Modding

Through modding, a player wields two Energy Swords at once, impossible in normal gameplay.

Modding is a way of changing the form and play of a game by manipulating its base coding. This can vary from changing colors of a character, to re-making a map or weapon, such as in Halo 2. Using the mods can significantly alter the processes of a game. Bungie bans some modders for modding, but understand that Halo: Custom Edition is legal as it was created by Gearbox Software. An example of a Meta Tag modding program is Halo Map Tools.

Modding for Cheating

Modding can add weapons, turn weapons that are single-wielded into dual-wielded weapons, such as the Covenant Energy Sword or even Sniper Rifles. Also, mods can make a player jump incredible distances and in some cases, break the game or map barrier. These mods can be used for everyones enjoyment also, and in Halo: CE, modding is not like cheating because it affects everyone in the game.

For example, if the assault rifle is modded by the host of the game to shoot tank rounds or sniper bullets, all the players can shoot out the sniper bullets and tank rounds. However, if a joining person has a modded map that shoots out tank rounds, when he shoots, it will appear to him as he's shooting tank rounds, but it has no function - everyone else shoots normally, and everyone else takes normal damage. So in this way, you can't cheat, only do it for everyone's enjoyment (if you are the host).

Modders that are legitimate players and do not cheat discourage cheaters to be called modders, rather hackers.

Other mods include:

Auto-headshots
Infinite ammunition
Super-Speed
Making underivable vehicles drivable (e.g. pelicans, longswords and phantoms)
Extra Damage Delivered
Damage Resistance
The creation of new weapons
The modification of weapons and vehicles in Halo 2.
The modification of maps
The modification of weapon, vehicle, and player spawn points
Automatic power weapons, like sniper rifles and rocket launchers
Creation of energy barriers
Creation of flying turrets
Changing the physics on a map to make players lightweight or super-dense
The introduction of AIs into maps
Swapping weapon abilities and characteristics (example: shotgun ammunition turns into a spray of wraith shots, plasma pistols shooting overshield power-ups).

Most of these maps are hard drive maps such as Containment (Level) or Terminal (Level). It is possible to modify the maps on the Game Disk, but it is a very hard process and may break your DVD drive. The easier way is to copy the game to the Xbox hard drive, but you won't be able to play on Xbox LIVE with them.

All of these mods are used in Halo 2 to give the "modder" a slight edge in gameplay. However, he/she can only use a lot of the mods if he/she has host of the game. Often, modders are in a party with a "bridger" or a "stand-byer." Bridger's use a program on the computer which interacts with other players' routers and xboxs to make a modder or anyone else host of the game. This is effective in the process of "leveling-up." This is when gamers join a modder's game to get their level boosted up because the modder is almost unstoppable. Stand-byers use many techniques to freeze other gamers games. This includes: Pressing the "stand-by" button on a modem, and slightly unplugging the Internet cable from their Xbox. When a stand-byer is successful, other gamers either get the dreaded "blue screen" or they get a similar black screen. Everyone but the stand-byer gets this. This allows the stand-byer to run around the map and kill all opponents. This is effective, but illegal, as are all mods.

Any use of these mods is in violation with the Code of Conduct and will get their account banned from all matchmaking games.

Bungie takes action

Main article: Halopedia:Bungie With Teeth

The consequence of using mods online

This has become such a widespread problem in the "Matchmaking" system that Bungie was forced to resolve the problem by releasing auto-updates which ban hackers from the system and terminate their accounts. Bungie has banned thousands of players and is working to clean up the rest, earning in the process the moniker 'Banhammer.' Several sites offer a list of cheaters and hackers.

Although there used to be several ways to mod, Xbox Live and Bungie have collaborated to rectify the programming mistakes and prevent the game from being modded as much. They are also reinforcing much stricter punishments for cheaters, such as instant bans and longer suspensions.

Demo Modding

Modding maps in the Demo/Trial version of Halo: Combat Evolved is also possible, although there are a few differences:

Limitations: Slayer/CTF Only, Silent Cartographer (Level)/Blood Gulch Only.
The maps are in a compressed format, contrary to that of the paid version. You need to uncompress the maps or use a special editor that handles Halo Compressed Maps (though they both have the same extension, .map)

Modding for Everyone's Enjoyment

The map Ascension, modded to look like an island.

Sometimes, though, people mod for fun by making the mods on the maps able to be used by everybody in the game. This is what modding was originally intended for: fun and messing around. Often modders make a map with a theme, such as a snowy version of a normal map, a night time version of a normal map, a SWAT type map, or anything you can imagine. Some mods add player models from a Campaign map to a Multiplayer Map, including Heretic Elites, ODSTs etc. Sometimes people make mods just to see what kind of new and innovative things they can do such as "Active Scenery" which allows objects, like Pelican Dropships, to move around the map without AI or anyone controlling it. An example of Bungie made active scenery is the Train on Terminal or the Monitor, 2401 Penitent Tangent, on Backwash.

Modding isn't limited to the Xbox. Halo PC is easily modded, given the right tools, and Halo: Custom Edition even encourages user-created maps. Many popular maps available for Halo: Custom Edition are Yoyorast Island, which is basically a twisty racecourse, Extinction, a very large map set between a large UNSC ship resembling the Pillar of Autumn and a large crashed ship resembling a Covenant ship, and Coldsnap, another very large outdoors map that relies mainly on vehicular combat.

Some also mod to make nice screenshots like those seen at Halouvre, or even to create machinima.

It should be noted, however, that this type of modding can still result in a ban from matchmaking, and is still considered illegal, although Bungie doesn't appear to mind it as long as the modder does not go onto Xbox LIVE.

Halo 3 Mods

Recently, a man with the gamertag of Shade4510 leaked out three modded maps for enjoyment by fellow players.

People have recently figured out how to mod Halo 3, but Shade4510 was the first person to give out three of the modded maps on Xbox Live.

Please note: the maps were NOT made by him.

The three maps are:

A modded Last Resort which is almost identical mods to the actual High Ground map with little exceptions of computers, three windmills, a detached gauss Warthog, Scorpion and machine gun turrets. All are usable save the main Scorpion turrets. There is also lots of little grass patches sticking out of walls of the posterior structure.

Modded High Ground, where there are Elites and Spartans standing alive still whom have no weapons but hold up to 4 Frag or Plasma Grenades depending on whether it is an Elite or a Spartan, flags, random gates, oddballs, and Wraith shots at the start of the game.

Also, a modded Sandtrap with 7 Elephants.

Recently, an abundance of modders have come out and released their own made maps. These modded maps include, The Pit, Vahalla, Snowbound, Blackout, Guardian, Standoff, and Foundry.

Softmods and Hardmods

Contrary to common belief, getting a chip installed in your Xbox is not the only way to have mods. Many popular mods are retrieved through what is called "soft" modding.

Soft modding does not require a chip; it is done through a special file and an Action Replay.
"Hard" mods are done by buying a certain chip from the internet and installing it on to your xbox.

Sources

Note- There is no "True Source" for modding as it is done at a players demand. However, it may be witnessed in the following games.

Halo: Combat Evolved
Halo: PC
Halo: Custom Edition
Halo 2
Halo 2 Vista
Halo 3 Beta- please note that this was the beta version and not the final product
Halo 3

External Links

Why We Mod - A collection of creative mods displayed in a music video.