Last updated 24th March 2025 - A guide by HoriZon

A full VR conversion mod made by LivingFray for the original Gearbox 2003 PC edition of Halo: Combat Evolved. This mod is not compatible with The Master Chief Collection!

<aside> <img src="https://prod-files-secure.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/e6a93625-8e32-4074-bc87-04032d1f3e5d/32e96b02-a540-44e0-80a6-073541c35ed7/Halo-Logo-PNG-Photo.png" alt="https://prod-files-secure.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/e6a93625-8e32-4074-bc87-04032d1f3e5d/32e96b02-a540-44e0-80a6-073541c35ed7/Halo-Logo-PNG-Photo.png" width="40px" /> DOWNLOADS & SETUP

https://youtu.be/PvJT5y3ENJk?si=yFvsNH0NH5D4bx3G

✅ Halo PC ISO - https://archive.org/details/HaloCEPC

✅ Halo PC v1.0.10 Patch - https://archive.org/details/halopc-patch-1.0.10

✅ HaloCEVR - https://github.com/LivingFray/HaloCEVR/releases/

FEATURES
INSTALLING HALO: COMBAT EVOLVED
INSTALLING & SETUP OF THE VR MOD (HaloCEVR)

[IMPORTANT] - Make sure to always run the game as administrator

Right click halo.exe >> properties >> compatibility >> run as administrator
Do this again if installing the LAA Fix </aside>

<aside> <img src="https://prod-files-secure.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/e6a93625-8e32-4074-bc87-04032d1f3e5d/1f337349-b263-4435-8f3b-0427444bd2c1/Halo-Logo-PNG-Photo.png" alt="https://prod-files-secure.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/e6a93625-8e32-4074-bc87-04032d1f3e5d/1f337349-b263-4435-8f3b-0427444bd2c1/Halo-Logo-PNG-Photo.png" width="40px" /> CHIMERA (Optional but Highly Recommended!) This is the update to Halo: Combat Evolved for the PC that we should have had but never got. It increases animation framerate, corrects fog, enables anisotropic filtering and lots more!

Download - https://github.com/SnowyMouse/chimera/releases
Right-Click and extract to Chimera v1.0.0r1035 (latest version at time of update)
Rename strings.dll to strings.old.dll in your Halo game folder
Copy chimera.ini, strings.dll, and the fonts folder from chimera-<version>.7z to your Halo game folder
Important Setting Changes - Path: Halo/chimera.ini
- Edit chimera.ini:
- under [font_override], change enabled to 0
Create a "MODS" folder in your Halo game folder

Make sure in game the video setting for v-sync is set to "NO VYSNC"

RECOMMNEDED CONSOLE COMMANDS FOR CHIMERA (use console with the tilde key "~")

chimera_model_detail 8 Change the model detail. Higher values increase LODs. This will not make models extra detailed. Instead, it will change the threshold for when higher LODs appear

EXTRA CHIMERA SETTINGS (use console with the tilde key "~")

chimera_block_mipmaps true Prevents texture mipmaps from loading lower-resolution textures, ensuring sharper visuals
chimera_interpolation true Smoothens animations by interpolating frames, making movements look more fluid
chimera_vsync true Enables vertical sync to reduce screen tearing

To uninstall this mod, simply remove the strings.dll that came with Chimera, and rename strings.old.dll back to strings.dll, also delete chimera.ini and the fonts folder

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<aside> <img src="https://prod-files-secure.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/e6a93625-8e32-4074-bc87-04032d1f3e5d/52944f91-f069-4d0d-96e3-852ffef8c033/Halo-Logo-PNG-Photo.png" alt="https://prod-files-secure.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/e6a93625-8e32-4074-bc87-04032d1f3e5d/52944f91-f069-4d0d-96e3-852ffef8c033/Halo-Logo-PNG-Photo.png" width="40px" /> OTHER FIXES (Optional but highly Recommended!) These are really worth doing LAA Fix will load maps into RAM for quicker loading and less stutters while DSOAL will give 3D sound which is really great!

DSOAL FOR 3D SOUND This enables DirectSound3D surround sound and EAX for systems without the requisite hardware.

Download - ****https://github.com/ThreeDeeJay/dsoal/releases/tag/0.9.6
Right-Click and extract to DSOAL+HRTF
Copy and Paste these files only alsoft.ini, dsoal-aldrv.dll, dsound.dll from the Win32 folder into your Halo game folder
Then go to Path: Halo/alsoft.ini
Edit alsoft.ini:
Copy and Paste the below into *alsoft.ini*

`[general] channels=stereo frequency=48000 stereo-mode=headphones cf_level=0 sources=512 sample-type=float32 hrtf=true hrtf-mode=full period_size=960

[reverb] boost=-6`
hrtf-mode=full may or may not be CPU intensive, remove if you experience new performance issues
Launch Halo and go to Settings >> Audio Setup. Make sure Hardware Acceleration is set to Yes and Environmental Sound to EAX

To uninstall, remove all these files *alsoft.ini*, dsoal-aldrv.dll and dsound.dll from the Halo game folder

INSTALLING HALO LAA FIX Increases the amount of RAM the game can use from 2GB to 3GB on 32-bit systems and 4GB on 64-bit systems.

Download - http://vaporeon.io/hosted/halo/mods/halo_laa_fix.7z (Save link as…)
Rename halo.exe inside your Halo game folder to halo.old.exe
Extract halo.exe provided in "retail folder" by LAA Fix into your Halo game folder NOTE: Make sure halo.exe is running in Administrator Mode
- To do this, Right click the halo.exe provided by LAA Fix inside your Halo game folder and then click on Properties
- Under the Compatibility make sure Run this program as an administrator is checked
If using Chimera, allow the game to load maps into RAM to potentially speed up loading:
Important Setting Change - Path: Halo/chimera.ini
- Edit chimera.ini:
- Change line ;enable_map_memory_buffer=1 to enable_map_memory_buffer=1 (remove the ;)

To uninstall, remove the halo.exe from the LAA fix, and rename halo.old.exe back to halo.exe

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<aside> <img src="https://prod-files-secure.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/e6a93625-8e32-4074-bc87-04032d1f3e5d/d95e1daa-41ab-4e99-9219-e1e5fdce588b/Halo-Logo-PNG-Photo.png" alt="https://prod-files-secure.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/e6a93625-8e32-4074-bc87-04032d1f3e5d/d95e1daa-41ab-4e99-9219-e1e5fdce588b/Halo-Logo-PNG-Photo.png" width="40px" /> COMMON PROBLEMS / ISSUES

When playing, if you are ever unable to interact with a menu or pop-up, ensure the game window has focus on your desktop.
During the beginning of the original Halo campaign, you may have to focus the game and wiggle the mouse (either physically or via the virtual cursor in SteamVR desktop view) to proceed past the part where you are asked to look around.
How to play in Co-op mode, unfortunately you can't, because this version of the game does not have that mode as it wasn't included in the 2003 PC release, there is a mod to get it to work but it's a WIP.
If your hands and weapons are backwards in-game and you can only look around not use any buttons at all, make sure that Steam itself is running as it needs this to use Steam Bindings as well as SteamVR.
If the game is crashing at start-up and you have a GeForce graphics card - try disabling the NVIDIA Overlay it's really not needed for VR anyway.
Custom maps, including custom campaigns, may have player model issues - such as the hands not rotating with your view. In most cases, the weapons will still fire in the correct direction, but in some rare cases where the aiming has been modified, they will not. These cases are simply not compatible with VR.
When playing the optional Lumoria campaign (see Even More Modding below), the controls will be messed up during the start. Simply proceed over the first hill and they should automatically fix themselves.
When experiencing any other issues, the first step should always be to see if running as administrator fixes it. See Installing Halo LAA Fix for instructions on how to make the game always run as administrator.
The second step, if it's still not fixed, is to disable the VR mod and see if it's still broken. If so, your issue is not related to HaloCEVR, and you will need to find an alternative fix.
Third, ensure the issue happens with original game content. Remove all modified content (apart from the VR mod, Chimera, and LAA), and try again. If it doesn't happen without them, you probably have an incompatible modification that you'll need to remove.
Finally, if none of the above steps have fixed your issue, you're probably safe to ask about it on the VR mod discussions or issue tracker </aside>

<aside> <img src="https://prod-files-secure.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/e6a93625-8e32-4074-bc87-04032d1f3e5d/f4737918-1c89-460f-bf21-e197391a207c/Halo-Logo-PNG-Photo.png" alt="https://prod-files-secure.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/e6a93625-8e32-4074-bc87-04032d1f3e5d/f4737918-1c89-460f-bf21-e197391a207c/Halo-Logo-PNG-Photo.png" width="40px" /> CONTROLLER BINDINGS These are the default controls for Righthanded people for the Oculus/Meta Quest but you can rebind them in Steam, there are better "Steam Shared Bindings" like the one below by HoriZon.

LEFT CONTROLLER	RIGHT CONTROLLER
X: Switch Grenades
Y: Main Menu
LH Trigger: Zoom Scope
LH Button / Grip: Two Handed Weapon Grip
LH Stick: Move
LH Click: (not used)
LH Thumb Rest: (not used)	A: Throw Grenade
B: Interact / Exchange Weapon / Reload
RH Trigger: Fire
RH Button / Grip: Switch Weapon (over shoulder)
RH Stick: Turn / Jump (stick up) & Brake (in a vehicle)
RH Click: (not used)
RH Thumb Rest: (not used)

| Crouch: crouch down in real life Melee: swing your right or left hand Flashlight Toggle: *move your left hand near your left ear (also night vision for scopes)

Swap Weapon Hands: place your hands near each other and press the GRIP button on your non-dominant hand to swap between them. This will swap Fire, Zoom Scope, Switch Weapon buttons as well as Two Handed Weapon Grip.

For this you will need to set: (via the Halo/VR/config.txt file)* LeftHanded to true (can be done in-game VR settings)

`RightHandFlashlight` to `0.2` (so the Flashlight will work when touching the side on your right ear)
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How to Activate and Use

CHANGES FROM DEFAULTS

Interact/Exchange Weapon/Reload, RH Thumb Rest
Jump/Brake (in a vehicle), A
Throw Grenade, double tap B
Switch Grenades, B
Flashlight/Night Vision (scope), X
Reload, Y
Crouch, RH Thumb Click (if set in VR cfg)
Menu, LH Thumb Click
Put your hands near each other and press GRIP buttons to swap weapons between hands

All other controls are mod defaults.

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<aside> <img src="https://prod-files-secure.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/e6a93625-8e32-4074-bc87-04032d1f3e5d/f4737918-1c89-460f-bf21-e197391a207c/Halo-Logo-PNG-Photo.png" alt="https://prod-files-secure.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/e6a93625-8e32-4074-bc87-04032d1f3e5d/f4737918-1c89-460f-bf21-e197391a207c/Halo-Logo-PNG-Photo.png" width="40px" /> MODDING Before you add any of these mods make sure you backup your "MAPS" folder!

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<aside> <img src="https://prod-files-secure.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/e6a93625-8e32-4074-bc87-04032d1f3e5d/f4737918-1c89-460f-bf21-e197391a207c/Halo-Logo-PNG-Photo.png" alt="https://prod-files-secure.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/e6a93625-8e32-4074-bc87-04032d1f3e5d/f4737918-1c89-460f-bf21-e197391a207c/Halo-Logo-PNG-Photo.png" width="40px" /> EVEN MORE MODDING New ways to play the single player game, download links in the comments of the videos. These are just a few of new ways to play, lots more are available! (too many to list here)

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<aside> <img src="https://prod-files-secure.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/e6a93625-8e32-4074-bc87-04032d1f3e5d/f4737918-1c89-460f-bf21-e197391a207c/Halo-Logo-PNG-Photo.png" alt="https://prod-files-secure.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/e6a93625-8e32-4074-bc87-04032d1f3e5d/f4737918-1c89-460f-bf21-e197391a207c/Halo-Logo-PNG-Photo.png" width="40px" /> VIDEO SETUP GUIDES Not interested in reading or want something more in-depth? try these for setting up the game instead.

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<aside> <img src="https://prod-files-secure.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/e6a93625-8e32-4074-bc87-04032d1f3e5d/111cc690-4126-4960-bc60-f8b8629c502f/Halo-Logo-PNG-Photo.png" alt="https://prod-files-secure.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/e6a93625-8e32-4074-bc87-04032d1f3e5d/111cc690-4126-4960-bc60-f8b8629c502f/Halo-Logo-PNG-Photo.png" width="40px" /> 100% COMPLETE GAME The game is 100% completed. Difficulty Level: Hero. Profile Name: MasterChief (can be changed in-game)

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<aside> <img src="https://prod-files-secure.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/e6a93625-8e32-4074-bc87-04032d1f3e5d/111cc690-4126-4960-bc60-f8b8629c502f/Halo-Logo-PNG-Photo.png" alt="https://prod-files-secure.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/e6a93625-8e32-4074-bc87-04032d1f3e5d/111cc690-4126-4960-bc60-f8b8629c502f/Halo-Logo-PNG-Photo.png" width="40px" /> OFFICIAL USER MANAUL The original user book for the PC version of the game.

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GAMEPLAY VIDEOS

SCREENSHOTS

PRESS LINKS

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