Make your own customized campaign scenarios

[Kills Alone]

This is a simple guide I put together for Sod to modify AI and their weapons/vehicles on existing campaigns maps.


TOOLS:

Assembly 1.0.4817.30869 by Xerax
Download via OneDrive
~8.29 MBs compressed
RTE (Real Time Editor) & Metadata Editor
Download via Github

Ambiguous Alpha 2.5 & Beta 1.0 Pre-Release by Kant
Download via OneDrive
~1.83 MBs compressed
RTE, Metadata Editor, Camera mods, & more handy features like constant OS, very handy for testing scenarios and not dying
Download via Github

More Tools via H2MT OneDrive

Sod asks:

Hey Kills,
I was wondering if you would be able to help me with a modding question, regarding placing extra characters in the map? (like you have with you Demons of Mombasa test). I know how to increase the platoon size through Assembly, but how did you add specific characters? - You placed Grunts, Hunters and Elites. How do you do that, because the way I change characters is through Mr.Mohawk, so it makes all the Marines - say Elites, how did you do it so some are Grunts, Hunters, etc?
Thanks in advance for any information you can provide.

- Sod.

Its pretty simple, I am working on reversing the campaign, thus I need good enemies so I am adding ODST Green Squad as a mid level enemy just above a standard Marine and well below a Spartan. So first I write down the values for what I'm going to change: character & weapons, sometimes vehicles as well. So locate the palette for each inside of the scenario file, make sure you are using Assembly for this, or Ambiguous Beta. I am using Assembly as of late. Okay so here is what you will write down if you were modding Old Mombasa as I am now:

[offtopic]CHAR
0 - 14 (15)

0 Elite
1 Marine
2 Grunt
3 Jackal
4 Bugger
5 Hunter
6 Marine_Johnson
7 Elite Ultra
8 Jackal Sniper
9 Marine SGT - This is ODST on my latest mod
10 Elite Zealot
11 Elite Stealth
12 Elite Major
13 Grunt Heavy
14 Marine (Can this be replaced?) - This is now Spartans on my latest mod

WEAP
0 - 16 (17)

0 PP
1 PR
2 BR
3 SMG
4 SR
5 Magnum
6 Brute Shot (was blank)
7 Hunter Particle Cannon
8 Rox
9 Needler
10 Beam Rifle
11 H Turret MP Item
12 C Turret MP Item
13 Scarab Main Gun Handheld
14 Energy Blade
15 Head SP
16 Big Needler Handheld[/offtopic]


You use these values, the numbers; as in 2 = BR. These values will be different for other maps as each map has different assets.


Open Assembly as Admin, set always open as Admin from properties if required.

Once it opens go to Tools then Settings, under selected game set it to Halo 2 Vista, under Resource Cache Folder Path tell it where your default halo maps are. For example, mine is: C:\games\Halo 2\maps\

Once Assembly is setup open the map file, lets open 03a_oldmombasa.map, make sure to backup your original maps first, you probably know this.

Once the map opens select Tags view, then type scnr in the search, click the arrow next to scnr that appears, then click to open the scenario tag. Switch to meta editor view near the bottom center left-ish.

Scroll about half way down the scenario tag until you see Squads. The first is Johnson, 1st always starts with 0, not 1. Anyways, look at Johnson, lol that sounds wrong, see how his Count is set to 1, set that to 2 to spawn two of him, now change his Character Index to 0 to spawn him as two elites.

Last, set his Primary Weapon Index to 1 to make them spawn with PR (Plasma Rifle).

If you set the Secondary Weapon Index they will dual wield if their biped can and if the weapon supports it.


Don't forget to click save (near the bottom) and confirm it when its done. Test & repeat. You can leave Assembly and the map open, just don't poke or save while the game is running. If you need constant OS or 3rd person when testing, I recommend Ambiguous Alpha 2.5.

Adjusting these values with care makes for a much more unique encounter. It can be easy to lose your place if you modify all characters, so keep track of your major edits.


Sod asks:

Just another couple of quick questions:
1) should I be changing my character model through Mr.Mohawk? (MC to Elite).

2) how do I change the Elite's rank? (so I've changed Johnson into an Elite, but he's minor, so for example make him a Zealot instead)

3) how do I make it so the Elite that was Johnson, be friendly?

1) I don't recommend using Mohawk at all, its breaks maps pretty often, same with Gravemind. Change your character model from globals.globals aka .matg; A very powerful tag that you should get to know.


2) There are a few different Elites to choose from already in the character list; there is a drop down in that section, I think it controls ranks, its called Major Upgrade. If that is not it then you need to override it with an Actor Variant, find the variants for each character inside of the .char file for whichever character. Then set that below in the Squads sub section called Starting Locations.


3) Its all in that section, just experiment. Set Johnson's team to Player instead of Default, set enemy's to Covenant if you are not playing as a normal player.


Sod asks:

Just one last question, I promise I'll leave you alone after this one;
How do you know that 0 = Elite, 1 = Grunt etc etc, is it just trial and error? Just put a number in and see the result?
Thanks in advance, I'll leave you alone ~

I didn't explain that part very deeply.

So inside of that scenario file (scnr) there are Palettes. They contain various types of a specific tag, like all weapons. There are a few of them spread throughout the scnr tag, most of them are at the start, the Character Palette is below Squads, just a little scrolling down. The numbers are different for each map, thats why you make a guide first, to save time later with less guessing & excess scrolling.

The Palettes you need are: Vehicle, Weapon, Character, you already have the last two, but only for Old Mombasa. Locate the Vehicle Palette and write them down like I did in a text document, also, use Notepad++, way better then Notepad.

--

H2V Default Scenario Values: Character & Weapon Palettes
Values collected by Sod

Here are some notes that might help you from one of my other modded campaign maps:

Spoiler

Cairo Station ODP Campaign CHAR, WEAP, SCNR notes:
[offtopic]CHARACTERS

0 - 19 (20)

char - 0 - objects\characters\elite\ai\elite

char - 1 - objects\characters\grunt\ai\grunt

char - 2 - objects\characters\marine\ai\marine

char - 3 - objects\characters\marine\ai\marine_johnson - BRUTE 3&5

char - 4 - objects\characters\bugger\ai\bugger

char - 5 - objects\characters\marine\ai\marine_female

char - 6 - objects\characters\marine\ai\marine_odst

char - 7 - objects\characters\marine\ai\marine_wounded - JACKAL 7&3or4

char - 8 - objects\characters\miranda\ai\miranda

char - 9 - objects\characters\elite\ai\elite_ranger

char - 10 - objects\characters\elite\ai\elite_specops

char - 11 - objects\characters\grunt\ai\grunt_heavy

char - 12 - objects\characters\elite\ai\elite_stealth

char - 13 - objects\characters\cortana\ai\cortana

char - 14 - objects\characters\marine\ai\marine_dress

char - 15 - objects\characters\elite\ai\elite_zealot

char - 16 - objects\characters\elite\ai\elite_ultra

char - 17 - objects\characters\grunt\ai\grunt_ultra - HUNTER?

char - 18 - objects\characters\elite\ai\elite_major

char - 19 - objects\characters\marine\ai\marine_johnson_dress


WEAPONS

0 - 10 (11)

0 - weap - objects\weapons\rifle\battle_rifle\battle_rifle

1 - weap - objects\weapons\rifle\smg\smg

2 - weap - objects\weapons\pistol\magnum\magnum

3 - weap - objects\weapons\pistol\plasma_pistol\plasma_pistol

4 - weap - objects\weapons\pistol\needler\needler

5 - weap - objects\weapons\rifle\plasma_rifle\plasma_rifle

6 - weap - objects\weapons\fixed\h_turret_mp\item\h_turret_mp_item

7 - weap - objects\weapons\fixed\plasma_cannon\item\c_turret_mp_item

8 - weap - objects\weapons\rifle\shotgun\shotgun

9 - weap - objects\weapons\melee\energy_blade\energy_blade

10 - weap - objects\weapons\multiplayer\ball\head_sp


Longsword

scnr

AI SQUAD 107 2nd biped - 60.4914 -9.17941 12.06252 -1.003571

set Y to around -22.17941 and test
too much X causes crash


fix driver string and passenger strings?

fix boost speed more?

move hog turret marker a little forward, just a tad

remove flip bansehee string?

should take no damage


add to view distance when in camera mode

placement[/offtopic]

--

BACKUP DAILY
I really suggest making a backup at least once a day, if not more often, or you will screw yourself at some point. Just copy the existing modded map and paste then rename it, just add the date or a short description such as:

03a_oldmombasa.map becomes 03a_oldmombasa - Cov.Refresh.Biped.Music.Sky.map

This tells me it is a Covenant theme mod. Refresh tells me its a my second attempt, biped is mostly done, music is gone, sky is modded.

Or just append the current date.

 

[Sod]

Re: Make your own custom campaigns

I'm working on compiling a list of all the character/weapon palette numbers and what they represent for each map.
For example: 01b_spacestation.map

Character 0-19(20)
0 - Elite
1 - Grunt
2 - Marine
3 - Marine Johnson
4 - Bugger
5 - Marine Female
6 - Marine ODST
7 - Marine Wounded
8 - Miranda
9 - Elite Ranger
10 - Elite SpecOps
11 - Grunt Heavy
12 - Elite Stealth
13 - Cortana
14 - Marine Dress
15 - Elite Zealot
16 - Elite Ultra
17 - Grunt Ultra
18 - Elite Major
19 - Johnson Dress

Weapon 0-10(11)
0 - BR
1 - SMG
2 - Magnum
3 - PP
4 - Needler
5 - PR
6 - H Turrent MP
7 - C Turrent MP
8 - Shotgun
9 - Energy Blade
10 - Head

Hopefully these lists will make it much easier for people to get into making their own custom campaigns ~

 

[Kills Alone]

I could certainly use a set of lists with default settings. I have made others but they seem to have gone lost in my random notes.

Definitely post them here, that would make a great addition.

EDIT: Now I recall why I never made all the lists; the tools I was using (a few years back when I did a multitude of campaign edits) were not as good, Gravemind in particular would not always tell me the correct values depending on what I selected first in a drop down list and how many characters the first selected and second selected values contained. That was a fun one to figure out.

I've been doing some more work on my campaign mod and I finally came up with the best way to have the following enemies:
-Spartans variants - Boss
-Johnson ODST - Mini-boss
-ODST variants - Marine on crack
-Marine variants - Standard enemy

Meanwhile you have the full support of the Covenant with a some tweaks, Hunters will now support you longer with recharging health. A special Elite will replace Johnson, he is equipped with a unique weapon, he had to be trained how to use this weapon; the Big Needler Handheld, two of them.

Next I need to sort out some marine with the wrong helmet issues by specifying their Actor Variants.

Also need to add and test friendly Buggers. The first Bugger encounter is completely modified.

Many vehicles will be swapped as well, thus a Pelican is now a Phantom and vice versa.

Once I make a few more edits I'll upload a SPPF file.

 

[FtDLulz]

Thanks for the helpful guide! I (and others, I'm sure) appreciate it greatly :3

 

[Sod]

When I increase the amount of characters in a squad, say 2 to 4, some of the characters spawn as their original model ie; they were set to Marines originally, I changed them to Elites, but now 3 spawn as Elites and 1 spawns as a Marine. (I changed the settings in the squads tab)
Does this mean I have to add more starting locations? Or do I have to set the character/weapons, etc in the starting locations tab?

 

[Kills Alone]

Yes, the Starting Locations work as an override of sorts, so whatever you set there is or should be final. You cannot add more Starting Locations, you have to work with what is there by changing the characters, the weapons, the vehicles, the direction the look/walk, team, all that. One trick to forcing more Starting Locations is to duplicate the Squad members as you just asked about. First check how many Starting Locations there are, each is normally a character. So you take that number and double it.

So in the situation you described there must be a Starting Location set to override with a Marine instead of whatever you put above (Elites).

If you put -1 instead of a regular number, then that means null, or nothing. So -1 character would not spawn a character, this can be handy when you don't want characters to appear, however some scripts expect certain characters to die, then the next wave comes, so test often.

 

[UF ShadowTeddy]

This is quite the guide Kills, I'm Impressed!

Through this, players SHOULD be able to 'Make their own SP H2V Campaigns' (at least using existing maps.)