Hammer++/en
Hammer++ is a community-made modification of the Valve Hammer Editor for Source that provides an updated, more stable, feature-rich version of the editor.
Hammer++ currently supports the following branches of the Source engine:
- Team Fortress 2 (x64 only)
- Counter-Strike: Source (via )
- Source 2013 Multiplayer
- Source 2013 Singleplayer
- Garry's Mod (x64 only)
- Left 4 Dead 2
It is also included with Military Conflict: Vietnam, in lieu of vanilla Hammer.
Hammer++ for Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is no longer supported; Ficool recommends using Garry's Mod Hammer++ and porting the
lightmapped_4wayblend
shader. Alternatively, use Military Conflict: Vietnam's version of Hammer++.
Contents
Other games/mods tested
csgo_legacy
beta branch installed for Counter-Strike 2.
Game | Hammer++ Version | Notes |
---|---|---|
Alien Swarm | CS:GO | |
Half-Life: Source | Source 2013 Singleplayer | Configure Hammer for Half-Life: Source, then install to game's bin folder normally.
|
Half-Life Deathmatch: Source | Source 2013 Multiplayer | Configure Hammer for Half-Life: Source, then install to game's bin folder normally.
|
Half-Life 2 Half-Life 2: Episode One Half-Life 2: Episode Two |
Source 2013 Singleplayer | Install to game's bin folder normally.
|
Half-Life 2: Deathmatch | Source 2013 Multiplayer | Install to game's bin folder normally.
|
Left 4 Dead | L4D2 | L4D2 Hammer++ appears fine on Left 4 Dead, except when compiling the map. Once compiled and joining the map, an error will appear and display: STEAM validation rejected and unable to interact with the menu after pressing ok. Workaround: Before compiling the map, check the box Don't run the game after compiling and then compile the map, after it has been compiled, enter Left 4 Dead and via console input: map <map name>.
Also you can enable dev by going to manage < properties on Launch options type: -dev 1. |
Left 4 Dead 2 | L4D2 | Identical to Left 4 Dead, without the Steam rejection, only displaying error on console and unable to interact with the menu when exiting the map. |
Momentum Mod | CS:GO | [confirm] |
Source Filmmaker | CS:GO | |
Titanfall engine branch games | CS:GO | [confirm] |
Day of Defeat: Source | Source 2013 Multiplayer | Install to game's bin folder normally.
|
Black Mesa | Source 2013 Multiplayer | Check out the issues below in the main page. A separate version for Black Mesa is not planned. |
Black Mesa (2012 mod version) | Source 2013 Singleplayer | Install to Source SDK Base 2013 - Singleplayer's bin folder and add a game configuration pointing to the mod; the Source 2013 SP compilers generate BSPs that are compatible with Source 2007.
|
Mapbase | Source 2013 Singleplayer | Check out the issues below in the main page. |
Postal III | Source 2013 Singleplayer | Requires modification to Postal 3's FGD file(s); Recommended to use Postal 3's compilers instead; Some Hammer features from Postal 3's are missing like 'prefabs';
Requires Source SDK Base 2013 MP/SP to be installed; Requires folder linking inside SDK Base's 'sourcetest' folder to load assets; Hammer++ will crash if placed inside Postal 3's bin folder. |
Portal | Source 2013 Singleplayer | Install to game's bin folder normally.
|
Portal 2 | Garry's Mod | Portal 2 support still has some problems, this will be released at a later date. |
Portal 2: Community Edition | Garry's Mod? | Check out the issues on the main page. Support by developers is not planned, and usage is strongly discouraged; some Hammer++ features will be added to Strata Hammer. |
Hunt Down the Freeman (launch version) | Source 2013 Singleplayer | |
Hunt Down the Freeman (latest) | Source 2013 Multiplayer | This build uses Source 2013 Multiplayer to reduce map size. |
TeamSpen's Hammer Addons | Any which supported by TeamSpen's Hammer Addons | Check out the issues below in the main page. |
Features
- Accurate lighting preview
- Upgraded graphic fidelity
- Significantly better stability
- Particle rendering
- 2D + 3D skybox preview
- New model browser, particle browser, color editor, and keybinding editor
- Realtime display of fog and ropes
- Variety of new tools such as physics simulation, gizmo manipulation, drawing of polygon shapes, and convex brush merging
- New
func_instance
tools - Quality of life improvements
- ... and much more!
A more detailed feature list can be found on the Hammer++ website and you can support ficool2 via Ko-fi
Caveats
- Always uses Windows's high-DPI scaling setting, even when scaling override mode is set to "Application" in File Explorer's compatibility settings for
hammerplusplus.exe
. This can result in less real estate than Hammer 4.x, depending on Windows settings. - Does not correctly render
env_beam
previews when the env_beam itself is set as a start or end point.
- Does not support some features from Hammer 4.x, such as "Convert WAD to VMT...", or loading GoldSrc ".MAP" files directly.
- Ignores
%notooltexture
, with no option to disable this change. - Lighting preview ignores
_minlight
.
Additional bugs can be found in the official issue tracker, which is no longer maintained.
Bugs/Limitations with unsupported games
Black Mesa
Works with Source 2013 Singleplayer version. However, there are some bugs and issues due to which you will not be able to work constantly.
New lights do not work correctly
Entities with "newLight_" and "newLights_" prefixes don't work with SmartEdit
and attempting to replace an entity with one of these will cause a obsolete error.
A new light point placed with the Entity Tool.
npc_gman
after being replaced bynewLight_Point
.
This is because new lights use capitalized letters in classname. Because of this, Hammer++ cannot read them normally. You can fix it by replacing capitalized letters with lowercase, with this fix the game will work with new lights like you are using Hammer. However, you will still not have any preview for new lights.
npc_xortEB
.Lightmapped_4WayBlend is not loaded
You will not be able to work with Xen levels and some Earthbound outdoor levels, since this shader is used for surfaces everywhere.
No surface blend preview
WorldVertexTransition was replaced by LightmappedGeneric in Black Mesa. This means that you cannot see blended surfaces in Hammer++, since this feature is not provided.
GRPortal is not loaded
This shader is used for nihilanth's portals.
Physics Tool doesn't work properly with new ragdoll entities
prop_ragdoll_original and misc_dead_hev
are ragdoll entities, Hammer++ doesn't know about this.
ragdoll()
in FGD for these entities.
Portal 2: Community Edition/ Strata Source
Mainly works with the Counter-Strike: Global Offensive version. Hammer++ will not provide features from Strata Hammer and the engine (mainly UI elements and how it works with content). The convenience of its usage will depend on what you plan to do.
Only supports the Counter-Strike: Global Offensive model format
Strata Source supports all model formats from any game, including old games. Hammer++ for Counter-Strike: Global Offensive only supports the model format from Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, so you'll need to port models if they do not use this format.
No Scale Override
preview
Static props support the Scale Override
keyvalue (similar to Source 2). You will not see changes in Hammer++.
Custom folder is not supported
Strata Source supports the custom
folder. Hammer++ for Counter-Strike: Global Offensive doesn't.
Doesn't read mounts.kv
mounts.kv
is a safe way to mount content from other games without editing gameinfo.txt
. Hammer++ doesn't read this file.
Escape sequences are not supported
Only Strata Hammer supports escape sequences.
Mapbase
Works fine with Source 2013 Singleplayer version. Some custom shaders may work incorrectly. Some custom features will not work as expected with Hammer++ features.
SDK_Cable doesn't work properly
Display skybox instead of a cable texture.
Spotlight textures don't apply to spotlight preview
Mapbase supports customization of the beam and halo texture. Hammer++ always draws the standard textures.
An example. Used obsolete icon for halo and electric texture for beam.
TeamSpen's Hammer Addons
Not a game, but it has some compatibility issues as well. Some issues make it difficult to use together with Hammer++.
Sprite tries to be applied as a model for helper
TeamSpen's Hammer Addons uses model helper for sprite entities, this allows you to place them more accurately than with the white cube. Copy and paste cause the helper model to use the value from model
property name, which sprites use to display sprite texture, this causes the helper model to use a nonexisting model and replace it with a placeholder. Fixes with Undo
button. Doesn't happen when you place a sprite entity via Entity Tool or when you replace an entity with a sprite entity.
Left 4 Dead and Left 4 Dead 2
L4D2 Hammer++ appears fine on Left 4 Dead, except when compiling the map. After compiling the map and trying to join the map, an error will appear and display: STEAM validation rejected and after pressing ok, the menu will be frozen.
Identical for Left 4 Dead 2, without the Steam rejection, only displaying multiple repeating errors on console and unable to interact with the menu when exiting the map.
Textures breaking on Displacements
The textures break/glitch on displacements when going further away from the map. This only happens with displacements when configured to Left 4 Dead 2. This does not happen when configured to Left 4 Dead.
Only way to stop the textures glitching is by unchecking the box Displacements.