PNGs, LOOK OUT BELOW



I apologize for spelling/grammatical errors.
All ingame images below have full resolution, feel free to drag them to a new tab.

Alrighty, I've been planning this thread for a while now and its about time I do this. Well yesterday was time but I accidently closed the tab instead of clicking post and the 2 hours of writing and re-reading this was lost. That ruined my day.

To start things off I made this for you!
http://youtu.be/ZtBVNBLsgi8
Elite voice WIP, its pretty bad I know.

There we go!
My project Heretic Hunt.
More info on this at Halo ce3 this year (hopefully)! hooray!

I created this thread mainly for problems I have had with no luck in finding answers. Well lets get started with these problems!

Collision Importer?
Now I can create collision on my own but does a collision importer exist? As in I want a .collision_geometry to be taken to 3dsmax. This would save some time If i'm going to make something like an attachment to an existing model that needs collision. That would save some time!

Halo 2 tools!
Lets be real here. Gravemind is really poopy. I've been using Gravemind 1.6b for years now and it crashes way more than it should. Anything related to 3d models doesn't work for me. Just crashes. Now with sound extraction it works well enough except with cinematic dialog. It extracts at x2 deeper pitch/x2 slower speed. Not sure why. Yes i'm running as admin. Perhaps i'm using an outdated version? Or Gravemind is an old school tool and something newer is around?

EDIT: Adjutant Now supports halo 2, great!

Animation injector
Now why does this offer the ability to inject more than one animation at a time but crashes if you do so? It works fine injecting one at a time but I find myself in a situation where I have dozens of new animations and injecting them takes quite a bit of time.

BSP conversion thing
How the hell do I do this correctly? ARKaMAN is the only one with a tutorial out there for this and he is ancient feeling. I'm I actually supposed to import the bsp so that the materials are all individual and not all under a multi-material? The tutorial tells me to manually re-assign each material into a multi-material. That is CRAZY, bsps could have dozens of materials and that could take hours. I'm I doing this wrong?

Ai Conversations
I've been using (sound_impulse_start <sound> <object> <real>) for both cutscene and game play speaking, and that seems wrong. Are these to be used for this? :



Lightmaps
Some of these take hours. Is there a pc setting I can change to have the time reduced maybe? I'm not sure how lightmaps work...

Making Game Types?
I see infection it played online.
Is there a tutorial or something where I can make game types? That would be fun!

Two Shields, One model
Lets just say I want a jackal with both a depletable shield and a depletable shielding system. Like an elite with a jackal shield. Possible? I know I can have permutation like that, it can be destroyed but it will not recharge. I want the shields to be independent of each other! Scripts can make this possible but I might have several placements of this unit and having a large script would suck...

Multi turrets that AIs would like
I know multiple turrets is possible through scripts but the AI do not want to get in with the player when the player needs them to.
(ai_vehicle_enterable_actors <unit> <ai>) isn't what i'm looking for, I want the AI so say "oh look the player, I'll get in with him on that extra turret". A script could solve this but I don't want a mass of units trying to enter the vehicle without detecting that others are already on their way to get in.

AI switching weapons or grenade types?
Is there a way to make a unit switch weapons? Do recorded animations support weapon switching? The actor will use the new weapon properly if I filled this in on the weapon right?

Perhaps the solution is just a "kill unit make new unit" script.
Now what about grenade types? One minute plasma grenade thrower, next frag thrower?

Script by biped/actor?
Now most of those problems up there could be solved by a script that references a certain biped/actor. Not specific as in "elite_02" but specific in directory like "characters\elite\elite_minor". That would be great to have. I'm not Kirby so I don't know how most of this stuff works.


Great read, BREAK TIME!
here are some wonderful images or heretic hunt content





Now that looks good doesn't it? I know, I looked in the mirror.


Sound_environment, Space like?
Is there a way to make the sounds muffled as if in a space mission?
This thing:

I'm pretty sure there are values with the sound_environment that will result in muffled sounds.

OS Flashlight Stuff!
OS's new scripts like unit_data_get_real can work with integrated_light_power (flashlight).
Now i this flashlight power a on/off or a percent of how much is left? If it is a percent then does 1 = 100% or does 100 = 100% or does this even work? I'm not Kirby so I don't know this stuff.

FP Flashlight Animation/ FP scripts
http://youtu.be/aRunaCu6hEM
CtrlAltDestr0y clearly had/has an animation for throwing the equipment. I've seen some version of OS that supported flashlight on/off animations. How do I do that? I've looked through animations and assigned the flashlight section with reload to see if I can play reload everytime I turn on/off the flashlight. Didn't work :( . Maybe there is a way that FP animations can be played through scripts?

OS 3.1 or whatever is publicly out
What the hell happened to normal detail maps? They seem to not work for me.
Now is boarding existing?
Biped boarding?
I was told boarding well held off for OS 3.1.1
It is strange that a new version of OS isn't out, especially after the new halo patch.

Changing Biped Speed
I found that this is a way to change a bipeds speed:

I've tried reanimating to speed up the movement but when the animation is about to loop the biped goes at the standard speed for a brief moment then uses the animations speed. Is there a better way to change a biped's speed? Maybe I animated wrong?

Vehicle with Legs
Biped boarding would solve this.
Is there a proper way to get a vehicle with legs, such as a mech, to have its legs correctly move? That includes feet on the floor when not moving. All i've seen are vehicles with legs that are actually wheels and it looks pretty bad.

Moving Camera in FP
http://youtu.be/11hMd4q_QCg
As you can see there the head of the person moves as he is doing things. Is this possible in a FP animation? I would like to make a weapon that moves the players head when playing certain animations. No, this isn't recoil.


Now that was a lot of reading wasn't it?
Well there is more! Here are some things I would like help with!

I need a list of places that involve halo custom edition, or places that I can use to advertise my project!
I've got:
Halomaps.org
Halomods.com
Modacity.net
Moddb.com
opencarnage.net

Places like Halowaypoint and reddit i'm not sure on.

Sword Lunge
I feel like OS would make this possible. I'm not Kirby so I can't do this on my own.

AI on Elevators
Vehicles to, like a scarab. I wish I was as good as Kirby.

A Loadout Tutorial Anyone?
I've seen loadouts in quiet a few places. Anyone willing to make a tutorial (video pref) for this? OS or not, I don't care.

Proper Jet Pack
I've done the cheesy damage_effect flashlight script to get a jetpack and that had its downsides. Anyone know a good way to do this? Seems like OS would have a good advantage on this, unfortunately my mind isn't identical to that of Kirby's.

AI Taking Cover
In other Halo games AI have been known to hide behind scenery/walls randomly like this:


Ok those specific ones seem triggered but I've seen marines hide behind boxes that are randomly placed. This would take a master scripter, I'm ok at it but not Kirby good.

UI Buttons and Functions
How do I make these? I want to have a prompt to come up with words or buttons, or I want to have an extra button on the pause menu that does things. Not sure how to do this stuff. This would go great with a loadout tutorial.

Elite voice tutorial?
Or a brute? grunt even?


Well there we go. It would be nice to have answers for those!
Now for some pictures and releases!








Now for some BSP pictures. Now keep in mind that heempy and I did this all on our own. We need a BSP person!






Now look at this! The plasma rifle's fins bounce when you walk and the fins move when shooting! Animations done by me!


This glues on pretty well. Probably gonna swap out the helmet for something custom later.





Here are some h2 grunts redone by me. I increased the texture resolution and redid the thing!

^ accidently missed a light on the gif. Don't worry its fine now.


Cool huh?

Wow whats this!


A permutation similar to the h1 grunts!!!





I'm gonna kindly release these grunts, They may be WIP but they are useable! The permutations are randomly selected like in h1.
Here you go:
http://www.mediafire.com/download/ctvd17a8bxam757/Spirals_h2_grunts.zip


Now I was sick of the ugly h1 sword animations so I re-did them! (Man, if only I had h2 animations, too bad I'm not Kirby!)




I'm giving these out too! WIP of course but still, free tags. The move animation needs lots of work. BIPED NOT INCLUDED.
Here:
http://www.mediafire.com/download/a85mku834sjrvzn/Spirals_better_elite_animations.rar


Now for that needle pistol I mentioned in the video:



If you didn't notice yet, this is very Planetside 2!

I was going to release the tag for fun but the thing is in a pretty bad condition.
You guys should make your own model/sounds and post progress here! Like a little contest or something! Winner will get something I will think of at some point.

For those who want to help here are my contacts!
xfire: spiral779

Skype: spiral.heempy (heempy and I share skype, I'm the one on it 99.9% of the time. Please tell me who you are.)

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/spiral779/

See you all at Halo ce3!

EDIT: How do I summon Kirby?
I once sent a private message. It resulted in this:

EDIT: Oh well I got him

Well I'm interested in Duel-Wielding
That is complicated.

Flags in FP?
It doesn't seem to work, anyone get to?

Edited by Spiral on Dec 21, 2014 at 03:03 PM
Edited by Spiral on Dec 21, 2014 at 03:08 PM
Edited by Spiral on Apr 18, 2015 at 05:03 PM
Edited by Spiral on Apr 20, 2015 at 08:31 PM

You can use AI conversations. They are under the AI section in a scenario. You can set them up to talk/stop talking when [blank] happens, ect. If you're fine using sound_impulse_start for what you need done, you're not going to get much of an advantage besides a headache trying to figure out AI conversations.

That was a fast answer, thanks!

I would love to help with shaders and models. Im already helping you with that other project xD

Good to see someone has finally made a man-portable version of the H2 plasma cannon. My only complaint with it is that the left hand should be supporting the weapon from below, like a conventional rifle, rather than above, since there doesn't appear to be any sort of grip or handhold up there. Perhaps the reticle from a Ghost or Banshee would be better-suited than the current Plasma Rifle reticle, considering this is a heavier plasma weapon.

The Needle Pistol looks pretty cool, too, but I feel like it needs more (possibly shorter) spikes protruding from the top.
Edited by Echo77 on Jun 30, 2014 at 07:13 PM

The HUD is just a placeholder, custom one is on its way.

The plasma turret does look funny, I'll play with that hand positions.

Needle pistol originally had fat chubby needles and like 6 of them. it was an ugly model.
http://youtu.be/-NcSB6k5nfU
Thats a year old^

Your'e needle pistol requires effects, I can do that.

Goodie, add me on skype or xfire, contact info at the bottom of the first post
Edited by spiral on Jun 30, 2014 at 07:45 PM

very cool stuff.

holy crap you're heempy?

TM actually had one, the tags might still be in TM Fracture

What the needle pistol really needs is more variety however you look at it. If you look at other needle-based weaponry, for example, note that uniformity isn't a thing. I think you need, as Echo said, additional spines and/or more randomness involved in their orientation.

@Higuy don't be silly TM doesn't do custom tags

heempy is with me.

As for the needle pistol it is difficult to have the needles do much as the pistol is so darn thin. If no one had noticed yet the needles are way thinner than average needles. the model needs to completely redone, maybe with the same design in mind. The needles do seem a bit strange I agree. Thank you for the feedback!

Now how do I have a flag appear in FP?
I don't think widgets work on FP. I'm probably going to have to have a bones in my weapon to have a waving flag.

there was a time when we almost did. advancebo had made alot of custom tags for us, such as spec ops BR, portable plasma cannon, and even a remote missle targter thing was planned for the end of lumoria when we had first started the project. anywho this isn't the topic for that.

these custom tags look pretty cool. nice to see you releasing alot of them too.

<herp>
Edited by BKTiel on Jun 30, 2014 at 09:26 PM

My first reaction: Halo 3 elite armor on halo 3 elites? Tihis is herecy! This is blasphamy! This is awesomeness!

My second reaction: RELEASES?!?!? OMFGWTFLOLBBQ

EDIT: my halo 2 boner is going off right now.
Edited by FrostyCyphereV2 on Jul 1, 2014 at 01:39 AM

I see a lot of cool stuff here!
I'm really interested in this project (I love the heretics), shame that I'm too busy for doing something for helping you :/ But I'll at least try to answer to your problems, where my knowledge allows me to do it



Afaik there isn't a collision importer. Banshee64 did it, but he never released it. Collisions aren't that hard, though... you can easily do them using a bunch of boxes, and link each bone to the adiacent box.



I don't know, perhaps the newest build of Adjutant supports H2 stuff, but I'm not sure. For cinematic dialogues, I'd change the pitch and the speed with audacity, if you can't solve that problem.



Same here, unluckily I never found something better than exporting all the anims and recompiling all together. There are tools on Halomaps that allow you to extract all the anims in a single shot, though



sound_impulse_start worked fine for me. The only problem is that you can't control mouth anims, but with unit dialogues you can. Btw, if the sound doesn't play with the script you're using, maybe you didn't set it up correctly when you compiled it, or maybe there's something wrong in the script.



Are you using tool or Aether? Afaik Aether is far more efficent...



When you set up a biped, there is only one shield vitality source. Unluckily there isn't the option for indipendent shields. But you could make the Jackal shield smaller and indistructible, like the Elite commander in Lumoria



If with "muliple turrets" you mean like the Scorpion in H3, what you have to do is making the turret as a separated vehicle, and attach it to the bigger vehicle via script. As for making AIs enter into the turret, you could leave them the freedom of doing it, or simply make a script that make a unit go into the turret, and if the unit is dead, make another unit from the squad do the same thing.



Ki11ahFTW did it with his Ultra Elite, making it switch from a Plasma Rifle to an Energy Sword, but afaik that's OS related. But yes, you can recreate the same thing using object_create and object_destroy.



I'm interested in this too...



I'm not sure about sound_environment, but afaik there isn't the option for changing how a sound plays in different ambients. The hardest way would be making the space battle a separated scenario in which you use special weapons/bipeds/etc. with already muffled sounds



Flashilight is controlled by power percentage, in a range from 0 to 1, I'm not sure, but definitely it isn't 100



Yes, OS can control FP anims, so you can use scripts for making a weapon play an animation. I don't know the specific command, though...



The next build is coming soon... it's rumored that it will come out with B30:E... or at least Masterz said that on the forum...



Bipeds speed is controlled by the movement of the root node in the move-front animation. The farther the root node goes, the faster your biped will move. Making the animation shorter can do the same. If you're messing with the player, though, you can change its speed in the globals



Even if you make it a biped, the animation system will be the same, so it won't change too much. Take the Scarab from Extinction as reference, if you're not doing it already



Yes, Teh Lag explained how to make FP cinematics and how to animate the camera. Check the CMT thread, there's an in-depth tutorial



Kirby told me how to make the sword lose its battery only when the reticle is red via OS. I'm pretty sure he knows also how to perform a perfect lunge.



Again, he knows how to do it. Elevators can be used quite well by AIs and the player, though. Take as reference the elevators in the stock campaign, like in b40. If the player doesn't have problems when he stays on the elevator, AIs should do the same (but firing positions will be a problem though)



Check Firefight Descent. It has a Loadout System, so you can see how it has been made via scripts.



You can make the jetpack movement as an overlay animation, and make it played via script when you press the flashlight button



Not sure, but afaik AIs don't consider sceneries as cover. Then only thing that you could do is place the firing positions behind the sceneries, but it will be a mess



You need to edit widgets. CMT did it with SPv2 d40, so check those tags



I don't have the time to model it, but I could make new sounds for it when I have some free time. Also, if ASCENDANTJUSTICE is making effects for you, I'd like if he did some fancy electric fxs for the Energy Sword too

Hope I cleared your doubts. Good luck with your project!
Edited by SOI_7 on Jul 1, 2014 at 09:12 AM

I have most of the Halo Reach Covenant scenery done, if you need tell me and around the time the Brazil World Cup ends I can upload.

^ I'll do that.

Thanks for the answer's SOI as well!
If you ever have free time I would love to have you on this project. I know your busy with yours as well.
Edited by spiral on Jul 1, 2014 at 12:51 PM

Looks good!

Very insightful 10/10

Oh I'm sorry princess were you looking for a whole essay on this?

you might find this useful
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=208yd4-Wz6s

Trust me i've looked at a lot of places. This is the closest one (to a h1 elite, i'm looking for h2) but I think i'm going to have to do the effect on my own with what I've learned from other elite tutorials.
Edited by spiral on Jul 1, 2014 at 06:06 PM

Because he is 12, the team doesn't even do anything, so I'm right at home. It's all talk.

Frosty please go away. you suck.

He does. I mean, he made Super Wacky Funtime, the most unfunny thing to ever be released on Halo Maps.

I tried again at the voice effect.

first come was first served, too bad for anyone that is just reading this. 12-21-14

I am no voice actor. I made up those lines as I recorded.
Edited by Spiral on Dec 21, 2014 at 03:15 PM

Wow, your voice acting is even worse then higuy. Dont even bother.

Oh, thats pretty bad.

It's half way there more growl.

Gargle, some salt for 20 mins. (coarse salt) it should roughen you voice. And do some oral exercises.

Not of the reproduction sort.

SWF: G is literally the most fun map I have ever downloaded.

I did some test lines for the lols https://soundcloud.com/zobi3king/elite-lines-1_test. Lines from Halo 2 btw.