Xbox 360:Game Modding/Halo Reach

This page offers options for modding Halo Reach. Generally, the most popular program for modding Halo games is Assembly, which is a direct replacement for Ascension and Alteration. The program Adjutant is used to view map geometry in 3D.


 * All tutorials on this page require you to have the Halo Reach installed on your RGH/JTAG Xbox 360's hard drive, the Xbox 360 XDK installed on your PC, xbdm.xex on your hard drive and added as a plugin in DashLaunch, and `contpatch` disabled in DashLaunch. This XDK cannot be legally distributed.**

Applying XEX Patches

 * 1) Download the [XEX PPF patches archive and extract it on your desktop.
 * 2) Copy `default.xex`, `waveShell-Xbox.dll`, `wavesLibDLL.dll`, and a folder named "waves" from the Halo Reach folder on your Xbox 360 to the extracted folder on your desktop. Right click each file (including the ones in the waves folder), select Properties, and uncheck the "read-only" checkbox if it is checked and press OK.
 * 3) Run start.bat, press a key to start it, ensuring that you read everything that pops up on the screen. It will have a single error about a missing `default.xexp` file.
 * 4) (Optional) If you wish to apply a title update to the XEX, note the Media ID line and plug it into Xbox Unity to download the latest title update. Use Modio/Horizon or download Velocity and select File > Open > Package, and choose the update. Extract the update to the TUfiles folder.
 * 5) Run start.bat again, and check that the two Media IDs match. Ensure that no errors occured, and press a button to start. It should indicate success by saying "Successfully wrote altered xex to topatch.xex". This means that it successfully patched your default.xex, and a backup of the original default.xex was made, named default.xex.bak.
 * 6) Press any key to continue. You should see another message indicating "Patching... Successful" and "Successfully wrote altered xex to..." with the game's name or ID. Verify that there are no errors, and press any key to close the window.
 * 7) Copy the generated XEX file, `waveShell-Xbox.dll`, `wavesLibDLL.dll`, the "waves" folder to your Halo Reach installation directory on your Xbox 360. It will prompt you to overwrite the existing files, select Yes each time.

Assembly
Assembly is a program that modifies Halo cache files (.map). Essentially, while any map is running on a console, it is using a cache file which contains all of the variables ("tags") for the currently running map including references to sound effects, models, visual effects, objects and their properties, map geometry (BSPs), and more. You can use Assembly to explore and change these variables and save an "offline" copy of the .map to use in place of the original .map file on the Xbox 360, or you can modify a .map and "poke" it to the console, meaning that the variables in the running map on the console will be updated live.

The tutorials here are an expansion of Lord Zedd's tutorial.

Installation
Download Assembly from the Assembly GitHub. It is *highly* recommended to compile the latest build, as the pre-made release version (found under Releases on the page) is from 2016 and many things have been added.

Afterwards, create a folder called "Maps" in your Assembly installation directory, and another called "Backup". Copy all of the .map files from your Halo Reach installation directory (under the "maps" folder) into Maps on your desktop and a second copy into Backup. The Maps folder will be the sandbox in which you will make modifications to the map files, while the Backup folder will be a clean backup of each map in case you want to revert changes by copying the backup .map into the Maps folder.

Applying Map Patches
Note that applying patch files will require that you have patched the game's XEX file and (unless otherwise specified by the mod creator) the latest title update.


 * 1) Double-click the downloaded patch to open it in Assembly, or open Assembly and select Tools > Map Patcher > Apply Patch.
 * 2) Select "..." next to the Patch File field and choose the patch. The patch's file extension should be `.asmp`, `.ascpatch`, or `.patchdat`. Information about the map patch will populate.
 * 3) Select "..." next to the Unmodified Map field and choose the corresponding map for the patch. If you aren't sure what map you're supposed to use, it should say it at the bottom of the screen next to Patch Target Map.
 * 4) Select "..." next to the Output Map field and name it what you would like. The maps *do not always* have to have the same name as the originals, so consult the patch release post to see if you can just add it to your maps list without replacing one.
 * 5) Some patches will have an extra checkbox asking if you want to use the extra data folder. Go ahead and check it, as without it, the patch will likely not work.
 * 6) Select the Apply Patch button at the bottom of the window. It will generate a new map file. Place this in the ".../maps" folder on your Xbox by copying it over with FTP or a USB storage device.

Troubleshooting
As a general troubleshooting step, holding Dpad-Up and A while booting the game until you get to the main menu will clear the system cache for Reach. It will pop up an in-game notification when you get to the main menu.


 * Stuck on "Loading 0%" for all maps
 * Ensure `contpatch` is disabled in DashLaunch if the map is modded. If the map is not modded, try pressing Y in a lobby and changing the game type to local or system link. Some XEX patches require this before it will let you play any maps.


 * Modifications on Forge item tags are not applying when poked
 * Some tags require that you re-spawn the object you have modified or restart the round / match.


 * "Players Failed To Load Content" in lobby
 * If the error pops up near instantly, the .map could not be found. If you applied a patch, open the .mapinfo file that came with it in Assembly (if it exists) and check that the file name matches the name found in the "Map Filename" field. Change it to match and restart Halo Reach and see if it works. Alternatively, if it's a campaign patch, try going to the Campaign lobby first to allow your system to load campaign.map, then change to a Custom Game / Forge lobby.
 * If the error does not pop up near instantly, or loads partially / restarts loading a few times, you either are running an unmodified XEX or have contpatch enabled in DashLaunch. If the map had a custom .mapinfo and you were able to see and select it, then your XEX is fine and it's likely that contpatch enabled.


 * Black Screen/Frozen Loading Animation
 * It is likely a bad patch, botched application of the patch, or a corrupt download. Re-download and re-patch the map. It could also be a bad shader if you modified shaders on the map.


 * Dirty Disk Error
 * Ensure that you copied over the "info" and/or "images" folder generated when you applied a patch. Otherwise, either something is wrong involving the map's raw data or the Map ID in the .mapinfo and .map does not match. Open the .mapinfo in Assembly and get the Map ID value, then open the .map and check the top of the `scnr` tag, replacing the Map ID value if it is different.


 * Kicked Back To The Main Menu After Load Screen
 * The build string of the .map does not match any of the ones listed internally in the XEX. Update to the latest title update and it should work, or manually edit the build string with a hex editor.
 * Others Can't Join Your Game
 * Make sure everyone has the same .map as you do. Some mods, such as .map mods (excluding live variable poking), will only work if everyone has a RGH/JTAG exploited console and the same assets.