The Halo Modding Tool That Took 20 Years to Make

[@DoorM4n]

Man, what an incredible tool! OG halo 2 modders dreamed of something like this back in the day.

[@doootuz]

Doorrman!!!! What up dudeeee

[@jdsofar]

All this stuff was possible back in the day. It was just a secret that only a few people could do.

[@toastedSkyCapacitor]

The OG modder showin' up!

[@Criticmasterz]

I would love to see you make a mod with this someday

[@garrisonbrown2456]

@@doootuz What's up man its halo0001

[@TheVengefulVadam]

5:50 “Now, I know no one is actually going to use this tool for the original Xbox version of Halo 2…” lol lmao lmfao even You bet I’m gonna use this for OG, are you kidding? ❤ Thank you so much for releasing this!

[@sp3968]

^^^^^^^^^ this my goal is to have custom maps made by this tool running on OG xboxes by July...

[@TheRealNapsta]

Imagine a super polished halo 2 map pack for og xbox work all the good cartographer maps

[@NoobsonXbox]

We really out here

[@TheRealNapsta]

if you are planning something and need testers please let me know. I have some modded boxes and friends for testing.

[@MorbidlyObeseChihuahua]

I love seeing the Half-Life 2 assets inside of Halo 2, the gaming juggernauts of 2004 crossing over.

[@ScottThePisces]

This is how I felt with GTA San Andreas crossing over to THUG2/Pro, that 2004 aesthetic man

[@Spartan_Tanner]

6:40 this tool has undo redo- *ABSOLUTE MODDING*

[@richard_franks]

hooooly shit, the original prometheus pops into my mind once every couple months. I was an annoying kid on halomods from like '03-'06. I remember (trying) to help work on h2edit, one of my proudest days was when GameInformer published a magazine article on Halo modding tools and they showed a screenshot of the program with the splash screen I made. I think my mom still has a scan of the article haha. Your tool is incredible. Seeing passion projects like this always lights a fire under my ass and keeps me moving. Congrats on your accomplishment.

[@wooviee]

fellow annoying kid from the halo mods forum. good memories ❤

[@erroroliver]

what was your username back in the day lol

[@Criticmasterz]

My mans I would be excited to see your mod with this someday

[@NeoTeAika]

You know what this would be sick for, is compiling all of our Digsite map releases into a psuedo-official "Digtacular Pack" for Xbox. I was wondering if we might be able to team up with the Insignia team to have them host it through the in-game content downloader, too. Sean told me about this project so I've been super excited to see it come to fruition. Great work!

[@_plamp_]

That would be excellent! I could see it bringing in a lot of players as well

[@Grimdoomer]

I've been able to convert quite a few already with only minor shading issues. The biggest blocker on converting the rest is mostly the shader conversion process. There's some other minor things like certain objects not having physics models (which MCC seems to generate automagically, probably from the collision model or something), but that's relatively easy to fix.

[@pigsareit]

That's such a cool fun idea!! 'Digtacular Map Pack', Amazing!

[@XxKeNoHxX]

That would be an incredible

[@marsinvader9078]

​@@Grimdoomersign the contract big boy, sign the contract

[@MrMario2011]

LOOK AT THESE PIXELS!!!! Awesome release!

[@mariocano7263]

As a founding member of the first halo modding team thanks for continuing the dream.

[@Criticmasterz]

I would love a mod from ya someday

[@KamalJDavis]

the halo modding community is about to go wild this year, awesome work. Looking forward to Prometheus going open source!

[@mrmemes9087]

Gotta say, this looks absolutely baller. While I am not a Halo modder I've got some experience with reverse engineering with games like Dying Light, Dead Island, Call Of Juarez, and some smaller projects like unpacker for Doom Eternal. Was going to make a map editor for Dead Island but canned it whenever I found out you could just use Dying Light's map editor (all you had to do was change the version number in the raw hex code lol). Was also trying to recreate a beta area of the map named "Act2B" which I made a video on if you are interested. I'm currently busy with an even bigger project but will probably still work on it. Was also thinking of making a map editor for Borderlands 2 as you can edit the maps in the first game but can't really in the second game cause all the files are cooked. Anyway, always glad to see more people pick up this sort of hobby, cause it makes every thing open source lmao.

[@ToaDrakua]

5:05 Need that kind of thing in MCC. Getting Xbox accurate shaders and lighting would help with its various visual issues massively.

[@memeticks3610]

I believe shaders bugging out is also a massive issue with xbox emulation as well.

[@BinToss._.]

The disparity is partially due to screenspace shaders being hardcoded for the Xbox's 4:3 640*480 resolution. Forcing the game to run at 720i on the OG Xbox results in similar issues we see today in MCC.

[@jordychinchin]

What a trip down memory lane. I remember looking at a lot of these custom Halo 2 maps in awe on Halo Mods in 2005

[@ihatecompvir1591]

This is a trip, I haven't thought about Prometheus in years. I remember reading about it waaaaay back when on HaloMods so it's extremely cool to see the spiritual successor actually release. The work you've done here is nothing short of spectacular, especially the shader work. Really cool stuff Gonna dig out the OG Xbox tonight for sure

[@Criticmasterz]

I would love to see your mod someday

[@snapchipper]

If you ever open source this, so help me god I will mash it back into Halo 1

[@Criticmasterz]

It is going open source

[@BadEnoughDudeRescues]

Wow... Finally! I remember those posts and the mythos of Prometheus. IIRC, Prometheus was eventually going to be an AIO for all 3 halos at the time. The bsp viewer looks fantastic. Bringing me back to using Entity. Thanks for this!!!

[@Vuthakral]

I lurked halomods around the mid to late 2000s, but mostly was around it's inverse of modhalo and later followed the regulars from there to opencarnage. Though I mostly was just talking to other modders directly with xfire (RIP). I remember reading about Prometheus and thought "damn, sucks that it's not gonna happen", here's hoping it can get full support because the Halo 2 xbox modding scene honestly probably has about as large a community as Halo 2 MCC's.

[@Criticmasterz]

Fr ❤

[@halo_legacies]

This is awesome. I remember when this was announced and N- being in charge of the whole thing.

[@ebon4265]

I remember using ppf-o-matic and sparkedit for modding Halo Trial, good times.

[@dennisvanruijven4489]

Holy shit, indeed! Xbox Connect, anyone too???

[@ConnorTumbleson]

Nice work - pretty amazing. OG Halo guy banned by Tural for something I don't remember 20 years ago.

[@Criticmasterz]

That sucks

[@ThommyofThenn]

Thank you for going into detail on why the file was extremely difficult to work with. I had so many questions at first but I kept listening and they were addressed. Nice video!

[@rodak_]

This is so very impressive. Hats off my man! This video is going viral I am telling you.

[@rodak_]

Yooo, you're the guy who recently decided to drop those THPS exploits, that explains a lot!

[@Criticmasterz]

It is viral homie!!!

[@aLTis94]

Incredible work! The level editor looks like a better version of Sapien

[@ScottThePisces]

Well done man, this was clearly a lot of work and an incredible amount of passion. I hope someone reaches out to you with job offers if you haven't already!

[@tommo120]

Damn dude, what a massive blast of nostalgia that was! I used to hang around the HaloMods forum all the time back in the day, I never posted much but there was 1 mod for Lockout I released and a couple of reskins of the Warthog. I vividly remember drooling over the potential possibilities of Prometheus and I used to always check their website to see if there were any updates. Glad someone finally came through with what they originally promised, really amazing work :D

[@Redman8086]

Man that brings me back.. I do remember all those years ago hearing about a tool called Prometheus. I never got really advanced with Halo 2 modding, mostly just messed around mixing and matching tags and changing weapon stats, but this is really cool dude. Nice job.

[@RocketDolphin89]

Did basic mods for halo 2 when xbox connect was a thing. I'm still stuck in the past and on the original Xbox. But this shit is nostalgic af. Keep up the good work

[@Born...]

Great work brother! Thank you for all of your work and effort! This is insane, people are going to definitely use this tool on everything. The OG Xbox scene has exploded in recent years, this will get a lot of use, and I think we are going to see some very creative stuff being made all around.

[@theespicypotato]

Absolute banger of a channel already, btw I actually included your Pro Strcpy video as a source in an ACE essay I wrote for a computer science class

[@BreakifyTV]

Man, I remember using tools like HMT, Hex Editor, and Spark Edit to mod Halo: Combat Evolved back in the day, good times! It’s great to see new modding tools still being developed for Halo!

[@nolram]

This is awesome! I’d love to see a video with more technical details, or some more info about how the OG Halo engine worked (with it’s tag system and all)

[@Wally17.]

Me too. That would be interesting even if I didn’t understand a lot of it.

[@fuchi_koma]

this is so hype, 11 year old me would be absolutely floored rn. can’t wait to be able to build my own custom MCC editing kit maps for original xbox… finally!

[@Criticmasterz]

Let's make maps together ❤❤

[@MuffinTastic]

very impressive stuff, i hope it gets you whatever job you go for, you deserve it

[@pigsareit]

Man this is so amazingly cool!! Halo 2 mods still stand out in my mind as the epitome of coolness, and I still think back pleasantly occasionally. I never was able to make a published public mod myself, but I messed around with the tools and made really crappy edits of maps. I had the O'Reilly book Halo 2 Hacks and read it cover to cover several times, the Black art of Halo mods book also, and still have youtube playlists with all the cool videos people had made of their custom levels. I am speechless to see that you worked on this, lol. It is so cool but I'm also like 'why?'. I guess I fully resigned to thinking the dream wouldn't happen, because it was so complicated and convoluted to do, but there's a compelling reignition from you. I also work on video games for a living now too, and I have made a Lot of mods for other games. And I've certainly made custom maps where the audience was 5 people and then the small group of us played the level and then that was over. I'm a bit worried to work on a map project where the audience is even smaller than that. But I guess offhand I could set up xemu kits more easily, and probably network them together to play custom maps, that sounds doable! Thank you! Great work!

[@itsKimi]

"i know no one is gonna use this tool" bud you just made halo 1 and 2 modding a thing for game preservation enthusiast, give yourself some credits please.

[@Criticmasterz]

I am going to use this too ❤

[@MALICEM12]

That Warthog plane and map were dope

[@Wally17.]

This is absolutely awesome! I’d enjoy a longer video going into the technicals even if I wouldn’t understand everything. I think that would be very interesting. I’ll definitely be checking this tool out!

[@Dropply]

dothalo was as much of a staple in my childhood as limewire

[@DMONSKULL]

man does this bring me back. amazing video!

[@madbr100]

I love you man what tool to hold thank you for the release iv been waiting 20+ years for this and now it's here 🎉

[@charlesrussell9079]

Thank you for this. I used to be on the halomods forums back in the early days and this video really brought back some sweet memories.

[@colemickens]

This is either the biggest troll of my entire life, or the most unbelievable turn of events ever. I legit thought it was always just a trolly meme. CRAZY.

[@koekje00005]

"But I won't bore you with the details" My guy please make a second video. I want to hear everything!! You achieved what Gearbox & 343 never could for years, making Xbox, pixel-accurate shaders work. The transparency shader in HCE was broken for SO SO long; you've done awesome work here!

[@YetisMods]

Great work man. I only got into halo mods in the last few years, but this is really fun to see. maybe ill have to port some mods to xbox for fun :)

[@Criticmasterz]

Do it !!!

[@quantumfrost9467]

Very impressive stuff, i remember playing halo custom edition years back. Holds a place in my heart

[@dk9]

This is amazing! Thanks for making this modding tool!

[@r.g.thesecond]

Hey! Best of luck making your own game! (if you are still determined to do that) I sure do wonder what kind of game your technical skills inspire you to make.

[@BoundlessPLYR]

I'm gonna use this, just because you said you doubt someone would, just wait! This is incredible!

[@Quagmirian]

I started modding modding in 2006. I think we all have a big project we started but never finished.

[@thefourthseal0]

This is awesome man, way to do it

[@jamestonjes8263]

Hope to see you make more videos, strcpy vid was interesting, and this looks pretty dope

[@ted7974]

I just wanted to say that this post was hott thank you for all your work. Literal hero.

[@Yoyoyo-sy7vz]

awesome work! crazy seeing my mod featured here 😂

[@doootuz]

Omg I saw one of the paintball mods i helped test in this video!!! Paintball3r if you’re out there, what up from Dootuz!!!

[@NargisTheViking]

Good Ol Killtrocity map pack... Good times..

[@gruntlord6]

I don't like how tempted I am. To make an Xbox mod again

[@yeeetusdeletus8117]

PLEASEPLEASEPLEASE I NEED TO USE MY XBOX

[@Criticmasterz]

Do it homie please ❤❤

[@hiiammoot]

Great, all we need is a time machine now and send this 20 years back in time

[@codylove3212]

Hats off man! Gotta at least throw you a comment to get more views on this. Good luck in your future endeavors!

[@tktyt13]

Never thought you would come back from the tony hawk exploit

[@bfors8498]

If I ran a studio, you would be hired

[@Michael.Hunt.14-52]

Wow amazing work! Folks need heroes Chief. Looks like we've got something to smile about. Have you seen insignia yet?

[@downthecrop]

Cracked dev. Respect.

[@couldronofcats]

KEEPING THE DREAM ALIVE BABY!!! LETS GO

[@IphoneManias-w5b]

the actual halo 2 modding legend

[@KalebSDay]

7:50 I legit thought these were little rainbow ducks waddling their way towards you at first hahah. Well done make and best of luck getting that bag in the industry!! You already have the skills now just network and slide into those recruiters or other software engineers dms at companies saying you'd love to hear about their experience getting in the industry over a google meets call or something.

[@DeeKnow]

Great video!

[@KasperMcKay]

This is awesome my dude!

[@nrkurbanspawn4391]

OMFG !! I've been waiting years for this!!!!😮 Use to mode halo back in the days and couldn Wait for Prometheus!!!!

[@JustinsaneS222]

Hell yeah... keeping the dream alive

[@slicey80]

Honestly I think you'd be amazed. If they find a way to easily incorporate modded halo maps on to Insignia then I could totally see an Xbox mod scene revival

[@KrankuSama]

Amazing work mate

[@Ishirosama]

Man I know nothing about halo tooling or even halo, I don't know how that video pop'd into my feed (well I kinda like video games, so...) But please don't forget to release you tool whatever you achieve. You've done so much, people will know what to do with your artwork Gg

[@kelownatechkid]

Nicely done!

[@YouNoMeDawg]

This SO SICK dawg

[@revraitah]

Fricking awesome, dude

[@wafers35]

somebody get this into InfernoPlus' hands

[@sethdonut]

outstanding work

[@HugoIsThatGuy]

This is some amazing work!!

[@icanttype]

I was there back in the day on irc before we even had websites. Who remembers Zexgx, Cluis, Iron Forge, Dmauro. So many others I cant recall.

[@YouNoMeDawg]

we need a halo ce map pack for H2. like all the good 2v2 and 4v4 maps from CE plus the classic Halo 2 maps like lockout and midship

[@Super.Whimsy]

Remarkable! I’d love to hear the nerdy details about what you learned digging through reverse engineering their setups. Like, for real, I’d watch the half an hour grass talk. 😅

[@TheFoxEssence]

This is so dang impressive!

[@Priception]

Sick, I might think about porting my Metroid Prime 2 Multiplayer Map Pack to Halo 2 Xbox.

[@YTflagsCommentsOnMentalIness]

Somebody tell Ruby of Blue

[@COMATRON.]

wow, what a ride. great vid - u own bro.

[@AudibleFist]

If possible a GPU renderer for MCC would be incredible!

[@Criticmasterz]

You can man once this get open source

[@XHN_SCRAPY]

I remember this from back in the day.

[@monorail0]

700 views 40 comments holy pizza. I remember when I was 13 I downloaded Dot Halo and changed the ghost to shoot coconuts, then I changed the SMG to shoot fusion coils which would immediately explode as they were fired and send you flying :)

[@0842]

Absolutely insane! This is amazing

[@superkaboose1066]

1:52 still relevant in all halo mod tools lol

[@Jaksonthefox]

Incredible!

[@radrobison]

If I want to go ahead and design a map for OG Xbox Halo 2, what tools would you recommend? It'd be nice to create the map geometry with ease of importing in mind. Also, thank you so much for the incredible work you've done here!

[@exile_national]

subbed, amazing work

[@Maj-SHIPWRECKED]

Ive developed golf watching this

[@JanoschNr1]

Damn dude, he did put H-L2 into Halo2

[@Criticmasterz]

Hyped 4 Prometheus and it is open source code ❤

[@DandyDNA]

There are those who said this day would never come. What are they to say now?

[@Frank-og4nn]

Playing coast in halo is crazy

[@lilsal16]

People still play Halo 2 online especially the Brazilians. And people will use this tool. It would be cool to add maps from other games.

[@kierzo8543]

I remember waiting for this and the original news, this is amazing! I will definitely use it! Maybe you should charge an early access for it, I would pay for sure, if this gives you some cash to invest more time in it, I loved halo 2 from day one, but it never had enough maps, so maybe if this lets more maps get created then the game could be made great again. Amazing achievement well done!

[@joman104]

I used to download so many custom edition mods from halo mods !

[@Criticmasterz]

I would love to see you make a mod fr

[@joman104]

@Criticmasterz I tried once but the converting the map was weird

[@Criticmasterz]

@@joman104 I see hopefully promethus is a better tool for ya