Halo 2 Project Cartographer Guide


Project Cartographer:
Project Cartographer is a mod for Halo 2 Vista that restores online multiplayer functionality as well as provides fixes and features to the game and implements community feedback to provide the definitive Halo 2 experience.


Setup:
To play, simply download the game installer from one of the links listed above in the Download section. This will download the Halo 2 Project Cartographer Installer.
Once downloaded, extract the h2pc_installer.exe and the .bin file to the same location and run the h2pc_installer. Once installed you can launch the game. If you do not have an account, create one via the in game menu and login. You will likely need to change settings such as resolution and graphics settings. To do this, go to the Settings option on the main menu and navigate to Video.
*Please note* that if you are using a high refresh rate monitor you will need to follow steps listed below in the Cartographer Advanced Settings menu to ensure your game is set properly to match your monitors refresh rate.

Cartographer Advanced Settings:
The Cartographer Advanced Settings menu is where you will find many options for customizing your experience. In this menu you can change more video settings, HUD settings such as FOV, Mouse and Keyboard settings, Controller settings, and more! To access, press the ` key or the HOME key on your keyboard. Alternatively, you can access this by selecting CARTOGRAPHER on the main menu and going to Advanced Settings.

Clicking any Reset button for a setting will set it back to it's original value that Halo 2 uses.

HUD Settings:
  • Field of View: Sets the field of view for your game. 78 is the default for Halo 2.
  • Vehicle Field of View: Sets the field of view for when in a vehicle. 78 is the default for Halo 2.
  • Crosshair Offset: This controls the placement of your crosshair. Setting this to 0 will make the crosshair centered.
  • Crosshair Size: This allows you to control the size of the crosshair. 1 is the default size.
  • Adjust Weapon Offsets: This allows you to customize the placement of each weapon in the game.
  • Hide in game chat: This allows you to toggle on and off the text chat in Halo 2 while in-game. Pressing F9 will also toggle this feature.
  • Static FP Scale: This locks the First Person model to it's default position to prevent it from scaling with the Field of View.
  • Show HUD: This allows you to toggle on and off all in game HUD elements.
  • Show First Person: This allows you to toggle on and off the First Person model.
Video Settings:
  • FPS Limiter: Setting this to 0 will disable the limiter and the game will run at an uncapped frame rate.
  • Refresh Rate: Set this to match your monitors native refresh rate if you have a high refresh rate monitor. *A restart is required after setting this.*
  • Level of Detail: This controls the quality of certain objects in game as well as the detail at distance.
  • Shadow Quality: This controls the graphic quality of shadows in-game.
  • Water Quality: This controls the graphic quality of water in-game.
  • Force Max Shader LOD: This will force shaders to be the highest level of detail regardless of the distance from the player. A restart is required for this to apply.
  • Disable Light Suppression: This will force lights not to fade out when there are multiple of them. A restart is required for this to apply.
Mouse and Keyboard Settings:
  • Raw Mouse Input: This toggles raw mouse input on or off.
  • Uniform Sensitivity: This will make the horizonal and vertical sensitivity match.
  • Mouse Sensitivity: Customize your mouse sensitivity with the slider or enter a numeric value of your choosing.
Controller Settings:
  • Controller Sensitivity: Customize your controller sensitivity with the slider or enter a numeric value of your choosing.
  • Aiming Type: Select your Aiming type. Default is Halo 2's native acceleration curve. Selecting Modern will allow for a smoother curve when aiming.
  • Deadzone Type: Select your deadzone type. Halo 2 uses Axial deadzones by default. Choose Radial for a more rounder deadzone or combine them with Both.
  • Deadzone X and Y: Control the amount of deadzone for Axial.
  • Radial Deadzone: Control the radius of the Radial deadzone.
  • Customize Controller Layout: Selecting the dropdown list will change what button does the action listed for it. Default button layout is required for this to apply.
Host and Campaign Settings:
  • Anti-Cheat: Use this feature to enable and disable anti-cheat. Disabling will allow yourself and others to use hacks and mods.
  • Enable X to Delay: This controls the ability for other players in your lobby to delay the countdown timer when starting a match.
  • Toggle Skulls: Choose from a list of skulls that each have their own unique effect in Campaign and Multiplayer. Hover over each skull for a description of what it does.
Game Settings:
  • Discord Rich Presence: This will display your in game status when playing Halo 2 on your Discord profile.
  • Disable Intro videos: This will stop the startup videos from playing when launching the Halo 2.
  • UPNP: This will turn UPNP on or off. UPNP may allow you to host a private match if you have not port forwarded.
  • Language: Select your native language that Halo 2 will use.

Custom Variants:
Project Cartographer adds additional game variants to Halo 2. These are played by simply creating a game variant with a matching name to the gametype you want.

Zombies:
  • Zombies is an automated infection game mode where Humans must survive against the infected. Humans spawn on Red Team with Shotguns and Pistols and can pick up weapons on the map. Zombies spawn on Green Team with Energy Swords and cannot pick up any other weapons while also having a slightly faster movement speed. The infected zombies must turn all the humans in order to win. If the humans survive the time limit, they win! In order play Zombies make a Slayer game variant with "Zombies" or "Infection" in the name.
OGH2:
  • OGH2 is a custom variant that sets Halo 2's engine tickrate back to 30. Doing this makes Halo 2 play the exact same as it did on Original Halo 2 allowing for things such as superbounces, original physics, fire rates, and button combo timing. This also removes the sword fly patch which allows for the original Halo 2 1.0 long range sword flying. To play OGH2, make any variant with the name "OGH2" in it.
GunGame:
  • GunGame is a variant that give the player a new weapon in a set order with each kill that the player gets. The first player to get a kill with all weapons in the cycle wins the game. To play GunGame make any variant with the name "GunGame" in it.

Headhunter:
  • Headhunter is a custom game variant that causes enemies to drop a skull when you kill them. Walking over the skull will allow you to collect it and score. To play Headhunter make a Slayer game variant with the name "Headhunter" in it.

FAQ:

Q: Is Project Cartographer open source?
A: Yes. Project Cartographer is open source and you can view the code on Github here: https://github.com/pnill/cartographer
Feel free to make a pull request or report an issue!

Q: Can I host a Dedicated Server?
A: Yes! You can find the Dedicated Server hosting guide here: https://halo2.online/threads/halo-2-pc-dedicated-server-setup-guide.3800/

Q: I created an account but I did not receive the activation email. How do I activate my account?
A: First, check your spam folder. It's usually uncommon but some email providers have been known to not accept emails from our webserver. Join the discord to request further assistance. Alternatively, you can use another email provider.

Q: I am having having input lag, how do I resolve this?
A: Make sure Vsync is turned off. Follow this guide here for more info on how to do this: https://halo2.online/threads/halo-2-pc-optimization-guide-for-fps.2922/

Q: Can I play on another OS such as Mac or Linux?
A: While we do not officially support these Operating Systems, you can find many guides on the Help section of our forums for how to play using Wine.

Q: Where are my game's configuration and account files saved to?
A: They are located in C:/%user%/Appdata/Local/Microsoft/Halo 2/.

Q: What ports does Project Cartographer use?
A: Ports 2000-2010 UDP & TCP are the default ports for hosting. You can manually change your base port in the halo2config file.
 
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