Looking for the definitive answer on chunks

[Snaku]

Ok, so I've heard little bits here and there about adding chunks, but I've been afraid to try it, 'cuz it sounded like it messed things up. When I checked out TeamHlo's knowledge base I saw that they list two ways: improper--glitchy's ap, and proper--nasty freakin' hex editing. So I set out to learn the hex way but the tut made no sense to me; it's like it gives you an example and how in this example you'd do this, but doesn't tell you how you're supposed to know where to get "this" from if you want to do it for another map.
So, what is really the difference between the improperly added and properly added chunks. Are proper ones perfect and the map works just like it's supposed to? Do improper ones break slc? I'd heard headshotmasta talk about how you can't inject anything else (I think he meant in Insolence) after you add chunks, but I didn't know if meant the proper or improper way.

[Doom]

Ok, so I've heard little bits here and there about adding chunks, but I've been afraid to try it, 'cuz it sounded like it messed things up. When I checked out TeamHlo's knowledge base I saw that they list two ways: improper--glitchy's ap, and proper--nasty freakin' hex editing. So I set out to learn the hex way but the tut made no sense to me; it's like it gives you an example and how in this example you'd do this, but doesn't tell you how you're supposed to know where to get "this" from if you want to do it for another map.
So, what is really the difference between the improperly added and properly added chunks. Are proper ones perfect and the map works just like it's supposed to? Do improper ones break slc? I'd heard headshotmasta talk about how you can't inject anything else (I think he meant in Insolence) after you add chunks, but I didn't know if meant the proper or improper way.

Well ali954 explained this to me in greater detail this morning on what they are exactly. Proper chunks are when they are put into the right spot they should in the map. Improper chunks are put at the end of the map I belive and point to where they should be. So if you were to inject something after putting in a improper chunk it mix up your map.

For my mod hunters in the mist my battle rifle flashlight would get screwed up whenevr I would add a chunk to the map, I would have to go back to the weapon tag go to battle rifle and check the attachmeant premunitions, they would be scrwed up like,

live_friend
sgt_gruff
marine_aus

random stuff. If I changed them back though

muzzle_flash
ready
<null>

it would be fine.

Hope this explains some things

-Doom

[Snaku]

Um... so if you add chunks it messes up... what exactly? Why did it mess up your br in particular? Was it still slc?
I understand what you're saying about tacking it on at the end, but I'm not quite following why your br was the only thing that got messed up.

[Doom]

Um... so if you add chunks it messes up... what exactly? Why did it mess up your br in particular? Was it still slc?
I understand what you're saying about tacking it on at the end, but I'm not quite following why your br was the only thing that got messed up.

I don't know why either but that is the only thing I noticed. I am not sure if it was slc... tehre was no one to test with .

-Doom

[SyrinEldarin]

I'm probably completely wrong on this, as I'm quite new to modding Halo 2... but would it have something to do with the pointers in the dependencies? Like, these pointers are still pointing at the same place, but those places are different now, because of the added chunks? And I'm guessing that the proper way to add chunks would be to fix these changed dependencies. Then again, I know very little about chunks or hex, so this is just a logical conclusion based on a small amount of data.

[Snaku]

Hm... but I wonder what exactly chunks mess up. Will they mess up anything that's been injected before them? After them? I've heard headshotmasta say something about how you can't inject anything else after adding chunks, but I dunno' if that only meant improper ones, or the proper ones too.

[SyrinEldarin]

To be honest with you, I don't even know what a chunk is. It was just a wild speculation on a topic about which I know very little.

[Doom]

Hm... but I wonder what exactly chunks mess up. Will they mess up anything that's been injected before them? After them? I've heard headshotmasta say something about how you can't inject anything else after adding chunks, but I dunno' if that only meant improper ones, or the proper ones too.

make a backup of your map if you are afraid to try. Call it coagulationbackup.map or somethig like that. I always have a backup no matter what.

-Doom

[sundriedprawn]

i have about 8 back ups lol

[Snaku]

I usually have two. It's not that I'm afraid to try. I just want to know what I can and can't do before I start working on something, invest all kinds of time and effort into it, and then discover that my efforts were wasted because something I did at the beginning screwed up everything else.

[sundriedprawn]

I usually have two. It's not that I'm afraid to try. I just want to know what I can and can't do before I start working on something, invest all kinds of time and effort into it, and then discover that my efforts were wasted because something I did at the beginning screwed up everything else.

haha hat happened to me to, i had completely finished and then i remembered i forgot to change the spwans for one of the chunks and WHAMO the spawns are screwed

[Aequitas]

Halo maps follow certain specifications or rules.. Some modders take pride in adhering to them as closely as possible, while others only want to do things well enough to get their maps to load. Like everything else in map files, there is a certain way that meta blocks are pieced together.. It's in your best interest to maintain that layout because the tools you use are made to work with Halo map files - not files that are kinda like Halo maps.. Tools like Insolence don't expect there to be important meta data thrown on the EOF where it doesn't belong.. And when you add new tags with it, it will update the EOF to follow rules governing the padding (size/content/etc) overwriting your precious data.

It would be kind of absurd to expect Photoshop to work with a PSD that you edited to the point where it doesn't follow PSD specifications.. It's no longer a PSD, just some file that used to be one. There are ways, however, to compromise.. To maintain map structure enough to keep your maps safely compatible with everything that relies on maps to actually be maps but not be required to do an unreasonable amount of work. But I'm tired, and I don't know what those tutorials are you were talking about, so I'm just gonna assume one of them explains some method resembling that.

[Snaku]

This is the tut dor adding them the proper way: http://files.halomods.com/viewtopic.php?t=42442 but unfortunately, I don't speak hex and if he explains how he found what he wanted to edit in that map, I missed it. It's like an example but without telling you what you need to know to get the information used in the example. I would rather do it the proper way, just to keep everything working properly and all happy and stuff, but if I can get away with using Glitchy's chunk adder without breakin slc, I'll just do that.
So, s'more questions: I read somewhere that you can only add seats to one vehicle in a map, and that if you try to add more it breaks it. So, I'm wondering: can this be used and still add chunks? Can you add seats to a vehicle and then drag it into another map with Insolence? If so, can you then add seats to another vehicle? Can I add a trigger to a weapon and still add spawn points to itmc?