Torpedo - Effect Generator

[Kavawuvi 7,026]

This program will generate effect tags via a command line. All you need is Eschaton to import your tag.

 

How to use:

 

Step 1. Decide what you want. Once the tag is generated, you will be limited to just swapping tags.

Step 2. Open Command Prompt (if on Windows) or Terminal (if on [Mac] OS X). Type in the path to torpedo followed by the arguments followed by the path to the path you want to save the map to. Be very careful not to overwrite any existing maps.

Example if on Windows:

C:\path\to\torpedo --event object,object,object,object,object,particle "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Games\Halo\MAPS\mytag.map"

Example if on (Mac) OS X:

/path/to/torpedo --event object,object,object,object,object,particle ~/Desktop/mytag.map

Step 3. Open your map in Eschaton, navigate to the one tag that is inside of the map, then extract the tag. You do not need to recursively extract the tag, but if you do, it will not do anything bad. Expand the map you want to import the tag into, import, then rebuild.

 

Step 4. Swap the tags in the map and make any other edits you want.

 

Syntax (torpedo --help):

Syntax: torpedo <arguments> [output_map]
Flags:
  --event part1,part2,...  - Add an event. e.g. object,decal,damage,particle
      Valid parts:
          damage           - jpt! tags
          decal            - deca tags
          light            - ligh tags
          object           - obje tags (swappable with bipd, weap, etc.)
          particle         - part tags
          particle_system  - pctl tags
          sound            - snd! tags
  --location name          - Add a location. A blank one is added by default.
  --path name              - Set the tag path to this.
      Note: You may need to use double backslashes (\\) for this.
      Default path: torpedo\default
 
  --credits                - List the wonderful people responsible for Torpedo.
  --help                   - Display this lovely list.
  --more_help              - Display the proper links for getting more help.
  --no_events              - Create an effect tag that has no events.
  --version                - Get the version of this software.
Note: Arguments that say "Add a(n)..." can be used multiple times.

Some examples:

 

If you want to create an effect that has three objects and one light:

torpedo --event object,object,object,light output_map.map

If you want to create an effect that has two objects, one damage, and one more object:

torpedo --event object,object,damage,object output_map.map

If you want to create an effect that just plays a sound:

torpedo --event sound output_map.map

If you want to create an effect that has a bunch of particles and creates one object:

torpedo --event object,particle,particle,particle output_map.map

 

If you find any bugs, please report them, but also include what you typed to get the bugs.

 

Download (Windows - 32-bit): Torpedo 1.0 Win32.zip

Download (OS X - 64-bit): Torpedo 1.0 OS X.zip

Download example map: mytag.map.zip

 

[Takka 13,377]

Damn, girl. I needed this 30 years ago. Great stuff. =D

[NeX 1,756]

It's mainly useful for Mac I think. I can set up an effect tag in geurilla with however many references I want in about 60 seconds, stuff it in a map and extract from there. Mac doesn't have access to the HEK without a VM or something, where this comes in as an extremely useful tool for those scenarios

[Takka 13,377]

It's mainly useful for Mac I think.

Or Halo Full.

[Kavawuvi 7,026]

It's mainly useful for Mac I think. I can set up an effect tag in geurilla with however many references I want in about 60 seconds, stuff it in a map and extract from there. Mac doesn't have access to the HEK without a VM or something, where this comes in as an extremely useful tool for those scenarios

Mac users may find it useful, but I wouldn't release a program that would only benefit Mac users into a community of Windows users. Some people don't want to use Halo Editing Kit. Having to rely on 3ds max for custom BSPs is also pretty bad, as you only get 3 years for free with the student license, and having to pay a ton of money afterwards to continue using it is a big turn-off for me.

 

From what I understand, I don't think tool.exe will just let you put it in your tags folder and then make the map there, so you wouldn't you need to reference it to something as well? You'd then need to wait on tool to create the cache file.

 

With this tool, I can just type the effect I want and it's there right after I press enter. All I have to do is import it. Unless you have slow hands, this, in my head, sounds like the better option for Halo PC modders, even if they have Halo Editing Kit.

edit: I have uploaded version 1.0 for testing.

[giraffe 794]

Before clicking the topic, I thought to myself, "What kind of effect would a torpedo generate besides a giant explosion?". I guess I shouldn't have taken the title literal.

[Kavawuvi 7,026]

The source code is now available on GitHub.

[WaeV 5,049]

With this tool, I can just type the effect I want and it's there right after I press enter. All I have to do is import it. Unless you have slow hands, this, in my head, sounds like the better option for Halo PC modders, even if they have Halo Editing Kit.

Absolutely. People underestimate the power of a command-line interface. Heck, this could even be scripted with batch files!