Incyclopedia

[Sparky]

It was only a matter of time...

The Incyclopedia is a regular bloodgulch map that includes every tag that is in use by our current mods. All the sounds and bitmaps beyond the normal bloodgulch map have been internalized. (This is a replacement for my previous Crazy Madness mod.)

The purpose is to provide a compilation of all of our tags into one file, rather than having a tag pack where you need to import individual tags in order to use them. The benefits of this encylopedic reference include the ability to preview imports before you decide to use them (if you have permission), and to provide a collection of our ideas into a single file.

If you would like to contribute your mods to this project, just reply here with those mods you'd like to include. Although the goal is to include every modded tag created, I will not import from other mods without prior permission (even though all the rights belong to Bungie/MS anyway...).

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There will be four editions of the Incyclopedia when it is completely finished:
Edition A - demo version with uninternalized tags (only for reference purposes)
Edition B - demo version with internalized tags (for browsing and modding purposes)
Edition C - full version with uninternalized tags (Volume 1 for browsing/modding purposes, CE volume(s) for reference purposes)
Edition D - full version with internalized tags (for browsing and modding purposes)

There will most likely be three volumes with each edition:
Volume 1: Halo Full Tags
Volume 2: Halo Demo Tags
Volume 3: Halo CE Tags

Thus, the shorthand for referring to the entire Incyclopedia can be formed as:
IncyA1 - demo reference of Halo Full Tags
IncyB3 - demo (internalized) of Halo CE Tags

Due to recent tool enhancements ( namely, Eschaton 0.8 ), there are plans to make a tag database where you download the specific tags you want from HDM. That would be a similar setup to HaloMaps.org. Eventually, we might make an application that would read from the HDM server and manage the end-user's downloaded tags, similar to what nil's HaloDemoLauncher does with mods. This application would allow you to easily upload your contributions to the tag database. Note that this could also be achieved with our current wiki system; bandwidth is not a concern at this point.

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RELEASES

Beta Versions (post links)

(B3 test) - CE weapons test (eqip, itmc, weap)

(A1) - Beta Version Public Release of Volume 1

Final Versions (download links)
(Each edition comes with Volumes 1 - 3.)

Edition A (coming this summer)
Edition B (coming this summer)
Edition C (coming this summer)
Edition D (coming this summer)

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Official Downloads:
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~ The Incyclopedia: Premier Edition
~ Volume 1: Halo Full | Directory Edition | 280 MB
~ Volume 2.1: Halo CE | 592.7 MB { bitm eqip flag lsnd scen sky snd! weap vehi } (10,560 tags as of August 26, 2009)
~ Volume 3: Halo Demo (as of August 15, 2009)

[Shun...]

Bad Idea... Shun...Make a poll for this topic asking if people want to do this... otherwise... i think this is a bad idea...

[Smythe]

like i said in my PM to you, you can use my gravity gun if you want

[Sparky]

Bad Idea... Shun...Make a poll for this topic asking if people want to do this... otherwise... i think this is a bad idea...

I don't need concensus for this, I need individuals to volunteer their mods.

[Smythe]

I have some more stuff if you want.

like some models i want to get imported but haven't got around to it and i have some awesome skins if you want.

[Devious]

YES this perfect.
Perfect for those like me who are unable to import their own tags.
Sparky this is a great idea.

[Smythe]

ask sparky for crazy madness it has heaps of stuff from full

EDIT: you can haz my slightly laggingly amazingly slow moving apparatus (slasma rifle) tag when its finished
EDIT: it ignores all sense of normal firing effects so the more you shoot it the more accurate it becomes but fires slower and the projectiles start off fast but then become exceedingly slow

[G[v]N]

I'll see what's in the heap.

[Fonzeh]

Perfect for those like me who are unable to import their own tags.

As true as that may be I too think this a bad Idea.

Tell me, after you imported all those tags, shifted that data with the internalizer, That this won't affect the gameplay, and or Modding ability of the map?

If you download a 100MB map File, And Halo has to load 100MB instead of the usual 15, won't that change the way things are?

Especially for lesser computers like my own?

The concept of the idea is good, But the plan however is bad.

If you want, I will make an Application that will list all the tags known to the halo Modding Community, If someone would upload each tag seperatly, I'll make it so you go through a list and find what you want, double click it and the tag will download.

If Also needed, I'll make the tag import to a map of your choice

The uploading tag in single file may be tedious, but with the app and everything, It should prove really handy.

Sparky with your permission I can tell you how you can make HaloDemoMods send my app Updates, Incase new tags are added.

That way, The Application updates, and you got the latest and greatest.


Please note however that I am not an advanced Programmer, But this is withen my abilities.

[G[v]N is lazy to login]

That's an even better idea! But for now, let's all contribute our respective resources first. Then we can go along..with the master plan. Bwu-wa-ha-ha-ha!!

[Devious]

Fonzie I think you mistook me. What I was intending to use this was for was a map from which I could withdraw tags using eschaton .7 and import them.
This method only works with tags that are already inside a map, not those that are already extracted. This method is the only one that works for me.

[Sparky]

Actually, as we saw with the Crazy Madness first release (the file was over 200 MB), the game only loads the information it needs for the actual gameplay. So even if your map file is humongous, it wouldn't be any noticeably slower to load than the regular bloodgulch map, as long as you're not referencing any of the extra data in the scnr or sbsp tags (the actual game). The more stuff you reference in your game, however, the longer it takes to load. So if you've got 40 different scen objects placed, then it will load a little bit slower than normal (but only by a few seconds), and you'll notice that SwordEdit has a limit to the number of different scen objects that can be active at once.

In short, the size of the file does not yet seem to have an adverse effect upon the load time of the game.

P.S. Did you get the pun with the title of the mod? It's "in" because it's importing, rather than the "en" which is used in the real spelling of "encyclopedia."

[(KHC) Shadow]

Fonzie I think you mistook me. What I was intending to use this was for was a map from which I could withdraw tags using eschaton .7 and import them.
This method only works with tags that are already inside a map, not those that are already extracted. This method is the only one that works for me.

I think that this is a good idea because of that reason^. Instead opening a bunch of maps you can open one master map and rip all teh files from it. I was going to do this a long time ago, but gave up because of the unstablesness of importing back then (HHK and HMT would often crash the map causing epic waste of time) Now with eschaton we can easily make this huge map AND we can internalize all the bitmaps and sound. Sparky, you should start by importing all of the tags from the single player levels, and ripping all the tags you can from converted CE maps while people get their act together and post their mods.

[KeysOnFire]

because of the unstablesness of importing back then (HHK and HMT would often crash the map causing epic waste of time)

This is true, that's been a pain for me, and I think this Incyclopedia thing is a great idea. I worked around the HHK problem by importing into a fresh map and then using eschaton to put it in the other one, but a comprehensive resource map would make this much faster and easier.

[Fonzeh]

I apologize, for I obviously mistook the use of this map.

You want this map to house the tags, not be a building block for modders. (Meaning they will not mod the map, only extract tags from it)

If that is the main idea of this map, then by all means go for it, just make sure the tags work.