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Halo Map Tools: Overview


Halo Map Tools, currently at version 3.0, is a hacking tool for Bungie's masterpiece first person shooter - Halo:Combat Evolved. HMT currently supports all versions of the game. These include:

- Xbox, PC Retail, PC Beta, and PC Demo

HMT has grown from a simple sound injector to a very complex app that performs a wide variety of tasks. In Version 3, I have teamed up with tjc, a very talented programmer and hacker, to provide more cutting edge features.

[Current Feature Set as of Version 3]

- Injection and Extraction of all Halo Resource Files
This includes compressed and uncompressed texures, ADPCM and OGG
sound files, and *NEW* Models.

- *NEW* XML-plugin Based Tag Editor
This allows for easily extensible editing of a wide variety of game
resources (metadata) The current plugin set supports editing of
Vehicles, Projectiles, Bipeds, Damage, Game Globals, Physics, Camera
Tracks, and Weapons.

- Batch Resource Extraction of all resource files and metadata

- *NEW* Metadata Import/Export with automatic ident and reflexive
offset correction.

- Object Placement and Player Spawn editing
Allows modification of coordinates, rotation, and object types

- Easy Offset Swapping

- Search Functions
Locate by Meta Offset, Locate By ID

- *NEW* Map Rebuilding
Allows you to rebuild a map from resource files, allowing for easy
additions and deletions of resources from a file. This can be used
easily move things from single player maps to multiplayer maps


General Instructions


Note - This app requires the .net framework. It can be downloaded from
Microsoft via Windows Update or directly from their website.
http://msdn.microsoft.com/netframework/downloads/howtoget.aspx

HMT is fairly simple to use - just open a map and select a resource from the resource browser. If it has a dedicated plugin or an XML plugin, it will load and you will be able to edit certain properties and/or extract resources depending on the type of tag.

Map Rebuilding: This feature requires a little basic knowledge to use effectively. Follow these steps in order to rebuild a map.

1. Into it's own folder, batch extract the multiplayer map that you wish
to modify.
2. Open the map that you which to extract resources from and choose
"Extract Meta" after selecting the proper tag. If you would like to
automatically extract all dependencies as well, check the "Recursive"
box. Choose a folder to extract the files to.
3. Copy the extracted files/folders to the folder you extracted the
multiplayer map to. Overwrite any existing files.
4. Choose "Rebuild Map" from the menu, and choose the Original Map (this
is the original multiplayer map that you batch extracted earlier)
*Note that the original map MUST be in the same folder as the batch
extracted files.
5. Choose "yes" when prompted if you want to auto fill in the other
filenames.
6. Now add any new files you wnat to add to the rebuild to the list at
the bottom. For example, if you want to add the Sentinal Beam weapon
you would choose the Sentinal Beam.proj.meta file from the proper
folder. Note, that you only have to add the parent tag - any
dependencies will be added automatically during the build.
7. Now, click Rebuild and wait for it to finish. Once it has completed
the rebuild, you will have a new map file in the folder named
OriginalMapName.map.rebuild.map.
8. Copy this file to your Halo\MAPS\ folder, rename it to replace the
appropriate map, and enjoy ;)

[Notice about bugs in certain plugins]
tjc recently decided to leave the Halo Modding scene. He is the author of the XML and Model plugins for HMT, and he has left them in an unfinished state. Because of this, you will undoubtedly notice bugs with these plugins. I plan on fixing these problems eventually, but rather than hold off on the release, I've decided to address the issues in a future release. They are still very usable, but you may find some annoynaces. Please don't come crying or talking trash about the fact that these plugins have problems! They will be fixed - do you really wanna wait and have nothing until then? :)


Greetings and Thanks


There have been a lot of people who have contributed to this project over time. I'd like to give thanks to a few of them individually.

[Defenderz] Defenderz left Halo hacking shortly after I joined it but if
anyone deserves credit for being the "father of Halo hacking" it's him.
A good portion of the most important discoveries were made by Defenderz,
and without him, we wouldn't be where we're at now. Thanks man,
wherever you are.

[tjc] tjc had joined the HMT project recently to help provide more
functionalilty. Unfortunately, due to personal reasons, he has decided
to leave the scene and will not be taking part in future HMT efforts.
Thanks for your contributions tjc.. you will be missed by all of us...

[Iron_Forge] Map rebuilding would have never seen the light of day
without the massive amount of help Iron_Forge gave me in the form of
debugging, testing, and hardcore reverse-engineering. There were many
times that I was completely stuck and was only able to progress because
of his help. He's also one of the few people in the scene that I really
consider a friend, and he has provided me hours of good conversation
throughout this project and has helped me to stay motivated. So thanks
Forge! ;oP

[Grenadiac] While gren hasn't actually contributed to HMT, his awesome
app - SparkEdit - has really helped to expand the scene and has inspired
me to make Halo Map Tools the best that it can be. Watch for future
versions of SE, as it just keeps getting better and better.

There are many others who have contributed to the scene in one way or
another. Although I rarely see him these days I also wanna thank
Pfhorslayer for bringing everyone together for this project and doing a
ton of work that has helped all of us.

Also, thanks to the HMT Beta team.
You guys were a huge help in getting things ready for release.

I hope everyone enjoys HMT.V3 and I can't wait to see some of the
awesome new mods that are created using it.

Have fun and read the manual before you ask questions!
-Monoxide