Just dropping in to let you guys know that because of a string of events this month, we haven't been able to complete the work that we would have liked to have done.
This means that we're not going to have an update up for this month. However, we will try and get some pictures up in October on some days to make up for this.
Sorry for the notice folks. I'm afraid September was just a busy month for both Koo and I's real lives.
Just posting to let you guys know that today's update has been delayed until tomorrow.
All that's left is some minor fixes and adding commentary to explain a few features.
Hopefully we'll have the video uploaded as soon as possible. Sorry for the delay folks.
Make sure this was what you downloaded and installed first off:
Secondly, make sure stkft_v1.map file is in your maps directory (usually located in "C:/Program Files/Microsoft Games/Halo Custom Edition/Maps" ).
Thirdly, you need to run 'Developers Mode' or download the 'Universal UI' by MooseGuy ( Hce.halomaps.org ). MooseGuy's Universal UI will allow you to launch the map without the need for Console Commands (just run the game normally, no need for Developers Mode). Once you reach the Main Menu with the Universal UI installed, then you can navigate to our map. It should be listed as 'The Flood Forgotten Exile' under 'More Creations'. Edit: I'm not sure if Open Suace is required for using the Universal UI or not, but in case it is, here's the download link for it:
Open Sauce is a Third Party Application that's used to enhance the original game.
If you decide on the Developer Mode method, then once you reach the Main Menu screen after running Developer Mode, hit the ~ (tilde) key to open the console. You should see some text at the bottom left of the screen. From there, type in 'map_name stkft_v1' without inverted commas. This should load the map.
Aye, I'm aware that there was a Proto-Gravemind on Alpha Halo in the form of Keyes.
What I was trying to put across through the FAQ was that we've added to the story that there was a Gravemind.
I know, it's a huge deal. A lot of people who are fanatics about the canon (I know I am) will be pulling out their hair while I say this, but I think we've got a good explanation that fits within the Halo Universe as to why this Gravemind is on Alpha Halo.
We know the Forerunner did keep some Flood locked up, obviously to try and see if there was any weaknesses that could be exploitable during the Forerunner-Flood War. Personally it would make sense to me that they would bring that a step further, trying to artificially create a Gravemind in a Containment Facility.
The Gravemind in our story is what remains of the one created by the Forerunner. It has been slowly rotting since the first activation of the Rings. Only barely kept alive by the same stasis units that kept the other Flood on Alpha Halo alive.
The reason for keeping it alive? We also know that the Monitor was tasked with several things by the Forerunners to keep him occupied after the Rings were activated. What we've added into the story, is that one of those was to find a weakness that could be exploited should the Flood ever re-emerge.
I know making these changes and additions to the story is something that most of you won't be particularly happy with. But I believe it's the best way we can go. It gives us lots of opportunities for how we want to do the story, while hopefully not standing on too many toes of the original.
I've thought long and hard about the story and how it should play out, and to me, it never really made sense without including a Gravemind.
Edit: Holy doodle this turned into quite the wall of text.
Were you using Open Sauce when playing?
It's been known to cause some issues with the HUD.
No problem, glad you enjoyed it :).
That's the end of the level. We don't have another map loading because we haven't made the next in series yet.
It was a bit of both really. It was a full level in the sense that you play it from start to finish the way we intended, and that it includes all of our major assets.
However, it was a demo in the sense that we wanted to test/try out new features and see how the community felt about them.
Are you sure you're having the same issue as the guy above? He said he's getting "Waiting to respawn... player in combat" bug, which indicates he's been crushed by the AI that spawn. If you're getting a black screen it might be an entirely different bug.
I can confirm that this is a rare bug that we've been alerted to since release.
The only way to fix is when the cutscene goes to the part showing the Flood running towards the Flood Pelican, open console and type "ai_kill cutscene_ai6" without quotations. This will kill the AI on-screen (the dudes running in) who are the ones causing the issue.
News post is complete, and StKft has been uploaded to Moddb. I'm not sure how long the authorisation process will take, but Moddb guys seem to be quick when it's a release post.
You're not the only one - it was my favorite weapon.
Also, for those of you eager to download the map. I can confirm I have just uploaded the map file to mediafire, and will now publish the news post as well as start uploading to Moddb.
Finally, I'd like to apologise for the wait, some rather persistent bugs appeared, and I was not happy until they had been dealt with.
The news post will require authorisation and I'm not sure how long that will take.(If it takes too long I'll upload the map to downloads).
Please do not spam the front page, and remember that their are different time-zones for different people.
The map will be uploaded as soon as possible. As I said before, be patient.
Yes it will, and hopefully the news post will be authorised at the same time to go with it. In the event news post is done first, I'll put a temporary link into it for downloading from mediafire :).
Personally I had to buy Halo PC over Amazon in order to get it. It was about 3 dollars if I remember right. Although, Koo has told me he bought his in-store. So some shops may still have it second-hand.
It's difficult to say for sure, but your best bet would be to buy it over Amazon/Ebay.
It will be uploaded today. Be patient :).
We're doing a final play-test to make sure it's bug free, then we're uploading.
In later levels there might be one or two new weapons, but for StKft, it'll be pretty much every weapon from the stock tagset.
Except for Sniper Rifle/Shotgun (Shotgun has been cut due to unfortunate reasons involving the person in charge of animating the weapon with Flood hands. Sufficed to say, the animations he gave us were not in any state to be used, and we don't have the time to re-do them. I'll go into this a bit more in a news post I'm writing for today).
Ah I think I see what you mean now. Basically, this campaign/project takes place on the first Halo, it has absolutely nothing to do with Delta Halo.
Although, the level you're talking about, Quarantine Zone/Sacred Icon, will both feature in some way in our mod.
The only way for the Player to survive when fighting these fellas is to change the play-style entirely. Less melee/close orientated, more attacking at range.
If you get close to these enemies, you're literally gonna get your arse roasted.
That's what makes them so powerful when fighting versus Flood. They take the Flood advantages of numerical superiority and close-quarters and throw them completely out the window.
This entire project is going to take a long time to do. Honestly I don't even want to consider anything afterwards(in terms of new maps) until we're starting the final level.
The only thing we were planning to do after the project, was perhaps create tutorials, to help people get into the Halo modding scene and start producing some great maps.
Bear with me, because this is quite long...
The Engine limits how many assets you can put into one map, bsps(parts of the level) and all tags are counted. The Engine has a really strange measurement for these. For example, a music file will take up like 0.01M, but 3p animations for entering/exiting a Ghost took up something like 0.5M.
Effectively, when you breach the 0M barrier, Tool (software used for compiling the map) will not allow you to compile the map. HOWEVER, it will if it's even slightly above. The problem is, even if it is above, it can still cause the map to be highly unstable, suffering from exceptions at random.
Optimally, the map should have 0.5-0.7M free. When we added the 3p animations for Ghost/Shade originally, it through us to 1.27M over the limit. The Warthog taking up probably between 0.3 and 0.5M.
So, in answer to your questions: It basically makes the map unable to compile, or if it does compile, and it's just slightly over the limit, it'll exception at random. There's a fine balance from doing this, but, as someone pointed out on the main page comments section, it IS possible to go over it. But, it requires using an extension called Open Sauce, that, for the reasons mentioned on the main page, we didn't want to use.
Hope that clears things up for you - sorry about the length by the way, but the context was needed to fully understand what exactly happened.
Opening bit was just meant as an atmospheric intro to the trailer. More to show off what we'd done with the Flood Environments and what you can expect.
As for the large amounts of enemies - that's definitely the case in large-scale battles. You'll be seeing Flood pouring from every avenue, don't worry. There was a lack of this for the intro only because, as I said, it was meant to be atmospheric.
I'm afraid I'm not quite sure what you mean. Mind elaborating on what reference you're talking about?
As much as I love the idea of Open Sauce; it's somewhat difficult installation and the fact that it alienates users who don't have it installed (by not allowing them to play the map unless they've got it working) led us to the conclusion that it would be better off not using it.
However, with that said, for later levels we are still considering using it should some of the above faults be fixed.
The controls themselves haven't changed at all, but certain HUD elements will no longer exist. Examples: Ammo Bar/Motion Sensor.
Health will still be represented on HUD, as will navpoints.
Player speed has been modified too; so that now the player moves forward quicker than Master Chief, but slower when strafing/backpedalling.
You can see more about the HUD and how it works in this video:
However, just to note, the HUD is much less obscuring now than is shown in that video.
'The Thing' is probably one of my favorite horror films, so believe me, I don't feel insulted at all ;)
He's using the Plasma Thrower, or Plamethrower.
It's specifically designed as an anti-Flood weapon, used for burning down heavy infestations and killing Flood en masse.
If you'd like a closer look, you can see a picture of it in action in our Images section :).
When you install Custom Edition, you don't get a dedicated visible shortcut, but you should get a shortcut under the Start Menu - All Programs - Microsoft Games - Halo Custom Edition. It should be called Halo Custom Edition Developers Mode.
If you haven't got that, then you'll have to make the shortcut yourself, it's not hard, so I'll outline the steps here:
1) Copy and Paste the original Custom Edition shortcut and rename it Halo Custom Edition Developers Mode
2) Right click the shortcut, go to properties.
3) In the Target line it should link you to the directory where you've got Halo Custom Edition installed, what you need to do is to go to where the quotation marks close, and add "-devmode -console" without quotations.
So it should look like this:
"C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Games\Halo Custom Edition\haloce.exe" -devmode -console
Once that's done, your new shortcut should launch developers mode. If you've got any more problems, don't hesitate to ask :).
But Plamethrower sounds so much better :(.
LoneWarrior
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