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View Full Version : Let's see what's going on in the magical world of Halo Console Modding...



ultama121
March 2nd, 2009, 06:31 PM
Shall we? The answer is yes.

First up at bat is "Arsenic".

Arsenic Beta Release...

This program is pretty much all you're going to need when it comes to modding Halo.

Arsenic's hardcore power ranges from its visually stunning graphics to its built in game and tag editor. You can chose anything within a map such as scenery, weapons, vehicles, etc... and hot swap on the drop of a dime.

Duplication is now made easy with our new point and click system. Any object you wish to move in Arsenic will move and suck to the mesh or structure of your map, this will save you a lot of time when placing stuff in your environment.

Our built in tag editor is amazing and simple to use, for example click on a warthog then chose the tag editor. You will be able to edit a wide range of physics right on the spot, all changes will take effect when you save your map.

Arsenic has a built in Auto Update feature which will be a life savor when future updates are released. All updates will come from halomaps.com so anyone using this program will always have an up-to-date version. The updates will automatically be applied when you open up Arsenic.

As of right now the beta release will be structured around modding Xbox maps and tags. What you can expect in the near future from us...

Built-in FTP (uploading maps to your Xbox)
Halo CE Map Editing
Load Compressed Xbox Maps
Scripting, etc...

Note: Keep in mind this is a beta release!

Arsenic is a HaloMaps exclusive only, welcome back to Halo 1 modding people! This is one bad ass program, better get those old modded Xbox's out of your closet.

http://www.halomaps.com/images/divider.gif

Whats Needed...
1. HaloCE must be installed before running Arsenic.
2. Halo Editing Kit must also be installed before running Arsenic.
3. If you need to download HaloCE or HEK please visit HaloCE Tools (http://www.halomaps.com/forum/index.php/topic,5806.0.html).
4. Your cached Halo Xbox Maps must be put in the "XboxMaps" folder located inside Arsenic.

Note: Some users may need to update their Microsoft .NET Framework (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=333325FD-AE52-4E35-B531-508D977D32A6&displaylang=en) or DirectX (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=886ACB56-C91A-4A8E-8BB8-9F20F1244A8E&displaylang=en) in order for Arsenic to load properly.

http://www.halomaps.com/images/divider.gif

Basic Controls...
1. shift + left mouse to rotate
2. shift + right mouse to rotate more
3. middle mouse to enable movement
4. awsd to move
5. shift to go down
6. space to go up
7. page up and down to move object up and down
8. ~ to change speed

http://www.halomaps.com/images/divider.gif

Loading Xbox Maps...
1. Your xbox maps have to be cached in order for Arsenic to read it. (use HHTv5 to decompress maps) (http://www.halomaps.com/downloads/halo/programs/hht_v5.rar)
2. (File - Import - Xbox Maps) will EXTRACT every single map in that folder and SAVED as tags, then u can go ahead and load the scenario of your choice. But please note the tag extraction is a lengthy process.
3. After the scenario is selected allow 5 to 10 seconds for it to kick in then hold the middle mouse button and maneuver it until you see your map.

http://www.halomaps.com/pictures/arsenic_loadingscenario.jpg

4. All your Xbox Tags must be extracted first before importing anything pertaining HaloCE. If you import a HaloCE map before an Xbox map I suggest going into your "XboxTags" folder and erasing whats there and starting over. I had the same problem, but now everything is fine and you can use the program as you wish.

Just remember (File - Import - Xbox Maps) FIRST before playing around with any HaloCE content and you should be ok.

http://www.halomaps.com/images/divider.gif

RsYcA9SVKhk

http://www.halomaps.com/pictures/arsenic_beta1.jpg

http://www.halomaps.com/pictures/arsenic_beta2.jpg

http://www.halomaps.com/pictures/arsenic_beta3.jpg

Download Now (http://www.halomaps.com/downloads/halo/arsenic/program/Arsenic.rar)

Some users may need to update their Microsoft .NET Framework or DirectX in order for Arsenic to load properly.
Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=333325FD-AE52-4E35-B531-508D977D32A6&displaylang=en)
DirectX End-User Runtimes (November 2008) (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=886ACB56-C91A-4A8E-8BB8-9F20F1244A8E&displaylang=en)
Oh yeah... it can also port CE Bsps to Xbox (I think) and will soon have support for both PC and CE. :)
Source: http://www.halomaps.com/forum/index.php/topic,5815.0.html

Next up is another quite awesome app. It is for Halo 2 Xbox and is titled "Onyx - Halo 2 Map Builder".


Onyx - Map Builder
http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa44/Argon656/OnyxMainMenu1.png

After waiting many years for someone to come out with something that would make custom BSP a reality for Halo 2 I decided that I wanted to do something that would help make it a somewhat reality.

In partnership with -DeToX- we decided to bring something new and interesting to the table.
You can essentially model a custom map or object and use this application to fix the lack of collision.
Moving and sizing collision boxes in real time will make things a whole lot easier on everyone,

although it is still a lot of work, its a fun and unique way to mod. I hope everyone that is still modding Halo 2 will create something wonderful and fun with this application.

An example map will be included with the files below, you can look at this to see how and what you will do to create your map.

The map by default has 50 collision boxes and 100 placements, you can clone as many boxes or placements as you want using entity, the application will auto detect the new items.

The maps has many different helpful items, the HUD shows information about the map, there is also an X Y Z axis widget in the center of the map that will help you with placement.

Do not under any circumstances place anything over you player spawn, this will result in your player to not re spawning.

The collision test gun is in this map to help you get you collision as close to perfect as possible, when the projectile hits the collision box it will leave a permanent red dot, which will indicate the bounds of the collision.

The application with the map loaded.
http://img14.imageshack.us/img14/6725/onyxappp9481955pr6.png

Collision testing gun and HUD.
http://img14.imageshack.us/img14/8815/red1655560vo5.png

Collision Testing.
http://img9.imageshack.us/img9/5482/collision0145194ws6.png

A collision box.
http://img8.imageshack.us/img8/5614/boxdw7.png

An example of what the collision of an object could look like after completion.
http://img13.imageshack.us/img13/1776/pic2818083hs8.png

1000 words...
http://img11.imageshack.us/img11/5092/ohdeatr9415216al6.png
Special thanks to Xbox7887 for Revert GameState Code and to Neodos for phmo and coll research.
Enjoy.

Rar below includes:
Onyx Application
Onyx Map
Example Map(House)
Download (http://files.filefront.com/OnyxBeta01rar/;13313288;/fileinfo.html)
Video Tut Download(270mb) (http://files.filefront.com/Video+Tutrar/;13324921;/fileinfo.html)
Source: http://www.halomods.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=80861

Now that our journey is over, I wish to say the following. I came.

Edit: can a mod fix the title? :V

Cortexian
March 2nd, 2009, 06:37 PM
Wrong section. Interesting app though, looks like it could be quite handy!

ultama121
March 2nd, 2009, 06:39 PM
Meh, figured that since this was for Halo 1 Xbox and Halo 2 Xbox, (which we don't have forums for) that I'd go ahead and post it in tech talk.
Oh and btw, two separate apps. :eng101:

Limited
March 2nd, 2009, 06:56 PM
CLuis? Holy fuck..

I'm very impressed with Arsenic, I've known about the project for a long time but didnt realise it would be that powerful. Great job guys.

RobertGraham
March 2nd, 2009, 07:05 PM
It would be nice if there was some progress or updates on Prometheus

Con
March 2nd, 2009, 07:13 PM
so this is like sapien for xbawks?

ultama121
March 2nd, 2009, 07:15 PM
^Sort of, but it can do much more advanced things. Example: It can import CE content on the fly. (Atleast I'm pretty sure).

Oh and the bottom one is an alternative to custom BSPs for Halo 2 Xbox.

klange
March 2nd, 2009, 07:23 PM
Let me know when PMI, PCMI, and various bits of vehicle modification are ready in Halo 2 so I can port my got dang dropship/flying lounge/noob machine/portable base. As I already have it on my Xbox to begin with, I care not for this "Arsenic" thing.

ultama121
March 2nd, 2009, 07:26 PM
PMI is possible meester Bacon. Pretty sure the vehicle plugins are completed... but I'm not sure what PCMI stands for. :v:
OH perfect collision model injection... probably won't happen due to Havok being a babby. You can probably try faking it with the techniques that Onyx uses, but other than that you sir are stuck. Sorry. :saddowns:

klange
March 2nd, 2009, 07:31 PM
PMI is possible meester Bacon. Pretty sure the vehicle plugins are completed... but I'm not sure what PCMI stands for. :v:
It's my quick term for perfect collision model injection. And referring to things I can attach to a proper, extremely large vehicle.

Pooky
March 3rd, 2009, 09:02 AM
Would it be possible to use this Onyx thing in combination with map editing to remove the super bounces from maps?

e: or make new ones

That would be interesting.

(keep in mind i have no idea how the super bounces actually work, I just always assumed it had to do with havok physics interacting with the map collision)

n00b1n8R
March 3rd, 2009, 03:25 PM
I thought they were intentional?

Heathen
March 3rd, 2009, 03:46 PM
That is truely awesome.

Heathen
March 3rd, 2009, 03:48 PM
Would it be possible to use this Onyx thing in combination with map editing to remove the super bounces from maps?

e: or make new ones

That would be interesting.

(keep in mind i have no idea how the super bounces actually work, I just always assumed it had to do with havok physics interacting with the map collision)

I thought they were intentional?

Nah, they are unintentional. Its the games way of pushing you out of falling underneath the map. People found places more prone to letting you fall through and they jump onto them from heights and then the game shoots you out of the hole.

ultama121
March 3rd, 2009, 05:57 PM
Would it be possible to use this Onyx thing in combination with map editing to remove the super bounces from maps?

e: or make new ones

That would be interesting.

(keep in mind i have no idea how the super bounces actually work, I just always assumed it had to do with havok physics interacting with the map collision)
Welp, as far as I know this isn't real collision. This is faked collision (I'm pretty sure)... put it this way: It takes collision from other objects and uses it to make new collision. In this case, BSP collision.

jngrow
March 4th, 2009, 01:20 AM
I would like to see how this is when it comes over to CE. Sapien is kinda clunky. But man, pretty cool stuff. Wait, so we will be able to put custom maps on Xbox super easy this way? CE Maps?

ultama121
March 4th, 2009, 05:56 PM
Super yes. :)