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Difference between revisions of "Halo: Combat Evolved"

From PCGamingWiki, the wiki about fixing PC games
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==Issues fixed==
 
==Issues fixed==
−
===HUD Stretch (Custom Edition)===
+
===HUD stretch (Custom Edition)===
−
With Open Sauce installed, press F7 ingame, then 3, then 2 to toggle HUD stretch compensation. Note: When using a scope, some of the HUD elements are still stretched. The devs say that there is no fix for this.
+
{{ii}} Does not work for Combat Evolved edition and requires Open Sauce installed.
 +
{{Fixbox|1=
 +
{{Fixbox/fix|HUD stretch fix}}
 +
* Pres {{key|F7}}, then {{key|3}}, then {{key|2}} to toggle HUD stretch compensation.
 +
{{ii}} When using a scope, some of the HUD elements are still stretched. The devs say that there is no fix for this.
 +
}}
  
 
===Enabling EAX on Windows Vista or greater===
 
===Enabling EAX on Windows Vista or greater===

Revision as of 14:39, 23 May 2014

This page may require cleanup to meet basic quality standards. The specific problem is: Missing CE download, generally messy syntax. You can help by modifying the article. The discussion page may contain useful suggestions.
Template:Infobox game/row/winporterTemplate:Infobox game/row/osxporterTemplate:Infobox game/row/osxporter
Halo: Combat Evolved
Cover image missing, please upload it
Developers
Bungie
Publishers
Microsoft Studios
Engines
Halo Engine
Release dates
Windows September 30, 2003
macOS (OS X) December 3, 2003
Halo: Combat Evolved on Wikipedia
Icon overlay.png

Warnings

The macOS (OS X) version of this game does not work on macOS Catalina (version 10.15) or later due to the removal of support for 32-bit-only apps.
GameSpy online services have been shut down (see Network for solutions).
Halo
Halo: Combat Evolved 2003
Halo 2 2007
Halo: Spartan (series)
Halo Online 2015*
Halo 5: Forge 2016
Halo Wars (series)
Halo Recruit 2017
Halo: The Master Chief Collection (series)
Halo Infinite 2021

Key points

Patch 1.0.10 fixes issues with modern hardware and replaces the GameSpy master server.
Modding tools are available as a separate download
Great console port
Can run on low end hardware.
Small community

General information

Bungie.net - The developer's site
Halo Nation - A very detailed wiki for everything Halo related
Halo.Bungie.org - One of the biggest Halo fan sites around
Halo Maps - A fan site for downloading mods and maps for Halo: Custom Edition
Bungie forums thread about enhancing the graphics of Halo CE

Availability

Template:Availability Table

The official demo for the game can be found here

Versions

Halo: Custom Edition

Halo: Custom Edition allows players to play multiplayer Halo games on user-created maps. There is no singleplayer campaign. In order to play a downloaded user-created map, place the .map file in: 

 C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Games\Halo Custom Edition\maps

Note: this is the path for a default installation on a 64-bit copy of Windows 7. The path may vary. If you downloaded a .zip or other archive, you will need to extract it first. WARNING: Do NOT delete any .map files in the folder by default, ESPECIALLY not ui.map. Halo: Custom Edition and any custom maps can be downloaded from halomaps.org

Essential improvements

Patch 1.0.10 (Windows)

Patch 1.0.10 replaces the GameSpy master servers and fixes various issues.

Open Sauce

A mod for Custom Edition that fixes multiple issues and adds several features. It is not compatible with Combat Evolved.

Game data

Configuration file(s) location

Template:Game data/rowTemplate:Game data/row
System Location

Save game data location

Template:Game data/rowTemplate:Game data/row
System Location

Save game cloud syncing

No save game cloud syncing information; you can edit this page to add it.

Video settings

File:HaloCE Video.png
In-game graphics settings.

Template:Video settings

Widescreen resolution

Upcoming version 1.10 supports resolutions up to 4800x3600[1]. For exotic resolutions follow fix bellow.
Instructions

Field of view (FOV)

On widescreen resolutions, Halo compresses its vertical field of view (FOV) instead of stretching its horizontal FOV. To fix this, download the following tools as appropriate to the version you are using

Halo: Combat Evolved

Instructions

Halo: Custom Edition

Instructions

Adjust FOV by hex editing

Backup your maps folder before starting (default location is C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Games\Halo\maps)
A hex editor is required. HxD is a good free editor.
Works for both Custom Edition and Combat Evolved.
In A Nutshell : Replace all occurrences of AA619C3F with CDCCCC3F in all .MAP files.
Instructions

Anti-aliasing (AA)

Halo does not support Antialiasing (AA).
Force-enabling AA in your graphics driver has no effect on Halo: Combat Evolved and in Halo: Custom Edition causes the game to freeze on the loading screen while playing the main menu music in the background. The only way to escape this is by force closing the game with Alt+F4 or the Task Manager.

Halo: Combat Evolved

Instructions

Halo: Custom Edition

If your graphics card does not support MLAA/FXAA natively, you can still use FXAA by enabling it in Open Sauce (see Postprocessing Filters).

Anisotropic filtering (AF)

There are two methods available to enable Anisotropic filtering:

Method 1

Instructions

Method 2

Instructions

Postprocessing filters (Custom Edition)

Does not work for Combat Evolved edition.
Instructions

Input settings

File:HaloCE Controls.png
In-game controls settings.
File:HaloCE Mouse.png
In-game mouse settings.
File:HaloCE Gamepad.png
In-game gamepad settings.

Template:Input settings

Audio settings

File:HaloCE Audio.png
In-game audio settings.

Template:Audio settings

Network

Multiplayer types

Type Native Notes
LAN play
Online play
GameSpy services have been shut down;[2] see GameSpy for workarounds.

Connection types

Type Native Notes
Matchmaking
Peer-to-peer
Dedicated
Self-hosting
Direct IP

Ports

Protocol Port(s) and/or port range(s)
TCP 80
UDP 2302, 2303
Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) support status is unknown.

Issues unresolved

HUD Stretch (Combat Evolved)

When played at custom resolutions on widescreen monitors, the HUD (Heads Up Display) and all ingame menus will be stretched horizontally. There is currently no fix for this for Halo v 1.09. Read this thread for more information on how to fix HUD stretch in previous versions.

Issues fixed

HUD stretch (Custom Edition)

Does not work for Combat Evolved edition and requires Open Sauce installed.
Instructions

Enabling EAX on Windows Vista or greater

Environmental Audio Extensions (EAX) applies effects such as echo, reverb, and flange to ingame sounds, making the game sound more realistic, in theory. However, if played on Windows Vista or later, Halo does not support EAX. To fix this, those with Creative sound cards can download Creative ALchemy, those with ASUS sound cards can download GX2.5, and those with Realtek integrated audio can download Realtek 3D SoundBack. All three programs re-enable EAX effects in pre-Vista games by emulating EAX calls in OpenAL. Even with these programs, EAX cannot be used unless you enable it in the ingame audio options. Using these programs, specifically 3D SoundBack, may result in sound clipping and other audio artifacts.

Active Camo Fix (Custom Edition)

Officially fixed in upcoming version 1.10[3]

There is no need to use DXTweaker. Installing Open Sauce should automatically fix this issue. If it does not, navigate to %USERPROFILE%\Documents\My Games\Halo CE\OpenSauce, open OS_Settings.User.xml, and ensure <nVidiaActiveCamouflage basic /> is set to "false".

Other information

How to play Campaign with Open Sauce

Open Sauce (and all its fixes and improvements) is incompatible with Combat Evolved. However, Custom Edition does not include a Campaign. To fix this, we will modify Custom Edition and add the classic Halo Campaign back into the game.

First, navigate to C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Games\Halo Custom Edition\maps. Backup ui.map by changing its filename to "ui.mapbackup" or similar. Make sure to change the file type from .map to something else or it could confuse the game.

Next, download a new ui.map from halomaps.org. We'll be using this one. Note: this tutorial is for making Custom Edition indistinguishable from Combat Evolved. If you'd like to experiment with custom content, including modified Campaigns and main menus, feel free to browse halomaps.org for alternative maps to download.

Now to download the Campaign itself. The following is a list of links to downloads of all the original Campaign levels. Put all these .map files in your \maps folder. Note: DO NOT try to copy the Campaign maps from the Combat Evolved \maps folder. They are all in an incompatible format. The following downloadable versions have all been modified to work with Custom Edition.

These all work exactly like they do in Combat Evolved: cutscenes, seamless level transitions, save & quit functionality, checkpoints, difficulty selection, the works.

System requirements

Windows
Minimum Recommended
Operating system (OS) 98SE ME, 2000, XP
Processor (CPU) 733 MHz
System memory (RAM)
Hard disk drive (HDD) 1.2 GB
Video card (GPU) 3D T&L capable
32 MB of VRAM

References