Need Help Hex Editing Halo UB for Mac

[3371-Alpha]

Long story, short, I'm attempting to back-port the HaloMD project to older PPC Macs. But before I do that I'd like to fix a few bugs in Halo's engine (particularly the PPC half of the UB executable). I'm an amateur programmer though (haven't actually done much other than compile a few libraries in the past) so I could use some help. Anyone here have knowledge on hex editing?

[Melekor]

I want to add some new instructions onto my Intel processor. I'm an amateur engineer though (haven't done much other than some basic VHDL in the past) so I could use some help. Anyone here have any knowledge on soldering irons?

[3371-Alpha]

Sarcasm? Maybe I came on a bit too strongly.

I want to add some new instructions onto my Intel processor. I'm an amateur engineer though (haven't done much other than some basic VHDL in the past) so I could use some help. Anyone here have any knowledge on soldering irons?

Technically speaking I'm not really planning to add much to Halo, just fix bugs (the game was poorly ported). I could use help (advice mostly) with hex. If you happen to know where you can get a free lesson (or at least on that doesn't cost an arm & a leg) please tell me.

[Melekor]

It's practically impossible to fix bugs in an existing binary just using a hex editor. I don't know where you got this idea but it's very wrong. Binary patching is an expert level task that requires specialized tools and enormous amounts of time and effort.

[3371-Alpha]

According to the guys at both the Oni Forums and MacGamingMods.com it is possible, just very tedious & difficult. Both sites' main projects (HaloMD & Oni AE) have been patched that way. On the other hand, adding new instructions to a pre-assembled microprocessor, now that's impossible (at least without a clean room it is).

[DarthRevan555]

According to the guys at both the Oni Forums and MacGamingMods.com it is possible, just very tedious & difficult. Both sites' main projects (HaloMD & Oni AE) have been patched that way. On the other hand, adding new instructions to a pre-assembled microprocessor, now that's impossible (at least without a clean room it is).

Seems like an awful large amount of work for a game that's been remade on Xbox One classic and remastered.. as well as having a working PC version...

to each their own I guess.

[Melekor]

According to the guys at both the Oni Forums and MacGamingMods.com it is possible, just very tedious & difficult. Both sites' main projects (HaloMD & Oni AE) have been patched that way. On the other hand, adding new instructions to a pre-assembled microprocessor, now that's impossible (at least without a clean room it is).

The tools you would use to accomplish such a task are:

disassembler, debugger, assembler and/or compiler, as well as custom patching tools that you will have to build.

Notice that hex editor is not in the list. I didn't read your links but I can pretty much guarantee you that no one is doing any serious reverse engineering or patching using a hex editor. It is not impossible in theory, but in practice it is essentially impossible and no one would do it because there are better ways.

I don't think you understand how your question sounds to someone who actually understands what you're asking. That is what I was trying to convey with my analogy to using a soldering iron to patch a processor. You are at such a newb level that you have no clue of the difficulty of what you are suggesting, and you aren't even asking the right questions yet.

If you are serious about doing this, you can look forward to spending literally hundreds, possibly even thousands of hours learning the required skills.

[3371-Alpha]

Regardless of what it takes, could you help me? The game was horribly ported (dozens of byteswap errors, ect.). I'm tired of it crashing.

Seems like an awful large amount of work for a game that's been remade on Xbox One classic and remastered.. as well as having a working PC version...
to each their own I guess.

True, but I don't have to pay for XBox Live if I use the Mac version. Also, I don't own a PC.

[Melekor]

Regardless of what it takes, could you help me? The game was horribly ported (dozens of byteswap errors, ect.). I'm tired of it crashing.

Seems like an awful large amount of work for a game that's been remade on Xbox One classic and remastered.. as well as having a working PC version...
to each their own I guess.

True, but I don't have to pay for XBox Live if I use the Mac version. Also, I don't own a PC.

If you are smart enough to accomplish such a task, then you can easily earn $100k/year working for a big company, doing things that are actually valuable. Then you won't have a problem paying for XBox Live.

Even the cost of buying a brand new PC would be like chump change compared to the cost of hiring someone to reverse engineer and patch the binary for a game you don't have source for.

[DarthRevan555]

My OCD is kicking in and forcing me to point out that you can just buy the games no XBL required (Unless you want mutliplayer)[I'm a rare sap who plays Halo for the narratives fIrst]

I'm sure by now, especially with Xbone S on the horizon, you can find an Xbone bundle with Halo 5 or MCC and all sorts of goodies for substantially less than retail msrp.

Or you could spend years re-coding a broken port for a game that wasn't even meant for pc/mac in the first place.

[DarthRevan555]

One mooooore thing! (guess where that's from)

This forum really is a bad place to be looking for help with Halo related stuff.

Might I suggest Halo Waypoint I think it's called, basically a more halo oriented forum I think 343i actually interacts with the playerbase.

[juliocpaes]

Here is forum for discuss myth scripts hex editing and not Halo ...
except maybe if it was a Myth MOD total conversion Halo

[3371-Alpha]

Here is forum for discuss myth scripts hex editing and not Halo ...
except maybe if it was a Myth MOD total conversion Halo

Ok, I just assumed that because both Myth & Halo were Bungie games there would be fans of both games in this community & you'd be willing to help out...nevmind then.

[Melekor]

It's the general discussion forum, please feel free to talk about whatever. That isn't the problem here..

[juliocpaes]

Here is forum for discuss myth scripts hex editing and not Halo ...
except maybe if it was a Myth MOD total conversion Halo

Ok, I just assumed that because both Myth & Halo were Bungie games there would be fans of both games in this community & you'd be willing to help out...nevmind then.

please feel free to talk about whatever.