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Time management is fun. For things that do not have deadlines, what I do is juggle them all at once, working on each one for a period of time. For work, try to be focused about what you do; you will need to set aside other endeavors and hobbies to give a proper investment in the scholastic matter at hand. Use your best judgment.

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Halo (game) Logo

How to make a multiplayer map for Halo Custom Edition, for dummies


Hello there, and welcome to another Jobalisk tutorial


Over the next 11 pages and using a variety of E-Learning methods I will be teaching you how to:

draw up, model, texture, manipulate, compile, test and finally publish a multiplayer map for Halo Custom Edition.


But first. What IS Halo Custom Edition?

Having made it this far, I hope that you would already know, but here's the run down:


Halo Custom Edition is Bungie's PC rerelease of its famous game Halo Combat Evolved, or Halo 1.

What makes this particular game unique is it is a completely customizable sandbox where users can

create whatever content they want using the HEK toolkit and programs such as 3DS Max or Gmax then

compile the content and play it in the game. examples include custom BSP's (3d models of maps), bipeds (IE, a Mario model),

vehicles, weapons, equipment, scenery (ie, a walnut tree), sounds, textures, User interfaces and much more.

To the extent that a user could create an entirely new and different game to run inside Halo Custom Edition's (HCE for short) game engine.

this is therefore an excellent starting point for beginners who want to get into 3d modeling, game design and the like.


If for whatever reason you wish to check out my main website, click here.

If you want to see a particular page of this tutorial, check out the site map below.


There is a lot to cover, and making custom maps can be difficult and frustrating at times, but it is very rewarding, that said,

turn the page at the bottem of the screen and we will begin!


Next Page 

References Site Map

Drawing up an idea


The first step to designing anything is to come up with an idea.

Before you even start modeling, you need to have a clear idea of what it is that you want to make.

The best way to start is by sketching up some ideas for a map on paper, come up with a basic design of the map.

The idea doesn't have to be flash, just any rough sketch will do, as long as it presents you, the designer,

with a good layout of what it is you want to do.


Below, you will see a sketch I have made up of the map I'm going to base this course around.

Sketch of a map idea

You can either choose to emulate this map (which is available for download in the final tutorial page) or create your own, the choice is yours.

Seeing as this is your first time creating a map however, I advise you to keep your map simplistic, the more complex the map, the more likely it is to become error prone.

I would advise you to make an 'artificial map' to begin with, IE, one without any natural features, as this will be easier to work with during this process of making your first map.


Objectives for this lesson:

1: Sketch up a design for your multiplayer BSP


Once you have an idea in mind, then you are ready to proceed to the next step and begin creating it in Gmax.

(or 3DS Max, but I will not be covering that here)


Introduction Previous Page Next Page



References Site Map

The basics of Gmax






Today we will be covering the basics of Gmax, a free clone of an old version of the well known 3D modeling software 3DS Max

Gmax is an excellent tool for BSP making, however it is still somewhat limited in what it can do for the Halo CE engine, for more features such as animations, use 3DS Max.

for this tutorial you will need a copy of Gmax, which I have a link to below.

Keep in mind the basics I have demonstrated in this tutorial, when making your BSP in the next tutorial.


Objectives for this lesson:

1: Learn how to use Gmax

2: Create band manipulate basic shapes in Gmax


LINKS:

Gmax 1.2 on Turbo Squid

You will need to register with Turbo squid to get a product key for Gmax 1.2, this is also free:

Turbo Squid Registration


When you are ready, proceed to the next tutorial where I will be covering making the BSP:


Introduction Previous Page Next Page



References Site Map

Modeling a Multiplayer BSP in Gmax






So, as explained in the video on the previous page, the 3d model of a map is known as a BSP (in Halo Custom Edition)

In this tutorial I will be teaching you how to make your very own BSP to use for your HCE multiplayer map.

Making the BSP is not an overly difficult task, the hard part comes later when we get to debugging it (or not in a best case scenario)

However, when making your BSP, make sure that you remember the points I made in the previous lesson as not following them could result in errors later on.


Objectives for this lesson:

1: Model the BSP you sketched in the 2nd lesson in Gmax


Having made your BSP its time to move on to texturing it in the next tutorial, when you are ready, turn to the next page:


Introduction Previous Page Next Page



References Site Map

Texturing your BSP in Gmax






Today we will be covering texturing and later UVW mapping in Gmax.

When texturing a map, it is important to choose textures that suit the map, and also textures that will not appear too stretched over an area.

Some textures are known as detail maps, they usually have the word detail in their names. These textures are not directly applied to the map, and will not function correctly if applied.

For your map, I would recommend a range of metal textures which can be found in the data folder of your halo CE installation, after you have installed HEK, available for download from the links below.

HEK is required for the rest of the tutorial and requires an install of Halo Custom Edition. Halo custom edition can be found for download in the links below, it requires a Halo 1 PC CD code, Halo 1 for PC can also be bought from microsoft via the links below. If you live outside of the US like me, I would recommend using Ebay where I bought my copy from.

When installing HEK, make sure to copy the chimp script to the scripts folder of your Gmax installation, also copy the gearbox model importer to this folder (link below) 
Objectives for this lesson:

1: Use the Gmax texture editor to texture the BSP you made in the previous tutorial.

2: Use Gmax to UVW map and scale the textures of your BSP.


LINKS:

Halo Custom Edition

HEK toolkit

Gearbox model importer

Halo Custom Edition Latest patch (1.10, May 2014)

If you are having any difficulty with installing HEK or any part of this tutorial, create a free account on the Halo Maps Forum here (see link below) and create a new thread in which to pose your question, answers are normally prompt.

Halo maps Forum

Another good source of help is the HEK toolkit which includes a wealth of information and tutorials from Bungie and Gearbox, Halo CE's creators.

In order to get a legitimate version of Halo Custom Edition, you need to buy the original Halo CE from Microsoft and use the CD key that comes with it to activate the game. Here is a link to the web page you can buy it from. (Note, this is only shippable inside the US, I bought my copy of Ebay.):

Halo: Combat Evolved from Microsoft 

With texturing done, we are ready to export and scale our map in the next tutorial:


Introduction Previous Page Next Page



References Site Map

Polishing and exporting a Halo Custom Edition BSP from GMax






Today we will be covering polishing the BSP, scaling it, and exporting it to HEK.

You will be needing the Gearbox model importer from the previous tutorial.

If you have an error saying could not find correct shader or something similar when exporting, then just hit the number for shader environment when it asks you.


Objectives for this lesson:

1: Scale your BSP to the correct size using the gearbox model importer.

2: create a frame in Gmax

2: export your BSP using chimp


LINKS:

Open Sauce V4.0.0


When your ready, the next tutorial on debugging is located on the next page:


Introduction Previous Page Next Page



References Site Map

Debugging your BSP






This lesson covers debugging the exported BSP and any errors that may occur.

There are various errors that tool will output, many of the most common ones are covered on the chart below:

Chart of Tool Errors


Objectives for this lesson:

1: Learn how to debug basic errors in gmax


LINKS:

WRL importer for Gmax

Halo Maps forum 

The next page will introduce you to Guerilla, Sapian and lighting:


Introduction Previous Page Next Page



References Site Map

Lightmaping, Sapien and Guerilla 






This lesson covers lightmapping, Sapien, Guerilla, and how to fix bad textures

most of what occurs in this tutorial is about lighting.

Lighting in Halo Custom Edition is devided into two types, sky light and source light. Sky light is that generated from the sky, where as source lighting has a source it is generated from, IE, a baton.


Objectives for this lesson:

1: Learn how to set sky, player starting equipment and level type in Geurilla.

2: Learn how to fix bad textures in Geurilla.

3: Learn how to lightmap your level in Tool.

4: Learn how to navigate Sapien.

5: Learn how to place lighting and scenery in Sapien.


LINKS:

Here is a link to HEK plus as mentioned in the tutorial:

HEK plus

You can use the search bar on the side of Halo Maps to look up the campaign maps for Halo Custom Edition. HEK Plus as far as I know only works on Windows 8 and Older, so you may need to run it in a virtual machine. I recommend Windows 7 or XP

There are links to tutorials in the help tab of HEK plus.

Here is a link to all the tags from the Halo 1 Campaign:

All Halo 1 campaign tags



The next page will go into more depth with Sapien:


Introduction Previous Page Next Page



References Site Map

A better look at Sapien






This tutorial covers Sapien more in depth and shows you how to place Player spawns, weapons, equipment, scenery and more.

Sapien is like forge for Halo 3 +, only a lot more powerful.

Although I've explained how to place objects in Sapien in a certain way, feel free to experiment. try different scenery in different places. change the color of the lights that were placed in the previous tutorial, change the weapons, select different ones from the list. (IE, rocket launchers, flame throwers, SMGs, ect)

What makes this stage of the design phase so interesting is that you have the ability to do truly unique things to the map and the resources that are amount of different sound scenery, try some of the others out. What is important is that the map is enjoyable for you.

You may want to experiment with teleporters, the teleporter scenery objects are known as teleporter shield and teleporter base and can be found in the scenery folder. It helps to raise them slightly above the ground using the Z axis text field.

One important thing to note however is to use sapien sparingly. the game engine has a limit to the amount of scenery that can be placed in a BSP, on top of that, too much in a small area tends to look cluttered, so keep frugality in mind while placing items into your map.

One thing not covered in the tutorial are vehicles. When placing them, make sure you select the multiplayer version of the vehicle before hand (non-multiplayer vehicles will not spawn), and select the game-modes you want it to appear in. I recommend simply ticking all the boxes under game-modes that they will appear in to begin with.


Objectives for this lesson:

1: Learn how to place various items in Sapien.

2: Learn how to correctly place player spawns in Sapien.

3: Learn how to set up flags for game-modes in Sapien

4: Learn how to place teleporters in Sapien.


LINKS:

Scenery on Halo CE mapping website

To install these items, simply copy the contents of the zip file they come in, into your tags folder (or if the contents has a folder named tags in it, copy the tags folder into your halo custom edition folder)

The Halo Map Forums


The next page will show you how to compile and test your map:


Introduction Previous Page Next Page



References Site Map

Testing your map






Coming to the end of this course, we reach the testing phase.

This phase is all about fine tuning, finding out what works, what doesn't, and how to fix it.

This phase can either be the longest or the shortest phase of the map construction. it all depends on:

A: What exactly do you want to achieve.

B: How satisfied you are with the map as it stands

The best way to make testing your map a short affair, is to make sure that your careful when placing items in sapien and think over the consequences before you do so. For example, do you really need two rocket launchers, when placing a player spawn, is that player a bit too close to the warthog, ect.


Objectives for this lesson:

1: Beta test your map in Halo Custom Edition

2: Learn the basic command set for Halo Custom Editions command line.

HINT: Press tab after pressing the ~ key to see all commands. additional information can be learn t from pressing tab after typing part of a command.



LINKS:

UI map files for tutorial -> Custom UI tutorial

The next page concerns uploading and publishing your map, when you are ready and happy with what you have achieved, go forth and upload your map.


Introduction Previous Page Next Page



References Site Map

Publishing your map






This is the final phase of this course, putting your map up online for all the world to see.

This phase is not compulsory, if you don't want to publish your map, stop reading here.

However, if you do want the rest of the world to see your achievement, then follow the video above.

While your uploading your map, you may wish to look at some other people's maps on the two website below (don't navigate away from the upload page while its uploading though.) Some especially good ones can be found under the art of Halo CE (link below)

It is important to note that the name of your map must be UNIQUE for it to be accepted.


Objectives for this lesson:

1: Upload your map to Halo Custom Edition Maps and or CE3.



LINKS:

Halo CE maps website submissions

CE3 submissions

The Art of Halo CE


Finally, if your ready, proceed to the next page where I'm gonna wrap up


Introduction Previous Page Next Page



References Site Map

Wrapping Up




Congratulations!

Having completed the previous tutorials and constructed a multiplayer map for Halo Custom Edition this tutorial is completed

I hope you enjoyed these tutorials as much as I did making them and I look forward to seeing more of what you come up with as you bring your imagination to life.

If you have not already, I highly recommend creating an account on the Halo map forums using this link:

The Halo Map Forums

Pay careful attention to any critique or feedback you receive on your maps, the best way to improve your skills is usually to accept when something could have been done better and improve your mistakes.


Here is a link to the final copy of my map Lone Obalisk:

Lone Obalisk


Introduction Previous Page 

References Site Map

Edited by sparky on May 15, 2016 at 07:20 PM

Quote: --- Original message by: Jobalisk
lol, yeah....