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Prophet

Posted: Wed Jan 16, 2008 10:20 pm
by Prey
Image

*click*

Image

This application is the single most powerful skinning tool currently out for Halo2. All you do is load up the map, click a wall, tree, ceiling, whatever, and then every piece of geometry using that shader will become highlighted in red. More interestingly and more importantly though, the shader editing panel will come up :P

Here you can, as you can see in the above picture, change the shader being used, change the bitmap(s) that the shader is linked to, and import/export/internalise the currently focused bitmap. Note that any changes made will be saved to the map file immediately, and will also be viewable just as quickly in the viewer.

The Import button is probably one of the best features in this tool, and really sets it apart from other skinning applications. Firstly, it allows for bitmaps that are of different dimensions that the original to be injected (512x512 over a 256x256? No problem :P ), and secondly it actually allows you to fix the other LOD's of the bitmap tag, if there are any.

Theres more to it as well, so I would definitely consider reading my tutorial on Skinning with Prophet first before using it. Otherwise you might receive some unexpected results :O

Visually speaking there has not been much improvement over what past BSP Viewers have given you. Sorry about that but I'm no pro at DirectX...and I didn't have the time to research the shad, stem, etc. That also means that this application does still rely on tag paths to tell one texture from another...not as much as other viewers do though, but still enough that if you mess them up enough Prophet will read in and display the wrong textures >_< ...but you can go upside down with the camera! What a good trade off eh? :P

You might also encounter some other weird errors from time to time, for example the viewer goes a bit awry when viewed without shaders loaded. Just take it in you're stride :wink:

Control Scheme

Code: Select all

                       W - Forward
                       S - Backward
                       A - Strafe Left
                       D - Strafe Right
                       Q - Up
                       E - Down
                     +/- - Increase/Decrease Camera Speed
        Left Mouse Click - Select Shader
Right Mouse Click + Hold - Rotate Camera
FAQ
I'll get the most obvious stuff out of the way here, and also add any questions that are posted in this topic to the list if I deem necessary.

Q. I can't see the download.
A. If you can't see the download at the bottom of this post, then you may not be signed in. If you are signed in...I have no clue :shock:

Q. I'm getting errors about .net framework when I try to open/during the course of the application.
A. You will need to have .net framework 2.0 or higher installed to be able to use this application properly. You can get the latest HERE.

Q. I'm getting DirectX(graphic) related/"system.io.filenotfoundexception" errors when I try to open/during the course of the application.
A. You will need to have the DirectX9 August 2007 runtime or higher installed to be able to use this application properly. You can get the latest HERE.

Q. I'm getting "Media cannot be found" errors when I try to open/during the course of the application.
A. make sure the "Media" folder is located right next to the the application, in the same folder.

Q. I'm getting some weird errors with textures being null (completely white..or blue, sometimes).
A. Go into Preferences -> External Maps, and make sure all three map paths are valid.

The camera seems to be acting very sluggish, as does everything else that requires keyboard/mouse input.
A. Other applications may be interfering with the MsgProc of the app. I got the same thing when I had a MSN convo. open in the background, minimizing it solved the problem.

I'm using vista and am encountering lots of errors (and none of the above solutions work either).
The application was not designed for use on vista, sorry. This is the only possible solutions I have found on the matter thus far:
Zone 117 wrote:
  • Vista is extremely buggy for Halo modding. Halo 2 modding is not meant for Vista. The only trick to getting an exe to work that doesn't work is right clicking it and disabling desktop composition in the properties. If it doesn't work, then you will just have to install XP or use a computer that has it.
HPDarkness1 wrote:Vista users try these steps:

Right Click Prophet Application
Select properties
Select the Compatibility tab
Select Run this program in compatibility mode for: Windows XP (SP 2)
Under Privilege Level, Check off the box.

Mine runs fine, If this doesn't work try restarting your computer after this.
In closing, there is more that can be added to this application, such as spawn viewing, but that will have to be left for future releases, if there ever are any. We will have to see what happens, what with Halo3 soon to be released an' all.

Specials thanks goes out to Brok3n Halo, and also my Beta testers: Matt, dec123, xzodia, xheadshotmastax, Supermodder911, Dootuz, tftman, -Detox-, kibito87, and whoever else I forgot.

Download

Enjoy,
Prey

Prophet

Posted: Wed Jan 16, 2008 10:25 pm
by Supermodder911
Glad to see you starting the forum. :)

Prophet

Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2008 1:23 am
by Rockymods
I cry that I cannot use this, It looks so helpful! Finding bitmaps or injecting them usually takes me quite some time...

Prophet

Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2008 1:32 am
by Grimdoomer
I love this app. I wish you would add more, this would be the new Entity BSP viewer.

Prophet

Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2008 3:14 am
by NotZachary82
this app is very original, i love it. entity should include this as the bsp viewer; this has more details ...

would prey like to do entity 1.7? XD (jkz)

Prophet

Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2008 3:30 pm
by DarkShallFall
You REALLY need to fix some bugs. I skinned an entire god damn map and then did a shader swap on one part, saved, loaded and all the shaders in the map where the same thing. Now I have to redo the skin in a new map. So thanks a lot.

Prophet

Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2008 6:03 pm
by Prey
Darkshallfall wrote:You REALLY need to fix some bugs. I skinned an entire god damn map and then did a shader swap on one part, saved, loaded and all the shaders in the map where the same thing. Now I have to redo the skin in a new map. So thanks a lot.
How exactly did you save when Prophet does that automatically?.. Your post does not make sense, please re-word it so I can evaluate if Prophet does actually have a problem.

Prophet

Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2008 7:12 pm
by DarkShallFall
I swapped like 5 shaders on different parts of the map. I then exited the application reloaded the map in prophet while starting up halo 2 to see the game in the engine. When I loaded them in both the map was full with 1 shader except for a couple of parts. Also sometimes the app reads alphas as transparent and i get half invisible walls.

Prophet

Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2008 8:16 pm
by NotZachary82
Darkshallfall wrote:I swapped like 5 shaders on different parts of the map. I then exited the application reloaded the map in prophet while starting up halo 2 to see the game in the engine. When I loaded them in both the map was full with 1 shader except for a couple of parts. Also sometimes the app reads alphas as transparent and i get half invisible walls.
try skinning it instead of shaderswapping, unless u want the whole detailmap and bumpmap deal ... >.<

also, i only found 2 bugs with this app.

1) if u select, say, a rock (on some maps), only one will be selected. when u inject a new bitmap, only that rock is skinned ... and when you load the map in-game, u can only see the bitmap up close.

2) once i inject a bitmap, i have to press "Cancel" at the bottom twice for the prompt to go away ...

there may be some more i didnt notice ...

Prophet

Posted: Sun Jan 20, 2008 12:21 am
by Prey
NotZachary82, they're not problems.. read the tutorial I linked to.. Also, if you're sure the rocks didn't have different shaders.. tell me the map.

Darkshallfall I'm not sure what is happening with that.. sure you have all the external maps set correctly?.. I swapped a few shaders and didn't get a problem :\

Prophet

Posted: Sun Jan 20, 2008 12:54 am
by DarkShallFall
Wow, I forgot that I reformatted and didn't set paths in most apps. Thanks.

Prophet

Posted: Sun Jan 20, 2008 2:19 am
by NotZachary82
Prey wrote:NotZachary82, they're not problems.. read the tutorial I linked to.. Also, if you're sure the rocks didn't have different shaders.. tell me the map.
click a rock on coagulation. only, about, 2 will be selected for every rock u can find. same with waterworks on the stalagmites. (i doubt bungie gave them each unique shaders)

and i have a question:

what are mipmaps and LODs? ur tutorial says to open only the 1st mipmap. cant i just open the entire texture, skin it, save it, and inject? u have confused me based on what i know about skinning.

Prophet

Posted: Sun Jan 20, 2008 7:35 am
by JK-47
Looks awesome. I forgot it was released. This is really going to come in handy for skinning.
Nice job =]

Prophet

Posted: Sun Jan 20, 2008 3:41 pm
by Prey
NotZachary82 wrote:click a rock on coagulation. only, about, 2 will be selected for every rock u can find. same with waterworks on the stalagmites. (i doubt bungie gave them each unique shaders)
You're right.. just looked at the coding and found the problem.. I'll look into an update later.
NotZachary82 wrote:what are mipmaps and LODs? ur tutorial says to open only the 1st mipmap. cant i just open the entire texture, skin it, save it, and inject? u have confused me based on what i know about skinning.
It's how H2X works:
A [bitm] can contain several textures (LODs). The first is the texture you see when your up close to it in-game. The second is what you see when your reach a certain distance away from the texture. The third is when your even further away.. And etc.. Each LOD is twice smaller than the one before it.

Each LOD contains a certain amount of mipmaps as well, which as you move further away, are used up before switching to the next LOD.

My application only extracts the 1st LOD, which you then open the 1st mipmap of, skin, save, and then inject over the 1st LOD.. if they're are other LODs then you also have a choice to inject the new image over them as well.. which I show how to do in the tutorial.

Prophet

Posted: Sun Jan 20, 2008 3:44 pm
by NotZachary82
thx for the help mate. ill try some of that.

Prophet

Posted: Sun Jan 20, 2008 8:30 pm
by Aumaan Anubis
I tried to open and it immediately went to "Prophet.exe has to close. Would you like to send an error report to Microsoft?"

Or something like that.

Ah well.

Prophet

Posted: Sun Jan 20, 2008 9:28 pm
by NotZachary82
u need DirectX 9 or higher. i got the same thing before i installed it

Prophet

Posted: Mon Jan 21, 2008 5:33 am
by JK-47
I got it too :\ Sad.

Prophet

Posted: Mon Jan 21, 2008 5:45 am
by NotZachary82
get DirectX 9 or higher!!! ^

Prophet

Posted: Tue Jan 22, 2008 11:26 pm
by KIWIDOGGIE
Prophet works with Halo 2 Vista mainmenu.map

Re: Prophet

Posted: Sat Jan 30, 2010 3:56 am
by DrXThirst
Localize, please.

Re: Prophet

Posted: Mon Mar 21, 2011 1:10 am
by DoorM4n
Hey! Can someone fix the link or upload their version? Thanks!

Re: Prophet

Posted: Mon Mar 21, 2011 1:27 am
by xxpenguinxx

Re: Prophet

Posted: Mon Mar 21, 2011 2:44 am
by DoorM4n
Thanks for the upload. I opened the program, and it goes directly to "Send Error Report."

Fixed.

Great App!