Counter-Strike 2 Workshop Q&A

[Radix]

The CS2 Workshop Tools are out for a while now, but there are still many questions (at least I have a lot).
Unfortunately there is no proper documentation yet as it used to be for Source1.
Yes, there are some Youtube tutorials, but mostly about very basic things, not so much about specific questions.
Also this forum is dead atm, so I'm having trouble to get the answers I need.
Yeah, Mapcore is on Discord now, but imo it sucks. It's nice for those who want some daily conversation about mapping. But interesting questions and answers get lost quickly between trash talk, people posting their show off screenshots and whatever in one infinite topic.
So I decided to collect some Q&A here and add links to the answers.
Feel free to ask questions or give answers if you want to... (I will add all of your questions and links to answers to the following post!)

green: proper answer
orange: partial answer or idea
red: not answered yet

(Q): Original question

Edited January 15 by Radix

[Radix]

CS2 Workshop Q&A

Porting content from CS:GO to CS2

• Maps (+used assets)
  • How to port a CS:GO map to CS2? ->(Answer1)
  • I can't open the old CS:GO tools anymore since CS2 was released. How to fix this? ->(Answer1)
  • Post import fixup -> (Link1)
  • All the instances that I had in my CS:GO map don't exist in the ported map (as a prefab). How to fix this? -> (Answer1)
  • Why are special clip textures like toolsclip_wood missing? ->(Answer1)
  • How to quickly remove the triangulation of the meshes after porting a map? -> (Answer1)
  • Many entities have unused keyvalues after porting. Can I just delete these? -> (Answer1)
  • Some entities have an 'obsolete' icon after porting. What's up with that? -> (Answer1)
  • Why are my custom sprites missing?
  • The script creates three vmap files of my map (*map_name*.vmap, *map_name*_environment_prefab.vmap and *map_name*_prefab.vmap). Why?
• Materials
  • How to port legacy materials to S2? -> (Link1)
• Models
  • How to port legacy models to S2? -> (Link1)

 

Questions about the Workshop Tools

• (Q Discord) Is there a way to make separate shortcuts for CS2 Tools and CS2? -> (Answer1)

 

Questions about the new Hammer

• How to set up the new Hammer properly? (Which toolbars do I need? etc.)
• The fonts and buttons in Hammer are too small because I'm using a high screen resolution. How to fix this?
• How to change grid size? (keyboard shortcuts) -> (Answer1)
• Custom Vis groups? -> (Answer1)
• Instances vs. Prefabs? -> (Link1)
• Is there an equivalent to "shift+drag" duplicate of the old Hammer? -> (Answer1)
• Meshes
  • Tutorial: Mesh Editing -> (Link1)
  • (Q Discord) Where is the lightmap bias for meshes located? -> (Answer1)
• Texture Tool
  • Tutorial: UV Operations -> (Link1)
  • (Q Discord) Is there a way to copy texture state to other faces? -> (Answer1)
• Displacement Tool
  • Is there a way to "sew" displacements like in CSGO Hammer? -> (Answer1)
  • How can I raise a displacement to a specific level ("Raise To" function in CSGO Hammer)?
• Props
  • Smart Props? -> (Link1)
• Entities
  • Cubemaps
    • How to use Cubemaps in S2? -> (Link1)
    • (Q) Recommended cubemap settings for the 3d skybox to achieve a proper water effect (like in de_anubis)?
  • func_water
    • How to create water in S2? -> (Answer1)
  • Misc
    • Is there a cable/rope entity in S2? -> (Answer1)
• Overlay Tool
  • Tutorial: Overlays -> (Link1)
  • Some features of the Overlay Tool -> (Answer1)
• ...

 

Questions about Source2/CS2

• Documentation
  • Source2 documentation? -> (Link1)
  • CS2 Workshop Tools documentation? -> (Link1)
• Files and directories
  • Which file formats do materials, models etc. have? -> (Answer1)
  • Where are all the files stored (textures, models, maps, ...)? And how to open/edit them? -> (Answer1)
  • Where are Workshop maps and their files stored? -> (Answer1)
• Developer Console
  • CS2 console command list? -> (Link1)
  • Console command to directly load a Workshop map? -> (Answer1)
  • "mat_wireframe" console command doesn't work for me...
  • Is there a console command to show clipping (something like CSGO's "r_drawclipbrushes")?
• Props
  • (Q Discord) prop_dynamic vs prop_physics / prop_physics_multiplayer (performance difference?) -> (Answer1)
  • Is there a way to disable self shadowing of props? (For example useful for very simple skybox trees)
• Misc
  • Tool textures in Source2? -> (Link1)
  • How to load your custom map in CS2 without uploading to the Workshop?
  • Does S2 support detail sprites (as used in CS:GO Dangerzone maps) or detail props?
  • Weather effects (rain/snow) in S2?
  • 3d skybox? -> (Answer1)
  • How to achieve a seamless transition between the water in your map an the water in the skybox? (like in de_anubis)

 

Asset creation in Source2

• Materials
  • How to create a custom material?
    • (Q) 2way blend materials: How to determine the material type (e.g. "grass" or "dirt") for the two materials? -> (Answer1)
    • (Q) How to create a refracting material (e.g. refracting stained glass)? The shader does not seem to work...
    • (Q) Blending multiple (>2) materials in S2 (like 4wayblend in S1)?
  • How do I decompile a stock material? -> (Answer1)
  • How to open a stock material in the Material Editor?
• Models
  • How to create a custom model? -> (Link1)
  • How to export a model from Blender to S2? -> (Link1) (Answer1)
  • Turning Hammer geometry into a model -> (Link1)
  • Tutorial: Import a model and its material -> (Link1)
  • Tutorial: Breakable inflatable toys -> (Link1)
• Particles
  • How to create particles? -> (Link1) (Link2)

 

Compiling a map

• Is a GPU capable of raytracing now required? -> (Answer1)
• Where are the compile logs saved?

 

Decompiling a map

• Is it possible to decompile maps and assets? -> (Link1)
• After decompiling a map with Source2Viewer...
  • ...all geometry is turned into models. Did I do something wrong? How to fix this quickly?
  • ...nearly all geometry using tool textures (clip, nodraw, sky, ...) is missing. Did I do something wrong?

 

Publishing a map

• How to upload a map to the Workshop? -> (Answer1)
• Map overview/radar? -> (Answer1)
• Bots?

 

Bugs (and workarounds/fixes)

• (Q) When I start CS2, the launch option "Counter-Strike 2 Workshop Tools" is gone. How to fix this? -> (Answer1)

 

Misc

• Are there any example map files (from Valve) to learn from? -> (Answer1)
• Tutorial: Cloth simulation in S2 -> (Link1)

Edited August 16 by Radix

[Radix]

Question: How to port a CS:GO map to CS2?

Answer1: https://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/Source_2/Docs/Level_Design/Import_Tool_Documentation

Answer2:

 

Edited January 18 by Radix

[Radix]

Question: I can't open the old CS:GO tools anymore since CS2 was released. How to fix this?

Answer: Open your Steam Library, got to Counter-Strike2 -> right click -> Properties -> Betas -> select csgo_legacy

 

The old SDK should work again now...

Edited January 18 by Radix

[Radix]

Question: Why are special clip textures like "toolsclip_wood" missing?

Answer: The old material specific clip textures like "toolsclip_wood" are not needed anymore. The engine now automatically finds out the correct material type. Just use "toolsclip" now.

Edited January 18 by Radix

[Radix]

Question: Custom Vis groups?

Answer: Custom Vis groups are now called selection sets. Per default you will find the selection sets tab beneath the Vis groups tab on the right side of the screen in Hammer.

Edited January 18 by Radix

[Radix]

Question: How to change grid size? (keyboard shortcuts)

Answer:

Click here (bottom right in Hammer):

 

Shortcuts:

• QWERTY keyboard: "]" and "[" (?)
• QWERTZ keyboard?
• Other keyboard layouts?

Edited January 18 by Radix

[Radix]

Question: Is a GPU capable of raytracing now required?

Answer: "The level editor (Hammer) now leverages GPU accelerated raytracing to both preview and bake lighting for CS2 maps. This significantly speeds up compile times, but as a result a GPU capable of raytracing is required for Hammer to be fully functional.

• Hammer GPU Minimum Specs:

• Nvidia 2060Ti 6gb (2080Ti+ recommended)

• AMD 6600XT (6800XT+ recommended)"

 

But it is possible to compile your map with an old GPU, but with restrictions

 

 

Edited March 12 by Radix

[Radix]

Question: Is there a cable/rope entity in S2?

Answer1:

• How to add additional nodes later?

 

Answer2: A different way to create straight pipes etc.: Cable Tile Meshes

 

Edited January 18 by Radix

[Radix]

Question: 3d skyboxes in S2?

Answer1: https://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/Half-Life:_Alyx_Workshop_Tools/Level_Design/3D_Skybox_Creation

 

Answer2: Maps ported from S1:

https://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/Source_2/Docs/Level_Design/Post_Import_Fixup_steps

 

Answer3:

 

Edited February 23 by Radix

[Radix]

Question: Displacement tool: Is there a way to "sew" displacements like in CSGO Hammer?

 

Answer:

Not exactly the same as in S1 Hammer, but result is the same if faces are separated again afterwards (e.g. via "Alt+N").

Also on "vertices", "edges", "meshes" and "object" tabs, depending on what you need

Edited January 18 by Radix

[Serialmapper]

First question: in simple 2way blend materials, how one can assign a material property(attributes) to each part (ex. grass and dirt), from what i can see, in the material editor i can only choose one.

Answer: 1. create the two materials that you want to blend using " csgo environment" shader, make sure to use the "heightmap" texture too (if it does not have sufficient contrast, increase it before using it in your preferred image editing software). For the first material assign a property (ex. grass), for the second (ex. dirt).

2. create the blend material using "csgo environment blend" shader. With this shader you can use both materials or textures but for our purpose we will use materials. In the first material layer assign the first one and in the second the second one. You may add blend effects if you wish or you may tweak the "heightmaps scale" slider for each material if you wish. Now in game the every part of the blend will have its specific sound when stepping on it.

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Second question: what cubemap settings are recomended to use in the 3D skybox map to obtain the same water effect like in de_anubis? for now it looks darker the water in the skybox that in the playable map. no matter what i do.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Third question: the refracting material shader does not seem to work. Is there a method to make it work? or other method to make refracting materials? like a a refracting stained glass

ps

I also prefer the forum format, the discord it´s an unholy mess, oy maybe i am too old for this sh.t

Edited December 22, 2023 by Serialmapper
found one solution

[Radix]

Thanks for your questions.

I've added shortened versions to the questions collection and added links to your original post. (In the end there will be more hyperlinks in this post than there are synapses in a human brain )

17 hours ago, Serialmapper said:

I also prefer the forum format, the discord it´s an unholy mess, oy maybe i am too old for this sh.t

Yeah, maybe we are just too old.  I understand that the kids want to do their own thing. Often it makes sense. I mean you don't want to meet your parents on particular dating apps for example.

Discord seems to work better on smartphones while classic forums are better on the big screen. I think it's a good idea to use the new stuff when it's superior and keep the old stuff as long as it's needed.

 

Edited December 11, 2023 by Radix

[Radix]

Question: Is there a way to copy texture state to other faces?

Answer: Alt+right click

Edited January 18 by Radix

[Radix]

Question: prop_dynamic vs prop_physics / prop_physics_multiplayer (performance difference?)

Answer:

Edited January 18 by Radix