If it's not modded, then it's not extreme

Currently, the most popular mod tool that people are using to day is a program called Halo Moding Tool version 3
(HMT v3).  This tool allows the person to easily edit the meta code for any Halo map.  For those of you that do not
know what meta is, then it's a hex code that can edit jump hight, gun ammo, gun damage, vehicles speed, etc.  

Before HMT v3 came along, people were forced to use a hex editor to change meta values.  Knowing which code
to edit in hex, was a very hard thing to do and took a long time.  Hex editors were not bad to use when you knew
the exact codes that you wanted to edit, but finding them was a different story.  People could spend days before
finding out the value that they wanted to edit.

HMT v3 is by far, an easier tool to use for modding, but yet again there are still some problems.  This program, as
easy as it was to use, it still had some bugs.  That part was kind of expected though, do to it's fast release and the
version number.  This is only version 3 which was, "if I'm not mistaken," one out of two versions that were made.  
The people who constructed this program are very talented in what they do, but they should have taken a bit long
to test this.

The bugs included mostly little things, but with it's action of map rebuilding you can run into huge problems.  This
program has the ability to batch extract all the meta that is contained within a level.  That option was very handy to
have, because you could edit names and add things which were from other maps.  However, when you add serten
things to your map, it would tend to give people and exception error when Halo was loaded up.  These sort of
things would usually happen when you were transferring things like AI controlled characters to a multi player map.  
Some people have succeeded in doing this, but these people knew more or less what they were doing.  Another
bug would happen when vehicles that only appear in single player levels, were rebuilt into a multi play map.  What
usually  happened was that the model for that vehicle would be messed up.  

With this program, people are able to do editing really easily, so for now this site is behind this program 100%.


In other news, SDK is supposed to have been released into the public once again, but as expected they decided
to postpone it.  This tool is supposed to give a whole new meaning to the word modification, but the fact is that it's
not doing anything right now.  I do want a modding tool that has next to no bugs, but it is kind of ridicules when it
takes this long for a modding tool to be released.  For one thing, the makers of Halo (for Xbox) took shorter time
to make the game, compared to the time that it's taking SDK to come out.  However, this may not be true but it
sure seems like it is.

SDK, when it comes out, there will be absolutely no use for Hex editors or HMT v3.  Which also means that all the
modding tutorials up to date, will be useless except for the occasional person that will not be able to run this
program.  From what I hear about this modding tool, this will pritty much be the only down fall, unless they decide
to sell it.