Well, im not new to te forums, but i decided to create an account just now, and im very new in the modding of Halo CE. Inspired by projects like Project Lumoria or Takedown, i wanted to create my own mod for Halo Ce. Now, i have a very big plan in my head, i have characters, weapon list, chapters, etc. But before doing anything that complicated, i want to start with the basics. The first chapter takes place on the map Infinity (of course, edited for a more lineal single player experience) but i dont know what to do, the tutorials that come with HEK are confusing me more than what they are helping. I have some questions that i havent found any information on the web, i can find tutorial for the rest myself:
1: How i open the infinity map? like erasing everything multiplayer, etc, and with what program?
2: If i want to add weapons from different tagsets, for example, i want to use the Battle Rifle from TSC:E, but i also want to use a Halo 3 Carbine Tag, will the hands be different for each viewmodel? or there is a separate hands model?
3: I NEED the original HaloCE bipeds extracted from a default map if i want to add AI? or i can just download the TSC:E tagset, add the elites tags and start adding them to the level?
4: Gmax is used only to make/edit bsp or i NEED to have in case i want to use a map?
Thats all for now, i will ask more if i need to know something else.
(Sorry if this sounds like a random "Johnlex" map with random tags over here and there, but i my knoledge is next to nothing in regards to modding Haloce, i want to start with the basics).
*EDIT* I checked again and apparently i mixed Gmax with 3D Studio Max, just in case
Edited by StarCrafty22 on Jun 4, 2016 at 09:45 PM

1. to open infinity make sure you extracted the map by using HEK and then to open it you need to use sapien.

2. The hands will be the same for each viewmodel if you want to change them you have to use guerilla to open if you already have the basic single player tag set already .globels you can change a lot of stuff in globels.

3. You just need to download the single player tag set and you are good to go. You can use the TSC:E but you need open sauce or you can download a non-os version like I did.

4. I haven't touch anything with gmax so I really don't know.

Um, i downloaded HEK a while ago but realized now that HEK itself wasnt anywhere, i mean, there is sapien, tool, guerilla, blitzkrieg, but not hek, is it in a special folder? Then i went to download HEK Plus from Halomaps and this one gets frozen a couple of seconds whenever i open a window (like with right click a file, or click one of the tabs) but i managed to get it to extract the files, but the problem is, it extracts like only 3 file regarding to weapon tags, and then it just stops. Maybe its an old version but i dont know. What can i do?
Edited by StarCrafty22 on Jun 4, 2016 at 10:42 PM

Try redownloading HEK plus on this website you also need to download the single player tag set too

For hek+ you need to right click on it and under compatability disable desktop composition. It causes those freezeups

If you want a certain tag from a map then you open it in hek+, find the tag you want if its a weapon it will be labled as a .weapon. right click and add to the que. Then click extract. It should get every file nessecary to use the tag. Careful though as it does sometimes corrupt tags so you should keep a backups folder.

Okay, thanks for the answers! Just a couple of more questions and it should be done for the moment:
1 What tags or what files from the .map file are the map's bsp? i searched around the folders when i opened it with Hek+, but im not sure.

2 Can you post a link to the topic/page where i can get the singleplayer tagset? Please?

*Edit* (minor grammatical errors i wanted to fix)
Edited by StarCrafty22 on Jun 5, 2016 at 10:07 AM

I can help you with how to set up encounters, helpt to model bsp's and some scripting.

-You can do amazing SP using the stock tag set... Usually they are better, with exeption of CMT, Heretic hunt and Takedown.
Edited by Halonimator on Jun 5, 2016 at 12:10 PM

Really? That would be awesome! I would like to edit some things in the bsp, and i dont have any experience setting encounters or scripting, i can send you a more detailed PM whit what i need in case you want to help.

Thanks, Super Flanker.
Im getting an error whenever i use HEK+, it goes like this:
--Exception log--

Date: 05-06-2016
Assembly Name: mscorlib
Product Version: 1.0.2.0
Exception: El proceso no puede obtener acceso al archivo 'D:\Desktop\Tags n' things\levels\test\beavercreek\bitmaps\beavercreek boulder.bitmap' porque está siendo utilizado en otro proceso.


--Stack Trace--

en System.IO.__Error.WinIOError(Int32 errorCode, String maybeFullPath)
en System.IO.File.Delete(String path)
en TagExtractor.Script_Parser.ScriptParser.BeginConversion()
en TagExtractor.TagConverterPlugin.tceq_ExtractStart(Object sender, EventArgs e)
en TagExtractor.TagConverterExtractQueue.OnExtractStart(Object sender, EventArgs e)
en TagExtractor.TagConverterExtractQueue.button6_Click(Object sender, EventArgs e)
en System.Windows.Forms.Control.OnClick(EventArgs e)
en System.Windows.Forms.Button.OnClick(EventArgs e)
en System.Windows.Forms.Button.WndProc(Message& m)
en System.Windows.Forms.Control.ControlNativeWindow.OnMessage(Message& m)
en System.Windows.Forms.C

(Sorry about the spanish bit, i would translate it, but im not sure if i can do an exact translation, but is something about "the process cannot obtain access to the file [...] because is beign used in another process")

Basically another program you have running is inteferring with the hek+.

Occasionally if you have the same map file you are ripping from open in another app it can create a data access conflict.

If you feel you would benefit from a little more info you could perhaps try looking at this.

http://forum.halomaps.org/index.cfm%3Fpage=topic&topicID=48701


Edited by Super Flanker on Jun 5, 2016 at 01:39 PM

Actually, I was watching that exact video, thats why i got the error in the first place.
I will have to read a bunch of tutorials, because right now i have no idea how to do anything...

*EDIT* Ok, i need some suggestions:
Im hearing that using tags from multiple different origins makes the map look unprofesional, so i want to ask if there is any good tag for the jackal? for example. I have seen the stock, H2 and CMT Jackals tags, but if i need to use a definitive tagset i will need a Halo 3 or Reach Jackal, now, i dont know if there are any i should know, because the bipeds section from halomaps downloads doesnt have any. That why i wanted to use the CMT version. Should i use a H3 tagset? a Reach tagset? or a full TSC:E tagset? (but the h3 and reach versions whould have to use the TSC:E Jackal and Hunter to keep up with the graphics of the rest of the tagset)
And a side question:
Im having some errors when using tool, when i convert a map (with chimp) from Gmax, and use the tool structure levels\*mapfoldernamehere* *mapnamehere* it gives me that "incorrect version error". Yes, i have deleted the extra bits at the start and end and yes, i saved it as a .jms, which led me to think that maybe it was a map size error, wich leads me to ask, is there a "optimal" size limit for each bsp? each bsp must be done on a different .gmax file? And to gmax users, how do you make an indoor structure in a cliff? and what size should be a player biped in gmax units? i really need a reference.

(TL,DR: What tagset i use H3? Reach? Cmt? "### ERROR model file has wrong version number" despite fixing the file with wordpad. Need a biped size reference for gmax, suggested size for each bsp, how do single player bsp synch with each other, how to make indoors)
Edited by StarCrafty22 on Jun 7, 2016 at 09:30 PM