View source for Setting up Source SDK Base 2013 Multiplayer

{{LanguageBar|title=Setting up Source SDK 2013 - Multiplayer (TF2 branch)}}
{{source topicon}}{{Srcsdk topicon}}
{{TabsBar|main=Source SDK Base}}
{{For|setting up and compiling the Singleplayer SDK|[[Setting_up_Source_SDK_Base_2013_Singleplayer|see this page]]}}
{{cleanup|Needs to be completely rewritten to account for public Team Fortress 2 SDK release.}}{{toc-right}}

'''Key points'''
* 32-bit {{macOS|4|linkto=macOS}} is no longer supported by the Team Fortress 2 SDK. If you need to build macOS binaries, use the singleplayer or the legacy SDK 2013 MP codebases.

== Setting Up (All Platforms) ==
===<font size="4">Setting up the Source SDK Base</font>===
Install Source SDK Base 2013 Multiplayer from your {{steamicon|4.1}} library, you can use the search function or enable "Tools" in the filters, or from the links below:

* [steam://rungameid/243750 Install/Run Source SDK Base 2013 (MP) Multiplayer] (AppID: 243750)
** {{Note|Despite it's name, this branch now runs on {{tf2branch|1}}, and mods built on {{src13mp|1}} are incompatible with this version (without switching to {{code|previous2021}} branch).}}

=== <font size="4">Getting the code</font> ===
==== <font size="3">Method 1: Using the GitHub Desktop client (Windows)</font> ====

# Download and install the [https://desktop.github.com/ GitHub Desktop] client
# Open the [https://github.com/ValveSoftware/source-sdk-2013 Source SDK Git repository] and click "Clone to desktop"

{{Note|Since the February 2025 TF2 SDK release, the multiplayer version of the source code will be cloned by default. Use the <code>singleplayer</code> branch if you are developing for the older SDK 2013 SP branch. On older versions of the SDK 2013 source code, there will be two distinct directories for both multiplayer (<code>mp</code>) and singleplayer (<code>sp</code>).}}

====<font size="3">Method 2: Using the command line (Windows/Linux)</font>====
# Download and install the Git CLI. {{linux|4.1}} users can download it with their distro's package manager (APT, Aptitude, DNF, Pacman, Synaptic...). {{windows|4.1}} users can download Git [https://git-scm.com/downloads here].
# Open the terminal/command prompt and run this command if you want the multiplayer branch:
<syntaxhighlight lang="batch">
git clone https://github.com/ValveSoftware/source-sdk-2013.git
</syntaxhighlight>
:Or, run the following command to clone the singleplayer branch:
<syntaxhighlight lang="batch">
git clone -b singleplayer https://github.com/ValveSoftware/source-sdk-2013.git
</syntaxhighlight>

==Setting up (Platform Specific)==
==={{win|4.1}}===

====<font size="3">Step One: Installing requirements</font>====
You will need to install [https://visualstudio.microsoft.com/vs/ Visual Studio 2022]. You don't need a Microsoft account to download the software but you may be prompted to log in with one when launching the software.

During installation, Visual Studio Installer will ask you which workloads you want to install. You don't need to install everything, make sure that the "'''Desktop development with C++'''" workload is ticked otherwise your Visual Studio installation won't be able to do anything C/C++ related.

In terms of components, you will need:
* C++ core features (you can't untick that one).
* Latest version of "MSVC++ v143 - VS 2022 x64/x86 build tools" (don't confuse with ARM ones, no need to grab "special versions" like the Spectre mitigated).
* The latest version of the Windows 10 or 11 SDK (for Windows 10, SDK build 10.0.19041.1; for Windows 11, 10.0.26100.1)
* '''Only if you want to support VScript:''' the latest version of [https://www.python.org/ Python] 3 (acquired from the official website or via the Microsoft Store), make sure it's in your "PATH" environment variable as well.

====<font size="3">Step Two: Compiling the Source SDK and preparing project files</font>====
# Navigate to {{file|<path-to-git>\src\}} and run <code>createallprojects.bat</code>. This will run Valve Project Creator which will create all projects and the solution for the game binaries (client, server...) as well as utilities ([[VBSP]], [[qc_eyes]]...)
# Open <code>everything.sln</code>.
# Select the '''everything''' solution, located under the '''Solution Explorer''' list, then from the middle menu, right next to the '''Auto''' drop down menu (the properties box/pane under the solution explorer), change '''Debug''' to '''Release'''.
# Right Click on the '''everything''' solution, then select '''Build Solution'''.
{{Warning|When compiling on Windows 10 and 11 make sure you have unchecked "Use Unicode UTF-8 for worldwide language support". In order to disable it go to "Control Panel\Clock and Region", then click "Region" then "Administrative" tab and "Change system locale"}}

For those who made the choice of not installing Python at the previous step, you will get compile errors when building the server binary because Python scripts that's supposed to generate some C/C++ files required by VScript couldn't be run due to the missing interpreter. The first part of the fix is to open <code>src/game/server/server_base.vpc</code> with the text editor of your choice and comment the entire <code>$CustomBuildStep "nut"</code> section. Re-run VPC ('''createallprojects.bat'''), if Visual Studio was opened and says that things changed outside of the editor, click the "Discard" button so that it reload the local changes made by VPC. Re-select "Debug" or "Release" configuration, compile again, the remaining C/C++ errors can be fixed by commenting the code.

{{Note|{{clr}}
* If something fails at the end, then simply rebuild the solution.
* The '''client.dll''' is going to be generated in <code><path-to-git>\src\game\client\Release_mod_hl2mp</code> and <code><path-to-git>\src\game\client\Release_mod_tf</code>
* The '''server.dll''' is going to be generated in <code><path-to-git>\src\game\server\Release_mod_hl2mp</code> and <code><path-to-git>\src\game\server\Release_mod_tf</code>
}}

====<font size="3">Optional Steps</font>====
These steps are not required for compiling the game DLLs, these are only prerequisites for compiling these specific projects:

=====<font size="2.5">Building the shaders</font>=====
:See [[Source SDK 2013: Shader Authoring]].

=====<font size="2.5">qc_eyes</font>=====
# Download and install the [https://download.microsoft.com/download/0/2/3/02389126-40A7-46FD-9D83-802454852703/vc_mbcsmfc.exe Multibyte MFC Library].
{{note|The Multibyte MFC Library add-on doesn't work with Visual Studio Express 2013. The add-on installer doesn't detect Visual Studio Express 2013 as an install because Visual Studio Express 2013 doesn't support MFC.}}

=====<font size="2.5">phonemeextractor</font>=====
# Download a [https://github.com/Electromaster232/ms-sapi51-fixed/archive/master.zip ZIP of the Speech SDK]{{note|Microsoft has removed the Speech SDK download page. The link above will download a ZIP of the SDK's contents, including code fixes made by the SDK2013CE community that were previously documented on this page.}}
# Extract the ZIP Archive, and copy the sapi51 folder to the <code><SDKROOT>\src\utils</code> folder.

{{note|Mounting it now may generate the error <code>unresolved symbol _IID_IspPhoneticAlphabetSelection</code>. This is perhaps because you already had something mounted and the partial build is broken. This issue can be easily fixed by rebuilding the <code>phonemeextractor</code>}}

==={{linux|4.1}}===
====<font size="3">Step One: Introduction</font>====

By default, Steam on Linux and everything on top of it (games, apps...) runs through a sand-boxed environment called the Steam Runtime. It is basically a stripped down Ubuntu installation with the necessary stuff (drivers, libraries...) required to run Steam itself and games.

Valve recommends that everything destined to be run on Linux and more specifically Steam is built and running through this runtime. Building "natively" is heavily discouraged as there are no guarantees that the build will be a success (especially with modern C/C++ toolchains) and your mod might not run perfectly.

In the past, Valve used the "chroot environment" technique for the Steam Runtime. However, they changed and recommend the usage of containers based solutions like Podman and Docker. Source SDK 2013's updated code has been compiled with the third version of the Steam Runtime (codenamed "sniper") and we will be doing the same.

{{Note|This guide has been written and tested on an Ubuntu 22.04.4 LTS (Jammy Jellyfish) virtual machine. If you want to use anything else (ArchLinux, Debian, Gentoo, Linux Mint...), you take the responsibility of adapting the instructions and commands as needed (as well as the factor that it might not work due to system differences and such).}}

====<font size="3">Step Two: Requirements</font>====

Any operating system capable of running [https://podman.io/ Podman] will do the job. Ubuntu has a package so you can easily download it with <code>apt install podman</code> (use <code>apt-get</code> instead if you're working on a CI/CD pipeline or remotely when you don't have a "fancy" terminal).

{{Note|If you're getting "permission denied" while running the command, remember the "magic word" at the beginning: <code>sudo</code>.}}

Next, you need the Source SDK 2013 source code cloned. It is assumed that a non-modified copy is used, if you need to clone the source code, the instructions are at the top of this page.

====<font size="3">Step Three: Building the binaries</font>====

All you have to do is run the <code>$SDK_ROOT/src/buildallprojects</code> shell script (you can also <code>cd src</code> first then <code>./buildallprojects</code> if you prefer), <code>$SDK_ROOT</code> means where you have cloned the source code earlier. By default, you will be building "release" binaries, if you want "debug" binaries instead, simply add <code>debug</code> after <code>buildallprojects</code> (don't forget a space in-between).

If you're getting an error that involves "invalid mount point", open the <code>sdk_container</code> shell script with a text editor and find the <code>--mount</code> arguments of the <code>podman run</code> command. You should see some <code>\"</code> characters lying around, remove those but be careful not to remove the rest.

Another error you might get is about the <code>.ccache</code> folder being missing in your "home" folder. Creating the folder simply fixes it (<code>mkdir $HOME/.ccache</code>).

Binaries should now be built and available assuming everything went fine. If you want to know how the compile process works exactly, look at <code>buildallprojects</code> and <code>sdk_container</code> shell scripts.

===Setting up on Steam===
See [[Setup mod on Steam]].

==Other information==
<!-- Explain how to launch this command
=== Information about VPC ===
For more information on how to use [[Valve Project Creator|VPC]], look at the scripts themselves or run the following command on any platform:
 > ''<SDK_ROOT>''/''<gameType>''/src/devtools/bin/vpc /help -->

=== Adding new files with the [[Valve Project Creator]] ===
# Add instructions on how to here.
# Open '''hl2.vpc''' with a text editor and edit this line or something.
VPC generates project files for all of the platforms that the SDK supports, so if you want to add files to your project in a way that will allow you to easily build on other platforms, consider using VPC.  For example, to add a file to a multiplayer game, you could add a line to src/game/client/client_hl2mp.vpc.

=== Directory structure ===

<ul>
<li>game - Runtime files for the mods themselves. Any mod content will go in here.</li>
<li>src - All the source code for that kind of mod. The root of the src directory contains .sln or root level .mak files for building the source.</li>
<ul>
<li>common - A few files used by the server and client DLLs</li>
<li>devtools - Scripts and utilities that are used to build the source. These are called by the makefiles and projects and you probably won't need to interact with them directly.</li>
<li>game - All of the source code for the DLLs.</li>
<ul>
<li>client - Code used by client.dll (or client.dylib or client.so). There are also game-specific directories under here.</li>
<li>server - Code used by server.dll. There are also game-specific directories under here.</li>
<li>shared - Code used by both client.dll and server.dll.</li>
</ul>
<li>gcsdk - A couple of tools used to build the DLLs.</li>
<li>lib - Binary versions of the libraries that the source code depends on. This is also the build target for vgui_controls, tier1, and mathlib.</li>
<li>mathlib - Math utilities used by the game.</li>
<li>public - Header files for all of the DLLs and libraries that are used by the game. Also includes a few source files.</li>
<li>thirdparty - Third party libraries needed to build the source. At the moment this contains only the [https://github.com/google/protobuf Google Protocol Buffers (protobuf)] library.</li>
<li>tier1 - Useful utility classes. Builds into tier1.lib</li>
<li>utils - Various development utilities</li>
<li>vgui2 - Source code for vgui_controls, which is used by client.dll.</li>
</ul>
</ul>

==See also==
* [[Programming]]
[[Category:Programming]]
[[Category:Source SDK FAQ]]
[[Category:Modding]]
[[Category:SDK 2013]]