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Nova - Halo 2 Beta Map Editor
Posted: Sun Aug 07, 2011 5:19 am
by Click16
Hey everyone. It has been a while since I have been active on these forums. Some time ago, I released the Halo 2 Multiplayer Beta, which has been private for a long time. I wanted to make a map editor for the Halo 2 Beta, so here it is.
The only available download, is with the use of an Installer. This is so the updater can work properly.
Downloads:
Nova Installer (2.0.4.3)
Nova Installer (MediaFire Mirror; Version 2.0.4.3)
Nova Source Code (Version 2.0.4.1)
Credits:
Zaid - Held my had through coding the entire meta editor, he also helped me a lot with figuring out bitmasks and such. You where a huge help.
Grimdoomer - Helped me figure out some of the map's structure, so that I could get the correct magics, and in turn, get the correct meta offsets.
DarkShallFall - Inspiration, and help with understanding retail map structures.
JacksonCougar - Helped me tons with raw formats.
XZodia - Decompressions figured out using Ceiling Cat Source.
Xbox7887 - Yelo
Re: Beta [Version 1.1.0.0]
Posted: Mon Aug 08, 2011 7:13 am
by kornman00
I've had the Halo2 Alpha documented in
BlamLib since I've had it. This is a prime example of why the various plugin formats used are complete shit. The Alpha doesn't use runtime optimized versions of the tag data like in the retail. tag_blocks, tag_references, etc still include their "debug" data, and useless padding is retained in the tag group (which in some cases is the only real difference in the versioning of the tag). The Alpha also used the "old" string_id field type. None of the plugin formats had ways to express this kind information. They either required you to be explicit in field offsets, or didn't know of the notion of tag_data, what a tag_block really is, or the various kinds of padding-like fields (which aren't always just zero-byte padding).
Re: Beta [Version 1.1.0.0]
Posted: Mon Aug 08, 2011 1:38 pm
by Grimdoomer
kornman00 wrote:I've had the Halo2 Alpha documented in
BlamLib since I've had it. This is a prime example of why the various plugin formats used are complete shit. The Alpha doesn't use runtime optimized versions of the tag data like in the retail. tag_blocks, tag_references, etc still include their "debug" data, and useless padding is retained in the tag group (which in some cases is the only real difference in the versioning of the tag). The Alpha also used the "old" string_id field type. None of the plugin formats had ways to express this kind information. They either required you to be explicit in field offsets, or didn't know of the notion of tag_data, what a tag_block really is, or the various kinds of padding-like fields (which aren't always just zero-byte padding).
Does the alpha use the debug data added to some of the fields? Or is it their primarily for the editor? Wouldn't mind poking around the alpha code to see what info could be pulled out. The assertions do provide a lot of detail, and makes it easy to pull out a bunch of macros

Re: Beta [Version 1.1.0.0]
Posted: Mon Aug 08, 2011 11:30 pm
by kornman00
No, it doesn't use any of the debug data in the tag data
Re: Nova - Halo 2 Beta Map Editor
Posted: Sat Apr 28, 2012 8:29 pm
by Click16
Updated - No longer called Beta, but now it's called Nova!
Re: Nova - Halo 2 Beta Map Editor
Posted: Sat Feb 02, 2013 10:56 pm
by BrAlZy
Hi Click,
When I try to install this, it asks me to install .NET Framework 4 which I already have installed. Is there anyway to bypass this problem. Thanks!
-BrAlZy
Re: Nova - Halo 2 Beta Map Editor
Posted: Sun Feb 03, 2013 8:39 am
by Click16
BrAlZy wrote:Hi Click,
When I try to install this, it asks me to install .NET Framework 4 which I already have installed. Is there anyway to bypass this problem. Thanks!
-BrAlZy
Pretty sure it uses the .NET Framework 4 Client profile. Don't quite know what the "Client profile" part is, but try to search it up. If it says you have the wrong framework, then you must have the wrong framework. It's not something that can be "bypassed."
Re: Nova - Halo 2 Beta Map Editor
Posted: Tue Feb 05, 2013 5:21 am
by OwnZ joO
Rebuild the exe after changing the project from .Net 4 Client Profile to .Net 4, then it shouldn't pester him. I thought you couldn't have .Net 4 without the client profile, but I guess you can.