View source for User:Chipsnapper2/HL2 Xbox Research/Original Experiments

A series of research and experiments to make a custom map compile and load on {{HL2}} {{Xbox}} [[Half-Life 2 (Xbox)]].

==What we know==
* BSP files from the Xbox game disc load on old engine builds of HL2: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_F_vqCQHXE 1]
* The compile switch needed for VBSP and VRAD: <code>-xbox</code>.
* Users have been able to compile and run entirely custom maps on Xbox before: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YYzpBY4CfI 1] [https://old.reddit.com/r/HalfLife/comments/et2x71/im_getting_closer_to_porting_minerva_to_the/ 2]
* A general sense of how to load custom content into XZP files: [[User:Chipsnapper2/HL2_Xbox_Experiments/Project_HL2XMod_Readme_Archived|Link]]
* Version 19 BSP files compiled for PC will work on Xbox

==What we don't know==
* Texture names: they differ between HL2 Xbox and PC, so BSPs from Xbox are full of missing textures.
* How to make old versions of [[VBSP]], [[VVIS]] and [[VRAD]] not crash constantly on modern operating systems and PC hardware

==Daily Logs==

===06/05/2020===
We have a version of Source SDK dated December 2004, it has been able to compile maps for Source 2004. Compiled maps have been tested in builds 2153 and 2547.
I am attempting to contact [[User:AndrewNeo]] to see what he knows about Xbox compiling.

===06/06/2020===
The 2004 versions of VBSP and VRAD do not contain the <code>-xbox</code> parameter. This parameter still lies in the source code, but modern leaks such as CSGO will not create the correct version of BSP that we need, even if we did re-enable the parameter.

The 2004 version of the SDK we have is Version 2 of Steam Depot 211, also known as <code>sourcesdk.gcf</code>, dated 12/01/2004. It's too early, the <code>-xbox</code> parameter was added sometime in 2005.

Version 16 of Depot 211 was the [https://store.steampowered.com/news/500/ January 17, 2006] update to Source SDK, which added HDR compile abilities for use with HL2 Lost Coast. This update either broke or removed <code>-xbox</code>.

===06/07/2020===
The discovery has been made that any version 19 BSP will load. Lightmaps do not work, and the map is missing the xbox specific stuff, but still, it works.