Alright, I will try and help you out here. I only have three map packs right now.
1. Halo NMP 1.1
2. Halo NMP 2.0
3. Halo CXE
(NMP 2.0 and CXE came together)
Halo NMP 1.1 was alot harder to install than the newer 2 and CXE combo. You had to have all the map files and ppf files in one place on your PC, and run a command prompt executive to patch all these maps. This was actually, kind of easy. But you also had to then delete the underscore in each map name. EX: change _bloodgulch.map to bloodgulch.map. Then, you had to move all these maps to a folder called NMP. You would then move the NMP folder and the previously patched default.xbe file to F:/Games/Halo. This would not overwrite any maps, because they were in there own separate folder. This did overwrite the default.xbe file. They might have made an easier way to install NMP 1.1, but I'm not sure. You could then load the original Halo and instead of Game Demos on the menu, there would be the NMP logo. You could enter this to start a new Halo - Halo NMP. I really liked NMP 1.1. Alot of the maps were a little too overkill, because they would change the weapons to do ridiculous things. They even had the pistol shooting heat-seeking rockets, which were impossible to avoid. There is one level called Vengeance which contains all the weapon defaults. This map is kind of like Boarding Action with sides and a floor. This map is perfect for CTF.
Halo NMP 2.0 and Halo CXE was just one file. It was a PC application that was ridiculously easy to use. My ten-year-old brother could have installed it! The people at Halomods.com really outdid themselves with this one. All you have to do is run the program and it will ask you for your xbox's ip address and ask you to provide it with the Halo directory. Everything from there on out is done automatically, you just have to sit back and watch the progress bar. It's seriously that easy - just a few clicks. It takes about 45 minutes to complete. Halo NMP 2.0 is not really a big change from NMP 1.1. Most of the maps haven't changed, or have changed minimally. Halo CXE is fresh and new, and it is really something. There is a world war III map, and a perfectly done Star Wars mod. You will drop your jaw when you see how much they took Bloodgulch and turned it into Tatooine. This is complete with vehicles, weapons, sounds, and the death star.
Now, working with .map files can be quite confusing, because there are actually two different kinds of .map files.
Compressed .map files
The .map files in the F:/Games/Halo/Maps directory (or on the actual game disc) are compressed files. The .map files are decompressed by the Xbox when you load any map, whether it is single player or multiplayer. The reason the game is made with compressed .map files is so the game companies can save space and use a single-layer DVD instead of the more expensive double-layer DVD. So, anytime you play a map, it is decompressed by the Xbox and stored in the temporary cache partitions on the hard drive. This is why if you haven't played a single player map in awhile, it will take a little while to load. What takes so long is the decompression of the map and saving to the cache partition (X,Y, or Z). But, if you load the map, then save and quit, and play the same level right after you get to the menu, it will take no time whatsoever to load. When you are modding maps, you will not be using compressed maps. You will have to actually play Halo and load the map you want to mod. Then, you will have to transfer the cache map to your PC for modding.
Cache (Uncompressed) .map files
The cache maps are stored in the Xbox hard drive's X, Y, or Z partition. These will be called cachex.map - where the x is a number 001-005. cache002.map is not a map at all, it is actually the user interface. This is the menus and bitmaps. The uncompressed user interface is stored where the other maps are and is called ui.map. This is how Halo NMP has red menus and stuff. cache003.map is the first multiplayer map that you loaded. So, if you want to mod the map Bloodgulch, you will have to clear the cache partitions (X, Y, Z) and then play the map Bloodgulch in split-screen. Once the map is loaded, move around a few steps and then quit. After it shows the game stats and asks you if you want to continue or quit, quit. Once you get back to Halo's menu, restart your xbox. Turn it back on and FTP into your PC. Check the X, Y, and Z partitions until you find the cache maps. The uncompressed bloodgulch map will be cache003.map. Transfer this over to your PC and then you can mod the map.
Programs for Modding Halo Maps
1. HMT 3.5
2. HHT
3. Cartographer
4. Sparkedit
5. Ultraedit 32
6. Adobe Photoshop 7.0 with the Nvidia .dds texture plugin.
7. Halo Weapon Editor
I'm not going into too much detail on these programs, but Cartographer is by far the easiest Noob program, as everything is used in a simple menu, and you don't have to mess with metadata, extraction, or coding. HMT 3.5 and HHT are two very similar programs that can be quite confusing to use for the rookie modder. But, if you read the tutorials and get familiar with the programs, you can use them in conjunction with Adobe Photoshop 7.0 and the .dds plugin to change every bitmap in the game. These are the only programs that you will be able to change the actual graphics with - as the others are weapon editors. Sparkedit is a program that is used to view the Halo maps. You can't actually modify any of the maps using this program, as it is mainly for viewing purposes. The coolest feature of this program is that it can decompress and compress .map files. So, instead of going through and playing each map, then FTPing the cache map to your PC, you can transfer the Halo Uncompressed Map foder to your PC and use Sparkedit to decompress each map and save the cache maps to their own folder. Also, after you mod a Halo cache map, if you want to keep it forever, it will have to replace the original, uncompressed map in the F:/Games/Halo/Maps directory. You can use Sparkedit to compress your modified cache maps. Remember, you will have to save the compressed maps as one of the original .map filenames and overwrite the original. Halo Weapon Editor and Cartographer are best for modifying weapons and vehicles, as they can't modify the actual structure or graphics of the map. Ultraedit 32 is a hex editor. People have found ways to modify Halo's code using this method only. This can be used to change the level names and other stuff, but I haven't ever used it because it is hard to use. Just remember that you won't be able to modify a compressed .map file. The only .map files you will be able to modify are the uncompressed cache.map files. And to use these maps forever, you will have to compress the modified cache.map and overwrite the original uncompressed .map files.
ppf patch files
Well, you are pretty much right on the buttton when it comes to .ppf files. You will have to get PPFomatic. I think most .ppf files will have to be used to patch the uncompressed .map files, as you said before. But, I have downloaded maps that were already compressed and patched, but came with a patch that was used on the default.xbe file - not the .map file. You will just have to read the directions that come with the downloaded map. You can read more on how to play downloaded maps in the Xbox-Scene Forums. Go to Game Hacking, then Halo. There should be a topic titled How Do I Play Downloaded Maps?. This topic was started by volcomboy. I posted lengthy replies in this subforum so you can read about them there.
Using the XDemos Trick
I have never used the XDemos trick to make my own "Modded Halo inside the original Halo" I know that Halo NMP 1.1 , Halo NMP 2.0 , and Halo CXE take advantage of this, and they utilize it very well. I'm not perfect, but I'm sure somebody else knows how to do this.
I hope you know a little bit more on how to Mod Halo. I had to do alot of reading and testing to get the knowledge that I have today. My biggest obstacle was probably the different .map files as nobody ever really pointed out that there were two different kinds. I hope I reinforced this fact so that you don't have the same problems I had. One very, very brief guide to mod a Halo map.
1. Open the compressed .map file in Sparkedit.
2. Save the cache map somewhere on your PC.
3. Mod the map using a Halo modding program.
4. Open the modified map in Sparkedit.
5. Save the map as compressed and save it as the original filename.
6. After backing up your original Maps, overwrite the map that you modded.
7. Clear out the cache partitions (X, Y, Z) so the Xbox will decompress the modified map and not play off the cache partition.
8. Play the map in split-screen.
9. Feel like a game developer, brag to your friends that you can mod Halo ( if you have any friends), use the experience as a report or project for school, or send a resume to Bungie saying that you can make their game better than they can and they should hire you and give you lots of money.
10. Step 9 is optional.
Have fun modding Halo! Reply if you have any specific questions or problems.
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