If you know the answeres to any of these questions, please, post. Or post a WORKING link to a tutorial.

UPDATE: never mind question #2 and the first few posts in this threead about it. I made a seperate thread for that question.

1When applying materials in 3ds max, I know the name has to be the same as a shader somewhere in the tags directory. Does it matter where the bitmap used is from?

2: Does anyone have a working link to download the complete halo tagset? The ghosts's original link doesn't work. I need them to open campaign scenarios and to get more shaders and skys and AI etc.

3: Is there a particular order of operations for creating multi sub objects and assigning them to a level? Like change the mat IDs first, then create the material, then uvw map it, or create material, then assign it, then mat ID the surfaces, because my multi sub objects never work.

4: Say I wanted the cliffs of my map to have be like the cliffs in a50. To do this, I would make some sort of material, multi sub or standard, name it exactly after that cliff shader, use halo bitmap extractor to extract its base bitmap to the same place the original bitmap is located (tags\levels\a50\bitmaps), then use that bitmap for uvw mapping, and it should work?
Is that the best way to use an existing shader? How would you do it?

5: If mutliple standard materials are applied to different parts of a single object, can they be uvw maped independantly or different parts of the map uvw independantly? Can this be donw with multi sub objects?

6: Is there an easy way to tell if a surface is less then or greater then 45 dgrees?

7: does anyone have any WORKING links to good scripting tutorials/references/info. or just sp map making in general?

Also tutorials on AI.

8: Can sound and weather be applied to a map with absolutly no portals? If so, How? (I know that when makeing weather, there's an option that sais "press SPACE" to apply to cluster or something but that doesn't work for me)

9: can portals and or trigger volumes be made by just making a box or boxes with normals facing inwards and applying the +portal material to them?

10: If a portal plane intersects a map to cut it into 2 sections with no holes, is that enough to make those different portals, or does it have to match up with edges or other portals?

Please answer all that you can! Inevitably more to come. Thank you!

Edited by Vick Jr on Jul 21, 2008 at 12:14 PM
Edited by Vick Jr on Jul 21, 2008 at 04:55 PM
Edited by Vick Jr on Jul 21, 2008 at 05:04 PM
Edited by Vick Jr on Jul 23, 2008 at 05:32 PM
Edited by Vick Jr on Jul 23, 2008 at 05:33 PM

1. If you're using a pre-existing shader, then no, you don't even need one, it should automatically find it if the directories are properly set up. For a custom bitmap, it should be in the data folder like your exported model file.

2. You can rip the original HPC campaign maps using HEK+, it is a bit time consuming but it works well.

3. The second order you gave is usually how i do it...

4. You could do that, place the bitmap in that directory, except that replace the word tags with data.

5. You can UVW different parts independently, i usually collapse the modifiers and repeat by selecting different faces and textures...

6. You could make a triangle with two equivalent sides and make sure its a right triangle, and use that for reference...

7. Kirby422 has some...

8. Yes, but it'll be for the whole map, including indoor and outdoor areas.

9. Look at the HEK tutorial http://nikon.bungie.org/misc/hek_tutorial. It shows how to make portals. Trigger volumes are made in sapien/ a hobo

Thank you! Mucho gracias!

I tried that tutorial site, but the only links that work for me are the ones that go to MAPS (here on halomaps.org). Ones that go to MODS, WIKI, or FF dont go to the tutorial, just to that main site.

Also, I have plenty of time. How would I use HEK+ to get every tag used by every level? Just go through every folder of every level and extract it to a temperary tags folder, then replace the original tags with that folder? (makeing sure to save my cuustom tags) Will that mess up anything?
Edited by Vick Jr on Jul 21, 2008 at 05:42 PM

Just extract the whole thing. Every tag folder in the map, such as vehicles, weapons, (all folders) add to the list for extraction and take em out, to your tags folder. You don't need to save that text file, and dont go looking for that as those tags, it isn't. I haven't used HEK+ in a while, so I don't remember how to tell it where to extract to, its in the options i believe.

The link I gave you is a tutorial in itself, showing you how to make a map from scratch, not linking to other sites. You're confusing it with the ghost's site.
Edited by Caboose117 on Jul 21, 2008 at 06:26 PM

Sorry, I thought it was the ghosts site. Still cant use half the tutorials there. Is the site you gave me different from this...?
C:\Program Files\Microsoft Games\Halo Custom Edition\HEK_Tutorial\index.html

Anyway, so i open up every map, and put every folder in every map on the extraction que, then extract them all at once? Wont I have repeats since every map has stuff like "vehicles" and those are all the same or something? Should I extract recursivly or not? What does extracting recursivly mean?

I know that someone has a complete tags folder with no repeats and everything set up correctly somewhere. I just dont know where...

Also, why is there a "levels" folder inside every map that contains stuff from some of the levels. Is that the stuff that map references from thos levels?


Hmm, I extracted everything in a10 and it seems to have set up my temperary tags folder correctly. But it's still incomplete. If I extract everything else from all other levels, will it automaticly extract to the right places and not repeat?
Edited by Vick Jr on Jul 21, 2008 at 09:54 PM
Edited by Vick Jr on Jul 21, 2008 at 09:57 PM

It shouldn't repeat, look in the options, if it says overwrite tags then make sure the box isn't checked, it will then skip those tags that you already have, and get new ones. Just keep extracting the SP maps, you'll get them soon enough.

And no, the site I gave you is just an internet version of the one that comes with the HEK. The same tutorial is on this site also I believe, I just have that link stuck into my head.
Edited by Caboose117 on Jul 21, 2008 at 10:16 PM

OK. I finished extracting all the folders in all the maps, sp and mp, from halo pc. They are in a temperary tags folder outside the halo ce directory. I've already backed up all the custom tags I have. Now before I replace the existing tags folder with this (hopefully) complete one,
I want to back it up. I tried moveing it to a temperary folder, but unfortunatly some program apparently had some a50 tag open, and it couldn't move it if it was open and it stopped, leaving half the tags moved and half of them not. Stupid, should have copied and pasted

How do I repair halo ce and restor the original tags directory so i can back it up? Do I have to uninstal halo ce then reinstall it or is there just a repair thing?

Wait, the tags directory is only used for map making right? The actual game doesn't use it, it has all the info it needs in the maps themselves. And, as I understand it, the data folder is where you put stuff for maps your making. Actually I din't know the perpose of the data folder other then puting jms folders to be compiled by tool to make maps.

Now 3ds max can't use the base bumpmaps of shaders for texture mapping. So if I want to use a shader and uvw map it correctly, I'd have to extract the base bumpmap with halo bumpmap extractor and use that? That's alot of bumpmaps for a lot of shaders. I'm sure that someone has made my life easyer by already doing that. Happen to have a link to any enviormant shader base bumpmap collections? If, not, I'll make it myself.

And thanks for all this help Caboose!

UPDATE:
Hmmmm... I tried opening the a50 scenario file in my new complete tags directory, but it said this..

"file_open('tags\ui\editor\markers\normal\normal.gbxmodel') error 0x00000003 'The system cannot find the path specified. '
07.21.08 23:50:33 couldn't open gbxmodel tag 'normal.gbxmodel'.
07.21.08 23:50:33 EAX: 0x00000001
07.21.08 23:50:33 EBX: 0x706C6101
07.21.08 23:50:33 ECX: 0x00BD514A
07.21.08 23:50:33 EDX: 0x00BD5149
07.21.08 23:50:33 EDI: 0x0012F2D8
07.21.08 23:50:33 ESI: 0x00000000
07.21.08 23:50:33 EBP: 0x0012F1B0
07.21.08 23:50:33 ESP: 0x0012F1A0
07.21.08 23:50:33 EIP: 0x7C90EB94, C3 8D A4 24 ?????"


In fact the entire ui file is different from the original. Should I combine the 2?
Not as bas as last time when it was missing nearly all the tags, but how do I fix this? Why are there things in the original that aren't in the new?

Update 2: Put that missing tag in, got a few seconds further before closing, now the debug sais...
"EAX: 0xFFFFFFFE
07.21.08 23:59:31 EBX: 0x00000002
07.21.08 23:59:31 ECX: 0x00A4E2F8
07.21.08 23:59:31 EDX: 0x00000005
07.21.08 23:59:31 EDI: 0x0C5EA000
07.21.08 23:59:31 ESI: 0x00000000
07.21.08 23:59:31 EBP: 0x00A4E30C
07.21.08 23:59:31 ESP: 0x0012F0E4
07.21.08 23:59:31 EIP: 0x005AB968, 66 8B 04 3E ?????
07.21.08 23:59:31 6F697461 ?????
07.21.08 23:59:31 00000008 ?????
07.21.08 23:59:31 EXCEPTION_ACCESS_VIOLATION"

WTF?

I tried opening one of my scenarios that I know works (worked), and, after restoring all the missing tags, am stuck at this...

"sapien pc 01.00.00.0609 ----------------------------------------------
07.22.08 00:37:20 reference function: _write_to_error_file
07.22.08 00:37:20 reference address: 401b13
07.22.08 00:37:20 Couldn't read map file './sapienbeta.map'
07.22.08 00:37:21 CreateDevice succeeded with refresh rate = 0
07.22.08 00:37:21 Sound card doesn't meet minimum hardware requirements. Disabling hardware option.
07.22.08 00:37:21 Increasing sound decompression buffer size to 1048576 bytes
07.22.08 00:37:23 the meter definition ui\hud\cyborg shield does not specify a stencil bitmap group.
07.22.08 00:37:23 the meter definition ui\hud\cyborg body does not specify a stencil bitmap group.
07.22.08 00:37:23 game globals didn't specify multiplayer information
07.22.08 00:37:24 WARNING: 1 clusters in structure_bsp levels\test\testboxmap\testboxmaptopv2fixed have no background sound or sound environment.
07.22.08 00:37:24 main_new_map() failed."

UPDATE 4:
Ok. I loaded my map's scenario and it worked...sortof. It still had these problems...
"the meter definition ui\hud\cyborg shield does not specify a stencil bitmap group.
07.22.08 11:52:04 the meter definition ui\hud\cyborg body does not specify a stencil bitmap group."
and the sky is REALLY screwed up. The sun and planet and clouds on the edges are fine, but most of the sky is just black and white...stuff. really wird. I'll try putting in a new sky. Then seeing if any sp levels work...

Hmmm.could be a problem. d20 is empty. Might have forgotten to extract its stuff. Extracting...

That explains the missing tags. I also fixed the hud thing. It was missing something in tags\ui\hud\bitmaps. But I still get wierd errors when opening mp maps. And ACCEPTION ACCESS VIOLATION when opening sp maps.

MP maps say
"EXCEPTION halt in \halopc\haloce\source\tag_files\tag_groups.c,#3157: #-1 is not a valid object_function_block index in [#0,#4)"



This is getting out of hand. I'm making a thread just for getting a complete tags directory. Keep this thread for the other questions.
http://forum.halomaps.org/index.cfm%3Fpage=topic&topicID=19474
Edited by Vick Jr on Jul 22, 2008 at 12:18 PM
Edited by Vick Jr on Jul 22, 2008 at 12:21 PM
Edited by Vick Jr on Jul 22, 2008 at 12:31 PM