The Dark Art Of Modding

xzodia · Post by **xzodia** » Tue Jun 19, 2007 3:43 pm

I hate to be negative from the beginning but I don't expect this to really take off....worth a shot though

The aim of this is to create a noob friendly guide to inner working of modding i.e. not a step by step guide to a specific goal but an open-ended view of what can only be referred to as "modding theroy"

Hopefully this will allow new comers to learn faster and produce better mods instead of the "l33t" minutes mods that have been dirtying the downloads forum lately (as of 20/6/07)

i cant think of anything more to say on this atm, so discuss...

Edit Again:

Website: http://darkart.pheonic.co.uk

Edit:

Contents :-

I. Introduction (Overview)
II. Setting Up
III. First Principles (Hex)
IV. Tag Structure
- --i.Tag Classes
  --ii.Tags
V. Meta
- --i. Numerical
  --ii. Dependancies
  --iii. StringIDs
  --iv. Reflexives and Chunks
  --v. Other
VI. Raw Data
VII. Plugins
:
Appendix
- --Map Format Layout
  --Modding Dictionary
  --Yelo Controls
  --Online References

Th2mods · Post by **Th2mods** » Tue Jun 19, 2007 3:46 pm

there needs to be a modding dictionary. like to discribe what each action is/does. this was started a while back. search for it

xzodia · Post by **xzodia** » Tue Jun 19, 2007 3:48 pm

this isnt a dictionary, however it may contain an appendix

Th2mods · Post by **Th2mods** » Tue Jun 19, 2007 3:52 pm

xzodia wrote:this isnt a dictionary, however it may contain an appendix

you cant have a guid to modding without a modding dictionary

xzodia · Post by **xzodia** » Tue Jun 19, 2007 3:57 pm

Th2mods wrote:
xzodia wrote:this isnt a dictionary, however it may contain an appendix
you cant have a guid to modding without a modding dictionary

hense the appendix

Ultamis · Post by **Ultamis** » Tue Jun 19, 2007 4:00 pm

Make sure to define what tags can be inter changed,like "you can change a warthog to any bloc,scen,weap,equip but not mode,hlmt,shad,sky"

Stuff like that can confuse newbies,I know I tried to swap a few projs with bsps before

Ultamis · Post by **Ultamis** » Tue Jun 19, 2007 4:00 pm

woops double post

-DeToX- · Post by **-DeToX-** » Tue Jun 19, 2007 4:01 pm

Before I quit I plan on making a HUGE book from everything describing each tag, to describing techniques, to make structure, and all, everything about halo there really is.

Dragonfire · Post by **Dragonfire** » Tue Jun 19, 2007 5:01 pm

Halo 2 Modding: The Complete Unofficial Guide

....or something like that, lol.

but yeah i like this idea, but maybe it would be better if each person took one part of the dictionary, say like the first things of getting H2 from xbox to PC and such, maybe even a picture guide would be nice too. But yes this sounds like it could be a very cool thing to have. There are still some things i dont even understand, but yeah this sounds good, where do we start?

xzodia · Post by **xzodia** » Fri Jun 22, 2007 1:53 pm

updated with a proposed contents (just a start, im sure theres plently more that can go in there)

Prey · Post by **Prey** » Fri Jun 22, 2007 2:32 pm

psst, its 'theory' =x

-DeToX- wrote:Before I quit I plan on making a HUGE book from everything describing each tag, to describing techniques, to make structure, and all, everything about halo there really is.

Errr, or you could just do it now >_>

Should have really happened much much earlier really, but because the community was so divided (and still is) i can see why it didn't (hopefully something that wont happen with halo3). Regardless, you have my full support.

That dictionary can be found HERE.. although the whole topic seems to have died after i posted lol. Anyways i definitely think map structure should be discussed, as well understanding how programs do actually edit.. and definitely 'hex'.

I would go more in-depth but i cba atm. Oh well, theres always tomorrow..

eternal · Post by **eternal** » Fri Jun 22, 2007 2:43 pm

Ultamis wrote: I tried to swap a few projs with bsps before

You're not the only one.

Well I think the dictionary should be first, because if a noob starts reading 'How to swap a bsp' He will be like 'well WTF is a BSP?'
*skips to next chapter*

So ya. Thats my thoughts.

xzodia · Post by **xzodia** » Fri Jun 22, 2007 2:47 pm

i just had a thought...what if i make a forum specifically for this? would people be will to go there on a regular basis and contribute something? say at least once a week...preferably more...

edit:

eternal wrote:
Ultamis wrote: I tried to swap a few projs with bsps before
You're not the only one.

Well I think the dictionary should be first, because if a noob starts reading 'How to swap a bsp' He will be like 'well WTF is a BSP?'
*skips to next chapter*

So ya. Thats my thoughts.

i keep that in mind when i wrote the contents, the point of this isnt a load of tutorials its how modding works and how to best apply it, if you get what i mean
and the appendix is there to be looked at when the reader is unsure of a term such as bsp, and should be updated as the rest of the 'book' is written to ensure all terms are covered

smokey · Post by **smokey** » Fri Jun 22, 2007 3:05 pm

-DeToX- wrote:Before I quit I plan on making a HUGE book from everything describing each tag, to describing techniques, to make structure, and all, everything about halo there really is.

No...dont quit

.

eternal · Post by **eternal** » Fri Jun 22, 2007 3:30 pm

^ wut he said

Prey · Post by **Prey** » Sat Jun 23, 2007 6:37 am

Here, i started it off - I'll add more in later, and of course feel free to add your 2 cents in; just make sure its informative and you actually know what your talking about, otherwise it defeats the point.

http://www.homebrewgames.co.uk/halo2/Th ... odding.doc
Spell checker doesn't seem to like 'our' terms, so to turn it off: Tools -> Spelling and Grammer -> Options -> Hide spelling errors in this document.

Edit: Document updated slightly.

-DeToX- · Post by **-DeToX-** » Sat Jun 23, 2007 8:21 am

I think you should explain tables too.
Heres a list.

http://halo-forge.net/DeToX/Map%20Layout.txt
If you see two items on one line (Model 1 & 2, or Unicode Table & Unicode Table) it means that they jump back and forth(Example: Model 1 then Model 2, then Model 1 again, etc).

Also Prey I wouldn't want to do it now, I've back tracked on some work I've been doing and I need to catch up now.

JacksonCougAr · Post by **JacksonCougAr** » Sat Jun 23, 2007 8:33 am

lolz; love the elite one but the MC...'eh...

Prey · Post by **Prey** » Sat Jun 23, 2007 12:16 pm

-DeToX- wrote:I think you should explain tables too.
Heres a list.

http://halo-forge.net/DeToX/Map%20Layout.txt
If you see two items on one line (Model 1 & 2, or Unicode Table & Unicode Table) it means that they jump back and forth(Example: Model 1 then Model 2, then Model 1 again, etc).

Definitely explain the map structure yes. Btw you realise the eof map padding, and yet not the index padding

-DeToX- wrote:Also Prey I wouldn't want to do it now, I've back tracked on some work I've been doing and I need to catch up now.

I didnt mean write the whole thing, i meant contribute to this project right now, and look, your already doing it

JacksonCougAr wrote:lolz; love the elite one but the MC...'eh...

Eh?

Also, i'm just finishing up writing the 'Hex' part, so i should be posting that soon, unless i get carried away =x

xzodia · Post by **xzodia** » Sat Jun 23, 2007 1:08 pm

i really want to keep this in as plain english as possible and have different sections on separate pages, also it looks a lot better with the margines set to 1cm >_>
i think it would be better to just write the text and format it all when its finished

So, if you write a section please upload it in as a simple text document (txt) called:

[Name of Section Here].txt

then i'll put the link in the table of contents in the 1st post