Hex editing for n00bs like myself
Posted: Thu Oct 23, 2003 10:21 am
OK basically i have been doing as much research as possible to learn about hex editing etc and in the end i decided that there were almost no real guides out there to help out n00bs like myself get started so i knocked this up (originaly posted on halo-mods.com forums)
OK well most of you out there may have read about hex editing, offsets etc.
To be completely honest with you when I started reading all of those guides my head just exploded, I would scream aloud just at the thought of using a hex editor to make custom games aka mods.
Well I am here to show you that modding Halo neednt be complicated and can even be fun.
Right here we go.........
FIRST THING TO DO IS MAKE A COPY OF YOUR MAPS FOLDER AND PUT IT SOMEWHERE SAFE!!!! - I cannot stress the importance of having a backup around just in case, or even if you wish to play with no mod installed for a while you will need to use the original map files.
Get yourself a hex-editor program
There are literaly thousands of hex editors out there each with mainly the same features, however I had a few problems with many editors on my pc so I am using Hexplorer, and I have had no problems with it so far. Of course you may find another program that you feel more comfortable with - in the end they all do the same task.
Get yourself an offset list
Yes I know i have started with the complexity already - do not worry it sounds alot more complex than it actually is. I have found that the most concise and accurate collections of offsets comes from here.
Rights Lets begin
First thing you will need to do is decide which map to mod of course, now EVERYBODY mods bloodgulch so I think I will show you how to mod another map - shall we say hmmm Hang Em High......
Open up your hex editor
and Click on the Open icon.
Browse to your Halo Maps folder and select hangemhigh.map
ok now you have your map file loaded in your hex editor (this may look weird but dont worry its not as confusing as u think
)
Now you have to decide what you would like to edit... I for one would like some gun turrets on my Hang Em High on top of the two towers. Now to make this work i have to replace the value for the flag base scenery with that of the turret gun....
heres how
Open up the offset files that you downloaded and open the hangemhigh file... now scroll down to the scenery section and you will see an identifier looking like...
now 007619F8 is the hex number that we are interested here - this is the "address" to where the information is stored in the map file, with this "address" we can edit the map
next go back to your Hexplorer and press F5 and in the offset box type in that number
and click OK
now you will see that C4 is highlited basically if u look at your offset list again you will see that C42D4D40 is the number in the value column and as you can see its also the number you have there
now you need to get the value for the gun turret... go back to your offset list and scroll down to the vehicles section there you should see....
now the number you are interested in is the value this time - 188A8940
now go back into hexplorer and overwrite C42D4D40 with 188A8940 (just type the new number in while at the beginning of C42D4D40)
now goto file and save
Thats it!!
Fire up Halo and take a look at where the flags are usually (this mod still works in CTF mods)
BEFORE
AFTER
Any questions and/or queries about my post please just ask
OK well most of you out there may have read about hex editing, offsets etc.
To be completely honest with you when I started reading all of those guides my head just exploded, I would scream aloud just at the thought of using a hex editor to make custom games aka mods.
Well I am here to show you that modding Halo neednt be complicated and can even be fun.
Right here we go.........
FIRST THING TO DO IS MAKE A COPY OF YOUR MAPS FOLDER AND PUT IT SOMEWHERE SAFE!!!! - I cannot stress the importance of having a backup around just in case, or even if you wish to play with no mod installed for a while you will need to use the original map files.
Get yourself a hex-editor program
There are literaly thousands of hex editors out there each with mainly the same features, however I had a few problems with many editors on my pc so I am using Hexplorer, and I have had no problems with it so far. Of course you may find another program that you feel more comfortable with - in the end they all do the same task.
Get yourself an offset list
Yes I know i have started with the complexity already - do not worry it sounds alot more complex than it actually is. I have found that the most concise and accurate collections of offsets comes from here.
Rights Lets begin
First thing you will need to do is decide which map to mod of course, now EVERYBODY mods bloodgulch so I think I will show you how to mod another map - shall we say hmmm Hang Em High......
Open up your hex editor
and Click on the Open icon.
Browse to your Halo Maps folder and select hangemhigh.map
ok now you have your map file loaded in your hex editor (this may look weird but dont worry its not as confusing as u think
)Now you have to decide what you would like to edit... I for one would like some gun turrets on my Hang Em High on top of the two towers. Now to make this work i have to replace the value for the flag base scenery with that of the turret gun....
heres how
Open up the offset files that you downloaded and open the hangemhigh file... now scroll down to the scenery section and you will see an identifier looking like...
now 007619F8 is the hex number that we are interested here - this is the "address" to where the information is stored in the map file, with this "address" we can edit the map
next go back to your Hexplorer and press F5 and in the offset box type in that number
and click OK
now you will see that C4 is highlited basically if u look at your offset list again you will see that C42D4D40 is the number in the value column and as you can see its also the number you have there
now you need to get the value for the gun turret... go back to your offset list and scroll down to the vehicles section there you should see....
now the number you are interested in is the value this time - 188A8940
now go back into hexplorer and overwrite C42D4D40 with 188A8940 (just type the new number in while at the beginning of C42D4D40)
now goto file and save
Thats it!!
Fire up Halo and take a look at where the flags are usually (this mod still works in CTF mods)
BEFORE
AFTER
Any questions and/or queries about my post please just ask
