are a few main programs to mod Halo 2 with.
You got
DotHalo
Entiny
Downloads To These
and the smaller, but still helpful ones-
ADI
And others that users have created like Detox, that help you add water to maps, and weather and stuff- but alot easier.
OKOK Enough talk.
MODDING-
Lets do some simple stuff first.
Open DotHalo.
Open a Map. (NOTE:
BACKUPS ARE IMPORTANT. THEY WILL SAVE YOU MUCH TIME. COPY ALL YOUR MAPS TO ANOTHER FOLDER CALLED HALO 2 MAP BACKUPS. )
Go to the WEAP. tag. (Weap. stands for Weapon. In case you didn't notice
) Go to the Magnum, then to the Dependency window. You will see all the things that make up the Magnum. Go to the Proj (Projectile) tag in that window. Click it, then go to the drop down box, and select something else. Such as a rocket.
Select it, and hit save. BUT WAIT... Now you have to make it where you can play it.
Resigning
Resigning is changing the map signature so the Xbox works with it.
To do so, you will need a resigner. There are many around here on Halomods. Find one, then open the map, with it, and hit Resign.
BAM. First mod evarrr!!1
Ok.. So now, you need to FTP it back to the Xbox.
Goto the E folder, then Games, then Halo 2, then Maps.
Send it over, overwriting the map already there.
Start up your Xbox, get to your dashboard, goto Games, then Halo 2. It should start up. Once it's up, select your map that you modded, and start the game.
Great job.
Patching
WTF? You downloaded a mod, and it is .sppf or .serenity
What do I do?
You have to apply it to the Base Map. (The map it's suppose to be on.)
But you will need SPPF, if it is a .SPPF file, and you will need Serenity if it is a .Serenity file. Once you get it applied, you will need to RESIGN it.
How do I make a patch for my mod?
For SPPF, open SPPF up, go to Make SPPF part, select where you want to store the .sppf first, then select the Unmodded map, then select your modded map.
Serenity is the same way, just go to the create tab.
If you did SPPF, you might want to RAR it so it's smaller. Just right click it, and select, 'Add To Archive', Goodjob.
Now, your job is to do this.
READ UP ON MANY TUTORIALS, And learn how to do cool stuff, like, put water falls in maps, and try to be as creative as possible. Have a look at the download section and learn how good mods are made. Look how they did it, and try one for your self. Make sure your mod is the best it can be, before releasing. Also, Originality, try to make something NEVER done before. It adds a great overall effect on the mod.
Have FUN TO. ;p
Definitions
HD - Harddrive (Your Xbox, basically, where everything is stored.)
FTP - File Transfer Protocol (How you send files to your Xbox.)
SOFTMOD - What your Xbox is running to do all this stuff.
NEW MAPS - The maps you downloaded.
OLD MAPS - The maps that came on the disc.
SKINNING - Taking textures from the game, and changing them. You would have to 'skin' the warthog to make it golden.
MODELS - Basically the stuff you see in game, the shape of it.
SPPF - Super Playstation Patch File
SERENITY - Another patch file.
.RAR - Most patches are in this format, you need WinRAR to unzip them.
ROFLCOPTER - Not that you need to know or anything, but it was asked.. It's basically Rolling On The Floor Laughing (COPTER).
Well, thats all for now. Might add more later.
KK TLEJ OUT ;p
ALSO, for later reference, I uploaded this post in a .txt file.
teamacemods.com/files/tutorial.txt
And, if you have trouble with your programs not working, you probably are missing .NET Frameworks. Most programs require it to function correctly.
Please use the search function of this site also.
Your question was probably answered somewhere else before.
