Halo 2 Mods - OG oXbox Hardware

[Jagosaurus]

So I've covered a community of us out there still playing Halo 2 online on original hardware in this thread.

What I haven't touched on much are the AMAZING mods that have been in development, but just recently reached completion with Xlink Kai Definitive Map Pack v1.6. Some of these are older map mods further optimized, while others are brand new additions. These are comprised of 50 custom maps (with added features you'll see below) loaded from a completely new front end menu. These run on original hardware & are playable via LAN & online via Xlink on original hardware. All dev credit goes to Anubis & his crew, but extremely proud to see my name mentioned here (although I wish I could've contributed more)



These first two pics are Halo 3 themed H2 maps. Those familiar will notice the Mongoose ATV, Assault Rifle, & Frag Grenade weren't in H2. That's right... New weapons & vehicles! Health bar also in center.

Map Example & New Weapons/Vehicles - Pics

Flame thrower not originally in H2



My personal favorite are the multiple horror themed maps. Here's a reskin of classic Turf map.

I can post more pics of custom menu GUI, horror maps, fun maps (Duff beer Simpson reskin), etc. Just let me know. The maps are VERY easy to get running on a modded xbox. I can get you to the files. Looking at you Ziggy & nightrnr

EDIT: 2/4/20 Added Pics

It is it's own self contained "game"


Custom menu "splash"






50 Custom Maps


There are new traditional, competitive maps




Some fun, themed maps


New vehicles


More horror maps

[Ziggy]

All dev credit goes to Anubis & his crew, but extremely proud to see my name mentioned here

Awesome!

Looking at you Ziggy & nightrnr

I actually don't currently own an oXbox. Some years back, I got one that came pre-soft modded from someone on the forums here, but I ended up getting rid of it. My only exposure to Halo was the first game on the PC. But this is still awesome news! It always makes me happy to see that a community for a particular game is still thriving.

[nightrnr]

Yes, this got my attention Jago. Thanks for posting it.

I'll definitely have to try them out sometime. New weapons are a nice touch and can really add something to old games (especially if I've never played past Halo 2).
Do you have a link for everything or is it an ftp situation?

Keep in mind, I don't do online gaming (maybe in the future). But fresh content for local multiplayer is always welcome.

[Jagosaurus]

@ziggy,
Man! Modded xbox running MAME or CoinOps & the emus is amazing. Right up your alley. Setting it up, upgrading HDD, & tinkering is half the fun though

If you played Halo CE on PC, look up some YT vids on Halo Custom Edition (play on words for CE/Combat Evolved). There's an AMAZING PC mod community out there. Game running in 1080p looks great. Lots of mods, custom maps, & active online group. Awesome stuff. I personally haven't dove into it, but on my list for 2020.

@nightrnr
You FTP it over as it's on "game" into you games folder. Same you would as a retail game. You don't have to file swap maps on existing Halo 2 maps. Really cool it's self contained with it's own file system & .xbe. You have to clear system cache if swapping between Xlink 1.6 mods & standard H2. Takes a minute or so.

I can send you an invite link to the DL section on the dedicated Discord server . We're going to get some online games going soon on these maps. This final version was just released last month.

[Ziggy]

Man! Modded xbox running MAME or CoinOps & the emus is amazing. Right up your alley. Setting it up, upgrading HDD, & tinkering is half the fun though

Yes, I suppose I did all the tinkering I could with it then realized I had no use for it. I set up a bunch of emulators. I got some controller adapters (that's how I came to know this controller). I had it set up in my, at that time, man cave so I dropped a second NIC in my desktop that I had in that room so I could FTP to the Xbox HDD. But after tweaking it and setting everything up, it sat around and collected dust. I didn't use the emulators because I had all the real consoles. And there were no exclusives for the console that I cared about. So I decided to pass it on to the next Racketboy person!

If you played Halo CE on PC, look up some YT vids on Halo Custom Edition (play on words for CE/Combat Evolved). There's an AMAZING PC mod community out there. Game running in 1080p looks great. Lots of mods, custom maps, & active online group. Awesome stuff. I personally haven't dove into it, but on my list for 2020.

Oh, yeah. Custom Edition with a great community was a thing even back when I was playing it. I was even trying to get into making my own maps, but the software wasn't the easiest to learn to use. I had a group of friends that I was playing with online almost daily. That gave me motivation to make the maps. But everyone little by little lost interest in playing, and so I lost the motivation to make custom maps.

[8bit]

First I need to mod my xbox, second I need to get this up and running, third we need to have a lan party. Let make it happen!

[Jagosaurus]

@ziggy, do you have any more info or links on that controller? I've only seen the adapters for other controllers, but not a dedicated. Pretty sweet.

It's pretty amazing there are 20 or so U.S. guys (100+ in Latin America) still actively playing console H2 and are creating mods. Tonight they were playing the H2 multiplayer beta. Love the community keeping it alive.

Halo Custom Edition, as well as H2 Vista on my list, but really need a new PC.

First I need to mod my xbox, second I need to get this up and running, third we need to have a lan party. Let make it happen!

Hey man, happy to help. Also, I'm down for LAN. I made this thread on modding process: viewtopic.php?f=25&t=50934

HDD upgrade wouldn't be required if H2 is the main draw (vs emus, CoinOps, etc). Just know that's a separate process post mod.

That'll get you started. The Halo files get a little confusing. I can take a retail H2 copy & add these 11 maps, patches, & 7 game types. 1.1 & 1.5 updates contain patches fixing a few things, notably melee. These are completely separate from the 50 custom maps mentioned above. They can live independently of each other.

Multiplayer Map Pack + 1.1 Patch:
(were bundled on retail disc & 3 XBL DL packs)
(K = Killtacular, M = Maptacular, B = Bonus)
Containment - B
Warlock - B
Sanctuary - K
Turf - K
Backwash - M
Elongation - M
Gemini - M
Relic - M
Terminal - M

Blastacular Pack + 1.5. Patch:
(were XBL DL only)
Desolation
Tombstone

Bungie Employees Custom Game Types:
Capture the Flag: Classic CTF Tank - Bungie favorite
Capture the Flag: Covie Gulch - Bungie favorite
Slayer: Golden Showers - Bungie favorite
Slayer: Peacemakers - Bungie favorite
Slayer: Swords No Radar - Bungie favorite (also known as Paranoia)
Slayer: Team GoldShowers - Bungie favorite
Slayer: Zombies - Bungie favorite

[Jagosaurus]

Just added more pics to OP showing custom menus and some of the awesome levels, themes, and weapon/vehicle hacks!

Let me know what you guys think & if you want me to shoot over the files or an invite to the Discord.