Nova - Halo 2 Beta Map Editor

[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)

Install Nova.zip

Nova Installer version 2.0.4.3

(2.62 MiB) Downloaded 644 times

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

[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).

[Grimdoomer]

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

[kornman00]

No, it doesn't use any of the debug data in the tag data

[Click16]

Updated - No longer called Beta, but now it's called Nova!

[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

[Click16]

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."

[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.