Halo 3 Saved Films Editing

hitmanbob · Post by **hitmanbob** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 2:22 pm

i was reading through an article on b.net that told how saved films and being the host works. and it got me to thinking...

if the saved films are a cache of everything that happened in a game, could you edit that data to make the game look different. anyone get what im saying?

like instead of modding a game to have the saved film look different, you could mod the saved film to make the game look different.

It would probably take a lot of effort to find out where the XYZ positions, animations, and stuff is located in the file, but i think it would be cool.

has anyone explored this yet or am i the first to mention this possibility?

xzodia · Post by **xzodia** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 2:27 pm

your the 1st as far as i'm aware and your idea intrigues me

-DeToX- · Post by **-DeToX-** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 2:33 pm

I'm pretty sure all it does it save a file with scripts of where each person moves, how long they move there, etc, and it runs off of that. Its not an actual video. Hence why you can click back and still get the score and all.

You won't edit the map that way, but you can edit how people move in it.

Also you won't be able to edit it for a bit. Its signed with the same encryption as any profile. If you take a look at any 360 gamesave or profile, and compare the header, they are the same file.

These are about the only things that aren't as encrypted on the 360.

But it doesn't mean the encryption is easy.

http://www.360gamesaves.com/index.php
That site was moved recently. Once it is fully moved, they have a resigner, but just for transferring files from xbox to xbox. They will know if the file is modded or not.

But if its an EXE it shouldn't be too hard to edit haha.

Prey · Post by **Prey** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 2:37 pm

It is just position data, that is then re-created using the blam engine. It is entirely possible to map out the file, but to do that just to make yourself jump higher.. or kill more people seems..? Pointless? To me at least, still it could be a way to make interesting machinima.

I also doubt animation data is stored in there, that data is already in the tags of the maps.

ScottyGEE · Post by **ScottyGEE** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 7:41 pm

haha that sounds actually pretty funnny...I would like to copy paste data from one match to another to see what happens... Or even screw it over to have more than 16 players in there to see if its possible to freeze halo 3....woot

hitmanbob · Post by **hitmanbob** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 11:03 pm

the saved films arent an actual video, its just when what happens where.
i've just been curius about it since i read the article. i knoq it would seem pointless, but for a machinima maker, it could be a godsend. having complete control over every aspect of everything. ahaha sounds like a fun powertrip to go on someday.

What i'm talking about isn't hex editing the files to change a simple position of one person. i'm talking about having a program that you could load a saved game file into(perhaps borrow some of the code for the ingame viewer) and then proceed to edit movements, items, etc in the game itself. i kind of see it as a mix of 3dsmax renders using the halo game engine to render\

i, myself, have no skill whatsoever in any type of coding so im useless other than inspiration

although, if Prometheus ever comes out, and has halo 3 capabilities, i could see that program being the perfect tool to incorporate this into.

Tural · Post by **Tural** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 11:11 pm

This discussion would be better if there was someone with a film file actually looking through it. Right now we're just speculating about what would be possible. Theoretically, if you could properly edit the data, then yes, you could manipulate anything in the game, that's common sense. However, we don't know anything about the saved film files right now (Other than the names of the file, "pr0n.film," if I recall correctly).

I don't foresee ever being able to completely redo a match, or add more people, or whatever. I can't imagine the data being so simple that such a thing would be likely. The best you could hope to do would be change some coordinates, maybe swap weapons, etc. But I would think the data would be linked. If you changed where someone was walking, the gun would go with them. Then say they killed someone 10 seconds later in the real game, you'd have a random guy dying from nothing, or not dying, because he wasn't shot, and therefore existing where he didn't originally exist. Paradox. 360 implodes.

Also, it would give overwhelming rise to people sharing the modified films on Live (Modding on Live) claiming all sorts of ridiculous things. I actually hope it isn't possible.

JacksonCougAr · Post by **JacksonCougAr** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 11:27 pm

What the Cat guy said ^_^

Anthony · Post by **Anthony** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 11:33 pm

-DeToX- wrote:But if its an EXE it shouldn't be too hard to edit haha.

its not, its a online script. that way they can monitor it and update/remove it as needed

JacksonCougAr · Post by **JacksonCougAr** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 11:36 pm

I'm thinking they are doing this to stop ALL glitching in Halo 3. As well as give us a way to make movies! lolz.

Tural · Post by **Tural** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 11:38 pm

They've said, on several occasions, that they expect people to always find glitches and such. They aren't doing these things as a deterrent, they're doing them because it's cool.

Geo · Post by **Geo** » Mon Jul 30, 2007 2:17 am

JacksonCougAr wrote:What the Cat guy said ^_^

lol, that made me think of the Simpsons...

I remade it, 'cause that's how I roll. ~Tural

Yah, I made it in < 11 seconds... was in a rush, but needed to air my thoughts. ;p

CabooseJr · Post by **CabooseJr** » Mon Jul 30, 2007 8:35 am

They did say you can upload the film to Bungie.net, you could possibly download it and edit it, because they said it would make people who make machinimas and montages' lives easier.

Geo · Post by **Geo** » Mon Jul 30, 2007 9:11 am

Yeah but they probably meant edit it with video editing software, not editing in the modding sense.

Tural · Post by **Tural** » Mon Jul 30, 2007 3:23 pm

100% incorrect. You can not upload films to Bungie.net. You can upload screenshots only.

CabooseJr · Post by **CabooseJr** » Mon Jul 30, 2007 3:58 pm

I thought they said you could upload the vids to B.net, i know I heard it from their latest podcast.

Tural · Post by **Tural** » Mon Jul 30, 2007 4:03 pm

CabooseJr · Post by **CabooseJr** » Mon Jul 30, 2007 4:05 pm

I know I heard it from somewhere, maybe it was said in Podtastic.

Tural · Post by **Tural** » Mon Jul 30, 2007 4:07 pm

You either misunderstood or didn't hear it. You can upload films to the Live servers, obviously, but you can not access film files on Bungie.net.

CabooseJr · Post by **CabooseJr** » Mon Jul 30, 2007 4:09 pm

hmm, i stand corrected then.