Is there any way to skin the bitmap w/o Halo 2 on your HD?

GameStar711 · Post by **GameStar711** » Sat Oct 08, 2005 8:24 am

Dothalo never lets me skin any bitmaps for some reason. Whenever I click on them, it says mainmenu.map is missing or w/e. PPL are telling me I need the disk, in other words on my HD. Unfortunately, my mods aren't directly from a softmodded dashboard. I just put in my Splinter Cell Exploit w/o the risk of a hacked dashboard. So is there any other way or maybe another program that can help skin the new maps?

ExileLord · Post by **ExileLord** » Sat Oct 08, 2005 8:30 am

The reason it says mainmenu.map is missing is because, first of all it probably is.. Some resources are stored in external maps such as shared.map, mainmenu.map and single_player_shared.map.. The bitmap you are trying to edit is stored in one of those maps.

GameStar711 · Post by **GameStar711** » Sat Oct 08, 2005 8:35 am

Ok, sorry I'm new to this. What exactly am I supposed to be looking for and how would I fix it so I can edit bitmaps for all new maps?

Geo · Post by **Geo** » Sun Oct 09, 2005 1:42 pm

Basically, to reduce loading times, some bitmaps aren't stored in the map file, they are stored in one easy place, mainmenu.map or shared.map. The bitmaps that take advantage of this are known as 'external' bitmaps. These tend to be global bitmaps, ie skins used in more then one map, like weapons/vehicles.

So, to edit these, make sure when skinning a map in dothalo, you have mainmenu.map and shared.map in the same directory on your PC.

Then to apply the skin and see it in-game, FTP your modded map, as well as the mainmenu.map and/or shared.map that were stored in the same directory.

Finally, delete all .map files in your X, Y and Z drives to clear the cache, and voila... you should see your skins.

(Map may take ages to load after clearing the cache!)
Hope that helps!

GameStar711 · Post by **GameStar711** » Mon Oct 10, 2005 5:35 am

Yes, I know I need the main and shared.maps in the same directory! (but not clearing my cache, thnx for the info). What I don't know is where to find these maps. PPL are telling me I need the disk on my HD cuz it's the only way to get these maps. Is this true or can I find them somewhere else.

Geo · Post by **Geo** » Tue Oct 11, 2005 8:29 am

Well If you don't have the disk on your HDD how the hell do you plan on skinning?!? You can only mod the game if its on your HDD!

The only way you're gonna get .map files is off your own disk, as posting them is illegal (hence all mods posted here being in PPF/Serenity patches)!

Ketchup_Bomb · Post by **Ketchup_Bomb** » Tue Oct 11, 2005 3:01 pm

I just skimmed this topic so I don't really understand what you are trying to accomplish or if you have alreay got it working, but I thought I ought to get my post count up... er, I mean contribute. Yeah.. contribute.. <_< >_> (^")^

http://files.halomods.com/viewtopic.php?t=37551
Adding internal bitmaps for Halo 2.