Learning Hammer

[insta]

Also, is there a way to set up brushes that only block physics objects/debris? I know there's the player clip brush, but I have a few spots where a cable ragdoll is getting snagged that I need to address.

Func_clip_vphysics does that. You might want to give it a filter to sort by as well, otherwise it will block handgrenades and other physics objects as well.

[Serenius]

Perfect. Thanks, Insta!

So after trying to figure out how to release a map last night, I realized I was building in Source 2009, but have to release in Source 2007 to actually do this. Is there a way to convert 2009 maps to be 2007 compatible, or do I have to start from scratch?

Google wasn't too helpful on this one.

[taz-ed]

You could load the .vmf in the 2007 hammer then compile and hope there are no errors or use VBCT to compile the map but instead of using the orangebox compile tools set it up to use the source2007 compile tools

[captain0terror]

Wow there are many good tips in here, but you are bound not to absorb most of them until you learn by example actually doing stuff.

I would recommend re-reading this thread a few more times during your first couple of weeks mapping and try your best to try all the shortcuts and tips listed in the thread. In particular, the "ctrl+S" to autosave... (also, i would recommend setting up your autosave option to save frequently, and log more versions of the map than the default is set to (i use 5-minute saves and log 50 iterations of the map, and i also do a manual save of the vmf and logfile every hour or so of editing time)

Unreal and Radiant are from the future and Hammer is from the past.

Sure hammer is old, but afaik, it's the easiest way on the planet to quickly and easily prototype your 3D world ideas, and has to be the most user-friendly interface out there.

[Botolf]

Perfect. Thanks, Insta!

So after trying to figure out how to release a map last night, I realized I was building in Source 2009, but have to release in Source 2007 to actually do this. Is there a way to convert 2009 maps to be 2007 compatible, or do I have to start from scratch?

Google wasn't too helpful on this one.

I've been learning as I go with similar stuff recently.

You'll be able to compile under the 2009 SDK and the map will run fine, just swap out your mod's appid to the specific game whose content you're mounting before loading the map (420 in my case, the Episode 2 GCFs). This steps around some missing content issues in Hammer, because the tools apparently don't understand the AdditionalContentID parameter in GameInfo.txt. Swap back out to the SDK 2007 Base to test (218) and all should be good.

[Vilham]

Sure hammer is old, but afaik, it's the easiest way on the planet to quickly and easily prototype your 3D world ideas, and has to be the most user-friendly interface out there.

No.

[mjens]

Sure hammer is old, but afaik, it's the easiest way on the planet to quickly and easily prototype your 3D world ideas, and has to be the most user-friendly interface out there.

No.

Exactly, fuck no!

At my work I was checking lots of editors to get as much cool stuff as possible to our editor. In my opinion UDK is really close to be the most user-friendly but the brushwork is a pain in the ass and selecting objects in 3dview is also sucky. If you'll move content browser and other cool UDK stuff like world settings (post processing/rendering stuff) into 3DSMax it could be a blast for prototyping in 3D

[SamCom]

That's the thing that gets me, brushwork in Unreal is a terrible pain in the ass compared to Hammer. Maybe I just don't know the shortcuts, but even resizing brushes seems to take so much longer. The center points of my brushes keep moving, they're harder to select, I just feel like I'm missing something. Is there a good way to prototype in Unreal?

[mjens]

That's the thing that gets me, brushwork in Unreal is a terrible pain in the ass compared to Hammer. Maybe I just don't know the shortcuts, but even resizing brushes seems to take so much longer. The center points of my brushes keep moving, they're harder to select, I just feel like I'm missing something. Is there a good way to prototype in Unreal?

Even if you know all the shortcuts it's still annoying. Prototyping is still a nice ride in comparsion to fixing some brush bugs on finished level where brushes covers you all around. Madness... I will be a bless to see "Editable Poly" from 3DSMax in UnrealED or just kick the BSP out.

[Serenius]

That's the thing that gets me, brushwork in Unreal is a terrible pain in the ass compared to Hammer. Maybe I just don't know the shortcuts, but even resizing brushes seems to take so much longer. The center points of my brushes keep moving, they're harder to select, I just feel like I'm missing something. Is there a good way to prototype in Unreal?

Brushwork in Unreal is great! The only real down-side is that you have to rebuild brushes to see any changes you make. Subtraction brushes alone are a godsend. Trying to switch from additive + subtractive to only additive has been a nightmare.

[captain0terror]

I use 3dsmax and i've tried UDK, but Hammer seems the easiest to me to learn and use. I suppose the more you use something the more comfortable you become, and every sort of editor will have it's own unique advantages.

[mjens]

Yep, editing in VHE is smooth. The problem shows up when you want to use tools from other app that could be useful in that one you're using right now...