
- DIGSITE DELIVERIES – Learn more about the Digsite content on PC that has arrived with the latest MCC update
- MCC UPDATE: JULY 2023 – Get the full debrief on MCC’s July 12 content update
The Great Journey
The Digsite team was not idle while Release 1 was being prepared and integrated into the MCC Editing Kit update. When the Github repository becomes public you will see brand new content, and new material will be flowing to it for testing, evaluation, and use by the Halo community. I want to stress that this material still falls under the MCC EULA, so please don’t tempt legal fate and use the assets for mods in Unreal, ARMA, Fortnite, and so on (see MCC EULA: THE FAQ). Now then, let’s look at some Halo 2 content in the process of restoration…


Halo 2 Dev Maps
General’s project to update the Halo 2 E3 demo from 2003 was featured in our announcement last year, and it certainly got an outsized focus in media coverage of Digsite! This scenario is not in our Release 1, as a) it’s been continually refined to be as close to the original setup as is humanly possible, and b) it’s pretty much just one person doing it all.






Finishing Touches
Let’s hear directly from our Digsite members as they share some of the additional things they’ve been up to.Zeddikins
My hand in Digsite happenings has largely been from the shadows, but this time around I do have an interesting nugget to share with everyone.



Krevil
As one of the newest members of the Digsite team, the majority of my work so far has been on Halo 3’s cut content. It’s still a long road before any of it will be included in a release, but I thought I would include some insights into what I’ve been up to – and a little sneak peek into the future.The Guardian(s)
Of all the Halo 3 content lost to the void, the Guardian is perhaps the most well-known, despite only being seen as a hologram on the multiplayer map Epitaph and as a feature seen on Zeta Halo in Halo Infinite. Halo 3′s Guardian was a form of Sentinel that was designed to be an even more formidable encounter than Halo 2‘s Enforcer. Armed with a decimating red energy beam, phase teleportation to quickly relocate, and a surging pulse which would send players flying away, the Guardian could easily dispatch any intruders who dared to trespass into their forest. But, if players could overcome the challenge of the Guardian, it was not without reward: After dismantling the frightful Forerunner construct, the Guardian’s eye could be wielded for players to use against other foes, or perhaps even give the Guardians a taste of their own burning medicine. Though, the challenges were not only for the players, as bringing the Guardian back from the depths has also been a considerable task. When work first began on Halo 3’s Guardian, we had only a single model file to work with and we were missing any MCC-compatible tags, though tantalizing clues remained to show that some did exist at one point. Luckily, thanks to Christopher Barrett, Paul Russel, and Marcus Lehto we were able to recover additional source files and – most importantly – development insight into the way they were supposed to work in-game. With so many more resources to work with, the team has now begun to piece back together the Guardian, working to integrate design ideas into the game in ways that both function and fit within the game’s retail sandbox.
E3 2006
It can often be hard to believe that 2006 was seventeen years ago. It was an incredible time to be a Halo fan, the excitement for the third game in the series rising higher with each article, trailer, and promotion. I’m sure I’m not alone in saying that I watched the E3 trailer again and again whilst waiting for the game to release, so when the opportunity to work on restoring the actual scenario used for the trailer presented itself, I knew it was something I absolutely had to do. It hasn’t been an easy road to walk down though, many challenges block the path to the scenario playing like it did in 2006.

Ludus/Neo
For those of you who read last year’s Digsite article Cutting Room Corps, you may remember the notorious Space Luger. In the time since that article’s publication, we have found the necessary associated data to fully rebuild and polish the silver finish down to a sheen fit for active duty.

Sean T
As work on Digsite R1 has winded down, it’s been fun to start looking into what comes next. The majority of my recent work focused on polishing up models and animation work, but as we move forward into newer titles, my focus is expanding to new skills beyond my previous areas of expertise (map and tag development). One smaller project we’re working on is anchored on Halo 3 pre-production level design. Many of you have probably seen the tweets from Max Hoberman showcasing several of these maps, and we are happy to say that we have a lot of them in our possession, with the potential to compile a map pack for Halo 2. For now, we can share a look at Snowbound, as well as a peek at an alternate mix of Construct.




General_101/Scruffy
This release has been quite the effort for everyone involved in Digsite. Lots of unknown data formats had to be researched, lots of blanks filled by our talented content dev team. I’d like to speak on some of the aspects of this release that I’ve had a hand in.Marine Mover
The early Halo 2 Troop Transport Warthog was an amazing – and recent – find. This piece was found in an old map file that required our tools to be upgraded to retrieve the data for all of you. Unfortunately, we still have had no luck with locating the jungle and snow variant of the Halo 2 Warthog.

Hitch a Ride!

General Purpose Explosions


The Cartographer
I worked on most of the Halo 2 maps, but the one I enjoyed the most was Rodentia, the remake of Rat Race from Halo: CE. When we found it, we didn’t have source files for it. All we had was a map file for Vista at the time. The map itself was great. It had some minor art issues but otherwise was very playable.
Small Arms Repair
Did a lot of minor stuff for weapons in this R1 pack. If you wield one of the third-person weapons, you’ll probably see an animation I ported or made such as the spear gun reload or the microwave gun animations.
Beast Tamer

Crisp
Digsite leaves no stone unturned, so it was only right that we looked forward to some of the games that fall outside of the original trilogy. Halo: Reach and Halo 4 are both entries which tried a lot of new ideas, many of which did not make it to release. Head over to Halo Waypoint to read the rest from Crisp, and other work being done to bring additional content to MCC!Across the Street, Download
The question of the day is where and when? The answer is here and now! Halo: CE and Halo 2 content for Release 1 featured in this article is available at the links below. The tags and select source data are maintained at an active resource where you can always find the latest released Digsite content, and any related content fixes or updates. A “1.0” release is now part of the core files included in the Halo: CE and Halo 2 Mod Tools, but for ongoing support, GitHub will be the one-stop-shop for updated resources as we uncover more content. To our community modders: be sure to keep the GitHub repository bookmarked for further updates to Digsite, so you’ll always have the latest and greatest. Many additions in this Digsite release were made possible from new updates to both Halo: The Master Chief Collection, and the Halo Mod Tools. For more details on what was added under the hood, have a look at this companion article regarding the update along with the patch notes. Check out the following links for players on PC seeking an immediate demonstration of today’s content, available right now!- Digsite – Release 1, via GitHub (Coming soon)
- The Excavated Map Pack (Halo: CE), via Steam Workshop
- The Digtacular Map Pack (Halo 2), via Steam Workshop
- Crash Site, via Steam Workshop
With this, we’ve reached the complete first release of Digsite content. We’re excited to uncover more on this Great Journey in the future, and if you’d like to follow public developments, you can scope the latest at our dedicated spaces, courtesy of YouTube, Halo Modding Reclaimers, and Halo Mods. Until next time! Oh, and for the fiction fans out there, our next Canon Fodder issue will indeed concern elements of this excavated material and how it exists within the Halo universe. Stay tuned!

Don't forget to head to Halo Waypoint to read the full Digsite Discoveries article!