Halo 2
Halo 2 is the second installment of the Halo series and is the sequel to Halo: Combat Evolved. Halo 2 Vista is a Games for Windows Live game and includes achievements, a dedicated map-making tool, and a feature called "Tray and Play", which allows users to play the game while it is installing.
Example Map
Example is a map not included in Halo 2 by default, but is present on the Halo 2 install disc and can be obtained by installing and using the Halo 2 map editor. Example is the only multiplayer map to include Fuel Rod Cannons, and includes custom "silenced" SMGs that are quieter than the ones in other maps and have laser pointers. Example is the smallest map in any Halo game and is unusually dense with explosives.
Sign-in Error
If you are certain your username and password are correct, but are unable to log in to Games for Windows Live, check if Xfire is running. If so, close it and try to log in again.
Windows 7 Errors
Some users may experience issues with halo 2 on windows 7. These include mouse problems and frame rate issues on the main menu screen. If issues are experienced on windows 7 go into the options menu and enable v-sync.
Mouse Acceleration
To disable mouse acceleration:
Step 1: Create a file in your Halo directory called mouse.cfg
Step 2: Pop it open in notepad and put in the line:
mouse_acceleration 0
Step 3: Save it.
Step 4: Add the following line to your command arguments on your Halo shortcut:
-exec mouse.cfg
After that, when you start Halo, it should say "0.0000000" in purple text near the bottom of the screen. That will indicate that mouse acceleration is at zero. Sourced from here.
Field of View
Sourced from here. The short version:
- replace all occurrences of 'AA619C3F' with 'CDCCCC3F' in all SP .MAP files.
The detailed version:
- before you do any editing, make sure to BACKUP your entire Halo2\maps directory
- get a decent hex editor (I used hex workshop)
- open your Halo2\maps directory
- for every one of the single player maps (the ones whose filename starts with numbers) do the following:
- open the .MAP file with hex workshop
- choose replace in the edit menu
- in the type box choose: hex values
- in the 'Find' field type: AA619C3F
- in the 'Replace' field type: CDCCCC3F, a 32-bit float value which translates into a decent FOV of 1.6 instead of the default 1.22. Use other float values if you prefer.
- make sure to replace all occurences
- save the file
- close the file
- do the exact same procedure for these two other files: single_player_shared.map, shared.map
- you're done, launch the game and enjoy a permanent non-debilitating FOV in Halo2 Vista
Unable to Install the Game
You may receive this error message when installing the game under Windows 7 x64:
- One of the installation steps failed. Do you want to retry?
- redists\vcredist.msi
- This installation is forbidden by system policy. Contact your system administrator.
- Click Retry to attempt to complete the failed step, or click Cancel to cancel installation.
To fix this; close the installer, browse to the "redists" folder on the game DVD, run vcredist.msi as an Administrator, and restart the installer.