Community survey results (2020)
In July of 2020, The Reclaimers Library hosted a survey to determine knowledge and interest levels of various modding topics in the website's user base. These results will be used to prioritize further content and research. However, as a reader, please feel free to reach out directly to the c20 maintainers or ask for help in the Discord server if there is a topic you need more help with.
Intro
How many years have you been modding Halo?Option | Count | Percent |
---|---|---|
1 or less | 16 | |
2-3 years | 1 | |
4-6 years | 3 | |
7-10 years | 4 | |
11+ years | 9 |
Option | Count | Percent |
---|---|---|
Windows | 30 | |
Linux | 5 | |
Mac | 0 |
Option | Count | Percent |
---|---|---|
Tag editing | 22 | |
Custom maps | 21 | |
Modeling | 17 | |
Texturing | 15 | |
Documentation or educational content (e.g. tutorials, YouTube videos) | 14 | |
Community building (e.g. running or moderating community groups, organizing events) | 13 | |
Halo scripting | 12 | |
Music or sound effects | 10 | |
Server hosting | 8 | |
Streaming and gameplay videos, montages | 7 | |
Lua scripting | 6 | |
Animating | 5 | |
Software and tools development | 3 |
Option | Count | Percent |
---|---|---|
Halo 1 Custom Edition | 26 | |
Halo 3 MCC | 16 | |
Halo 1 MCC | 12 | |
Halo 2 MCC | 11 | |
Halo Reach MCC | 11 | |
Halo 2 Vista/Project Cartographer | 10 | |
Halo 1 PC (Retail) | 8 | |
Halo 1 Xbox | 6 |
General software
3D asset creation
Topic | What's that? | Uninterested for now | Curious about | I would like more info | I know how to do this |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Using Blender |
2 |
5 |
6 |
14 |
5 |
Using 3ds Max |
1 |
11 |
4 |
6 |
10 |
Using Maya |
6 |
17 |
2 |
3 |
3 |
UV unwrapping (any software) |
4 |
2 |
5 |
11 |
10 |
Porting models from other Halo games to H1 |
3 |
6 |
4 |
11 |
8 |
2D asset creation
Topic | What's that? | Uninterested for now | Curious about | I would like more info | I know how to do this |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Using Photoshop |
0 |
7 |
3 |
5 |
17 |
Using GIMP |
1 |
13 |
2 |
6 |
10 |
Using Krita |
11 |
9 |
5 |
4 |
3 |
Using Paint.NET |
2 |
12 |
1 |
2 |
14 |
Alpha channels |
0 |
4 |
3 |
4 |
20 |
Porting bitmaps from other Halo games to H1 |
0 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
11 |
Other software
Topic | What's that? | Uninterested for now | Curious about | I would like more info | I know how to do this |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Version control (e.g. git, subversion) |
5 |
6 |
2 |
4 |
13 |
Audio editing/DAWs (e.g. Audacity, Reaper) |
1 |
5 |
2 |
8 |
15 |
Halo toolkits and mods
Topic | What's that? | Uninterested for now | Curious about | I would like more info | I know how to do this |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
HEK - Halo Editing Kit |
2 |
0 |
2 |
9 |
19 |
OpenSauce |
2 |
10 |
5 |
7 |
8 |
MEK - Mozz Editing Kit |
2 |
3 |
5 |
14 |
7 |
Invader |
6 |
3 |
7 |
13 |
3 |
HAC2, Optic |
4 |
10 |
1 |
10 |
7 |
Chimera, lua scripting |
4 |
2 |
4 |
15 |
7 |
Tags
General tags
Topic | What's that? | Uninterested for now | Curious about | I would like more info | I know how to do this |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Editing tags with Guerilla/OS_Guerilla |
1 |
2 |
4 |
6 |
19 |
Editing tags with invader-edit-qt |
5 |
7 |
6 |
10 |
4 |
Editing tags with Mozzarilla |
2 |
3 |
7 |
10 |
10 |
Real-time tag editing |
2 |
5 |
5 |
10 |
10 |
Extracting tags |
1 |
3 |
2 |
9 |
16 |
Sharing and releasing tags |
1 |
2 |
5 |
13 |
10 |
Finding publicly-shared tags |
1 |
3 |
4 |
12 |
11 |
Organizing the tags directory |
2 |
2 |
2 |
15 |
9 |
Shaders and bitmaps
Topic | What's that? | Uninterested for now | Curious about | I would like more info | I know how to do this |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Compiling bitmaps |
2 |
4 |
2 |
12 |
12 |
Bitmap compression |
2 |
3 |
5 |
13 |
9 |
Cubemaps |
2 |
4 |
5 |
10 |
10 |
Multipurpose bitmaps |
2 |
4 |
5 |
8 |
13 |
Detail maps |
2 |
4 |
5 |
8 |
13 |
Texture animation |
2 |
3 |
6 |
14 |
7 |
Colour change (e.g. armour) |
2 |
3 |
5 |
9 |
13 |
Shader lens flares |
2 |
4 |
7 |
13 |
6 |
Model shaders |
2 |
3 |
4 |
16 |
7 |
Environment shaders |
2 |
3 |
5 |
13 |
9 |
Chicago/extended shaders |
2 |
5 |
6 |
15 |
4 |
Plasma shaders |
3 |
4 |
5 |
15 |
5 |
Glass shaders |
3 |
4 |
4 |
13 |
8 |
Water shaders |
2 |
4 |
4 |
14 |
8 |
Meter shaders |
3 |
5 |
4 |
14 |
6 |
Other tags and concepts
Topic | What's that? | Uninterested for now | Curious about | I would like more info | I know how to do this |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Custom HUD elements |
2 |
3 |
7 |
13 |
7 |
Custom fonts |
2 |
4 |
8 |
7 |
11 |
Strings (e.g. cinematic titles, pickup messages) |
2 |
3 |
3 |
14 |
10 |
Functions (e.g. "A in", "C out") |
3 |
1 |
5 |
16 |
7 |
Projectiles and contrails |
2 |
4 |
8 |
8 |
10 |
Effects |
2 |
3 |
8 |
11 |
8 |
Particles and point physics |
2 |
3 |
10 |
10 |
7 |
Glow and lightning tags |
3 |
4 |
9 |
13 |
3 |
Objects and items
Topic | What's that? | Uninterested for now | Curious about | I would like more info | I know how to do this |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Device machines, light fixures, and controls |
3 |
3 |
5 |
17 |
4 |
Custom scenery |
2 |
2 |
5 |
12 |
11 |
Model regions |
4 |
3 |
2 |
17 |
6 |
Extracting models for modification |
1 |
5 |
4 |
14 |
8 |
Collision models |
1 |
3 |
5 |
16 |
7 |
Widget attachments (e.g. lights, antennas |
2 |
3 |
6 |
14 |
7 |
Markers and nodes |
4 |
4 |
3 |
13 |
8 |
Animation types (overlay, replacement, etc) |
2 |
3 |
5 |
18 |
4 |
Vehicle physics |
1 |
3 |
8 |
15 |
5 |
Vehicles and seats |
2 |
4 |
7 |
11 |
8 |
Rider animations |
2 |
7 |
6 |
13 |
4 |
Custom bipeds |
2 |
8 |
5 |
13 |
4 |
3rd person animations |
2 |
6 |
5 |
17 |
2 |
Custom weapons |
2 |
4 |
6 |
11 |
9 |
First person animations |
2 |
5 |
3 |
17 |
5 |
Custom equipment |
2 |
3 |
7 |
15 |
5 |
Map-making
General map-making
Topic | What's that? | Uninterested for now | Curious about | I would like more info | I know how to do this |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
BSP modeling |
4 |
1 |
7 |
10 |
10 |
Materials and material flags |
4 |
1 |
5 |
14 |
8 |
Lighting and lightmaps |
4 |
1 |
6 |
11 |
10 |
Portals |
2 |
1 |
6 |
15 |
8 |
Fog planes |
4 |
1 |
6 |
12 |
9 |
Weather polyhedra/volumes |
3 |
1 |
7 |
15 |
6 |
Using Sapien |
4 |
2 |
6 |
6 |
14 |
Sound environments |
2 |
2 |
9 |
9 |
10 |
Weather and wind |
3 |
2 |
11 |
8 |
8 |
Scenery and sound scenery placement |
2 |
2 |
3 |
10 |
15 |
Detail objects and decals |
2 |
2 |
6 |
13 |
9 |
Custom UI maps |
2 |
7 |
11 |
7 |
4 |
Custom resource maps |
2 |
6 |
10 |
11 |
3 |
Custom skyboxes |
3 |
1 |
10 |
14 |
4 |
Extracting BSPs for modification |
2 |
5 |
3 |
14 |
7 |
Multiplayer maps
Topic | What's that? | Uninterested for now | Curious about | I would like more info | I know how to do this |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Netgame flags and multiplayer setup |
4 |
8 |
4 |
11 |
5 |
Multiplayer balancing strategies |
4 |
9 |
5 |
10 |
4 |
Netcode sync workarounds (e.g. biped crushers) |
4 |
6 |
5 |
14 |
3 |
Singleplayer maps
Topic | What's that? | Uninterested for now | Curious about | I would like more info | I know how to do this |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Scripting |
3 |
3 |
5 |
12 |
8 |
Cinematics |
3 |
6 |
4 |
14 |
4 |
Dialogue |
3 |
8 |
3 |
12 |
5 |
Recorded animations |
2 |
6 |
7 |
13 |
3 |
Device control groups |
3 |
6 |
6 |
13 |
3 |
AI and encounter setup |
2 |
3 |
5 |
14 |
6 |
AI behaviour and balancing strategies |
2 |
5 |
4 |
13 |
7 |
Servers
Topic | What's that? | Uninterested for now | Curious about | I would like more info | I know how to do this |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Hosting dedicated servers |
3 |
9 |
4 |
7 |
9 |
Server mods (e.g. SAPP) |
3 |
8 |
5 |
8 |
8 |
Console commands and rcon |
4 |
7 |
3 |
10 |
8 |
Programming and reverse engineering
Topic | What's that? | Uninterested for now | Curious about | I would like more info | I know how to do this |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Hooking/patching game code |
6 |
5 |
4 |
12 |
4 |
Programmatically editing or creating tags with Reclaimer |
7 |
7 |
4 |
10 |
3 |
Using Cheat Engine |
5 |
5 |
2 |
10 |
9 |
How Halo's engine works (e.g. tag tables, game state) |
3 |
3 |
0 |
21 |
4 |
Conclusions
Top 30 desired topics
- How Halo's engine works (e.g. tag tables, game state) (21)
- Animation types (overlay, replacement, etc) (18)
- Device machines, light fixures, and controls (17)
- Model regions (17)
- 3rd person animations (17)
- First person animations (17)
- Model shaders (16)
- Functions (e.g. "A in", "C out") (16)
- Collision models (16)
- Chimera, lua scripting (15)
- Organizing the tags directory (15)
- Chicago/extended shaders (15)
- Plasma shaders (15)
- Vehicle physics (15)
- Custom equipment (15)
- Portals (15)
- Weather polyhedra/volumes (15)
- Using Blender (14)
- MEK - Mozz Editing Kit (14)
- Texture animation (14)
- Water shaders (14)
- Meter shaders (14)
- Strings (e.g. cinematic titles, pickup messages) (14)
- Extracting models for modification (14)
- Widget attachments (e.g. lights, antennas (14)
- Materials and material flags (14)
- Custom skyboxes (14)
- Extracting BSPs for modification (14)
- Netcode sync workarounds (e.g. biped crushers) (14)
- Cinematics (14)
Top 15 curiosities
- Weather and wind (11)
- Custom UI maps (11)
- Particles and point physics (10)
- Custom resource maps (10)
- Custom skyboxes (10)
- Glow and lightning tags (9)
- Sound environments (9)
- Custom fonts (8)
- Projectiles and contrails (8)
- Effects (8)
- Vehicle physics (8)
- Porting bitmaps from other Halo games to H1 (7)
- Invader (7)
- Editing tags with Mozzarilla (7)
- Shader lens flares (7)
Top 10 unknown topics
- Using Krita (11)
- Programmatically editing or creating tags with Reclaimer (7)
- Using Maya (6)
- Invader (6)
- Hooking/patching game code (6)
- Version control (e.g. git, subversion) (5)
- Editing tags with invader-edit-qt (5)
- Using Cheat Engine (5)
- UV unwrapping (any software) (4)
- HAC2, Optic (4)
Top 10 best understood
- Alpha channels (20)
- HEK - Halo Editing Kit (19)
- Editing tags with Guerilla/OS_Guerilla (19)
- Using Photoshop (17)
- Extracting tags (16)
- Audio editing/DAWs (e.g. Audacity, Reaper) (15)
- Scenery and sound scenery placement (15)
- Using Paint.NET (14)
- Using Sapien (14)
- Version control (e.g. git, subversion) (13)