The Background
My name is pika. Years ago I used to love modding Halo 2 on my original Xbox. I never had any desire to cheat in online games, and I highly doubt I ever will in the future. I edited Halo in ways that I found to be incredibly fun. I crafted what I like to call "amateur mods". My mods weren't difficult or particularly impressive, but to me they were a fantastic artistic customization outlet. I modded a handful of maps in a similar fashion and became incredibly pleased with the results. The premise behind my changes was to make the experience more intense and wild. My alterations made the game play a bit more like Unreal Tournament. Faster running, higher jumping, and massive changes to every weapon. My idea was that if all of the weapons are totally different superweapons, it'll make the game more ridiculous AND easier for new players to get kills. My friends and I had incredible times playing my modded maps. Below are two videos that showcase the mods I made.
The videos were recorded with a camera pointing at a TV playing splitscreen, so the quality is a tad rough.
Rooster Teeth MN - Modded Colossus [Part 1]
Rooster Teeth MN - Modded Colossus [Part 2]
Nothing too dazzling, but I'm extra proud of what I built from my creativity.
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The Help I'm Requesting
As the thread title suggests I'm looking to make mods again. The trouble is, I'm finding it much harder to find tutorials in recent years. Even though the hex editing tools are more powerful today, I'm having a difficult time educating myself on what I want to accomplish. I'm going to state exactly what I'm wishing to do and I'm hoping someone can either answer me directly or simply point me in the direction of some forums that have the content I'm seeking. I am in dire need of information resources and Google searches aren't giving me great results.
First and Foremost - I want to mod in ways that are completely acceptable by the H2PC developers. I have zero desire to cheat. I'd hate to get banned from playing this game online when I so deeply love the vanilla experience. Please only guide me in ways that won't be flag me as violating the agreed terms.
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1) Modifying Multiplayer Maps
I have no issue editing single player maps in Assembly. It's cool and neat practice, but this practice will never help me realize my end goals. I don't understand how to edit the multiplayer maps like the single player maps. I'd like to be able to make multiplayer mods that can be played with my friends in a LAN style. I can't even work my way up to getting my mods to work across multiple computers with my present understanding. Unlike in single player maps - I have zero clue how to do a simple weapon projectile swap on my own machine for the multiplayer maps.
2) Ethically Sharing Modded Maps
If someone helps me with Part 1, I believe I could easily share .map files with a friend for LAN play. Beyond that, I'd like to know how I could share a modded map with someone to play in an online setting. From what I understand - mods are acceptable online as long as it's in a custom game AND has "mod" somewhere in the gametype title. When I modded back in high school, putting a .map file on a file sharing service was illegal ( unmodified or modded ) because it was considered copyrighted content. To properly share modded maps across the internet, patch files were used. If patch files are still today's mod sharing convention, I desire a tutorial/instructions on how to create them. Other than the game servers, is there a ideal site or hosting service currently used for sharing maps?
3) Hosting of Custom Maps on a Dedicated Server
I use the term "Custom Map" loosely, because I don't intend to build my own levels with geometry different than what Bungie designed. I've seen many tutorials on how to set up a dedicated Project Cartographer server, so I think I'll be ok in that department once I'm ready to deploy. I suppose what I need help with is editing maps so that they are compatible with network play. I'd like to know what sorts of changes create issues with synchronization. I'd like to know what are common errors associated with custom Halo 2 content on a network. Once that future of a dedicated server becomes real, I'd like tips on what keeps a server stable and well managed. I frankly don't even know if I currently have hardware that would support running a Halo 2 server. I am extra curious what the possibilities are of getting one of my modded maps hosted on someone else's server. What makes a modded map play well in an online environment?
---
The main thing I'd like help with is Part 1. Any feedback helps. Thanks for reading.
My name is pika. Years ago I used to love modding Halo 2 on my original Xbox. I never had any desire to cheat in online games, and I highly doubt I ever will in the future. I edited Halo in ways that I found to be incredibly fun. I crafted what I like to call "amateur mods". My mods weren't difficult or particularly impressive, but to me they were a fantastic artistic customization outlet. I modded a handful of maps in a similar fashion and became incredibly pleased with the results. The premise behind my changes was to make the experience more intense and wild. My alterations made the game play a bit more like Unreal Tournament. Faster running, higher jumping, and massive changes to every weapon. My idea was that if all of the weapons are totally different superweapons, it'll make the game more ridiculous AND easier for new players to get kills. My friends and I had incredible times playing my modded maps. Below are two videos that showcase the mods I made.
The videos were recorded with a camera pointing at a TV playing splitscreen, so the quality is a tad rough.
Rooster Teeth MN - Modded Colossus [Part 1]
Rooster Teeth MN - Modded Colossus [Part 2]
Nothing too dazzling, but I'm extra proud of what I built from my creativity.
---
The Help I'm Requesting
As the thread title suggests I'm looking to make mods again. The trouble is, I'm finding it much harder to find tutorials in recent years. Even though the hex editing tools are more powerful today, I'm having a difficult time educating myself on what I want to accomplish. I'm going to state exactly what I'm wishing to do and I'm hoping someone can either answer me directly or simply point me in the direction of some forums that have the content I'm seeking. I am in dire need of information resources and Google searches aren't giving me great results.
First and Foremost - I want to mod in ways that are completely acceptable by the H2PC developers. I have zero desire to cheat. I'd hate to get banned from playing this game online when I so deeply love the vanilla experience. Please only guide me in ways that won't be flag me as violating the agreed terms.
---
1) Modifying Multiplayer Maps
I have no issue editing single player maps in Assembly. It's cool and neat practice, but this practice will never help me realize my end goals. I don't understand how to edit the multiplayer maps like the single player maps. I'd like to be able to make multiplayer mods that can be played with my friends in a LAN style. I can't even work my way up to getting my mods to work across multiple computers with my present understanding. Unlike in single player maps - I have zero clue how to do a simple weapon projectile swap on my own machine for the multiplayer maps.
2) Ethically Sharing Modded Maps
If someone helps me with Part 1, I believe I could easily share .map files with a friend for LAN play. Beyond that, I'd like to know how I could share a modded map with someone to play in an online setting. From what I understand - mods are acceptable online as long as it's in a custom game AND has "mod" somewhere in the gametype title. When I modded back in high school, putting a .map file on a file sharing service was illegal ( unmodified or modded ) because it was considered copyrighted content. To properly share modded maps across the internet, patch files were used. If patch files are still today's mod sharing convention, I desire a tutorial/instructions on how to create them. Other than the game servers, is there a ideal site or hosting service currently used for sharing maps?
3) Hosting of Custom Maps on a Dedicated Server
I use the term "Custom Map" loosely, because I don't intend to build my own levels with geometry different than what Bungie designed. I've seen many tutorials on how to set up a dedicated Project Cartographer server, so I think I'll be ok in that department once I'm ready to deploy. I suppose what I need help with is editing maps so that they are compatible with network play. I'd like to know what sorts of changes create issues with synchronization. I'd like to know what are common errors associated with custom Halo 2 content on a network. Once that future of a dedicated server becomes real, I'd like tips on what keeps a server stable and well managed. I frankly don't even know if I currently have hardware that would support running a Halo 2 server. I am extra curious what the possibilities are of getting one of my modded maps hosted on someone else's server. What makes a modded map play well in an online environment?
---
The main thing I'd like help with is Part 1. Any feedback helps. Thanks for reading.