Important Information Regarding Halo Source Files

Chernobyl · Jul 23, 2014

Hey, 405th. Your local Source File Goddess here, with another tasty little tidbit that should, with any luck, help you all out (and stop you all from flooding my PM inbox with model requests):

After some discussion with Art Andrews, it's been agreed upon that the Source Files for the Halo games I have access to (Halo 3, Halo 3 ODST, Halo Reach and Halo 4) may be hosted on the 405th for ease of access by the modelling community. Since the system is a little non-standard and different to how things have worked out in the past, I'll explain to you all how the new set-up works and how to proceed with any new comments or questions regarding the Source Files.

Q: Where can I find these files?
A: Each game has its own relevant OBJ Files sub-category. Files are stored in parts under their respective OBJ Files sub-category (eg: Halo 3 OBJ Files, Halo Reach OBJ Files, etc)

Q: Why are there different parts to each armour section?
A: The File Archive only allows for the bulk uploading of up to ten files at a time. I've had to split the folders up into parts to accommodate for this.

Q: Does this mean I have to download each Part fully to get what I want? I only want one file.
A: No. You can select individual files from each Part for download. Each file is named to reduce confusion.

Q: A file I want isn't there! How can I get it?
A: Shoot me a PM and notify me of the missing file, and I'll do my best to get it uploaded in a timely manner. PLEASE NOTE: I will not be taking requests for scenery/map geometry files. My primary focus will be on armour, weapons, vehicles and extras.

Q: I have a file that's not present in the OBJ Files list. Can I submit it myself?
A: No. See above - let me know that I've been an idiot and forgotten something, and I'll get it uploaded for you. Too many cooks spoil the broth, and having people uploading files without checking will make the File Archive a complete mess.

Q: These files aren't unfolded/Pepakura-ready!
A: That's the point. These are RAW, UNEDITED files for modellers to take and use to create new, community-friendly files with. You MAY take these raw files and unfold them, but it's suggested that you ask one of the Modelling Team to handle the file for you.

Q: Will you be including all the textures with these files?
A: I'm certainly hoping so. The textures will likely be archived within a ZIP/RAR folder and uploaded as one.

------------------------------

CURRENT PROGRESS:
- Halo 4 MALE ARMOUR ASSETS uploaded
- Halo 4 FEMALE ARMOUR ASSETS uploaded
- Halo 4 WEAPON ASSETS uploaded
- Halo 3 ODST ARMOUR ASSETS uploaded
- Halo Reach ARMOUR ASSETS uploaded
- Halo 3 ARMOUR ASSETS uploaded
- Halo 3 ODST WEAPON ASSETS uploaded

AWAITING WORK:
- Halo 3 WEAPON ASSETS
- Halo 3 EXTRA ASSETS
- Halo 3 ODST EXTRA ASSETS
- Halo Reach WEAPON ASSETS
- Halo Reach EXTRA ASSETS
- Halo 4 EXTRA ASSETS

harican89 · Jul 23, 2014

great improvement. btw... whats the plan for unfished and useable files? ive edited some for printing (f.e. the Shifting armX27 from halo 4). is there a chance to link those files with the source? otherwise no one will know if there are already some edited files somewhere in the swamp

Chernobyl · Jul 23, 2014

harican89 said:
great improvement. btw... whats the plan for unfished and useable files? ive edited some for printing (f.e. the Shifting armX27 from halo 4). is there a chance to link those files with the source? otherwise no one will know if there are already some edited files somewhere in the swamp

For ease of reading I'll split your questions up, so others will be able to find the same answers easily.

Q: What's the plan for unfinished files?
A: Unfinished files will remain as they are - the raw OBJ files are there as assets for modellers to edit as they wish. It's my hope that having these files available will encourage more users to take them and work with them, and develop their understanding of 3D modelling for the benefit of both themselves, and the 405th community.

Q: What's the plan for usable files?
A: The usable files should be uploaded as normal to their respective locations.

Q: Is there a chance to link edited files with the source?
A: Absolutely yes. The Comments section for each upload in the File Archive allows for the insertion of links, so it's more than possible to cross-reference your work with other material available in the Archive. I would personally hold off from linking edited files from the raw OBJ Archive - things would get dense very quickly - but linking back to the OBJ Archive from your finished work would be an exceptionally great idea.

As far as files prepared for 3D printing goes: it would be very useful to append the comments for that file to make it clear to other users whether or not the file is suitable for Pepakura use.

Master Builder · Jul 23, 2014

I see you have some weapon models. Are they all first person models?

Thanks a lot for extracting and releasing these. I was thinking about doing it myself but I don't have the data to download the .iso s.

Chernobyl · Jul 23, 2014

Master Builder said:
I see you have some weapon models. Are they the 3third person or first person models?

There's no difference, particularly in the newer instalments to the series. Either way, I shall be posting models of the highest definition I can find, to reduce the amount of work modellers will need to do to bring them up to scratch.

Master Builder · Jul 23, 2014

Arcanine said:
There's no difference, particularly in the newer instalments to the series. Either way, I shall be posting models of the highest definition I can find, to reduce the amount of work modellers will need to do to bring them up to scratch.

There has always been a first and third person models, for both weapons and fp hands. And I really doubt they are taking them out. You can't have 15 20k tri weapons laying around, that would really slow things down.

I got a few of the weapons are they are first person, and they are going to need a lot of cleaning up.

Anyways thanks a ton for uploading them.

Chernobyl · Jul 23, 2014

Master Builder said:
There has always been a first and third person models, for both weapons and fp hands.

I'm seeing nothing in my extraction program to suggest the use of first-person weaponry models. I've done a thorough check, just to be sure, and I'm finding nothing that would indicate such. Regardless, I don't want this to devolve into a discussion regarding game mechanics and how the engine might handle higher-quality models.

Yes, the files require some cleaning up. Again, the idea was not to produce ready-to-use files, but instead to produce raw files for people to use and edit as they wished. And, you're very welcome.

NoMaybeYes · Jul 23, 2014

So just so I understand correctly. As an unfolder I should keep uploading them to 4Shared, Dropbox, or Mediafire as I have been and post a link in the comment section of each model?

Chernobyl · Jul 23, 2014

NoMaybeYes said:
So just so I understand correctly. As an unfolder I should keep uploading them to 4Shared, Dropbox, or Mediafire as I have been and post a link in the comment section of each model?

No. The File Archive is open for modellers/unfolders to upload their works in the relevant locations, for the community to use. This has the dual benefit of:

- keeping all resources in one place
- safeguarding against DRM issues with 4Shared/Dropbox/Mediafire (of which there have been a few)

As for referencing: if you use a Source File model (or for that matter, any other user's file), it would be considered good courtesy to link back to the original file when uploading your own. Commenting on the Source File might be welcome but is ultimately up to you - as long as you 'credit' your work and provide a trail for users to find the source you used to develop your file, things should be fairly good.

NoMaybeYes · Jul 23, 2014

Alright sounds like a plan, I always try to source where I get the model, but I do that in the pep file itself. Is that still good or frowned upon and I should link the file/thread anyway?

Vrogy · Jul 24, 2014

Can we (you) just put all this in one ZIP/RAR at some point? Hell, how about one OBJ for all halo 4 armor?

It's nice to have clean, browsable indices, but Alexandria burned.

Chernobyl · Jul 24, 2014

Vrogy said:
Can we (you) just put all this in one ZIP/RAR at some point? Hell, how about one OBJ for all halo 4 armor?

It's nice to have clean, browsable indices, but Alexandria burned.

No. The ZIP/RAR allowances don't take into account the hundred or so megabytes a full, compiled archive of even any one Halo game's assets, let alone four, and I'm loath to start splitting up where the files are.

Yes, Alexandria burned, and I do have contingency plans - I won't be enforcing those plans until I need to.

Chernobyl · Aug 1, 2014

UPDATE:

I hate to bump my own thread with a double-post, but: to those of you who are following, the Halo 4 FEMALE armour assets are now online and available to download.

Chernobyl · Aug 3, 2014

'nother bump, 'nother update - Halo 3 ODST Trooper models and textures are now online for your viewing pleasure. This includes all player models from the game, as well as the corresponding textures.

For those of you asking about Halo 4 textures: I'll do what I can but the maximum file size for a ZIP file is 5mb, so this may need to be split up considerably.

WandererTJ · Aug 4, 2014

I thought that it might be better to quote you here.

Arcanine said:
I have the assets extracted and mostly-sorted. The only reason people are 'waiting' at all is due to me being exhausted with the sheer amount of work involved in extracting, naming, sorting, ensuring compatibility with their respective bases (I'm aware that some of you are using the Halo 4 assets to 'build your own Spartan, which requires all origin points to be identical) and uploading these files, and wanting to take a break in-between batches. Getting the Halo 4 assets online for people took an awful lot of time and effort spread over a few days - this is without taking into consideration the fact that I have volunteered to make assets from the other titles in the series available for modellers to use.

We all truly appreciate it Arcanine, but please let us know if you need any help, I'm sure that Crimmson and myself would be glad to assist you in any way that we can.

Arcanine said:
I simply ask that people don't start throwing files up ahead of me, and make the effort I've put in this venture be for nothing. Aside from that fact, if everybody and their dog started uploading asset files things would very quickly become unclear as to what's uploaded and what isn't - far better to have one person stay on top of the project who knows what's uploaded and what isn't, so that there are no duplicates or mis-named files causing confusion. Let me finish the job, and please have a measure of patience while I get the work done. I have absolutely no intention of emulating past issues the forum has had with other people.

Thank you for clearing things up. I really like how you worded this.
I also completely agree and naming conventions were one of the big things I wanted to make sure stayed consistent and I appreciate that you are making the effort to ensure that they stay that way.

Q) Are you planning on uploading the .objs that contain every piece of armor, or are you planning on just uploading all of the individual pieces separately? It would be pretty cool to have the original files up there.

Q) I have the Forza 4 / Extremely Hi-Res Halo 4 Warthog on my computer, I know it's not armor, but someone might like to at least play with it. Would you mind if I uploaded it once you have finished uploading all the Halo 4 armors?

Q) Will we ever see the bump-maps / textures uploaded and the scripts needed to apply them to the models?

Q) Could you explain why you decided to group everything in packs?

Chernobyl · Aug 4, 2014

Q) Are you planning on uploading the .objs that contain every piece of armor, or are you planning on just uploading all of the individual pieces separately? It would be pretty cool to have the original files up there.

No. The idea behind these Asset Packs is that any user can import a set of files of their own choosing - for example, the Halo 4 armour pieces will import directly onto their respective base models (male/female). Simply import the base file, and the permutations relevant to that base will import on top of it.

That aside: the file size limit for OBJ files is 5Mb. A grouped file of every permutation in one would far exceed that size - even had I wanted to, I'd never be able to upload a grouped file.

Q) I have the Forza 4 / Extremely Hi-Res Halo 4 Warthog on my computer, I know it's not armor, but someone might like to at least play with it. Would you mind if I uploaded it once you have finished uploading all the Halo 4 armors?

I wouldn't, but I haven't gotten around to uploading the vehicles from the game yet (there is a much higher demand for armour parts over extras, so I'm focusing on the things people want first, THEN extras). As soon as I have the vehicles uploaded I'll give you the go-ahead.

Q) Will we ever see the bump-maps / textures uploaded and the scripts needed to apply them to the models?

Yes. As soon as I figure out the logistics behind it (the Archive only allows for ZIP files of 5Mb) I'll pack the textures up and upload them.

Q) Could you explain why you decided to group everything in packs?

If I could, I'd have uploaded each armour section (torso/shoulder/legs/arms/helmet etc) into its own individual section. However, the File Archive only allows for ten files per upload (the H4 shoulder files alone total 34 per gender), and therefore I had to split the assets up into Packs. Not ideal, I know, but there is a 'download all' function for the packs, which somewhat mitigates the issue.

WandererTJ · Aug 4, 2014

Arcanine said:
If I could, I'd have uploaded each armour section (torso/shoulder/legs/arms/helmet etc) into its own individual section. However, the File Archive only allows for ten files per upload (the H4 shoulder files alone total 34 per gender), and therefore I had to split the assets up into Packs. Not ideal, I know, but there is a 'download all' function for the packs, which somewhat mitigates the issue.

I was hoping that maybe it would be possible to upload more files into a pack once it had been created, but I just checked and it doesn't seem to be possible.

Being able to add more than 10 per pack would clean things up quite a bit. I can pester Art about it and see if there is a way we could fix that if you haven't already.

As an alternate solution, I suppose you could always upload the permutations in packs by their variant (ie. Scout, EOD, ODST, etc). That would probably increase the number of packs though, since you'd only have about 7 files per pack; helmet, 4 shoulders (left & right male & female), and the torsos (male & female).

Sorry, just trying to be helpful!

Azsendi · Aug 4, 2014

Just wondering, is there any halo anniversary files? We only have halo ce

Chernobyl · Aug 5, 2014

Azsendi said:
Just wondering, is there any halo anniversary files? We only have halo ce

No. I'm afraid that, currently, I'm not able to access those files.

Mk V [Reach] sets should be going up tonight.

WandererTJ · Aug 5, 2014

Yeah, if I remember correctly, I think the Anniversary games have a different file architecture, which is what allows you to switch the graphics between the original and the Anniversary edition, and because of that, it makes the game hard/impossible to rip models from.

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