[04/15/2020]

With the addition of the newest version of Part 03 for Silver Edition, containing the edited Main Menu and Shared Single Player maps needed to play the final four levels in their new order (which I stupidly forgot to include in the original upload of Part 03), you will need to replace the existing Main Menu and SP maps in your Halo 2 map folder.  However,  I STRONGLY RECOMMEND that you back up your default versions of these two maps to a safe location, as the edited Main Menu map can cause issues with using Project Cartographer's online multiplayer... if you use Project Cartographer, which most people still playing Halo 2 Vista probably do.

Parts 01 and 02 of GOLD Edition are now available for download.

This mod contains the following major changes:

PLAYER HEALTH AND SHIELDS

• Master Chief: 50 points for Health, 100 points for Shields.  Health Stun and Recharge rates are default.  Shield Stun and Recharge rates are default.
• As of GOLD Edition, Health Stun and Recharge rates are 6 seconds stun and 4 seconds recharge.  Shield Stun and Recharge rates are now 3 seconds stun and 2 seconds recharge.
  

• Arbiter: 60 points for Health, 90 points for Shields. Health Stun and Recharge rates are 5 seconds stun and 2 seconds recharge.  Shield Stun and Recharge rates are 3 seconds stun and 1 second recharge.  Player movement speed is higher than the Chief.
  

GLOBALS

• Enemy Damage Output Percentage: 0.5 on Easy, 0.75 on Normal, 1.0 on Heroic, and 1.0 on Legendary.
  

• Enemy Recharge: 1.5 on Easy, 1.0 on Normal, 0.75 on Heroic, and 0.5 on Legendary.
  

• Enemy Vitality: Unchanged on all difficulties.
  

• Enemy Shields: Unchanged on all difficulties.
  

• Friend Damage Output Percentage: 0.5 on Easy, 0.75 on Normal, 1.0 on Heroic, 1.0 on Legendary.
  

• Friend Recharge: Unchanged on all difficulties.
  

• Friend Vitality: Unchanged on all difficulties.
  

• Friend Shields: Unchanged on all difficulties.
  

• AI Firing Rates: 0.75 on Easy, 1.0 on Normal, 1.1 on Heroic, and 1.25 on Legendary.
  

• Guidance vs Player: Chief gets 0.25 on easy, 0.5 on Normal, 0.75 on Heroic, and 1.0 on Legendary.  Arbiter gets 0.3 on Easy, 0.6 on Normal, 0.9 on Heroic, and 1.2 on Legendary.
  

The Battle Rifle: Fires at 18 rounds per second instead of 15, has a fire recovery rate of 0.36 seconds and a soft recovery of 0.2 seconds. The weapon still fires in 3-round bursts.  Damage per bullet is now 8 points instead of 6, making it more in line with the 25 points of the M6D from Combat Evolved. The Battle Rifle also uses error when unzoomed and is capable of firing automatically by simply holding down the trigger. Maximum ammo reserve has been increased to 360 rounds.
-Changes For GOLD Edition: Now does 7 points of damage per bullet, for 21 points total, making it less overpowered.

SMG: Does 6 points of damage per bullet and has a maximum ammo reserve of 600 rounds when single-wielded, 1200 when dual-wielded.  No longer recoils upwards with sustained fire. Error angles are now set at 0.5 - 3, and at 2 - 6 when dual-wielded.
-Changes Fro GOLD Edition: Now does 5.5 points of damage per bullet, making it less overpowered when dual-wielding.

Magnum: Does 15 points of damage per bullet and has a maximum ammo reserve of 120 rounds, 240 when dual-wielded. Fires at a rate of 6 rounds per second.
-Changes For GOLD Edition: Has a damage modifier of 0.9 when dual-wielded.

Shotgun: Range has been increased dramatically to 40 world units, while its error angles are now 1 - 3. Has a maximum ammo reserve of 60 rounds.
-Changes For GOLD Edition: Uh... AI do less damage with the weapon by default.

Sniper Rifle: Projectile Speed has been increased to 1600 world units per second.  Damage per bullet has been increased from 45 points to 105 points. Has a firing rate of 2 rounds per second with a 0.75 second fire recovery rate. Has a maximum ammo reserve of 40 rounds.

Rocket Launcher: Has a maximum ammo reserve of 8 spare rockets.

Frag Grenade: Has an increased blast radius and damage output.  Grenades now only detonate after coming to rest, just like in Combat Evolved. Grenade explosions can now cook and detonate unarmed grenades within the blast radius.


Plasma Pistol: Now does health damage with its overcharge shot, doing 70 points of damage with EMP as a side-effect, along with the new ability to stun opponents for 0.15 seconds.  Projectile speed and tracking are now identical to Combat Evolved.  Regular bolts now do 16 points of damage, just like Reach.  The Plasma Pistol also now shares the firing sound of the Plasma Rifle, to help reflect its return to glory.
-Changes For GOLD Edition: Stun effect now lasts 0.25 seconds.  Weapon now has a damage modifier of 0.75 when dual-wielded.  Firing rate is set at 30 rounds per second.

Plasma Rifle: The stun effect present in Combat Evolved has returned, with each bolt causing 0.07 seconds of stun.  Projectile speed has been decreased from 14 world units per second to 10 so that the weapon is not overpowered when dual-wielded. The weapon can now fire a single bolt per shot by gently tapping the trigger, just like Combat Evolved, although it is still an automatic weapon.
-Changes For GOLD Edition: Damage per bolt is now 12 points, and the dual-wielding damage modifier has been increased from 0.75 - 0.8, just like Halo 3.  Stun effect in Silver Edition has been removed to balance the new damage output.

Brute Plasma Rifle: To differentiate the Brute variant from the Elite variant, the weapon fires 2 bolts per shot with each trigger pull, and the projectiles travel faster than the standard bolt at first.  Brute PR bolts start at 16 world units per second before slowing down to 8 world units per second over distance. The weapon also overheats faster than the standard Plasma Rifle, and its firing rate has increased as well at 9 - 15 bolts per second.  Error angles have been increased, especially when dual-wielding, as the weapon still shares the same damage per bolt as the regular Plasma Rifle.
-Changes For GOLD Edition: Damage per bolt is 12 points, as the BPR and regular PR share the same damage tag.  There is no damage modifier when dual-wielding, as the BPR is never dual-wielded by enemy AI against the player anyway.

Covenant Carbine: Carbine slugs now do 12.5 points of damage.  Maximum ammo reserve has been increased to 180 spare rounds.
-Changes For GOLD Edition: Now does 14 points of damage per shot.

Beam Rifle: Now fires at a rate of 2 rounds per second, with a 0.75 second fire recovery time and a 0.3 second soft recovery. Beam impacts now do 50 points of damage and have a slight stun effect. The weapon's battery life has also been increased.
-Changes For GOLD Edition: Fires at 3 rounds per second, with damage increased to 75 point per shot.  Stun effect is now 0.15 seconds.

Needler: Has a maximum ammo reserve of 300 needles when single-wielded, 600 when dual-wielded.  Error angles are increased when dual-wielded.  Firing rate is 8 needles per second.  Projectile speed changes from 3 world units per second to 4 world units per second over distance.  Supercombines now only do 150 points of damage, but also create an EMP effect with an increased blast radius that can detonate nearby explosives. Needles can track at 90 degrees, the same as Combat Evolved. A skilled user can still become a god of death when dual-wielding this weapon carefully.
-Changes For GOLD Edition: None.

Brute Shot: Has an increased maximum ammo reserve of 40 grenades.  Grenades also have kill_flood as a special damage modifier, just like the shotgun.
-Changes For GOLD Edition: None.

Fuel Rod Gun: The projectile now has a slight arc, and an increased maximum ammo reserve of 50 rods.
-Changes For Gold Edition: None.

Plasma Grenade: All explosions now have EMP damage as a side-effect, along with an increased radius.  Grenade explosions can now also cook and detonate other unarmed grenades within the blast radius.
-Changes For GOLD Edition: None.



Warthog:
-Chaingun: Bullets do 7.5 points of damage.

-Gauss Cannon: The gauss round travels faster and the explosion now has an EMP effect.  The weapon also does more damage.

Scorpion Tank: The main cannon is more powerful and the tank shell travels faster.


Wraith Tank: The twin plasma turrets are now usable.  The mortar has an unused charging effect restored.  The Wraith no longer has the ability to boost, but its movement speed has been increased.

Ghost: The twin plasma guns now fire simultaneously instead of in a staggered effect.

Banshee: The twin plasma guns now fire simultaneously.  The banshee bomb also now behaves more like its Combat Evolved interation.

Spectre: Remains unchanged.

Shadow Troop Transport: Still can't be driven.

Phantom: Unusable, but the turrets are easier to destroy.