Vuthakral

What a shitshow... there's no way to tell this story without giving a lot of credit to whoever began DDoSing the forum back in April of '22, but that was only the beginning of the drama that got us to this point. I unfortunately wasn't able to speak candidly about most of the events since the beginning of the attacks, but that's no longer an issue, so this thread will serve as the explainer.
 
For those that don't want to read the drama dump that follows, the short of our current status is that the site is back and there are no plans to abandon it. However given the decline of forums in general, and due to the loss of trust that inevitably followed the long period of outage, loss of community data, and lack of transparency provided by myself, Open Carnage is not returning as a "live" site. OC is in a read-only state for the most part. For the next few months or so, existing members can edit their content if they wish to provide any updates that were lost. Anything on OC after April 18th of 2022 is otherwise gone.
 

Discord Server
Our Discord server has never been known for its modding discussions. It's served as a general chatroom for the long-time members of the OC community, and made it easy for anyone to keep up to date on new community content. That latter utility is effectively gone with the closing of the forum, and just about any subject for a Discord server can still keep friends together. So what's next? I don't know, but we'll probably try doing something new with it. I'll talk with you guys there!

The unarmored marine variant has an issue that's bothered me for a long time. I've tried to fix it several times on and off, but it's evaded my multiple attempts to understand and fix it, Until now!
 
The problem is that the long-sleeved no-hat Stacker permutation is severely overrepresented when spawning unarmored marines. I think it will get selected more than half the time. 
 
I've managed to correct this issue, and have the distribution of permutations be much more reasonable:

 
Replace the regular marine gbxmodel with the attached one to use the fix.
 
For those interested, here's a somewhat long explanation for what the problem was, and how it was fixed, copied from the reclaimers discord server:
 
the issue comes from the interaction between the arm permutations and the head permutations. These are the arm permutations on the unarmored marine gbxmodel. the base permutation corresponds to the short-sleeved arms. The base permutation of anything serves as a default case that will be used if nothing else can be selected. It doesn't have to be named "__base". the default case will be whatever is in the first position of this array.
 

 
These are the head permutations. "__base" in this case is Stacker's head with no hat, which would have a systematic name "head_marcus" followed by a number. Now I will explain the numbers, and in general how the permutations are generated.
 

 
The game will generate permutations starting with the first region in the regions array. In the case of the unarmored marines, it is the arms region. It will randomly select between the possible permutations in the permutations array. I believe that perms with numbers over 100 are special in some way and get selected less often. In the case of the marines they are used for Sgt Johnson and Sgt Stacker (with baseball cap). I don't yet understand the behavior of numbers over 100 fully. So essentially in this case the game will randomly select between the base and long sleeve 19 perms, and sometimes pick johnson. Next, it moves on to generating the perms for the next region in the regions array. in this case it is the head. What happens here is the game will search for a permutation with the same number as the permutation in the pervious array (in this case arms). If it does not find it, it will select the default permutation in this array. If the permutation in the previous array had no number, it will select randomly from the permutations in the current array. THIS IS WHERE THE ISSUE COMES FROM: Since the long sleeved permutation has a number of 19, and the head perms (excluding the Sgts) have numbers 10-18, what happens is if the marine will have long sleeves, it is forced to select the default case of the head permutation, which is no-hat Stacker. This is why you get so many no-hat stackers. I figured this out by swapping the order of the regions in the array, putting the head first. what happens in this case is that it will pick randomly from the heads first, and then go for the arms. since 19 never shows up in the heads, the marines will all be short-sleeved. The way to fix the issue in this case is to delete the number 19 in the long sleeved arms, so it now reads "arms_full_sleeve". Since there is no number, it will no longer try to match the arm perm to a head perm number that doesn't exist, and won't fall back to the default permutation.
marine.zip

Due Date: May 24, 2022
Voting Opens: May 31st, 2022
 
Welcome!
So happy to have you here this fine Friday. @Takka has reached out to me with a fun opportunity. Like what they have done in the past, we're bringing you a mapping contest. The prizes sit at $100 for first, $50 for second, and 5 Raffle Tickets for third. Also first place ( Like our wonderful donors c: ) gets an exclusive badge next to their name they can use to brag to all their friends c;
 
FAQ
Q: What is it?
A: All you need to do is create a custom map (not yet released), and submit a forum post about it before the deadline. This time our Halo overlords have blessed us with the editing kits for later games; so we felt it might be fun to expand our scope to allow any game from MCC. We've gotten some feed back from the community as well about previous mapping competitions and we hope this year we can fine tune things a bit better to the community. We will have a slightly extended submission duration at a month and a half from today. We wanted to keep the duration manageable, without incentivizing procrastination. This should also give some extra time to debug any issues we might have with the quirks of the newer editing kits. Submissions will be voted for 1 week, beginning a week after closing date. This will allow the community time to get acquainted with the new maps and form opinions. We are only going to allow one submission per person.
 
Q: Can I work with a team?
A: You are more than welcome to work in teams; however, this is not required. If you do work in a team though, you cannot submit individually. We request still that there is only one submission per person. This is to hopefully drive users to quality over quantity. In the case that you do work with a team, one user must be the designated liaison who will be responsible for receiving potential prize money and distributing it amongst the members. OC will not responsible for the distribution to individual members. This individual will also be in charge of hosting the map and creating the submission post.
 
Q: How will I be contacted if I win something?
A: In the event that you win a monetary prize, a moderator will reach out to you through the DM system on this website, and prize money will be paid out through PayPal. In the case you win tickets, the OC ticketing system will send you a notification on this website.
 
Winnings
1st Place: $100 via PayPal 2nd Place: $50 via PayPal 3rd Place: 5 Raffle Tickets  
Additional Means of Reward
Share the Knowledge: Tutorials based on an element of your submission will earn you 5 Raffle Tickets. Developer Commentary: Create a Work in Progress topic exceeding 100 words for your map, and you'll be awarded 1 Raffle Tickets per post per day, with a limit of 5 total tickets. Promotion: Share any link to Open Carnage, prove it, and earn 3 Raffle Tickets.  
Rules
Maps must be submitted to our MCC Map Releases section. Only one submission per person or team. Voting begins 1 week submissions close. Teams must have a designated liaison responsible for managing the release, and any winnings received.  
Happy modding!

Tumulus is a mid-sized multiplayer map designed for Big Team CTF and King of the Hill. The map supports all gametypes and is intended for 8v8, but it's fun to play with even only 5-6 players. The map is compatible with both MCC and Custom Edition, and I have a public CE server running CTF/Crazy King/Team Slayer. The server name is "TUMULUS 24/7 OFFICIAL SERVER." Come play!
 
Features:
All-new sound design. Destructible vehicles! New gunplay, character and vehicle stats. Playable on all gametypes. I recommend CTF, Crazy King or Team Slayer.  
Tips:
Ammo spawns in small clusters all around the map. Plasma weapons stun enemy movement and have no recoil. Recommended for new players. Vehicles are resistant to small-arms fire. Use plasma weapons or explosives against them if you can. The Scorpion Tank has 3 fire modes. Press your primary trigger to fire a tank shell, grenade button to launch a tracking missile volley, or crouch button to shoot the machine gun. The Warthog's minigun barrels must be spinning at full speed before the gun will fire. The Plasma Pistol's overcharged bolt stuns players and vehicles for several seconds after it detonates. All projectile weapons have recoil and deal slightly less damage over distance. Tap the trigger and pace your shots to maintain tight bullet spread. Special Thanks: Altautas Petronis (altis94) for destructible vehicle scripts, Ted Stabile (wertnerve) for Spartan voice acting, and VKMT for beta testing the map.  
DOWNLOAD HERE

Halo 3 Spectre
 
This is something I've put probably way more time into than I reasonably should have. Albeit most of it was adjusting to the Halo 3 Editing Kit.
Images
 
 
Spectre Features:
-  This spectre has several alternate variants which can be assigned within the map editor or within script. These variants are:
"default" - Default spectre "heretic" - Heretic-themed skin for the spectre "kai" - Halo 2/Halo 3 seraph-themed skin for the spectre "shadow" - A variant using a Halo CE-esque turret based on the cut "Shadow" vehicle from Halo Combat Evolved. - Enhanced standard model with much better polygon detail for the undamaged regions
- Proper effects work, a custom death explosion, lingering effects, etc
- Unique sound selection to help make it feel a bit more unique in the gameplay loop to know when it is being damaged/used/etc.
- IK Attachment markers for all the seats
- Marines, grunts, elites, brutes, and spartans can drive the spectre out of the box
- Marines, elites, brutes, and spartans can use the rider seats out of the box
- Marines, elites, and spartans can use the standard turret out of the box (The included readme tells you how you can make it so brutes can use them)
- Marines, elites, brutes, and spartans can use the "Shadow turret" out of the box. (The same method explained for the brutes on standard turrets can help you set up grunts for this one.)
 
Download From:
NexusMods | Google Drive
 

Halo 3 Spectre
 
This is something I've put probably way more time into than I reasonably should have. Albeit most of it was adjusting to the Halo 3 Editing Kit.
Images
 
 
Spectre Features:
-  This spectre has several alternate variants which can be assigned within the map editor or within script. These variants are:
"default" - Default spectre "heretic" - Heretic-themed skin for the spectre "kai" - Halo 2/Halo 3 seraph-themed skin for the spectre "shadow" - A variant using a Halo CE-esque turret based on the cut "Shadow" vehicle from Halo Combat Evolved. - Enhanced standard model with much better polygon detail for the undamaged regions
- Proper effects work, a custom death explosion, lingering effects, etc
- Unique sound selection to help make it feel a bit more unique in the gameplay loop to know when it is being damaged/used/etc.
- IK Attachment markers for all the seats
- Marines, grunts, elites, brutes, and spartans can drive the spectre out of the box
- Marines, elites, brutes, and spartans can use the rider seats out of the box
- Marines, elites, and spartans can use the standard turret out of the box (The included readme tells you how you can make it so brutes can use them)
- Marines, elites, brutes, and spartans can use the "Shadow turret" out of the box. (The same method explained for the brutes on standard turrets can help you set up grunts for this one.)
 
Download From:
NexusMods | Google Drive
 

Halo 3 Spectre
 
This is something I've put probably way more time into than I reasonably should have. Albeit most of it was adjusting to the Halo 3 Editing Kit.
Images
 
 
Spectre Features:
-  This spectre has several alternate variants which can be assigned within the map editor or within script. These variants are:
"default" - Default spectre "heretic" - Heretic-themed skin for the spectre "kai" - Halo 2/Halo 3 seraph-themed skin for the spectre "shadow" - A variant using a Halo CE-esque turret based on the cut "Shadow" vehicle from Halo Combat Evolved. - Enhanced standard model with much better polygon detail for the undamaged regions
- Proper effects work, a custom death explosion, lingering effects, etc
- Unique sound selection to help make it feel a bit more unique in the gameplay loop to know when it is being damaged/used/etc.
- IK Attachment markers for all the seats
- Marines, grunts, elites, brutes, and spartans can drive the spectre out of the box
- Marines, elites, brutes, and spartans can use the rider seats out of the box
- Marines, elites, and spartans can use the standard turret out of the box (The included readme tells you how you can make it so brutes can use them)
- Marines, elites, brutes, and spartans can use the "Shadow turret" out of the box. (The same method explained for the brutes on standard turrets can help you set up grunts for this one.)
 
Download From:
NexusMods | Google Drive
 

Halo 3 Spectre
 
This is something I've put probably way more time into than I reasonably should have. Albeit most of it was adjusting to the Halo 3 Editing Kit.
Images
 
 
Spectre Features:
-  This spectre has several alternate variants which can be assigned within the map editor or within script. These variants are:
"default" - Default spectre "heretic" - Heretic-themed skin for the spectre "kai" - Halo 2/Halo 3 seraph-themed skin for the spectre "shadow" - A variant using a Halo CE-esque turret based on the cut "Shadow" vehicle from Halo Combat Evolved. - Enhanced standard model with much better polygon detail for the undamaged regions
- Proper effects work, a custom death explosion, lingering effects, etc
- Unique sound selection to help make it feel a bit more unique in the gameplay loop to know when it is being damaged/used/etc.
- IK Attachment markers for all the seats
- Marines, grunts, elites, brutes, and spartans can drive the spectre out of the box
- Marines, elites, brutes, and spartans can use the rider seats out of the box
- Marines, elites, and spartans can use the standard turret out of the box (The included readme tells you how you can make it so brutes can use them)
- Marines, elites, brutes, and spartans can use the "Shadow turret" out of the box. (The same method explained for the brutes on standard turrets can help you set up grunts for this one.)
 
Download From:
NexusMods | Google Drive
 

Halo 3 Spectre
 
This is something I've put probably way more time into than I reasonably should have. Albeit most of it was adjusting to the Halo 3 Editing Kit.
Images
 
 
Spectre Features:
-  This spectre has several alternate variants which can be assigned within the map editor or within script. These variants are:
"default" - Default spectre "heretic" - Heretic-themed skin for the spectre "kai" - Halo 2/Halo 3 seraph-themed skin for the spectre "shadow" - A variant using a Halo CE-esque turret based on the cut "Shadow" vehicle from Halo Combat Evolved. - Enhanced standard model with much better polygon detail for the undamaged regions
- Proper effects work, a custom death explosion, lingering effects, etc
- Unique sound selection to help make it feel a bit more unique in the gameplay loop to know when it is being damaged/used/etc.
- IK Attachment markers for all the seats
- Marines, grunts, elites, brutes, and spartans can drive the spectre out of the box
- Marines, elites, brutes, and spartans can use the rider seats out of the box
- Marines, elites, and spartans can use the standard turret out of the box (The included readme tells you how you can make it so brutes can use them)
- Marines, elites, brutes, and spartans can use the "Shadow turret" out of the box. (The same method explained for the brutes on standard turrets can help you set up grunts for this one.)
 
Download From:
NexusMods | Google Drive
 

Sorry I didn't know how the image uploading works, this is what it's supposed to be.

Oracle/Sentinel HUD:
 
I made this years ago as part of my entry for the 2017 OC modding competition, but never actually finished my entry. I doubt anyone has any use for it, but meh. (Unit HUD only)
 

 
 
Oracle HUD.rar

phantom_tool.exe is a modified tool.exe which will not produce phantom BSP when compiling JMS to scenario_structure_bsp tags with the structure command. It turns out the code for this has been in tool.exe the whole time, but was unused. This mod enables the hidden feature, but has the downside of producing slightly larger BSP tags. I still recommend you tackle the source of phantom BSP in your model (usually nearly-coplanar face warnings) and using regular tool.exe as the first attempt to remove it, then use phantom_tool.exe if that's not working.
 
How does this compare to Ghostbuster? Ghostbuster works on BSP tags directly rather than the JMS-to-BSP compilation. It is also prone to missing phantom BSP and can produce collision holes, so again use it as a tool of last resort and only if you do not have access to source JMS files.
 
This has been tested on a few maps with known phantom BSP, but let me know if you spot any issues. It also appears to fix BSP holes/leaks, which is another class of collision error where items or the player may fall through the map, but I'm not sure if this is just a side-effect of the BSP tree being different and if holes might still appear in other places. BSP holes can also be fixed by just altering triangulation in the area.
 
Usage
phantom_tool.exe is used exactly the same as tool.exe. Add the exe into your CE folder and compile structures:
phantom_tool.exe structure levels\test\tutorial tutorial

Download
phantom_tool.zip

I think this entire discussion is an important lesson in data security. If you are worried about your art being stolen protecting your maps will not help you. And it never did. The only way to prevent that is to never give away your data.
 
The real way to deal with art theft is to discourage it as a community. Which we do.

Introduction
This thread is created solely for providing a full list of visual differences between the versions of the map "Edge" as we have seen it appear in Halo Online (the most popular build of ms23) versus the version we currently have in the Halo: The Master Chief Collection flight.
 
As one of the Seven documented people on the planet who actually likes this map, this map coming to Halo: The Master Chief Collection is a huge deal to me. While this map will undoubtedly play very awkwardly given it was designed with sprint in mind, it's always good to not see talented peoples' work go to waste.
 
This is going to be a very in-depth observational post discussing plain old differences in visuals, map geometry, engine tech, and etc.
But first, We need to talk about parallel universes cover a few bits of grounding information about "Edge" and it's original game.
"Edge" is a map originally from a cancelled free-to-play Halo game developed by Saber Interactive called "Halo Online" which was held in closed testing in Russia back in 2015 through the 4game service. Halo Online runs on a very heavily modified version of the Halo 3: ODST engine, which also has some new rendering features such as true HDR and screen space reflections just to name the ones relevant to this thread. As the version I will be drawing comparisons with compared to the MCC version is an old build of the game, some differences that may seem like missing objects are more likely to actually be updates.  
Notes:
All of these screenshots were taken & saved as a high quality PNG. I play both Halo Online & MCC with proper brightness configurations. Yes, I am one of those people who take my time to get those settings right.  
Lastly,
All images shown in this thread will have Halo Online on the left side, and MCC on the right. (Or top/bottom on mobile) The point of this thread is by no means to berate the work that has gone into porting this map from Halo Online into the Master Chief Collection. It is solely to archive information on the port itself and any possible differences, bugs, or etc. Any technical terminology on my part ranges anywhere from "I solidly know what I'm talking about" to "I'm honestly just taking a guess here" as most of my knowledge with the Blam engine is from Halo Custom Edition & Halo 2 Vista.  
The Comparisons
Now, let me start by getting one big huge point out of the way immediately: The screen space reflections, and true HDR. One huge difference you are going to notice in almost every comparison immediately is that the images taken from Halo Online will generally appear to have much brighter environments. This is not due to any kind of bug in either game. It is a side-effect of engine differences. MCC Halo 3 multiplayer still uses Halo 3's Bloom & Fake HDR, whereas Halo Online uses Halo 3 ODST's rendering, which includes its true HDR. Colours overall in the MCC version are going to look a little drowned out the closer they are to white due to this. It's a very small difference, but it's very noticeable in some places. The other thing is that Halo Online had technology for screen space reflections in the engine. As far as I know, it's still the only version of the Blam engine to have this feature to this day. So you are going to be frequently noticing that images from Halo Online seem to have reflections absent in the MCC version. This should be considered normal. Below, the first image demonstrates both of these two major effects very obviously.
Comparing SSR & HDR

Note: In MCC, the map in general has a very thick fog along the interiors. This is undoubtedly a change made later in development after ms23.
 
Hammer / Rocket platform

 
Central Interior Entrance

In here if you're observant, you can probably notice the first issue present in this port. Bonus points if you can figure it out before I explain it further below.
 
Red Base Center Doorway

Interestingly, despite weapon spawns being changed, you can see the plasma grenades in both images above have not been altered in spawns at all. They even share the same angles.
Also, do not be fooled by how much darker this environment feels in MCC. It is entirely caused by the fog.
 
Red Base Central Overview

This is another comparison which helps show that the version of Edge present in MCC is from a later version of the map than what was in ms23.
If you look about the central iconic formation, in Halo Online it causes a sharp line in the lightmap, whereas by the time it reached the version ported to MCC, this was fixed.
 
Red Base Corner Overview

The most notable difference is the removal of the panel decoration above the doorway, which actually still has its glow visible in the lightmap.
 
Personal note: If it were up to me, I'd have this map's lightmaps re-run before pushing this into MCC solely because of issues like this, among others you will see further down.
 
Skybox, Vegetation, and Fog Downgrades. Cliff Shader Upgrades.



Now, I can already safely assume the exact reason for the downgrades: Performance. If you were around trying to play Halo Online (either legitimately through 4game or otherwise),
if you were running on anything other than a modern NVIDIA & Intel combo this map probably crashed or lagged A LOT for you.
Edge was bar none the most unoptimized map during this time period, so it only makes sense that elements like vegetation & the skybox were cut back to save performance.
 
In terms of upgrades, it is plainly obvious that the cliffs themselves have gotten some very nice material overhauls.
The skybox of Edge is undoubtedly marred the most by the lack of Halo Online's lighting. High tones in the clouds, sun, and volumetrics went from white to grey, and as a result even made some of the clouds nearly invisible against the backdrop. I'm unsure if the lens flare plainly visible in MCC is a side-effect of Halo 3's sun, or was an intentional change later in development of Edge for Halo Online.
 
Personal note: I do hope that with MCC being able to run this map a lot more stabily, we can see the return of all the extra skybox & foliage details from the old version of this map.
 
Red Base Central Sword/Rocket Platform Overlook

 
Blue Hall to Outer Center

 
Blue & Red Base Back Wall


The forcefield floor in here seems to be missing its team-coloured tint. I have a feeling this has to do with the next comparison.
 
Central Platform Forcefield Floor

Notice how on the edge of the floor that in Halo Online the shader fades out around it? This leads me to one of two assumptions:
1) These shaders are tied to the wrong shader type, which does not fade around geometry edges & does not support colour change
2) The shader IS set, but does not function correctly in MCC. (more likely). Note how in earlier images, this shader seemingly disappears when viewed from a near-parallel angle in MCC.
 
Gravity Lifts

 
Gravity Lift Exit

Here we can see one of the very few real differences in the bsp between these versions. The wall is roughly 1/3 taller than in ms23.
Also, note the forcefield rendering differently.
 
Bottom of the Central Room

Obviously enough, these details were removed due to performance concerns. While I'm not sure just how much of a save this would have made, if any, there's really no other logical way of thinking about why these details would have been removed.
 
Top of the Central Room

Some odd object lighting errors up there.
 
 

Introduction
This thread is created solely for providing a full list of visual differences between the versions of the map "Edge" as we have seen it appear in Halo Online (the most popular build of ms23) versus the version we currently have in the Halo: The Master Chief Collection flight.
 
As one of the Seven documented people on the planet who actually likes this map, this map coming to Halo: The Master Chief Collection is a huge deal to me. While this map will undoubtedly play very awkwardly given it was designed with sprint in mind, it's always good to not see talented peoples' work go to waste.
 
This is going to be a very in-depth observational post discussing plain old differences in visuals, map geometry, engine tech, and etc.
But first, We need to talk about parallel universes cover a few bits of grounding information about "Edge" and it's original game.
"Edge" is a map originally from a cancelled free-to-play Halo game developed by Saber Interactive called "Halo Online" which was held in closed testing in Russia back in 2015 through the 4game service. Halo Online runs on a very heavily modified version of the Halo 3: ODST engine, which also has some new rendering features such as true HDR and screen space reflections just to name the ones relevant to this thread. As the version I will be drawing comparisons with compared to the MCC version is an old build of the game, some differences that may seem like missing objects are more likely to actually be updates.  
Notes:
All of these screenshots were taken & saved as a high quality PNG. I play both Halo Online & MCC with proper brightness configurations. Yes, I am one of those people who take my time to get those settings right.  
Lastly,
All images shown in this thread will have Halo Online on the left side, and MCC on the right. (Or top/bottom on mobile) The point of this thread is by no means to berate the work that has gone into porting this map from Halo Online into the Master Chief Collection. It is solely to archive information on the port itself and any possible differences, bugs, or etc. Any technical terminology on my part ranges anywhere from "I solidly know what I'm talking about" to "I'm honestly just taking a guess here" as most of my knowledge with the Blam engine is from Halo Custom Edition & Halo 2 Vista.  
The Comparisons
Now, let me start by getting one big huge point out of the way immediately: The screen space reflections, and true HDR. One huge difference you are going to notice in almost every comparison immediately is that the images taken from Halo Online will generally appear to have much brighter environments. This is not due to any kind of bug in either game. It is a side-effect of engine differences. MCC Halo 3 multiplayer still uses Halo 3's Bloom & Fake HDR, whereas Halo Online uses Halo 3 ODST's rendering, which includes its true HDR. Colours overall in the MCC version are going to look a little drowned out the closer they are to white due to this. It's a very small difference, but it's very noticeable in some places. The other thing is that Halo Online had technology for screen space reflections in the engine. As far as I know, it's still the only version of the Blam engine to have this feature to this day. So you are going to be frequently noticing that images from Halo Online seem to have reflections absent in the MCC version. This should be considered normal. Below, the first image demonstrates both of these two major effects very obviously.
Comparing SSR & HDR

Note: In MCC, the map in general has a very thick fog along the interiors. This is undoubtedly a change made later in development after ms23.
 
Hammer / Rocket platform

 
Central Interior Entrance

In here if you're observant, you can probably notice the first issue present in this port. Bonus points if you can figure it out before I explain it further below.
 
Red Base Center Doorway

Interestingly, despite weapon spawns being changed, you can see the plasma grenades in both images above have not been altered in spawns at all. They even share the same angles.
Also, do not be fooled by how much darker this environment feels in MCC. It is entirely caused by the fog.
 
Red Base Central Overview

This is another comparison which helps show that the version of Edge present in MCC is from a later version of the map than what was in ms23.
If you look about the central iconic formation, in Halo Online it causes a sharp line in the lightmap, whereas by the time it reached the version ported to MCC, this was fixed.
 
Red Base Corner Overview

The most notable difference is the removal of the panel decoration above the doorway, which actually still has its glow visible in the lightmap.
 
Personal note: If it were up to me, I'd have this map's lightmaps re-run before pushing this into MCC solely because of issues like this, among others you will see further down.
 
Skybox, Vegetation, and Fog Downgrades. Cliff Shader Upgrades.



Now, I can already safely assume the exact reason for the downgrades: Performance. If you were around trying to play Halo Online (either legitimately through 4game or otherwise),
if you were running on anything other than a modern NVIDIA & Intel combo this map probably crashed or lagged A LOT for you.
Edge was bar none the most unoptimized map during this time period, so it only makes sense that elements like vegetation & the skybox were cut back to save performance.
 
In terms of upgrades, it is plainly obvious that the cliffs themselves have gotten some very nice material overhauls.
The skybox of Edge is undoubtedly marred the most by the lack of Halo Online's lighting. High tones in the clouds, sun, and volumetrics went from white to grey, and as a result even made some of the clouds nearly invisible against the backdrop. I'm unsure if the lens flare plainly visible in MCC is a side-effect of Halo 3's sun, or was an intentional change later in development of Edge for Halo Online.
 
Personal note: I do hope that with MCC being able to run this map a lot more stabily, we can see the return of all the extra skybox & foliage details from the old version of this map.
 
Red Base Central Sword/Rocket Platform Overlook

 
Blue Hall to Outer Center

 
Blue & Red Base Back Wall


The forcefield floor in here seems to be missing its team-coloured tint. I have a feeling this has to do with the next comparison.
 
Central Platform Forcefield Floor

Notice how on the edge of the floor that in Halo Online the shader fades out around it? This leads me to one of two assumptions:
1) These shaders are tied to the wrong shader type, which does not fade around geometry edges & does not support colour change
2) The shader IS set, but does not function correctly in MCC. (more likely). Note how in earlier images, this shader seemingly disappears when viewed from a near-parallel angle in MCC.
 
Gravity Lifts

 
Gravity Lift Exit

Here we can see one of the very few real differences in the bsp between these versions. The wall is roughly 1/3 taller than in ms23.
Also, note the forcefield rendering differently.
 
Bottom of the Central Room

Obviously enough, these details were removed due to performance concerns. While I'm not sure just how much of a save this would have made, if any, there's really no other logical way of thinking about why these details would have been removed.
 
Top of the Central Room

Some odd object lighting errors up there.
 
 

Introduction
This thread is created solely for providing a full list of visual differences between the versions of the map "Edge" as we have seen it appear in Halo Online (the most popular build of ms23) versus the version we currently have in the Halo: The Master Chief Collection flight.
 
As one of the Seven documented people on the planet who actually likes this map, this map coming to Halo: The Master Chief Collection is a huge deal to me. While this map will undoubtedly play very awkwardly given it was designed with sprint in mind, it's always good to not see talented peoples' work go to waste.
 
This is going to be a very in-depth observational post discussing plain old differences in visuals, map geometry, engine tech, and etc.
But first, We need to talk about parallel universes cover a few bits of grounding information about "Edge" and it's original game.
"Edge" is a map originally from a cancelled free-to-play Halo game developed by Saber Interactive called "Halo Online" which was held in closed testing in Russia back in 2015 through the 4game service. Halo Online runs on a very heavily modified version of the Halo 3: ODST engine, which also has some new rendering features such as true HDR and screen space reflections just to name the ones relevant to this thread. As the version I will be drawing comparisons with compared to the MCC version is an old build of the game, some differences that may seem like missing objects are more likely to actually be updates.  
Notes:
All of these screenshots were taken & saved as a high quality PNG. I play both Halo Online & MCC with proper brightness configurations. Yes, I am one of those people who take my time to get those settings right.  
Lastly,
All images shown in this thread will have Halo Online on the left side, and MCC on the right. (Or top/bottom on mobile) The point of this thread is by no means to berate the work that has gone into porting this map from Halo Online into the Master Chief Collection. It is solely to archive information on the port itself and any possible differences, bugs, or etc. Any technical terminology on my part ranges anywhere from "I solidly know what I'm talking about" to "I'm honestly just taking a guess here" as most of my knowledge with the Blam engine is from Halo Custom Edition & Halo 2 Vista.  
The Comparisons
Now, let me start by getting one big huge point out of the way immediately: The screen space reflections, and true HDR. One huge difference you are going to notice in almost every comparison immediately is that the images taken from Halo Online will generally appear to have much brighter environments. This is not due to any kind of bug in either game. It is a side-effect of engine differences. MCC Halo 3 multiplayer still uses Halo 3's Bloom & Fake HDR, whereas Halo Online uses Halo 3 ODST's rendering, which includes its true HDR. Colours overall in the MCC version are going to look a little drowned out the closer they are to white due to this. It's a very small difference, but it's very noticeable in some places. The other thing is that Halo Online had technology for screen space reflections in the engine. As far as I know, it's still the only version of the Blam engine to have this feature to this day. So you are going to be frequently noticing that images from Halo Online seem to have reflections absent in the MCC version. This should be considered normal. Below, the first image demonstrates both of these two major effects very obviously.
Comparing SSR & HDR

Note: In MCC, the map in general has a very thick fog along the interiors. This is undoubtedly a change made later in development after ms23.
 
Hammer / Rocket platform

 
Central Interior Entrance

In here if you're observant, you can probably notice the first issue present in this port. Bonus points if you can figure it out before I explain it further below.
 
Red Base Center Doorway

Interestingly, despite weapon spawns being changed, you can see the plasma grenades in both images above have not been altered in spawns at all. They even share the same angles.
Also, do not be fooled by how much darker this environment feels in MCC. It is entirely caused by the fog.
 
Red Base Central Overview

This is another comparison which helps show that the version of Edge present in MCC is from a later version of the map than what was in ms23.
If you look about the central iconic formation, in Halo Online it causes a sharp line in the lightmap, whereas by the time it reached the version ported to MCC, this was fixed.
 
Red Base Corner Overview

The most notable difference is the removal of the panel decoration above the doorway, which actually still has its glow visible in the lightmap.
 
Personal note: If it were up to me, I'd have this map's lightmaps re-run before pushing this into MCC solely because of issues like this, among others you will see further down.
 
Skybox, Vegetation, and Fog Downgrades. Cliff Shader Upgrades.



Now, I can already safely assume the exact reason for the downgrades: Performance. If you were around trying to play Halo Online (either legitimately through 4game or otherwise),
if you were running on anything other than a modern NVIDIA & Intel combo this map probably crashed or lagged A LOT for you.
Edge was bar none the most unoptimized map during this time period, so it only makes sense that elements like vegetation & the skybox were cut back to save performance.
 
In terms of upgrades, it is plainly obvious that the cliffs themselves have gotten some very nice material overhauls.
The skybox of Edge is undoubtedly marred the most by the lack of Halo Online's lighting. High tones in the clouds, sun, and volumetrics went from white to grey, and as a result even made some of the clouds nearly invisible against the backdrop. I'm unsure if the lens flare plainly visible in MCC is a side-effect of Halo 3's sun, or was an intentional change later in development of Edge for Halo Online.
 
Personal note: I do hope that with MCC being able to run this map a lot more stabily, we can see the return of all the extra skybox & foliage details from the old version of this map.
 
Red Base Central Sword/Rocket Platform Overlook

 
Blue Hall to Outer Center

 
Blue & Red Base Back Wall


The forcefield floor in here seems to be missing its team-coloured tint. I have a feeling this has to do with the next comparison.
 
Central Platform Forcefield Floor

Notice how on the edge of the floor that in Halo Online the shader fades out around it? This leads me to one of two assumptions:
1) These shaders are tied to the wrong shader type, which does not fade around geometry edges & does not support colour change
2) The shader IS set, but does not function correctly in MCC. (more likely). Note how in earlier images, this shader seemingly disappears when viewed from a near-parallel angle in MCC.
 
Gravity Lifts

 
Gravity Lift Exit

Here we can see one of the very few real differences in the bsp between these versions. The wall is roughly 1/3 taller than in ms23.
Also, note the forcefield rendering differently.
 
Bottom of the Central Room

Obviously enough, these details were removed due to performance concerns. While I'm not sure just how much of a save this would have made, if any, there's really no other logical way of thinking about why these details would have been removed.
 
Top of the Central Room

Some odd object lighting errors up there.
 
 

Introduction
This thread is created solely for providing a full list of visual differences between the versions of the map "Edge" as we have seen it appear in Halo Online (the most popular build of ms23) versus the version we currently have in the Halo: The Master Chief Collection flight.
 
As one of the Seven documented people on the planet who actually likes this map, this map coming to Halo: The Master Chief Collection is a huge deal to me. While this map will undoubtedly play very awkwardly given it was designed with sprint in mind, it's always good to not see talented peoples' work go to waste.
 
This is going to be a very in-depth observational post discussing plain old differences in visuals, map geometry, engine tech, and etc.
But first, We need to talk about parallel universes cover a few bits of grounding information about "Edge" and it's original game.
"Edge" is a map originally from a cancelled free-to-play Halo game developed by Saber Interactive called "Halo Online" which was held in closed testing in Russia back in 2015 through the 4game service. Halo Online runs on a very heavily modified version of the Halo 3: ODST engine, which also has some new rendering features such as true HDR and screen space reflections just to name the ones relevant to this thread. As the version I will be drawing comparisons with compared to the MCC version is an old build of the game, some differences that may seem like missing objects are more likely to actually be updates.  
Notes:
All of these screenshots were taken & saved as a high quality PNG. I play both Halo Online & MCC with proper brightness configurations. Yes, I am one of those people who take my time to get those settings right.  
Lastly,
All images shown in this thread will have Halo Online on the left side, and MCC on the right. (Or top/bottom on mobile) The point of this thread is by no means to berate the work that has gone into porting this map from Halo Online into the Master Chief Collection. It is solely to archive information on the port itself and any possible differences, bugs, or etc. Any technical terminology on my part ranges anywhere from "I solidly know what I'm talking about" to "I'm honestly just taking a guess here" as most of my knowledge with the Blam engine is from Halo Custom Edition & Halo 2 Vista.  
The Comparisons
Now, let me start by getting one big huge point out of the way immediately: The screen space reflections, and true HDR. One huge difference you are going to notice in almost every comparison immediately is that the images taken from Halo Online will generally appear to have much brighter environments. This is not due to any kind of bug in either game. It is a side-effect of engine differences. MCC Halo 3 multiplayer still uses Halo 3's Bloom & Fake HDR, whereas Halo Online uses Halo 3 ODST's rendering, which includes its true HDR. Colours overall in the MCC version are going to look a little drowned out the closer they are to white due to this. It's a very small difference, but it's very noticeable in some places. The other thing is that Halo Online had technology for screen space reflections in the engine. As far as I know, it's still the only version of the Blam engine to have this feature to this day. So you are going to be frequently noticing that images from Halo Online seem to have reflections absent in the MCC version. This should be considered normal. Below, the first image demonstrates both of these two major effects very obviously.
Comparing SSR & HDR

Note: In MCC, the map in general has a very thick fog along the interiors. This is undoubtedly a change made later in development after ms23.
 
Hammer / Rocket platform

 
Central Interior Entrance

In here if you're observant, you can probably notice the first issue present in this port. Bonus points if you can figure it out before I explain it further below.
 
Red Base Center Doorway

Interestingly, despite weapon spawns being changed, you can see the plasma grenades in both images above have not been altered in spawns at all. They even share the same angles.
Also, do not be fooled by how much darker this environment feels in MCC. It is entirely caused by the fog.
 
Red Base Central Overview

This is another comparison which helps show that the version of Edge present in MCC is from a later version of the map than what was in ms23.
If you look about the central iconic formation, in Halo Online it causes a sharp line in the lightmap, whereas by the time it reached the version ported to MCC, this was fixed.
 
Red Base Corner Overview

The most notable difference is the removal of the panel decoration above the doorway, which actually still has its glow visible in the lightmap.
 
Personal note: If it were up to me, I'd have this map's lightmaps re-run before pushing this into MCC solely because of issues like this, among others you will see further down.
 
Skybox, Vegetation, and Fog Downgrades. Cliff Shader Upgrades.



Now, I can already safely assume the exact reason for the downgrades: Performance. If you were around trying to play Halo Online (either legitimately through 4game or otherwise),
if you were running on anything other than a modern NVIDIA & Intel combo this map probably crashed or lagged A LOT for you.
Edge was bar none the most unoptimized map during this time period, so it only makes sense that elements like vegetation & the skybox were cut back to save performance.
 
In terms of upgrades, it is plainly obvious that the cliffs themselves have gotten some very nice material overhauls.
The skybox of Edge is undoubtedly marred the most by the lack of Halo Online's lighting. High tones in the clouds, sun, and volumetrics went from white to grey, and as a result even made some of the clouds nearly invisible against the backdrop. I'm unsure if the lens flare plainly visible in MCC is a side-effect of Halo 3's sun, or was an intentional change later in development of Edge for Halo Online.
 
Personal note: I do hope that with MCC being able to run this map a lot more stabily, we can see the return of all the extra skybox & foliage details from the old version of this map.
 
Red Base Central Sword/Rocket Platform Overlook

 
Blue Hall to Outer Center

 
Blue & Red Base Back Wall


The forcefield floor in here seems to be missing its team-coloured tint. I have a feeling this has to do with the next comparison.
 
Central Platform Forcefield Floor

Notice how on the edge of the floor that in Halo Online the shader fades out around it? This leads me to one of two assumptions:
1) These shaders are tied to the wrong shader type, which does not fade around geometry edges & does not support colour change
2) The shader IS set, but does not function correctly in MCC. (more likely). Note how in earlier images, this shader seemingly disappears when viewed from a near-parallel angle in MCC.
 
Gravity Lifts

 
Gravity Lift Exit

Here we can see one of the very few real differences in the bsp between these versions. The wall is roughly 1/3 taller than in ms23.
Also, note the forcefield rendering differently.
 
Bottom of the Central Room

Obviously enough, these details were removed due to performance concerns. While I'm not sure just how much of a save this would have made, if any, there's really no other logical way of thinking about why these details would have been removed.
 
Top of the Central Room

Some odd object lighting errors up there.