OpenH1

Your copy · The one step before you play

Get yourmaps.

OpenH1 doesn't come with Halo's levels. You bring them from your own copy of the game: the original Xbox disc of Halo: Combat Evolved. Copy the disc once, show OpenH1 where the copy is, and it does the rest.

01 · What you need

Your disc, copied.

Your own Halo: Combat Evolved disc for the original Xbox. Any region works: OpenH1 changes the European (PAL) version's maps to play as the North American (NTSC) ones do, so the two play together (README).

A disc image of it: an .iso or .xiso file, made from that disc. A copy of the disc's maps folder works too on most machines.

OpenH1 doesn't include the game, and never says where to download it. Halo PC and Custom Edition don't work as the base game: their maps are made differently.

02 · Make a disc image

Copy the disc.

An ordinary PC or Mac DVD drive can't read an original Xbox game disc. It sees only a short video part at the start, not the game. Use one of these.

The easiest, if you have one

A modded Xbox

An original Xbox with a custom dashboard (softmodded or modchipped) can read its own discs, and most such dashboards have an FTP server.

  1. Put the disc in the Xbox, and connect to the Xbox from your computer with an FTP app (FileZilla, or your system's).
  2. Copy the disc's drive (D) to a folder on your computer. Its maps folder is what OpenH1 needs.
  3. For a disc image, pack that folder with extract-xiso:
extract-xiso -c halo-folder halo.iso

Or skip the image: a Mac, a Steam Deck and the Steam Frame take the maps folder itself (below).

For a PC with the right drive

A drive that reads Xbox discs

A few DVD drives can read Xbox discs with special firmware: older Samsung and Toshiba drives with Kreon firmware, or some LG-made Blu-ray drives with OmniDrive.

  1. Check your drive's exact model first: the wrong firmware can ruin a drive. The Xbox Dev Wiki lists the Kreon drives.
  2. Dump the disc with redumper (Windows, Linux and Mac). It makes a full image of the disc, which OpenH1 reads as it is.

This is the disc-preservation community's method. Their guides go into the details.

Copying a game you own for your own use is allowed in some countries and not in others. Check yours.

03 · Give it to OpenH1

Once, on each machine.

The first time you start it, OpenH1 asks for your maps and copies them out (about 2 GB). After that it starts straight into the game.

Windows

Takes a disc image.

  1. Open halo.exe. It asks for the game's data: choose Yes, then your disc image.
  2. Or put the .iso next to halo.exe first, and it uses it without asking which file.

Maps go in maps next to halo.exe.

Mac

Takes a disc image or the maps folder.

  1. Open OpenH1. It asks for the game's maps: choose your disc image (.iso or .xiso), and it copies the maps (about 1.8 GB). Then you can delete the image.
  2. Or choose the maps folder (the folder with ui.map and bloodgulch.map). It stays where it is, and OpenH1 remembers it, even if you move it. Don't delete it.

Maps from a disc image go in ~/Library/Application Support/OpenH1/maps, which holds the rest too.

Steam Deck

And any Linux PC. Takes a disc image or a maps folder.

  1. Put your disc image in Downloads or on your SD card. From another computer, Steam's file transfer works in Game Mode.
  2. Play OpenH1 from Game Mode. It finds the image: press A and it copies the maps.
  3. Or choose the image or a maps folder when install.sh asks, in Desktop Mode.

Maps go in ~/Applications/OpenH1/maps.

Steam Frame

Takes a disc image or the maps folder.

  1. Put your disc image in the Frame's Downloads, then play OpenH1 VR. It finds the image: press A and it copies the maps.
  2. Or, on the Frame in Desktop Mode, open install.sh from the download. It asks for the maps folder: choose it, and it copies the maps.

Maps go in ~/apps/halo-vr/maps.

Android

Takes a disc image.

  1. Copy the disc image to the phone (over USB, or from a cloud drive).
  2. Open OpenH1, tap Choose disc image and pick it. It copies the maps (about 1.8 GB). Then you can delete the image.

Maps go in the app's own storage, and are deleted when you remove the app.

Unpack an image

If you'd rather keep the maps folder than the image: extract-xiso (Windows, Mac, Linux) takes a disc image apart.

extract-xiso -x halo.iso

It makes a folder named after the image, with maps inside.

It reads full images too, as redumper makes them.

04 · If it goes wrong

Fixes.

Something else? Report a problem on GitHub.

"Halo PC maps"
The maps folder is from Halo PC or Custom Edition, not the Xbox game. Move it aside, and give OpenH1 your Xbox disc image or its maps folder.Custom Edition maps still work: they go in a custom_maps folder beside maps.
"Not an Xbox disc image"
The file isn't a copy of the game. An image made in an ordinary DVD drive has only the disc's video part: make one as above.
Image not found
On Linux, a Steam Deck and the Steam Frame, OpenH1 looks in Downloads, the Desktop, your home folder, SD cards and USB drives. Put the image there and choose Look again.
Game Mode
Works there: put your disc image in Downloads or on your SD card, then play OpenH1 from Game Mode. It finds it.
Disk space
About 2 GB free for the maps, as well as the disc image while they're copied.On a Mac given the maps folder, nothing is copied: the folder is used where it is.
Copy stopped
Start the game again. A copy that didn't finish is left as maps.partial, and the game asks for the image again.
Where maps go
Windows: next to halo.exe. Mac: ~/Library/Application Support/OpenH1/maps, or the folder you chose. Steam Deck: ~/Applications/OpenH1/maps. Steam Frame: ~/apps/halo-vr/maps. Android: the app's storage.
Some maps missing
The Mac says so when the folder or image lacks some of the disc's maps. You can play what's there, or choose a complete copy.

Download OpenH1

Shoutout to Clayton for the inspiration for this page.