Remember, not a normal tutorial, for the "dummies".
Please note that I'm not insulting you with the whole dummies thing, it's just for the sake of humor. Just because you're not smart with computing doesn't mean your not smart. *COUGH*MORONS*COUGH*.
So you like the way you shoot a pistol, then five seconds later everything in the vicinity flips over without a trace of an explosion? Here's the tutorial for that(for the people who can't work a computer very well, that is).
First of all, lemme explain that. The reason you see some invisible force do a lot of damage more than usual is because you don't have the modded, or modified map(or level) that the host has. You see, without this modded map, you can't see the modded effects. Kinda sucks when it's REALLY modded.
Now let's get down to business. There are three things you need:
- A hex editor(I reccomend Hex Workshop from here, don't worry, most hex editors are free, including this one).
Again, this tutorial is condensending(sorry if I spelled that wrong, I'm only 11 you know
), because you came here if you're not too well with computers.- A folder with all of your multiplayer maps(like Blood Gulch, Death Island, I'll explain more later) copied in it, known as "back-ups".
- Iron Forge's helpful list of offsets(explained later). Get it atthis link. Click "Save" and click on the pull-down menu on the top of the little save window(you can see why it's called a pull-down menu). Click on "C:\". Then click on "Program Files". Then click on "Microsoft Games", then "Halo". Note: if you can't find this directory(it's a location of folders and stuff, the directory where we started, C:\, is called the root directory), then ask whoever installed HaloPC to show you where he put HaloPC. Once you get it in that directory, click "OK". Once it's done downloading, click "Open" and leave it there for now(minimize it, we'll need it later).
Okay, that dealie with the back-ups, well all you need to do is click on the My Computer thing(in the start menu if you have Windows XP, on the desktop if you have earlier), and click on C:, or Local Disk (C:\). Click on Program Files. Scroll down and click on Microsoft Games, then on Halo. I know you see alot of shiney crap, but don't push every button on the keyboard, you might destroy every file in there(I'm serious). Click on "MAPS". Now while holding CTRL, click on these:
- beavercreek.map
- bloodgulch.map
- boardingaction.map
- carousel.map
- chillout.map
- damnnation.map
- dangercanyon.map
- deathisland.map
- gephyrophobia.map
- hangemhigh.map
- icefields.map
- infinity.map
- longest.map
- prisoner.map
- putput.map
- ratrace.map
- sidewinder.map
- timberland.map(yes, skip the one that says "sounds.map", we don't need to copy it)
Now once you have highlighted every one of those(hold CTRL through the whole thing, remember?), you can let go of CTRL. Now push CTRL and C at the same time(you don't have to push them at the EXACT same time, just hold CTRL and push C). Now you have these maps copied. Okay, now go back(push the "Back" button on the top of the window), and right-click. Don't worry, you still have those maps copied. Now go to "New >".
Click on "Folder". All of a sudden, a folder will appear which says "New Folder" and the text has a blue background with white text itself. Now we're naming the folder. This means the TEXT is highlighted. Push backspace once. All the text is gone, now type in something like "Backups" or whatever and push enter.
Yay! Now click on the folder. There's nothing inside of course, because you just made it. Push CTRL and V at the same time. It puts those copied maps in that folder. Yay! You just backed up all your multiplayer maps.
Now we can really get started. By the way, if you want to play the normal map (which you must always do to play on a normal server, well to see everything correctly anyway), select the map you need to make normal again. It's easy enough to figure out(Death Island is deathisland.map, Blood Gulch is bloodgulch.map, etc.). There are two maps with file names that don't look like the regular name. These are Derelict, and I believe Chiron L234(or whatever the hell that number is). You don't need to worry about Chiron though, I've only seen one server playing that map, but it's file name is putput.map(don't change the FILE NAME!). Derelict's file name is carousel.map. I don't know why Microsoft did this, it seems pointless. Now that all that's out of the way, yet again(I'm sorry, but people might miss alot of things and go right to the forum), we can REALLY REALLY start.
Open your hex editor. Click on "File", then "Open". Select the map you want(I'm not gonna make the tutorial a "detailed example", because those only explain one thing), and you should know how to get to the "MAPS" folder by now. One teeny thing before we start. DO NOT EDIT YOUR BACKUPS! If you do and want to play a normal map, you could be in trouble. Always edit the maps in the "MAPS" folder.
Okay, go to your MAPS folder and click the map you want. Now you see all these wierd-psycho numbers and letters and you're probably thinking, "HOLY CRAP, SCREW THIS!". But don't panic, it's eight times less complicated then it looks. Now, I imagine you still have your thing that's supposed to be Iron Forge's offset list, right? Bring that up, and click on the link thing that has the map name of the map your editing in it. It has to extract, or take out, that file to open it first(and all the files are linked, so it takes about 15-30 seconds), so wait a few seconds. Then you'll see a web page. There is a list of words right infront of you. Click on "Projectiles". Okay, this is where I explain offsets, and some more stuff about "hex".
Get ready for boring lecture....three....two....one....(I'll make this as fun as possible)...
Offsets are like the addresses of things called "hex values". Hex values are sorta like programming stuff, but not totally into programming, like computer languages. As you can see on the web page, it says things like "Bullet", "Bolt", and other things. These, of course, are different projectiles in Halo, and their offsets. Notice that it says "Bullet" four times and "Bolt" twice. There are four types of bullets - The Warthog chaingun's, the pistol's, the AR's, and the Scorpion Tank's Machine Gun. You can tell because below the word "Bullet" says something like a directory you might see. It says under each, "weapons/(the weapon here)/bullet". For example, the first Bullet you see says "weapons/assault rifle/bullet". There are two types(three, really, the Banshee's too, but it has a different label) of bolts, one for the Plasma Pistol and one for the Plasma Rifle. You can tell by the same way with the bullets.
Now comes the fun part. The first number to the right of a projectile name is the offset or where it's at in hex-y state. The second one to the right is the value or actual data for it. We're gonna make switchie-switchie until you have what you want. To get to the right offset, right click on the number mess and go to "Goto". Click on "Goto offset(or just "Offset", whatever)..." and copy and paste the offset from the site into the search box. BE SURE THE LITTLE DOT SELECT THING UNDER THE SEARCH BOX IS SET TO HEX. Once it's in there, click "Go(or whatever it is)". It will take you to the offset(in the number/letter mess, the offset is in the black column on the left). Also, I have to do this, dunno if you do, if the offset isn't what it's supposed to be, right click and go to "Goto" again. Click on "Offset 0x(your offset here)" and it will go where it's supposed to.
Time for the craziness. Look on the website where you saw the offset to where the value is(the second number on the right). Find this value at the offset(there's a space in between the real value, so it doesn't look like for example, 49F681A0 on the number/letter mess, it would be 4968 81A0, and yes, I'm good at pulling random numbers/no. and letter combos out of my ass)and NOW, we're going to replace this normal value with another projectile's value, making pistols shoot rockets or whatever! WEE! Don't worry, this won't totally screw up Halo or your computer. You can also replace it with other things like vehicles(remember the word list at the top?), but don't do things like Physics or Shader effects. Do solid thingys.
Congrats! You're now an idiot who did something smart!
More on this: You might ask while looking at the offsets and values, when you look at the top of the Projectiles or whatever section, it shows what all the parts of an object are( Like it says something like: Name____|____Offset___| & so on), what's the meta number and identity number? Well, the identity number is something else which I don't really know about, as for the meta, it's a different type of value that controls all the other things in the game(how the vehicles move, MC's speed, vehicle's speed, etc.). Meta I don't quite know about either... you can look more on the forum to see about meta. Meta takes a while to stare at and learn(that's for me too, and I'm pretty damn smart, and that's not exaggerating). On the other things that have offsets in the list, physics don't quite control a vehicle's movement. Physics are what they sound like, moreof; physical info. For example, if I replaced the gun turret's physics with the Banshee's physics, it would make it seem as big and have the same shape as a Banshee, but not be able to fly etc. If you want to make vehicles fly, you have to learn meta. Trust me, I've tried this.
I tried to remove a vehicle flight patch by looking at the vehicle's physics. This is really wierd, but I guess it's just part of the mod. All my vehicle physics were swapped with Ghost's physics, except the Banshee. Anyway, when I tried to return them to normal, they were really messed up. If I went in a 'Hog and drove two feet, it spun really fast and crazy-like and threw me out. With a rocket hog, it did the same but launched me in the air instead. Anyway, my point is that physics don't control a vehicle's movement, so don't think giving a 'Hog Banshee physics will make it fly.
