take my globals.globals you dirty whore

[Resinball]

PRESENTS

H2v: take my globals.globals you dirty whore

by Kills Alone of the H2MT Crew







shared.map

I used a Hex Editor to null out all references to globals.globals and its contents inside of the original H2EK shared.map; that is I set all of the lines to 0.

First I nulled out the globals location.

To replace the globals tag, back up your shared.map, and then open your current shared.map in a hex editor. Go to offset 0x94d6200. Change the text to any gibberish of your choosing, as long as it's the same size or less.

That forces it to include the globals tag during compilation.

-adolif2

Link: http://forum.halomaps.org/index.cfm?...&topicID=39309

Then I went back in and searched for the text string ui\screen, there is only one reference so you will know you are in the right location. Overwrite all of the following with 0's:

multiplayer ui globals
singleplayer ui globals
mainmenu ui globals
interface goo map3
interface goo map2
interface goo map1
motion sensor blip bitmap
hud digits definition
multiplayer hud bitmap
motion sensor sweep bitmap mask
motion sensor sweep bitmap
hud globals
dialog color table
editor color table
hud color table
screen color table

shared.map - All Globals Removed SPPF
6.76KBs compressed (2MBs extracted)


UPDATE: Later I could not seem to duplicate this, so to make sure it will work I suggest the following:

Null (as in set to zero) Offset 094A9A01 through 095156D4.



Engine Version

Custom maps are labeled with a newer engine number then the original maps were. I cannot confirm it, but this engine number may be related to restrictions on custom content.

11081.07.04.30.0934.main - H2 Vista - default\resource map - OLDER ENGINE

11122.07.08.24.1808.main - H2 Vista - non-default\custom map - NEWER ENGINE
tool  debug pc 11122.07.08.24.1808.main  Aug 24 2007 18:10:17

02.09.27.09809 - H2 Xbox
Hex Header

02.06.28.07902 - H2 Xbox Beta
Hex Header

*If this number is set to all 0's the game will pause for a second then shutdown without an error.

H2Tool.exe

Then I went into H2Tool.exe (that has already been resource scenario fixed by adolif2) with the Hex editor.

I searched and found two instances of 11122.07.08.24.1808 (New Engine Label) which I overwrote with 11081.07.04.30.0934 (Old Engine Label).


H2Tool.exe - Engine UNLOCKED
2.67MBs compressed (19.9MBs extracted)

This has the extra advantage of now letting you view/edit your custom H2v maps with Assembly 1.0.4817.30869.



H2EK "bin" folder

The bin folder contents were recreated by viewing the top of the original resource map files with the Hex editor and comparing them to the only headers that were included with the H2EK. Take note; I am not sure if they are all labeled correctly.

bin - Resource Header and Database files
431KBs




startup.exe

I found that you can Hex edit startup.exe, search for mainmenu, you should see this:

<File Name="maps\mainmenu.map" Priority="0" Size="61063680">

You can change the size to that of the new custom mainmenu.map, get this size by right clicking on the map, going to properties, and then looking at the Size.

Unfortunately the game will still start without startup.exe, so the check must be in the main executable.






H2EK Unlocked - Enhanced Edition

An updated version of the Unlocked Halo 2 Editing Kit.

H2EK Unlocked - Enhanced Edition
by Kills Alone of the H2MT Crew

Released - June 26th, 2013
Updated - September 8th, 2013


-----------


ABOUT:

The Halo 2 Editing Kit (H2EK) allows people to create their own custom content for Halo 2 Vista. This powerful set of tools, source material and tutorials provides users with an unprecedented amount of freedom in the development of new game content. The Halo 2 Editing Kit requires that you have Halo 2 Vista installed.

There is a tutorial that comes with the H2EK that is installed along with everything else. Please LOOK at this tutorial before going to the forums and/or spamming the admin's.

This versions of H2EK has been completely unlocked. You can now create all tags and edit all tags with this version.

This H2EK was unlocked by the e3po of the WMClan, Kornman00, adolif2, and Kills Alone.


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UPDATES (September 8th, 2013):

-I have included an SPPF for a version of shared.map that has all globals references removed, you will need to back up your original shared.map and rename it before using it.

At a minimum you will need [DATA+TAGS] The Essential Collection to make use of the updated shared.map.

-AGAIN, ALWAYS BACK UP YOUR ORIGINAL MAP FILES!-

-There is now a version of H2Tool.exe that labels all the custom maps it makes as the older Engine Version. So what was 11122.07.08.24.1808.main (non-default\custom map - NEWER ENGINE) is now 11081.07.04.30.0934.main (default\resource map - OLDER ENGINE).

-The "bin" folder has been updated and there are now templates for both Engine Versions.


UPDATES (June 26th, 2013):

-This version has been further enhanced with the addition of an Unlocked H2Tool.exe by adolif2. This allows the compilation of other scenario types then just multi-player.

-The GBX Model Upgrader 1.0 public beta by Jahrain is included so that you can make your own custom render models.

-The Halo Bitmap Extractor 1.0 by FireScythe.

-The H2MT Halo 2 Map Editor Launcher BETA by ZeroErrors.

-The H2V Scripting Maker 1.1 by Kantanomo for creating longer scripts then normally allowed.

-Further scripting resources are included as well.

-3DS Max importers, exporters, and scripts.

-Extended directory structure.

-This version is compressed as a 7-Zip self extracting executable archive which offers superior compression to that of .rar or .zip.

-To reduce file-size I have removed two large files that are only necessary for reverse engineering. These files are still available here:
H2EK Reverse Engineering
13.3MBs

Visit Us:
www.halo2vista.com
www.h2mt.org
www.h2pc.org
www.h3pc.org

H2EK Unlocked - Enhanced Edition
17.29MBs compressed (115MBs extracted)



Custom Content Restriction Remover

Allows custom maps with restricted content to be added to the custom menu. It forces newly added maps to be detected; so no more bothering with maps that do not show up. We refer to this type of restricted custom content as H2.5 or Halo 2.5.

Custom Map Restriction Remover
7.3MBs



Data + Tags

The team has been repairing the missing H2EK tags for awhile now. When I make more progress I will release the updated Essential Collection and tools. H2MT is a team and community driven effort and I would not have made it to this point without everyone's help.

H2MT's [DATA+TAGS] The Essential Collection
Alternate Link
3.87GBs Compressed



UI - User Interface

Current release of the updated UI Data & Tags

UI Data
~76.3MBs Compressed (~426MBs extracted)

UI Tags
~49MBs Compressed (~304MBs extracted)

Modified UI HUD Alpha Tests (by Kirby_422)

Results

Now when I package a custom scenario H2Tool.exe includes my custom tags, and all my globals such as default weapons and vehicles! One map went from ~90MBs to ~275MBs!

I also found you can force multiple scenarios, though I am not sure if they can all be accessed (in-game) just yet. The following quote about Cache files makes me think they can:

The fact that our editing build runs from multiple single files is an implementation detail; it is not a necessary component of the tag system itself.

So I should be able to make a hybrid map that contains a custom Main Menu, all of the scenarios, and the entirety of their shared resources.




When I load my mainmenu.map by starting H2v the games starts and the map actually works! It plays the intro video and then shows my map, the map name and H2MT cutscene text kick in...and now it works, see the video below in my next post.

Custom Single Player maps no longer crash! But AI is not shooting at the player or each-other yet.

Custom Multi-Player maps load and the Start Menu is now working, still trying to find all the correct string labels.

Globals and UI are still being repaired and need extensive work. I am seeking any help with repairing the UI tags.

[Pyong Kawaguchi]

Wow! Awesome work.
Sad to see so few people play, but your work is awesome nonetheless.

I tip my hat to ye, sir.

[Resinball]

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And more HUD tests by Kirby_422:

[Dwood]

Great work Resinball! If there's more stuff being done in this area, I may even pick up the game.

[Jelly]

halo 2

[Tnnaas]

[Resinball]

The UI DATA & TAGS downloads (in the OP) have been updated.

-DATA contains 1,000+ new files and many updated existing files

-TAGS contains 200+ new files and many updated existing files



I've continued researching the Halo 2 core tagset and maps with the Unlocked H2EK, a HEX editor, and Resource Hacker.


----


There are still a few hurdles to making a custom Main Menu work with the existing default MP and SP maps. Part of this is because my method removes the original globals right? Well the original maps depend on that setup, they need shared and mainmenu to get along and play nice.

The current Main Menu has more functionality, text, and textures now. Many little details that will probably go unnoticed by most, but they are there anyways.


----


Did some research on H2v .sound files; I knew they could work with HCE .sound tags if they had the right settings and used the XBOX ADPCM Codec for compression.

I wanted to convert the Halo 2 OST Volume's I & 2 so I could return the music tags to the game they originated from, and offer a decent selection of music .sound tags for anyone using the next Essential Collection.

I'm not going to cover all of that here but I did write a small guide.

A VM (Virtual Machine) called VMware Workstation was used to run Win XP Resin Edition 2009 x86 (my own customized self-installing distro) so I could install the XBOX ADPCM Codec.

Free sound editing app called Audacity was required to decompress the MP3 files into WAVs.

Tool did not care for WAV files over 30-40mbs and would complain, most of my .Wavs were smaller then that so I just set the larger songs to export as Mono, I probably could have chopped them up and gotten a little better results. Most of them are in Stereo and take up little space so I think its a good addition, a tag that is normally overlooked in H2v as well.

GUIDE

H2v .sound file Guide

by Kills Alone of the H2MT Crew
September 22, 2013


---------------------------------------------------------


I use Audacity; as its small and free.

http://audacity.sourceforge.net/


So install that.


Locate an audio file such as an MP3 or a WAV file.

Open the file with Audacity, you can just drag and drop it if you want.

Down on the bottom make sure the Project Rate (Hz) is set t 22050.

Now go to File and select Export.

Make sure the filetype is set to: WAV (Microsoft) signed 16 bit PCM


---------------------------------------------------------


Halo 2 Vista cannot compile its own .sound files but it can use .sound files compiled for Halo Custom Edition if they are made using the XBOX ADPCM Codec.

Unfortunately (AFAIK) this codec only works on 32-bit (x86) versions of Windows such as Windows XP/2000 and Windows Vista. Getting it to work on Vista may require resetting media settings through Control Panel.

So what I'm doing is using a VM (Virtual Machine) called VMware that allows me to run Windows XP at the same time in as Windows 8 but in a sub-window.

You will need to figure out the best way to make use of this codec based on your available software and hardware .



To install the codec just follow its original guide:

-= INSTALLATION OF XBOX ADPCM CODEC =-

1) Right click "XBADPCMinst.inf", then click install.

2) When installation is complete:

-Go to your Device Manager
-Double click "Audio Codecs"
-Go to the Properties tab
-Double click "Xbox ADPCM Audio CODEC"
-Be sure "Use this audio codec" is enabled
-Change codec priority to 1
-Click "OK"


NOTE: This has only been tested on Windows 2000 Pro and Windows XP Pro.
Also, there may be side effects from changing the priority, but
there have been no reports as of yet.


---------------------------------------------------------


Now go to your Halo Custom Edition folder.

You need to create some folders if they do not exist:

-Under \data\sounds\music create a sub-folder called 'tunes' (without the quotes).

-In that folder create a sub folder called whatever the desired sound file's name should end up as, so I created a folder called 'intro' (without the quotes).

-In that folder place your exported WAV or multiples WAV files. They can be named however you want as long as they have no spaces or such.

For example; if you had three sounds you wanted to make into permutations you could name them: 0.wav, 1.wav , 2.wav or intro.wav, middle.wav, end.wav.


Open an Admin-Level Command Prompt (Run -> CMD) and type:
tool sounds sound\music\tunes xbox 1


If it says the following only:
Importing sound\music\tunes\intro

...then you have success!


If it says the following:
error 0x000003e6 'Invalid access to memory location. ' ### failed to import: couldn't locate samples in file.

...thats probably because the file is too large or was not saved at 22050 Hz.


---------------------------------------------------------


Make sure you place those same two XBOX ADPCM Codec files under the bin folder in your Halo 2 Editing Kit folder structure. Then you can preview the sound files by clicking one of the play buttons near the end of the tag.

Now just copy the compiled HCE .sound file over and it should work with H2v. Do not attempt to edit the sound file in H2 Guerilla; it will crash. Do your edits in HCE Guerilla.


---------------------------------------------------------


Main Menu Music file specific:

Mono or Stereo is okay.

-In HCE Guerilla set the music .sound file as follows:

Flags
Check to Enable - Fit to ADPCM Blocksize
Check to Enable - Split long sound into permutaions

Class
game_event


-Save the tag then re-run the sound command in the tool console.


-Go back to the tag in HCE Guerilla, close and reopen it if its settings have not refreshed. Now set the following under PITCH RANGES:

Name
|default|


-Save the tag, copy to H2v.

-Navigate H2 Guerilla to:
ui\ui_shared_globals.user_interface_globals_defini tion

-At the bottom of this tag there is the Main menu music section, duplicate the current .sound_looping tag and replace the in and looping .sounds with your own.

-Package the map and it should work.


---------------------------------------------------------


Here is some handy info:

XBOX Sound Codec:
http://forum.halomaps.org/index.cfm?...&topicID=28309

Music/Sound Compilation:
http://forums.gearboxsoftware.com/sh...d.php?p=831709

Sound Making Pack
25.5MBs compressed


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Resource Hacker shows me many existing but otherwise hidden menus in the H2EK, specifically in H2Sapien.

Now I have been told that code is ripped out of some of the H2EK, such as the inability to compile models. But here is something to consider, the only reliable way to change a scenario tag to another scenaio type (such as Campaign, Main Menu, or Shared) is with H2Sapien, while the fields text label is missing it does work when set correctly. Meanwhile in H2Guerilla, the value will always read Multiplayer and cannot be changed from there even if it has been set to another type it will still read as MP.

Another example, there is a dialog in H2Sapien for naming objects but it is one of those hidden fields I mentioned, it only shows up for a specific type of tag (I forget which right now) anyways, it should always be an option, it is hidden for literally no reason, then over in H2Guerilla (Unlocked NEW) the field is finally visible.

One plan is to see what dialogs and functionality Hex editing can return to H2Sapien, if anyone has any info on decompiling it, such as if its even possible or if its already been done I'd appreciate whatever help moves me forward.

[Resinball]

More HUD tests by Kirby_422:

[Kirby_422]

At least show the H3 Elite HUD image where I made it all green, rawr.


Also, why are you posting HUDs in this thread? *shrug*

Anyways, might as well post about that here too since your showing all the HUD images off here; Hows the weapon positions seem? are they accurate? (Want to know that before I setup all the other weapons using the same positions) Also, if anyone has any images of H3 weapons zoomed, so I can compare positions when I get onto those weapons, share. And any complaints about the shade of green im using on the H3 Elite HUD? Seem to be about the right green?

I'm gonna try adjusting the HUD outlines on the elite HUD, then see if the grenades are still flowing over, then adjust from there. (The actual shield shader_template/shader_pass (for whatever reason, it doesnt pass the data to the shader to override it. thats one thing I may try changing) doesnt want me to change the color, so im using a different kind of meter at the moment; it works fine, its just reacts a little different. Its possible that the shield bar will change a bit in the future when I test other things)

[Resinball]

I'm just showing off our progress and the pics you sent me to show that we are pulling back the restrictions; the only reason new HUDs can be used is because of the research that was released through this thread so I'd say the two are connected in every way. Plus the plan is the same as always; improve as much as possible and release it all in the next Essential Collection.

As I said earlier, I've got the AI using custom weapons/vehicles and such (the kinda thing thats never been done in H2v before) but I don't have the time to post videos for every little update so I show what I can when I have the time. Also, I post in many forums because H2v does have a pretty small community, so best to get the word out to multiple venues.


I'm not in this to get it done on some time-table or to impress anyone, sometimes I post unfinished work as it shows that progress is still being made (or attempted):

--------------

UPDATE: Made a small custom shared.map that will work with my custom mainmenu.map, it loads a custom SP map but gets stuck (not a crash) when trying to exit.

The idea here was to reverse the original UI layout; so globals.globals and company are never packaged into my custom shared.map. They are, however, packaged into mainmenu.map and all SP and MP maps. It might not be where I need to get to just yet but it tells me that H2v believes my custom shared.map to be authentic.

Normally when H2v starts up (with my custom mainmenu) it will complain if any important maps are missing, even with other custom shared.maps I made, but with my smaller custom shared.map I have made another step towards unlocking this bitch.

--

I have also made a custom version of the mainmenu.map that can start on its own without the shared.map, this is for testing how the game responds when multiple scenarios and map types are all placed inside of mainmenu.map.



--

Last I made a custom mainmenu.map that was missing all the default MP slots. It loaded, so I tried to load the currently selected MP map (even though there wasn't any). Halo loaded into multi-player engine without a MP map! Just a black screen, it does not crash because I can still navigate the Live overlay, from which I was able to logout and then return back to the Main Menu. Halo is bending to my will. Muh-hahahaha!







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And Kirby's H3 based HUDs are looking even better: