Halo 2 Hud Editing Tutorial

[Darkshallfall]

HUD editing can be pretty challenging at times but I think that I can simplify it.
Pay close attention and you might learn something.
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In this tutorial I will be using Entity 1.4, Adobe Photoshop Cs2 and Halo 2 Hud Coordinate Finder

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What we need to do first is prepare a bitmap for the HUD.



This is our shield mask, this is what will stencil the shield meter for your shield bar.

After that we would add the bitmap to a screen shot. After added to the screen shot you would make your bitmap the correct size and maybe even place it where you want it to be ingame just to see how it looks.



After that we would make the following bitmaps and then fallow the secound step of putting them into a screen shot.


and then



After this its time for preparing to inject.
Image is a bit big, click here to view.

The top images are the RGB channel and the bottom images are the alpha channels. Notice the shield meter has a gradient for the shield animation.

After this we would inject our bitmaps.



After being done with injecting be sure to check the "HUD Bitmap" bitmask in the bitmaps meta, that will insure some extra anti-aliasing.



Now we are going to get to the nhdt tag. This tag holds all the properties to HUD.

We will be editing that Masterchief HUD.

First We need to find the chunks of Bitmap Components that labeled shield meter and shield mask.

Shield Mask is the stencil for the meter.
Shield Meter is the animated bitmap that shows how low or high your shield is.

Im going to start with shield mask then go to shield meter.

Now we will change the bitmap this is supose to refer to.


We have now changed the bitmap to my custom bitmap.

After that we need to change the sequence image to 0.
Sequence Image is what submap number will be used from the bitmap. Our bitmap doesnt have any submaps but is still refered to as 0.

Now we can start placement.
Be sure that the Registration Points are all at 0. The reason is that it can cause the bitmap to shift upward when you are in a vehicle.

We will now edit FullScreen Offsect X and Y.


Using my application Halo 2 HUD Coordinate Finder we will find the location we want to place the bitmaps but make sure you choose the correct anchor.

After you find the coordinates enter them into Fullscreen Offset X and Y.

Then Test your map to see how it turned out.







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Now we are going to do a small weapon hud edit that will turn out with a pretty cool result.

First we will start wih a bitmap.

This is an out line of the sniper scope.



Then like before we will make sure it is the right size and shape according to a screenshot.


Now we will prepare for injecting.
Image on the left is RGB and iamge on the right is the Alpha channel
Image is a bit big, click here to view.

After that we inject the bitmap.


Now go to the Sniper nhdt

We will edit chunks 7 and 8 which are 5x and 10x

Change the Sequence image number to 0.

Then change all the Screen Offets to 0.

Then make all the Registration points 0.5

Now Change the shader to: ui\hud\shaders\player_training



Then test you map to see the results.


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I hope you all enjoy and make the best of this tutorial.

Thank you,

DarkShallFall

[dual]

Awsome tut dark.