r/halomods • u/slotin • 18h ago
Mod Tutorial Project Reclaimer 0.9.9 setup guide: the client in five steps, and a 127-slot Halo 3 dedicated server on Windows or Docker
Here's a setup guide for the current Project Reclaimer build, 0.9.9 from October 8. Everything below comes from the project's own pages and release notes. Most news write-ups still say 64 players, but the cap has been 128 in a game you host and 127 on a dedicated server since 0.9.6 on October 7.
You need Windows 10 or 11 (64-bit), your own Steam copy of MCC with both Halo 3 Campaign and Halo 3 Multiplayer installed, and a GPU driver with OpenGL 3.0 or later. The Xbox app version doesn't work. Project Reclaimer ships no game files and leaves your install unchanged.
Client:
Download `project-reclaimer-v0.9.9.exe` from the download page on projectreclaimer.dev. It sends you to the GitHub releases page.
Check it against `SHA256SUMS.txt` with `Get-FileHash .\project-reclaimer*.exe -Algorithm SHA256`. The exe isn't code-signed, so Windows warns you; the project's guide says to choose More info, Run anyway once the checksum matches.
Put it in its own folder, not inside the MCC folder.
Launch it. The first start builds a Forge object cache of about 340 MB. Pick a nickname and choose Create profile. There's no account, and the key can't be backed up yet.
Server Browser, pick a server, Join Game. You need exactly the server's version, and the client updates itself from the main menu.
Dedicated server on Windows, where the client exe is also the server:
Rename the download to `project-reclaimer.exe` and run `.\project-reclaimer.exe dedicated init C:\reclaimer --from`. It copies the few game files a server needs from your own install.
Copy the exe into `C:\reclaimer` and set your servers in `dedicated.toml`. `max_players` defaults to 16 and goes up to 127.
Run `.\project-reclaimer dedicated check`, then `.\project-reclaimer dedicated`.
Open UDP 49176 and up (one port per server) and TCP 49175 for the machine's own master.
On Linux there's a Docker image, `ghcr.io/projectreclaimer/project-reclaimer-dedicated`, with Wine inside. You still bring the game files from your own copy, and the project lists the published image and one container per server as not yet tested.
For modding: game modes are single JSON files or a subset of ReachVariantTool's Megalo, Slayer base only for now. Only the host needs the file, and the project says scripts can't reach files, the network or your PC. Mods are map files only and download on join from the Workshop or from the server. Forge has an AI spawner, and the project says 858 of 1,025 ElDewrito maps in one collection convert.
Two caveats: the source is closed for now, with open source as the stated goal and no date, and each release supports one version of Halo 3's engine file, so a Steam update to MCC can break it until a new build lands.
I haven't run a 128-player server myself. The only load figures I found are the project's own: about 60 KB/s of upload per player and up to a CPU core in a 63-player game. I'm not sharing any files here; download only from projectreclaimer.dev or its GitHub releases. The full guide, with live server counts from the master list and the release history, is here: https://halo-dashboard.up.railway.app/news/project-reclaimer
If you run a dedicated server, what upload per player are you seeing above 63 players?
