Can anyone please point me in the direction of a good tutorial that explains shaders and textures in halo and how to use them or just explain to me what they are and how they work.

As I understand it, when you export a map from 3ds max, it looks at the textures that are applied to the surfaces. Weather they are organized in a multi sub/object or are just regular standard doesnt matter. It looks at their names and finds a shader with that name and applies it to the surface with the texture mapping you did in 3ds max. My question is, do the shaders used for a map and their associated bitmaps have to be in the same directory as a map, or can they be anywhere under the main halo directory and it will just find them by name and use them? I remember reading that the shaders and their textures for one map might be saved only in that map and all the other maps that use them just reference them from that map.

My other question is, how do you find the shaders and textures you want to use in the fist place. Say I wanted to make a map with ice, and I wanted to apply sidewinders ice to my ice. How would I find out what that shader is named and where is is under the entire halo directory?

Also, a shader name doesn't contain any of the symbols used to give it special properties, so every time you use it do you have to name it with the correct symbole?

Oh, and would it be a good idea to just set up a 3ds max project with the material editor already set up to include most of the materials I'm likely to use in making maps, then use that as a start in making maps?

I'm just starting off and have a horrible understanding of these things, but I figure it's worth a shot to ask a question. If you do reply to this, thank you!
Edited by Vick Jr on Jul 3, 2008 at 02:06 PM

Shaders can be anywhere in the tags directory, half of the retail campaigns use shaders and various other tags from other levels.

When you export a map or model, if the shader doesn't exist, tool will prompt you as to what type the shader will be then the new shader (which is empty) will be placed in the tags\ directory.

Sometimes special symbols are built into the game engine such as the sky+, others like water! exist as an actual tag.

Check the names and bitmaps and properties of the shaders in the shaders directory of the map you wish to use shaders from.

So to use the proper shader in 3ds max, just find it's name by going to various levels in the tags directory (MP ans SP) and finding the names of their shaders, and for a visual representation in 3ds max use their base bitmaps?

Is there any way to find the bitmaps shader references or just see the shader as it appears in game to find out what it looks like or is it more like trial and error.

Oh, I remember seeing a chart somewhere that lists the campaign levels and their corresponding names in the halo directories. Could someone help me find that again? I forget where i saw it.
Edited by Vick Jr on Jul 6, 2008 at 06:49 PM
Edited by Vick Jr on Jul 6, 2008 at 06:52 PM
Edited by Vick Jr on Jul 6, 2008 at 06:59 PM

u can use guerilla to open shaders and then open the bitmap in the "base map" slot then u can view bitmaps.
the only thing that connects gmax/3ds max to the shader is the name and directory of the shader ( the name of the material must be tha same)

If I go to the shader directory under any given campaign level, it doesn't have the compleet list of shaders used in that level. Say I wanted to get the grass from the sp level "Halo". Where would I find that shader, it's name, and it's base bitmap to use for texture mapping in 3ds max? Will guerilla tell me all the shaders a level references?

Better yet, would anyone happen to have a 3ds max scene with multi sub objects already set up with the proper shader names and corresponding bitmaps? Maybe like a scene that is already set up to make halo maps, but just doens't have the map built yet?
Edited by Vick Jr on Jul 7, 2008 at 09:13 PM

OK. I'm trying to get the shaders used in the first half of a50 (Truth and reconcilliation), like the rocks and cliffs and stuff. I think I see the shaders in the tags\levels\a50\shaders direcory, but they have spaces like a50 cliff outer... what should I name a material in 3ds max so it applies that shader to it. And I still don't get how to see ALL the shaders a level revferences, not just the ones that are special for that level. Like I can't find ice or snow shaders anywhere.
Edited by Vick Jr on Jul 13, 2008 at 12:54 PM