> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://mintlify.com/SnowyMouse/chimera/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Features Overview

> A comprehensive overview of Chimera's features and enhancements for Halo Combat Evolved PC

Chimera provides extensive features and enhancements to Halo: Combat Evolved PC. These features are designed to fix bugs, improve performance, enhance visuals, and provide modern functionality that should have been in the PC release.

## Feature Philosophy

To preserve the base game experience as much as possible, most features are **not turned on by default**. The ones that are enabled by default only exist to enhance or fix the game without changing core gameplay.

<Note>
  Chimera is designed to make Halo PC what it should have been - a proper, polished PC port with modern features and bug fixes.
</Note>

## Core Feature Categories

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Interpolation" icon="waveform" href="/features/interpolation">
    Smooth object movement beyond 30 FPS tick rate limitation
  </Card>

  <Card title="Bug Fixes" icon="wrench" href="/features/bug-fixes">
    Fixes for camera shake, descope, checkpoints, and many more issues
  </Card>

  <Card title="Visual Enhancements" icon="eye" href="/features/visual-enhancements">
    Shader fixes, improved rendering, and visual quality improvements
  </Card>

  <Card title="Custom Chat" icon="comments" href="/features/custom-chat">
    Replacement for the broken Keystone chat system
  </Card>

  <Card title="Map Support" icon="map" href="/features/map-support">
    Custom Edition maps on retail, compressed maps, and more
  </Card>

  <Card title="Lua Scripting" icon="code" href="/features/lua-scripting">
    Powerful Lua scripting API for advanced customization
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

## Passive Features

These features are **always enabled** and provide fundamental improvements:

* **Interpolation** - Smooth movement at high frame rates
* **Limit Increases** - BSP polygon limit (32767), visible objects (1024), draw distance (2250 wu)
* **Compressed Maps** - Support for zstd-compressed map files
* **Fast Loading** - CRC32 on map load instead of startup
* **Fast Server Listing** - Improved master server query performance
* **128 MiB Map Leak Fix** - Prevents file descriptor leaks with large maps
* **Model LOD Fix** - Prevents "4K headless chief" glitch
* **FOV Fix** - Consistent FOV across different resolutions
* **Custom Chat** - Stable replacement for crashy Keystone chat

## Configurable Features

Many features can be customized through:

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="chimera.ini Configuration">
    The `chimera.ini` file provides extensive customization options including:

    * Video mode settings (resolution, refresh rate, vsync)
    * Custom chat appearance and behavior
    * Font overrides with system fonts
    * Memory settings for map loading
    * Controller configuration
    * Hotkey bindings
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Console Commands">
    Chimera provides over 60 console commands starting with `chimera_` prefix:

    * Field of view adjustment
    * Visual toggles and tweaks
    * Quality of life features
    * Multiplayer enhancements
    * Debugging tools
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## Performance Impact

Most features have **minimal to zero performance impact**:

* Limit increases only affect performance if maps exceed the original limits
* Interpolation is highly optimized and runs on modern hardware with negligible overhead
* Optional features can be disabled if needed

<Warning>
  While Chimera isn't too taxing on modern systems, it can make Halo harder to run on extremely ancient hardware.
</Warning>

## Compatibility

Chimera works with:

* **Halo PC (Retail)** - Full support
* **Halo Custom Edition** - Full support
* **Halo Trial** - Full support

<Tip>
  Chimera can enable Custom Edition map support on retail Halo PC by adding `custom_bitmaps.map`, `custom_loc.map`, and `custom_sounds.map` to your maps folder.
</Tip>

## Next Steps

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Installation" icon="download" href="/getting-started/installation">
    Get started with installing Chimera
  </Card>

  <Card title="Configuration" icon="gear" href="/configuration/chimera-ini">
    Learn how to configure Chimera
  </Card>

  <Card title="Commands" icon="terminal" href="/commands/overview">
    Explore available console commands
  </Card>

  <Card title="Lua Scripting" icon="code" href="/features/lua-scripting">
    Extend functionality with Lua scripts
  </Card>
</CardGroup>