I am wanting to host a bloodgulch gametype, team slayer. Snipers that shoot tank shells. I never thought this could be done (extra damage snipers in bloodgulch) but there are games hosted now that do this. Apart from simple hosting, how would i approach the coding aspect to make this happen. (i know it sounds a bit noobie, but its good fun).

Sounds like a Halo PC mod.

ANYways, the easiest way to do that would be to change the projectile for the sniper rifle. No coding needed, just a decent sense of modding.

It still sounds like a Halo PC mod :x

yes, quite a few maps for PC have this mod happening. i was as surprised as you to see this happening. I have never done any modding before, so not sure where to start. Do i need a specific program to do this?

First question: Are you intending to use this mod in Halo PC, or CE?

Second question: Have you read this? http://hce.halomaps.org/index.cfm?nid=406

Everything you need to know is in that link.

the mod is intended for Halo CE. I assume that once i mod the bloodgulch map, then that is the map i upload onto the game hoster/server, then when players come in to play, my modded map sends the plays map instructions on how to load the weapons' ammunition type.

there is a clan called SmG that has done this mod for bloodgulch but they are unwilling to use it for team slayer. Maps with the mod lead to uneven gameplay due to the landscape of bloodgulch. Teamslayer fixes this. I used to play this mod a lot in chaosgulch in teamslayer, and it works really well, but making it work in bloodgulch is a better solution

I noticed that the HEK has several programs included in it. Which one of them will do what i am looking to do?

Not exactly. Every player who wants to join the server MUST have a copy of the map you made installed on their PC before they can join the server. The map file contains the all and any changes or "mods" you made to it.

i know it may be hard to believe but each player does not need to have the modded version. I have not downloaded a modded version of bloodgulch, i use the standard map that comes with the program. Their game appears in the same area as all the other blood gulches. When i join, the message comes up "Loading Map Blood Gulch" I can put some screen shots here if you like to show you. Or you can join in a game and see for yourself. SmG is hosting many servers, and there is anywhere between 2 and 5 maps playing bloodgulch at any one time. There are up to 2 maps with these "Power Snipers" One map starts up saying "Snipers shoot tank shells", another says "10X damage with Snipers" at the screen that appears while you enter play.

Again, is this Halo: Combat Evolved (PC) or Halo: Custom Edition (CE) that we're talking about here?

With PC, you have HMT, HHT and SparkEdit to mod things to your delight.

With CE, you have GMax/3Ds Max, HEK and HEK+ for modding.

If you're finding BG servers with PC mods in CE, most likely the people who host that server ported a modded PC map to CE (using a 3rd party program), and that is how they manage to have OP'd weapons without remaking a map.

Needless to say, those people are just inviting more and more noobs/pirates to come to CE because of their crappy mods.

It's definatly Halo CE. perhaps they have discovered some workaround, but i would tend to think that it'd be something available to most people, like a modding program, why would they spend so much time on making something work that doesnt have that much consequence. Also, it appears to be a large clan, and clans that size have strong policies on not promoting pirated or dodgy software http://smgclan.com/

Considering it's CE, then:

And when I said:
I meant the people that are, not that they're inviting people to do such things.

Seriously, why port a PC modded map to CE when you can easily remake a map with those mods?

I'd like to tell them to keep PC stuff in PC, but obviously they won't listen to one voice.

---

So, they're just modding PC maps with HMT, HHT and SparkEdit before porting them over to CE using a third-party program, instead of using HEK to do it.

Nonetheless, even when using HEK, you still need to save the map under a new name, you can't exactly replace it with a stock map and expect everyone to load it up the same.

The reason that it can't be believed is because it is technically impossible in Halo Custom Edition to be able to join a server that is running a map that that you don't have. Each map in Halo Custom Edition when compiled has a checksum that gets embedded into the map file. That checksum consists of a CRC of the file that includes the file name. That is why if you rename a map file it will not work in the game. If you make any change to a map including the name then the Checksum will change also. Before connecting to a server the client checks the checksum of the map running on the server against those in it's \maps directory and if one does not exist with both the same name and checksum then you can't connect. This is why we do not host maps that have duplicate names.

Halo Combat Evolved or the Retail version of Halo PC does not have that functionality because it was never designed to allow for custom content. With Halo PC you can connect to a modified bloodgulch with your unmodified bloodgulch but you can't in Halo CE. Halo Custom Edition was specifically designed to allow for custom content.


Edited by Dennis on May 20, 2011 at 02:13 AM

Although this is correct, you can have mods made to Halo CE. If you want to do projectile mods, just download this:

http://weare117.webs.com//Mod%20Tools/HHT/hht_v5.rar

This came from my website, weare117.webs.com, you can download this, and run small mods. Very MINOR things. Example:

bipeds not taking fall damage
projectile swaps
small things with bipeds
biped swaps

Other than those, I'm not sure what else you can do.

Thanks 117, this tool did the trick - for the Halo PC blood Gulch file. When i tried to mod the Halo CE file i got the below error message, it would not open. A bit odd as the program is titled for CE. Any thoughts on that one? Assuming i can open the CE file i want to apply the additional characteristics. Change the impact area from a hugh bright flash to a simple bullet impact, start with 100 rounds, reload every 8 rounds, not 4. Are these covered by the program?, if so what are these parameters called in the prog. After making the mod in Halo PC i created a game in LAN and played successfully with the mod. Be great if i could do the same for CE.

Again,What VXP gave you was HHT (Halo Hacking Tools), a Halo PC program. CE requires - I'll say it again, REQUIRES HEK to mod (at the very least). HEK+ is for ripping tags from maps and GMax/3DS Max is for creating the BSP (among other things) of maps (or other things).

HMT (Halo Mapping Tools), HHT (Halo Hacking Tools) and SparkEdit are only to be used with Halo PC.

Those clans you saw with modded BG maps have used those three programs to mod the maps, and then used a THIRD-PARTY PROGRAM to port it over to Halo CE.

Read this post over and over again until you get it. I will not repeat myself anymore.

For the sake of clarification I think we had better go over the nomenclature that you will find in this forum:

Halo = any version of the Halo game

Halo PC = Halo 1 for the PC or Halo Combat Evolved

Halo CE = Halo Custom Edition NOT Halo Combat Evolved

This forum is dedicated to the Halo Custom Edition game and user made maps made for it. It is NOT for Halo Combat Evolved for the PC or Xbox because it is a violation of the copyright and the EULA to modify that game even though people do it it is not acceptable here in this forum

EULA = End User License Agreement

You can easily do this with Eschaton.

The only reason i play Halo CE is because there aren't any mods like there are in Halo PC. Hosting 'Sniper Dream Team' type mods would ruin Halo CE for me and others.

ok, got it, thanks Chief, sorry, sometimes it takes me a couple of goes before it crystallises.

Oh FFS people, I have said time and time again that OF COURSE IT IS FRIGGING POSSIBLE, you just need a THIRD-PARTY PROGRAM to port it over to CE!

GodDAMMIT, read the bloody posts before making stupid responses, PLEASE!
Edited by UBE Chief on May 20, 2011 at 08:33 PM

Fine, fine, fixed. It's officially a "stupid" response, happy?

Nonetheless, you shouldn't have restated what Dennis has said. It's just redundant.

UBE Chief? Port? What?

You can open CE maps in the Halo PC modding tool Eschaton. All you do is find the weapon and reference its projectile tag = done.

Eschaton ports PC maps to CE and vice-versa, which is why I said that PC-like mods can be in CE, they just have to be made in PC, then ported over using a third-party program (Eschaton).

^Actually, I don't know if that's true or not, I haven't done PC mods in a long time - that, and I prefer modding CE maps the proper way - through HEK.

It can't port from PC to CE 'cause CE maps can't be loaded into memory.

Here's the link for Eschaton:

http://weare117.webs.com//Mod%20Tools/Eschaton/Eschaton%200.8.1%20win.rar

(again from my site: http://weare117.webs.com/)

Hope this helped!!
Edited by 117_VXP on May 25, 2011 at 09:00 PM

If your talking about sniper bullets doing more damage, is the server just running a sniper gametype where the players have less health?

I know this is a stupidly long time to go for a bump, but I felt the need to resolve it:

Eschaton can edit CE maps with no problem. The HEK compiles tags into a cache file (.map, duh, yeah, we know). However, once compiled, the values of those tags (damage effects, references, etc) can still be edited, without messing with the checksum or header of the map file. Since damage, projectiles, weapon placement, spawn points, etc do sync over server->client connection, it's possible to tweak your bloodgulch.map that is running to have different damage effects, or in some cases, swap the sniper bullets for tank shells. Since the change is on the server, the client map can join (the checksums match, headers, too), and the extra damage will be there, but everything will "look" normal.

Please don't bring the plague that is Halo PC server-side mods to Halo CE. For the love of God PLEASE I used to hate that - joining a server only to find Blood Gulch modded to hell with snipers shooting tanks shells and random, unmarked teleporters everywhere.

Please.

Calm down man. When you have CSS mods on a default map it is lot easier to get players on your map since they don't have to go hunting for a map download. I did it sometimes by baiting 16 players into a blood gulch match and then I would change bloodgulch.map before the next round to have a slightly different game layout.

By "slightly different game layout" are you referring to re-positioned players spawns/weapon spawns/vehicle spawns? Maybe with a little change in the teleporters?

That's all fine and dandy, but when it comes to joining a server and the snipers are shooting rockets and the rockets are shooting snipers and vehicles have 2x speed, we're not talking about a "slightly different game layout."

Plus, by promoting this kind of mod, less emphasis is put on downloading new maps/content. These server-based mods are a product of the limitations of Halo PC.

So, if the goal is to gain your map/mod some exposure, I recommend promoting HAC or OS for the auto-downloads, instead of tricking players into playing your blood gulch mod. Out of the 16 players you tricked, the majority of them will leave anyway because it probably wasn't clear that they were joining a modded server, and most people don't want the rug pulled out from under them like that.

And I am very calm. However, the potential threat of an influx of crummy blood gulch mods akin to the current Halo PC scene is quite frankly very alarming and in my opinion ought to be snuffed quickly.

Hey buddy I'm right there with ya, I hate 'em, and find them a plague. However, I was just clearing up the misinformation in this thread up to date.

Yeah I know, I was replying more to the posts before you (which I didn't realize were so old) -_-

Ha the bloodgulch moded halo pc maps with tank rounds, i joined one around 07 or 08 can't remember the date.
The server name i think was Alb Blacks. Pretty annoying getting stuck constantly killed in your own base,
But being on red team had the advantage of the hill beside the teleporter.