Halo for Mac OS X

June 2006
MacSoft, 2006. All rights reserved.

Welcome to Halo for Mac OS X! This latest version has been completely re-built as a
Universal Binary and now runs natively on Apples new Intel-based Macs.

This file contains information to help you troubleshoot issues with Halo for the
Macintosh. For the latest support and troubleshooting information, please visit
http://www.macsoftgames.com/.

CONTENTS

A. System Requirements
B. Installation
C. Save Games & Preferences
D. Getting Help
E. Graphics Issues
F. Performance Tips
G. Multiplayer
H. Version History

A. System Requirements

Halo requires a PowerPC or Intel based Macintosh with the following minimum
specifications:

800 MHz or faster PowerPC G4, G5, or Intel processor. 1 GHz or faster
recommended.
Mac OS X 10.3.9 or later. Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger recommended.
256 Megabytes (MB) of RAM. 512 MB recommended.
32 MB 3D hardware-transform-and-lighting-capable AGP graphics card.
Hardware vertex shader-capable graphics card (ATI Radeon 8500/9000, GeForce
3Ti/4Ti) or higher recommended.
1.5 GB of available hard disk space. 2 GB recommended.
8x CD-ROM drive.
56 Kbps modem or LAN for online network play. Broadband recommended.

B. Installation

Note: If you have the older, PowerPC version of Halo already installed on your hard
drive, the installer for this version of Halo will not erase or move the older installation.

To install Halo:

1. Insert the Halo CD into your Macs CD-ROM drive
2. Double-click the Halo package icon and follow the on-screen instructions
3. The first time you launch Halo, you will be prompted to enter a CD Key#. This
number can be found on the back of your Halo manual.

C. Save Games and Preferences

Halo stores its saved games in /Users/user name/Documents/Halo. Some game
preferences are stored in /Users/user name/Library/Preferences/com.macsoft.halo.

Older Save Games
Please note that saved games from the original Mac release of Halo (version 1.5.2 and
earlier) are NOT compatible with the latest Universal Binary version. If you wish to
continue an older save game, you will need to play it using the older (1.5.2 or earlier)
version of the software.

Universal Binary Save Game Compatibility
Saved games from Intel Macs are not compatible with PowerPC Macs, and vice-versa.

D. Getting Help

You can get help for Halo in the following ways:

For an overview of the game as well as for information about getting started and
playing the game, see the Halo printed manual.
Visit the Support section of MacSofts web site (http://www.macsoftgames.com)
to view top support issues, product-specific content, and other related resources
for playing games.

E. Graphics Issues

Make sure that you have the most up-to-date video drivers available for your operating
system and graphics hardware. Many video issues can be resolved by simply updating
your Mac OS X installation or by downloading and installing the latest drivers from the
manufacturer of your video card.

FSAA
You may experience difficulties playing Halo using ATI or nVidia video cards in any of
the Full Screen Anti-Aliasing modes. If you are having a problem, you should disable the
FSAA mode for the game using Halos Graphics Options window.

Intel iMacs and MacBook Pros with ATI X1600 video hardware may show missing strips
of graphics when FSAA is enabled. Upgrading your system software to Mac OS X 10.4.7
or later should fix the problem.


F. Performance Tips

Halo is very much a graphics-driven game. Halos performance can be increased
dramatically by playing the game on a Mac with a high-end graphics card and fast AGP
(4x or better) bus.

Energy Saver System Preference
Mac OS X has an option in the Energy Saver System Preference to toggle Processor
Performance. We recommend that you set this to Highest (rather than Automatic or
Reduced) when playing Halo. The Highest setting can have a dramatic effect on
game performance, particularly on Macs with G4 processors.

Graphics Options Window
Halo for Mac provides an extra window that allows you to fine-tune game performance.
Feel free to experiment with the settings, or just click OK to start the game. If you
choose the Dont show this again option, you can bring back the window by holding
down the Command (Apple) key any time you re-start Halo.

Rendering Pipeline
Halo has four different ways it displays or renders its 3D graphics. Depending on your
graphics hardware, you may have the option of using one, two, or all four methods:

No Shaders. This is the basic rendering mode; much of the games 3D graphics
are rendered using the CPU. This is the only mode available on low-end graphics
hardware such as the ATI Radeon 1, Radeon 7500 or nVidia GeForce 2mx and
4mx.
Vertex Shaders. Hardware Lighting is done on a polygon per-vertex basis, and
the results are very striking compared to No Shaders. Medium-range graphics
cards such as the ATI Radeon 8500/9000 and nVidia GeForce 3Ti/4Ti/5200 FX
support this mode.
Pixel + Vertex Shaders. Hardware Lighting is done on a per-pixel basis.
Halos graphics really shine in this mode, but a powerful video card such at the
ATI Radeon 9600, 9700, or 9800 is needed.
Advanced Pixel Shaders. Additional lighting and special effects are added. Only
Macs with very powerful graphics cards should use this mode.

Generally, Halos graphics will look better in the more advanced shader modes, but the
games overall performance will be reduced.

Detail Objects
Only available when Pixel + Vertex Shaders or Advanced Pixel Shaders is enabled.

FSAA
FSAA, or Full Screen Anti-Aliasing should be kept disabled for best performance.

Lens Flare
Keep Lens Flare set to Low or Medium for best performance.

3D Models
Setting 3D Models to Low or Medium will increase performance, but may introduce
animation glitches on the soldiers, Covenant enemies, and vehicles. Keep this setting on
High to avoid problems.

Multiple Monitors on a Single Video Card
If you have two monitors attached to a single AGP video card, you may see better
performance by disabling one of the monitors and restarting your Mac before playing
Halo.

G. Multiplayer

Network Settings
To ensure the highest level of multiplayer game quality, you should specify your
connection type in Network Settings. Not only does this setting determine the maximum
number of players you can host on a game, but it also determines the amount of data that
you will receive from other servers when you are connecting to a multiplayer game as a
player.

To specify your network settings:
1. On the Halo main screen, click Settings.
2. Click Network Setup.
3. Select the appropriate connection type.
4. Click OK.

Direct IP Connection
You can join an Internet multiplayer game using a specific IP address for the host server.
The host address can be a computer name or numerical IP address.

To join a game using Direct IP:
1. On the Halo main screen, click Multiplayer.
2. Click Direct IP under Join.
3. Enter the IP address for the host server.
4. Enter a password (if required).
5. Click Join to join the game.
Notes:
Halo remembers the last host address you typed in.
If there is no game at the specified IP address, then a Connection Failed
dialog box is displayed. When you click OK, you are returned to the Main
Menu Screen. Click Multiplayer and try entering the IP address again, using
the steps above. If that doesnt work, you should contact the person hosting
the game to verify the IP address for the host server.

Ports Used by the Game
Halo connects to the Internet on the following ports by default:
2302 (UDP)Game host listens on this port
2303 (UDP)Game client connects to host through this port
Halo will run from behind most routers and Network Address Translation (NAT) devices.
If you have difficulty connecting from behind a router, you should consult your router
documentation to ensure that the ports listed above are not blocked for your PC.

In non-team games (such as Slayer), all vehicles are spawning in front of the Red Base:
You must select two of each type of vehicle to ensure that one vehicle gets placed in both
the Red Base and Blue Base. In non-team games, the default base is Red when vehicles
are assigned. If there is only one type of vehicle spawned, then only the Red Base will be
populated with vehicles.

Damage-confirmation beep: You may want turn off the damage-confirmation beep in
multiplayer games. To do this, you must use the Debug Console. To activate the Debug
Console, hold down the Command (Apple) key when you double-click Halo and check
the Allow console box. Press ~ (tilde) in the game to enable the Debug Console, and
then type should_play_multiplayer_hit_sound 0 (without the quotes).

Halo does not offer automatic NAT negotiation of UPnP devices. If you have difficulties
connecting to games or hosting a server behind this device, you should manually set it to
forward the required ports2302 and 2303 (UDP) by defaultto the IP address of the
game computer behind the router.

H. Version History

This section contains an abbreviated history of Halo for Mac OS X. Some newer features
not discussed in the game manual may be found in this area.

Version 2.0 - June 2006

Software has been completely re-engineered using Apples Xcode 2.3 and GCC 4.1.
Universal Binary support has been added for optimum play on Intel Macs.
Cooperative threading removed in favor of preemptive threading.
Render-to-texture operations have been improved.
Fixed bugs related to fogging when running in Vertex Shaders mode.
Fixed a bug with minimizing the game while playing in Windowed Mode.
Fixed a bug where running Timedemos wouldnt always work.
Fixed a random crasher in low-level wide char string functions.
Re-wrote the internal timer code to be more accurate.
Fixed some issues with VSync draw option not working.
Cmd-Q now works.

Version 1.5.2 - 16 May 2005

Networking security fix. The Mac code is now in sync with version 1.07 of the PC code
(Build 613).

Version 1.5.1 - 20 December 2004

Fixed a Software rasterizer model animation bug on ATI 8500/9000/9200 hardware.
Fixed a Pixel Shaders bug where drop shadows were not being rendered for text output.
Fixed a Vertex Shaders bug where decals would display with the wrong colors on ATI
8500/9000/9200 hardware.

Version 1.5 - 1 December 2004

The Mac code is now in sync with version 1.06 of the PC code (Build 612).
An "Advanced Pixel Shaders" option has been added to the Graphics Options window.
This new rasterizer may be used on ATI 9600/9700/9800 and NVIDIA 6800 level
hardware.
Support for USB gamepads and joysticks has been added. NOTE: If you have multiple
USB game controllers attached to your Mac and you experience control problems,
remove all game controllers except the one you wish to play with before starting Halo.
GameRanger support has been added (special thanks to Scott Kevill!).
The Hardware Shaders menu in the Graphics Options window has been simplified
("Pixel + Vertex Shaders" and "NV Shaders" are now a single option).
A change in the OpenGL description string for the NVIDIA 5200 fx was preventing
Pixel Shaders from running optimally on the new G5 iMacs. This has been corrected.
Model Reflections are now always active when using Pixel Shaders on ATI
9600/9700/9800 and NVIDIA 6800 level hardware. This prevents performance loss and
graphics bugs.
Lens flare effects have been greatly optimized for gamers using Mac OS X 10.3.5 or
later.
A bug with decal textures has been fixed on NVIDIA 5200 fx, 4 Ti, and 3 Ti hardware.
A bug with night vision has been fixed on NVIDIA 5200 fx, 4 Ti, and 3 Ti hardware.
The plasma shield effect has been fixed on ATI 9600/9700/9800 level hardware.
Optimizations to the Vertex Shaders rasterizer have been made for ATI 8500/9000/9200
hardware.
Minor optimizations have been made to the blur and warp screen effects on NVIDIA
5200 fx, 4 Ti, and 3 Ti hardware.
A problem in the Pixel Shaders where 2D overlays (menus, health & shield indicator,
ammo indicator, etc) would turn bright blue has been fixed.
The rasterizer_fps console command is working again.
Added a check to make sure the path to the Users/user name/Documents folder was
valid.
A memory calculation bug in Macs with greater than 4GB of RAM has been fixed.

Version 1.05.3 - 8 September 2004

The Mac code has been synchronized with version 1.05 of the PC code (Build 610). The
PC code had been updated with a GameSpy Security Hot-Fix to prevent a malicious user
from being able to shut down the game on the server.
Gamers with the new NVIDIA 6800 video hardware may play Halo using either the NV
Shaders or ATI Pixel Shaders modes.

Version 1.05.2 - 10 June 2004

Gamers with video cards equipped with 128 MB or more VRAM may now set Halo's
game resolution to greater than 1600x1200 if their monitor supports it.

Version 1.05.1 - 7 June 2004

Active camo no longer causes a hang when using the NV Shaders, and the effect works
correctly even with model reflections off.
Halo now checks to make sure the main display is set to Millions of colors before trying
to play in windowed mode. Previously, the game would spontaneously quit at launch on a
monitor set to Thousands of colors if Windowed Mode and NV Shaders were active.

Version 1.05 - 9 April 2004

Additional functionality which provides reflective surfaces for objects and vehicles on
some NVIDIA hardware has been added to the NV Shaders rasterizer.
A Model Reflections option has been added to the Halo Graphics Settings window. This
option is only available in the ATI Pixel Shader and NVIDIA NV shader modes. We
strongly recommend disabling this new option on lower-end video hardware.
A PC game bug which prevented eMacs and other analog monitors with high refresh
rates from syncing to 640x480 resolution has been fixed.
Some issues with hardware fogging when using the Vertex Shaders rasterizer have been
addressed.

Version 1.04.1 - 14 February 2004

Some users reported problems with keyboard movement after updating to 1.04, though
the bug could not be duplicated in testing. However, we did find and fix a random
memory trasher in Halo's input system which may have been causing this problem. We
apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.

Version 1.04 - 12 February 2004

The Mac code has been synchronized with version 1.04 of the PC code (Build 607). The
PC code had been updated with a GameSpy Security Hot-Fix that addresses a rare crash
bug that could occur if a malicious individual (hacker) purposely tries to exploit the
GameSpy CDKey SDK on either Mac OS X or Windows.

Version 1.03 - 18 January 2004

The Mac code is now in sync with version 1.031 of the PC code (Build 606). Mac Halo
is once again multiplayer compatible with PC Halo:-)
Previous versions of Halo did not require you to have a CD inserted to play the game.
Unfortunately, due to heavy illegal online downloading of the software, this and all future
versions of Halo will require a CD to play.
A new "NV Shaders" rasterizer path has been added for players with nVidia GeForce 3
Ti, GeForce 4 Ti, or GeForce 5200 fx video hardware and Mac OS X 10.3 (Panther).
Gamers with these configurations will notice a dramatic change in image quality when
using this new feature.
Players with Mac OS 10.3.2 and a GeForce 3 Ti or 4 Ti video card may encounter a few
graphics glitches, particularly when zooming weapon sites with NV Shaders active. A fix
for this is in progress.
Many FSAA glitches have been fixed by Mac OS 10.3.2.
Fixed occasional black screen flash when hit by weapons fire on eMacs and other Macs
with ATI Radeon 1 or ATI Radeon 7500 AGP cards.
In rare cases, gamers with Mac OS X 10.3.x (Panther) who click the Multiplayer menu
option may now see the error "Halo can't connect to the network". This error occurs when
Halo cannot retrieve the computer name assigned to your Macintosh. While there is no
firm fix for this problem, some gamers have had success playing Multiplayer games by
resetting their Mac's "Parameter RAM". For more information on resetting your Mac's
PRAM, visit http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=2238 and
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=86194 or go to
http://www.info.apple.com/ and enter "parameter ram" into the search field.
Servers now have a complete team killing / banning system that should significantly
reduce team killing online. The concept is simple: team-kill a number of time and you
will automatically be banned from the server for a period of time set by the server
administrator. Because team kills can be accidental, the concept of grief also exists:
following a team-kill, if you don't team-kill again for a period of time, you are forgiven
for your team-kill. These settings are customizable by the server administrator(s) using
server console commands.
In addition to the system above, players are no longer penalized for being killed by
someone on their team and respawn time penalty for a team-killer is multiplied by the
number of teammates he killed, rapidly leading to very long respawn times for team
killers.
We've made a number of updates and bug fixes to our networking architecture, the most
important one being specifically in how we transfer / predict player's movement / position
as well as the action of reloading your weapon. While going into the details of these
changes is beyond the scope of this document, the result should be a smoother online
game experience across the variety of connections to the Internet.
Servers name now supports 65 characters for dedicated servers and 32 characters for
client-hosted servers and now accepts an extended character set.
Chat text length has been extended to 64 characters.
In-game scoreboard now displays every client's ping.
In-game scoreboard now displays your # of assists.
Server port numbers are displayed accurately throughout their range.
Teams are now persisted for the next game when map cycling occurs.
Map Reset: It's now possible to restart the current game without requiring the server to
map cycle.
Assault: We now have a timer to keep track of how much time is left to your offense /
defense round.
Assault: Alongside this timer, we also have an "Offense" and "Defense" indicator to
quickly inform you of your role.
Online Multiplayer: Telefrag message is now appropriately replicated.
Online Multiplayer: Minor fixes to switching teams in kill-in-order games (score will
now remain accurate).
Online Multiplayer: Minor fixes to the end of the game state (new players now have to
wait for the game to be restarted before being admitted to the server).
Online Multiplayer: Fix for client's flashlight states when joining games.
Online Multiplayer: Vehicles won't respawn if they have a projectile (such as a plasma
grenade) attached to them. They will wait for the projectile to be removed.
Online Multiplayer: Minor fixes to using teleports for high-latency connections.

Version 1.02 - 4 December 2003

Initial US Release.