HaloMods "Classic" Read-only Archive

At first I was a little miffed when I heard the new maps would be 360 exclusive. For one, I do not own a 360, but more importantly I felt this was a blatant attempt to further exploit Halo to drive up 360 sales. But my reservations have subsided, as I have come up with an interesting idea.

AFAIK, the 360 handles downloaded content for Xbox 1 games in exactly the same way the original Xbox did. In other words, it downloads the updates and stores then on the HDD, but it must do so in a manner exactly replicating that of the original Xbox in order for the 'hooks' to see and implement the content.

Also, I believe that the connectivity devices designed to allow a user access to the 360 HDD should allow us to extract the new downloaded content, when it becomes available. Theoretically, these maps should be identical to the original updated maps in composition, and should thus be compatible with Halo 2 when running on an Xbox 1. With the extracted maps, in their original packaging as an XBL update, we should be able to simply FTP them to the Halo data folder. It seems to make sense that this should allow us to view and play the maps as though they were normal updated maps.

The issues I see: The maps will most likely be signed in such a way that the original Halo XBE will reject them. It may be possible to resign the maps with a resigner, possibly allowing them pass the check. Additionally, the YELO trainer may allow us to boot the maps without ever even checking for the signature. Another roadblock may be that alterations to the emulation code for Halo 2 will allow the maps to run on a 360 and not on an Xbox 1 by causing some other fault or error that is allowed through the emulation code, but not by the unaltered Halo XBE running on an Xbox 1. A possible solution for this is extracting the map files themselves and adding them into the main menu as though they were on disc maps. A final and more drastic measure may also need to be taken if the other work arounds fail. This would entail extracting all of the map data piece by piece and reassembling them inside another map, then tweaking them until they look and behave as they should.

I can't seem to find any reason why we won't be able to get these maps up and running on the Xbox. Of course, I am not a map modder, nor do I have access to a 360. There might be something I am missing, or misunderstanding. If you see a problem, please discuss it here. I'm looking for feedback, and help planning the entire 'attack' as it were.

Of course we could be lucky and it might work right off the bat. I can't wait to try, and I also can't wait to see what everyone else thinks.

I already plan on testing this once they are out since it will mean new content for me to screw around with. Aren't they due out sometime in the spring along with the H3 beta?

i always thought they came out sooner, cuz remember how sometimes halo 2 would LAG. like you couldn't join anyones part or go into matchmaking. well i always thought that was because they where using up too much bandiwth to run both things at the same time.

also i think bungie will give a new update when the new maps come out. So i am going to un-mod my xbox just incase

What is the point of unmodding your xbox if the maps are only for the 360?

I dont believe there will be a problem getting these maps playable on the xbox1. Like you said if worst comes to worst just convert the bsp and other scen to another map.

These maps should be playable the same day they are released on the 360

i thought that the new maps would written in such a manner that only the halo 2 Xbox emulator on the XB360 would work and i think they might be laggy on a Xbox because I think they are made with better graphics and the Xbox cant handle them
but this is just what i think

Yeah I seem to remember Bungie saying it will be programmed differently than the origonal H2 maps.

turk645 wrote:What is the point of unmodding your xbox if the maps are only for the 360?

dude its bungie. They give a lot of updates, why not give an update all at once when the new maps come out. Who knows what the update could be. so just incase

They would say if they are giving an update thats more than just a security fix or network bug

Considering that bungie most likely is going to put in some diffrent code, or some security feature or map scrambler so the orignal xbox won't be able to read them, I don't think this will be as easy as you guys think it may be.

If it is as easy as a transfer then may be it.

But methinks not.

-Doom

we wont know till they come out. Anyone know a suposed month of release?

it comes out around the time the halo 3 beta come out which is spring

Meh, bungie themselves said they would like to get them to the original xbox, its just that M$ games, which is there producer, are fags and won't let them get distributed to the console which the game was meant to played on, and actually plays better on.

I doubt they would be in a different format, as they wouldn't be compatible with Xbox 1, and since bungie wants them to go to Xbox 1 they wouldn't have them in a different format.

if none of the above are posible im sure that u can ftp the maps and some 1 will make a bsp injection mod for people to play on system link or split screen

I'm glad to see everyone brainstorming on this. Obviously, I agree that they may attempt some sort of protection. I did mention it in my original post. I also agree that it may not be easy at all, but I certainly hope that it is.

I think that anything they do implement should be easy enough to ignore. Like I said, even though they can update the emulator with the release of the maps so that emulator will play the maps, they still have to make it compatible with the default.xbe which is on disc and unchangeable. They might be crazy enough to load the file and patch it on the fly before it hits ram, but I doubt it. And like I said, YELO alone might be the key, since it bypasses the sig check. Also, I think xbox7887 is the most knowledgable trainer writer, so I'm curious to see what he thinks. It might be that when we get the maps he'll be able to write a trainer that would allow them to play, if he is even willing of course.

As for the maps running slow on the xbox, they really can't make them more resource intense than the current maps because emulating an xbox isn't all that easy, even for a system with the specs of a 360. So I assume they would be just fine.

Just out of curiosity, can you use the disc swapping method to load modified Halo discs on the 360, and what happens if you replace the new maps on the HDD of the 360 with modified maps? I've never heard anything about it, and if these methods do not work, it might provide clues about changes that can or have been made to the emulator vs. an actual xbox.

i would say. lets get my 360 modded and ready for these.. maps. find out whats the protection on them and what not.. hmmmmm.

Halo 2, with the updates, no longer runs the xbe on the disc, it runs the xbe stored in TDATA. But I bet with the xbox emu, that they could call a xex, which could be halo 2 recompiled work seamlessly with the 360's hardware, but I don't think they do, cause frame rates drop at the normal times.

hm. maybe.

sD fZdf Sfasf asf(ignore this. i couldnt find the delete D:)

thats considered spamming, and the delete button for a post is the "X" button next to the edit button.