Most players recognize that Halo 1 runs best on the original hardware in a LAN setting. There are a few variants of the original version that are designed for competitive play, including Halo 1: NHE, Halo 1 Final & Halo 1.5
This section covers how to install modded versions of the game and how to set up to play on LAN.
The most important thing is that the TV’s screen is flat and supports S-Video or Component. Don’t use composite (Yellow/Red/White) cables unless you have to. Third-party component cables can be purchased on Amazon or Ebay (note: they usually have cheap build quality, so you may want to buy a couple extra). Don’t get the old “bubble screen” CRT TV’s, and don’t get a TV that’s rated for “HD” (these generally tend to have some lag).
For System Link, if you want to play on/off host (where one box hosts and the match and the other box joins), simply connect the two consoles using a crossover cable (this is a specific type of ethernet cable with different pin configuration on each end – an ordinary ethernet cable will not work without adding a network switch into the mix). To use the neutral host mode in NHE (where one dedicated box hosts the match, and the two competing boxes join so that they’re both off-host), connect all 3 consoles to a network switch. All network cables should be approximately the same length. It is recommended to use a simple, unmanaged network switch instead of a router or other commercial-grade network gear (unless you know what you’re doing). Here’s a good inexpensive network switch for NHE, recommended by Devilman: D-Link 5-Port Unmanaged Gigbabit Switch (GO-SW-5G)
If you are having trouble getting the softmod set up on your Xbox, go to the Community page and join the Discord channel to get in touch with players who can help.
Devilman’s guide to nulling your Xbox’s EEPROM can be found here:
The basic idea behind installing a modded version of the game involves transferring the game files from your PC over the network to your Xbox via FTP (File Transfer Protocol). First, download an FTP client such as WinSCP or Filezilla. Next, follow these instructions to transfer the game files:
Hit “Connect” – after a moment you should see some directories and files in the file explorer panel in the FTP client. Depending on your FTP client, the left hand panel will usually contain local files and folders on your PC. The right hand panel displays the files and folders that are on your Xbox. In the Xbox’s parent directory you will see folders representing the different partitions on the hard drive. For example, your DVD drive is “D” and the “E” folder is where games and homebrew apps are installed.
To install a modded version of Halo, copy it to the E\Games directory. The executable file to launch the game is called “default.xbe”. For example, the correct path for a Halo 1 NHE installation should look like this: E\Games\Halo 1 – NHE\default.xbe
It should be noted that when you switch between different mods and/or vanilla, you may need to clear your cache. Failing to do so could result in “Dirty Disc” errors when loading into a match from the System Link menu. To clear the cache, simply find the partition that contains files named “cache000map,” cache001.map,” etc. This can be the X, Y or Z partition. Go up to the root directory on the Xbox and check each of these folders for those cache files and delete them.