Is there a way to modify Halo MD multiplayer maps to have AI through Eschaton?

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sethe
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Is there a way to modify Halo MD multiplayer maps to have AI through Eschaton?

Post by sethe » Wed Jul 15, 2015 11:36 am

Hi guys. I have a question regarding the modding of maps like Blood Gulch and others supported by Halo MD, and it is: "Is it possible for a modder to place basic AI (Marines, Elites, etc.) onto their Halo MD maps via Eschaton, or another program?" I recently finished modding Blood Gulch through Eschaton, and I used to play with Sapien on Halo PC to add AI to multiplayer maps. If you guys can help me in any way or give me any answer, I'll be very grateful!

Thanks,

sethe

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Re: Is there a way to modify Halo MD multiplayer maps to have AI through Eschaton?

Post by Kayar's still here » Wed Jul 15, 2015 1:55 pm

Yes. Open b30.map in eschaton and recursively export everything belonging to the... uh... hmm... it's been awhile... actv tag, I think? This should include everything from the model to the antr to what guns it uses, etc. Then load up your multiplayer map and import the tags.

The trick isn't bringing the AI into the map. It's spawning them.

Fonzie made a great zombie map ages ago that used, I believe, the following techniques or something near enough:

Your AI does not have a spawn point within the bloodgulch bsp connected to it. If it did you could just move that around and place your AI wherever. Instead, since there is no spawnpoint, you have to "make" one. Duplicate a vehi tag (or use a vehicle you aren't otherwise using, so long as you don't care about it and it has a spawn in the bsp) and change up its dependencies. Good ol' dependency swapping, always reliable. Well, mostly reliable. What you will need to do is swap its model to "none" or whatever its called in eschaton, "null" I think? But do not get rid of its collision model. As I recall, the coll is somehow linked to the mod2 in such a way that getting rid of the mod2 will actually cause the collision to become tiny. Or I could be entirely mistaken. After all, its a miracle I can remember what the hell the tags are each called. Assuming I'm wrong and you have a warthog-sized invisible wall, you should swap the coll of your vehicle to the coll of a smaller object, possibly a gun or an upgrade like the overshield.

Now you need to do something really weird. You'll notice in the vehi dependencies there should be an actv tag that's not in use. Some vehicles have more than one. Each of those is a seat in that vehicle. Swap that seat from null to the actv for your AI. Now go into swordedit and add a bunch of spawns for your "vehicle." Flip them all upside down. This will (hopefully) ensure that each AI you spawn will spawn in a flipped invisible vehicle, so that they fall out of their seats and end up standing in the middle of nowhere next to a nothing.

You can mess with the spawn timer on the vehicle to alter how frequently your AI spawns. I recall making a mod I named "Dueling Grounds" back years ago in the days of Halo Demo, in which two elites spawned once and after that the timer for their next spawn was like hours later because I didn't intend for there to be more than two. Or maybe it was only one. I dunno.

Unless I'm stupid (actually probable whether I'm right or not) you should now have a working AI spawn. You can do this for any number of AI... at least until you fill the map up with too many lines of HEX or fill the bsp with AI to the point where you get slowdown on your computer. Actually, speaking of framerate loss, you can also try making a weapon with the proj tag swapped to your custom vehi tag. This will give you an AI-spawning gun. Apply it to a warthog chaingun for much chaos. You can also use this to make different kinds of spawners, a gun can be made to fire on its own when not in a player's hand (don't ask me how to do this because I don't remember) so you can make an invisible enemy spawner spawner if you null the gun's mod2 and make its proj your vehi. You can null a mod2 in your weap in your bsp to proj a vehi without a mod2 but with an actv. Try explaining that sentence to someone who has never modded Halo before.

Good luck. Glad someone is keeping the dream alive.

sethe
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Re: Is there a way to modify Halo MD multiplayer maps to have AI through Eschaton?

Post by sethe » Wed Jul 15, 2015 5:04 pm

Thank you for the response! Unfortunately, I am new to Eschaton, and I have only done a little mod of Blood Gulch. So, could you help me understand the beginning process? When I open the b30 map with Eschaton, I click on the b30.map folder that appears under the Maps (Read/Write) directory and under file, select "Load Tags Recursively". After I do this, a dialogue opens up wanting me to select a file. I try to find the actv tag you described to me, but I have no idea where it is. Could you help me? I might have more questions, but for now, this is the part of the process I am on.

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Re: Is there a way to modify Halo MD multiplayer maps to have AI through Eschaton?

Post by TaxiService » Thu Jul 16, 2015 2:09 am

Wait! That function is used to import tags exported as files on your computer, but you can export and import within eschaton! Here is how to do it:
  1. Open (⌘O) the map you want to extract things from in Eschaton. (b30 in this case) It will appear under the Maps (Read/Write only) list.
  2. Select the tag you want and click on Map > Recursively Extract Tag (⌘⇧E). The tags will appear in the Extracted Tags list.
  3. Now, click on File > Open and Expand (⌘⇧O) and load† the map that's going to receive the exported tags. It will appear under the Maps list.
  4. Select the expanded map, and in the Tag Import tab, check the tags you want to import and, after making sure that the Do Not Import Duplicates box is checked, click on the Import Tags button. If it asks you to select a bitmaps.map or sounds.map file, select the appropriate ones. (they're usually the ones in your maps folder)
  5. After the tags have been imported, click on the Rebuild Map button and choose the location to save the rebuilt map.
†: The map has got to be loaded in the same window in which the tags have been extracted.

Lastly: a map's name must follow some rules for it to be read by HaloMD. The format is modname_build#.map (i.e.: "mudgorge_1")
MDRenamer is a tool that lets you easily customise your maps' internal names.

Oh, also: sometimes eschaton will refuse to quit. In that case, it's safe to simply force-quit it. You can do this by holding down the option key (⌥), right-clicking on eschaton's dock icon and selecting Force Quit; or by opening the force quit window with ⌘+⌥+esc, selecting eschaton and clicking the Force Quit button. (this useful window can be opened at any time using that keystroke)


PS: If you have any more questions ask away! Feel free to send me a PM or two as well! That way i'll be notified via email and will be able to respond more promptly. XD Oh, and welcome to the forum yo!!

PPS: omfg kayar!!! come back!!!
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Kayar
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Re: Is there a way to modify Halo MD multiplayer maps to have AI through Eschaton?

Post by Kayar » Fri Jul 17, 2015 6:58 am

As always, Taxi, you make great step-by-step tutorials. I forgot entirely about the export/import/rebuild process.

Also, I'm always around. I suppose I just don't talk as much as I used to. I'll have some things to talk about here soon-ish though, perhaps. Not Halo-related, but it will be interesting all the same, I think.
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Re: Is there a way to modify Halo MD multiplayer maps to have AI through Eschaton?

Post by TaxiService » Sat Jul 18, 2015 7:49 am

Yeah, it should actually be me that should come back! XD anyway thanks~! I had to go reopen eschaton and check the menu elements of course, but yeah! I like writing tutorials, i think!
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