Valve Developer Community:Community portal: Difference between revisions

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Welcome to the community portal! This page provides community resources and ways you can interact with the Valve Developer Community. See Help:Contents for a wider overview on how to contribute to the wiki.

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Putting the "Community" in Valve Developer Community

The Valve Developer Community is hosted and administered by Valve, but the wiki itself is almost entirely community-driven. Every page you see with an Edit tab, including this one, is likely written by someone in the community (though Valve staff are sometimes among them). If you want to do the same, go right ahead!

There are a number of other ways you can help out:

Go to the Tasks page and see what needs work!
Participate in ongoing discussions (see Ongoing discussions)
Want to translate articles into another language? See Alternative Languages for more information!

Noticeboards
Noticeboards are places where editors can ask questions and request assistance from others who are familiar with the topic(s) covered by each board.
Help Desk	For asking questions about the wiki in general.
Administrators' noticeboard	For items that need the attention of admins.
Translators' noticeboard	For items that need the attention of translators. Also used for sidebar translations.
Reasons for speedy deletion	For discussing reasons to delete a certain article.

Centralized Discussions
Other centralized pages to discuss topics with the community. Comparable to Wikipedia's village pump.
Discussion	General discussion about the wiki.
Proposals	For proposing changes to the wiki.
Main Page Talk	For discussing the wiki's main page.

Community Resources

The Valve Developer Community has a vast number of resources available for modders, by modders:

External Sites

The Valve Developer Community links to many additional websites which can assist modding:

Bringing your work to the community

The Valve Developer Community once served as a hub for promoting Source mods and users willing to/looking for help, although that side of the community has migrated to other platforms over the years.

If you are creating a custom mod or map pack, and the game involved doesn't have a Steam Workshop, you may be interested in publishing it on ModDB or GameBanana. Depending on the circumstances, you might even be able to publish your mod on Steam as its own application. Mods which are notable or have their own modding ecosystems continue to be documented on this wiki. You can see all of the mods documented on the VDC, past or present, in Category:Mods.

Todo: More comprehensive explanation relating to Help:Mod Profiles

Other Valve Wikis

NOTE: Of the following sites, only the TF2 Official Wiki is hosted and administered by Valve.

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-Welcome to the Valve Developer Community! From here on you can forget Valve; every page you see with an edit tab, including this one, is likely written or at least altered by someone in the community (though Valve staff are sometimes among them). If you want to do the same, go right ahead! Otherwise, take a look at the [[Special:Categories|Categories]] or run a search to find what you want.
+{{LanguageBar}}
-{{category header|background-color=#E0E0E0|border-color=lightgray}}
+{{Subpage|[[Help:Contents]]}} {{shortcut|VDC:CP}}
-{{category newcolumn|rowspan=8|width=50%|background-color=#F7F7F7|border-color=lightgray}}
-==Cross-Purpose and General Development==
+{{Background
-* [http://collective.valve-erc.com/ VERC] - Valve Editing Resource Collective. This site's predecessor, which offers primarily HL1 resources (Official)
+| file = HL2 GamepadUI - Chapter 1.jpg
-* [http://game-advance.net/ Game-Advance.net] - Very small new modding community. Focus is on Source engine, but forums exist for other modding as well. Hosts modding projects.
+| opacity = 0.13
-* [http://hl2world.com/wiki HL2World.com] - Half Life 2 Knowledge Base
+| gradient-height = 250px
-* [http://nemesis.thewavelength.net/index.php Nem's Tools] - Several useful Source tools including [[GCFScape]]
+}}
-* [http://twhl.co.za/ TWHL] - Mapping community and tutorial site with busy forums for HL and SOURCE mappers.
-* [http://wunderboy.org Wunderboy.org] - Several useful Source tools including [[VTFTool]]
-* [http://www.c-sec.net/ C-SEC] - Japanese Source modding and mapping development site, including with translated many SDK documents to Japanese.
-* [http://www.gamedesign.net Gamedesign.net] - Some helpful modding and mapping tutorials.
-* [http://www.gamesmodding.com/?view=remotetutorials&game=2 GamesModding.com Tutorial Database] - A list of almost every Half-Life 2 modding tutorial out there.
-* [http://www.handyvandal.com/ Handy Vandal's Almanac] - One of the original top editing resource sites for Half Life, contains some HL2 info.  Linked to in [[Worldcraft]]'s help menu.
-* [http://www.interlopers.net/ Interlopers.net] - News and general resources
-* [http://www.leveldesign.nu/ LevelDesign.nu] - A large Swedish game-dev community which covers texturing, mapping and modeling.
-* [http://www.mappersnation.com MappersNation.com] - A New Half-Life 2 Community & Mapping Site.
-* [http://www.mapcore.net Mapcore] - A great place to get mapping, modelling and texture help from industry pros.
-* [http://www.moddb.com Mod Database] - Free listings of mods for almost every moddable game. A great database full of tons of information on mods that are out there.
-* [http://www.modhelp.net Modhelp.net] - A developing modding community.
-* [http://www.mod-hq.com Mod HQ] - Comprehensive news resource for Half-Life 2 modifications and Steam related content in general. Valve visits it. Why not you?
-* [http://www.pixelgames.com PixelGames] - File reviews and downloads, real friendly editing site based on community!
-* [http://www.snarkpit.net The Snarkpit] - Mapping and modelling community site
-* [http://www.sourceblog.org Sourceblog] - General tutorials (Many on Texturing/[[Skinning]])
-* [http://www.sourcewiki.org/wiki/index.php/Main_Page SourceWiki] - Unofficial and older Source Wiki
-* [http://www.thewavelength.net Wavelength] - One of the original sources of HL1 editing material, now steadily servicing HL2
-<!-- Under construction... [http://www.hl2modcentral.com/ HL2 Mod Central] - General tutorials -->
-<!--* [http://www.acidvat.com/?view=remotetutorials&game=2 Acid Vat's HL2 Tutorial Database] - A list of almost every Half-Life 2 modding tutorial out there.-->
-* [http://www.hlfallout.net/ HLFallout.net] - Up-to-the-minute coverage of modifications and Valve/Steam.Contains other features as well, such as interviews and walkthroughs. Valve [http://www.hlfallout.net/forums/index.php?act=Search&nav=au&CODE=show&searchid=e21d031adf181061318f65d20501930f&search_in=posts&result_type=posts posts/visits] the forums, so join the community today!
+<div style="display:flex; flex-direction:column; gap:.8em; align-items:center; margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:3em"> <!--
+	-->	<span style="color:rgb(255 255 255 / 80%); font-weight:bold; font-size:1.75em"> Welcome to the community portal!</span> <!--
+	-->	<!--<span style="color:rgb(255 255 255 / 75%); font-weight:400; font-size:1.0em"> '''{{NUMBEROFUSERS}}''' users with '''{{NUMBEROFACTIVEUSERS}}''' users active in the last 30 days.</span>--> <!--
+	-->	<span style="color:rgb(255 255 255 / 75%); font-weight:500; font-size:1.25em">This page provides community resources and ways you can interact with the Valve Developer Community.</span> <!--
+	-->	<span style="color:rgb(255 255 255 / 75%); font-weight:500; font-size:1.25em">See [[Help:Contents]] for a wider overview on how to contribute to the wiki.</span>
+</div>
+<div style="display:grid; grid-template-columns:repeat(auto-fill,minmax(clamp((100%/2) - 1rem, 25rem, 100%),1fr)); column-gap:1.5em; margin-top:1.3em">
-==Modeling==
+{{Ongoing discussions|width=none|float=none|style=margin-block:1.0em;|depth=1|templatelinks=1}}
-* [http://cannonfodder.chaosincarnate.net/cftools.htm Cannonfodder's Tools] - [[3dsmax tools|3DSMax Importers and Exporters]], [http://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/dispgen Dispgen - Displacement Terrains from heightmaps], [[studiocompiler|StudioCompiler - Model/Texture Compiler/Decompiler]], [http://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/winBSPzip winBSPzip - BSP Packer]
-* [http://forum.resistanceandliberation.com/showthread.php?t=806 RnL Forums' Lightwave Plugins] - Lightwave mesh export plugins.  Not currently available, but may be in the future.
-* [http://ii.hl2files.com/sdk/introduction.php Insects Infestation - II SDK modeling] Export models to Source engine tutorials for 3DSMax, Maya, MS3D, XSI, FRAG.
-* [http://www.cgtalk.com CG Talk] The largest and most useful model discussion/news site on the internet.
-* [http://www.digital-tutors.com Digital Tutors] - Excellent video tutorials, free and packaged, for using SoftImage|XSI and Adobe Photoshop
-* [http://www.redemptionmod.com Redemption] - Modeling tutorials and blog for XSI and HL2 Source
-==Programming==
+<div class="plainlinks" style="background:#303030; background-image:radial-gradient(ellipse at left top, rgba(100 100 100 / 22%), transparent 40%), linear-gradient(135deg, rgba(0 64 255 / 5%), rgba(150 150 150 / 2%)); border:1px solid rgb(255 255 255 / 20%); border-radius:.35em; padding:.4em .6em .6em.6em; margin-block:1em; overflow:clip">
-* [http://hl2coding.com/ Hl2 Coding] - Has some good hl2 related coding tutorials and has great forums for coders to chat.
+<div style="height:fit-content; font-weight:600; font-size:125%; color:rgb(255 255 255 / 90%); margin-bottom:.75em">Putting the "Community" in Valve Developer Community</div>
-* [http://resonus.net/doxygen_source/main.html HL2 SDK Doxygen] [http://hl2sdk.gigcities.com/main.html] - Half-Life 2 SDK functions and classes mapped out.
+<p style="font-weight:500; font-size:120%; line-height:150%">The Valve Developer Community is hosted and administered by Valve, but the wiki itself is almost entirely community-driven. Every page you see with an Edit tab, including this one, is likely written by someone in the community (though Valve staff are sometimes among them). If you want to do the same, go right ahead!</p>
-* [http://msdn.microsoft.com/coding4fun/gamedevelopment/rocketcmd/default.aspx Tutorials of Rocket Commander] - 10-Part Howto make 3D Games Tutorial
+<p style="font-weight:500; font-size:120%;">There are a number of other ways you can help out:</p>
-* [http://msdn.microsoft.com/coding4fun/half-life/default.aspx MSDN] - MSDN Half-Life Coding4fun.
+<div style="font-weight:600; font-size:115%; margin-top:8px;">
-* [http://msdn.microsoft.com/directx/default.aspx?pull=/library/en-us/directx9_c/directx_sdk.asp Directx C++] - Documentation for Unmanaged Directx
+* Go to the [[Valve Developer Community:Tasks|Tasks]] page and see what needs work!
-* [http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/en-us/directx9_m/directx/directx9m.asp?frame=true Directx Managed] - Documentation for Managed Directx
+* Participate in ongoing discussions (see [[Valve Developer Community:Ongoing discussions|Ongoing discussions]])
-* [http://www.gamedev.net/ Gamedev] - Website with a lot of useful resources for game developers.
+* Want to translate articles into another language? See [[Valve Developer Community:Alternative Languages|Alternative Languages]] for more information!
-* [http://www.mdxinfo.com/ Managed Directx Info] - Includes various resources, tools, samples, code snippets for Managed Directx
+</div>
-* [http://www.priyajeet.com/web/MSDN/ Game Programming in C#] - 11-part Video Tutorial for Game Programming from MSDN.
+</div>
-* [http://mattie.info/cs/ Mattie's Eventscripts] - Great for gaining some minor coding experience, simple plugin addon for Source games.
-===Sample Source Code===
+<div class="plainlinks" style="background:#303030; background-image:radial-gradient(ellipse at left top, rgba(100 100 100 / 22%), transparent 40%), linear-gradient(180deg, rgba(0 192 255 / 10%), rgba(150 150 150 / 2%)); border:1px solid rgb(255 255 255 / 20%); border-radius:.35em; padding:.4em .6em .6em.6em; margin-block:1em; overflow:clip">
-* [http://www.idsoftware.com/business/techdownloads/ Quake Engine Source Code] - Source code from old Quake (used by Half-Life too) and Doom games.
+<div style="margin-block:.4em; flex-basis:125%;">{{Table
-* [http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=6d790cde-c3e5-46be-b3a5-729581269a9c&DisplayLang=en Mech Commander 2] - Entire game and source code. Can serve as an example for learning programming.
+| width   = 90%
-* [http://www.planofattackgame.com/news.php Plan of Attack Source Code] - The entire source code (including art assets) for the Plan of Attack mod, free to use in other mods.
+| radius  = 12px
+| align   = center
+| caption = <span style="font-weight:600; font-size:1.1em; color:rgb(255 255 255 / 90%);">Noticeboards</span> <p style="font-weight:500;">Noticeboards are places where editors can ask questions and request assistance from others who are familiar with the topic(s) covered by each board.</p>
+|	{{tr|bgcolor=transparent
+	| {{td|radius=8px 0 0 0|align=center|font-size=14px|bgcolor=#303030| '''[[New Help Desk|Help Desk]]''' }}
+	  {{td|radius=0 8px 0 0|align=center|bgcolor=#3A3A3A|For asking questions about the wiki in general.}}
+	}}
+        {{tr|bgcolor=transparent
+	| {{td|align=center|font-size=14px|bgcolor=#303030| '''[[Valve Developer Community:Administrators' noticeboard|Administrators' noticeboard]] ''' }}
+	  {{td|align=center|bgcolor=#3A3A3A|For items that need the attention of admins.}}
+        }}
+        {{tr|bgcolor=transparent
+	| {{td|align=center|font-size=14px|bgcolor=#303030| '''[[Valve Developer Community:Translators' noticeboard|Translators' noticeboard]] ''' }}
+	  {{td|align=center|bgcolor=#3A3A3A|For items that need the attention of translators. Also used for sidebar translations.}}
+        }}
+        {{tr|bgcolor=transparent
+	| {{td|align=center|font-size=14px|bgcolor=#303030| '''[[Valve Developer Community:Reasons for speedy deletion|Reasons for speedy deletion]] ''' }}
+	  {{td|align=center|bgcolor=#3A3A3A|For discussing reasons to delete a certain article.}}
+        }}
+}}<br>
+{{Table
+| width   = 70%
+| radius  = 12px
+| align   = center
+| caption = <span style="font-weight:600; font-size:1.1em; color:rgb(255 255 255 / 90%);">Centralized Discussions</span> <p style="font-weight:500;">Other centralized pages to discuss topics with the community. Comparable to {{w|Wikipedia:Village_pump|Wikipedia's village pump.}}</p>
+|	{{tr|bgcolor=transparent
+	| {{td|radius=8px 0 0 0|align=center|font-size=14px|bgcolor=#303030| '''[[Valve Developer Community:Discussion|Discussion]]''' }}
+	  {{td|radius=0 8px 0 0|align=center|bgcolor=#3A3A3A|General discussion about the wiki.}}
+	}}
+        {{tr|bgcolor=transparent
+	| {{td|align=center|font-size=14px|bgcolor=#303030| '''[[Valve Developer Community:Proposals|Proposals]]''' }}
+	  {{td|align=center|bgcolor=#3A3A3A|For proposing changes to the wiki.}}
+        }}
+        {{tr|bgcolor=transparent
+	| {{td|align=center|font-size=14px|bgcolor=#303030| '''[[Talk:Main Page|Main Page Talk]]''' }}
+	  {{td|align=center|bgcolor=#3A3A3A|For discussing the wiki's main page.}}
+        }}
+}}</div>
+</div>
-==Other==
+<div> <!--Community Resources + Bringing work to community-->
-* Official VERC Network [http://www.chatbear.com/board.plm?b=668&v=flatold Forums]
-{{category newcolumn|rowspan=1|width=50%|background-color=#FBF7EA|border-color=#E4DCCD}}
+<div class="plainlinks" style="background:#303030; background-image:radial-gradient(ellipse at left top, rgba(100 100 100 / 22%), transparent 40%), linear-gradient(135deg, rgba(192 255 0 / 5%), rgba(150 150 150 / 2%)); border:1px solid rgb(255 255 255 / 20%); border-radius:.35em; padding:.4em .6em .6em.6em; margin-block:1em; overflow:clip">
+<div style="display:grid; grid-template-columns:repeat(auto-fill,minmax(clamp((100%/2) - 1rem, 25rem, 100%),1fr)); column-gap:1.0em;">
+<div>
+<div style="height:fit-content; font-weight:600; font-size:1.1em; color:rgb(255 255 255 / 90%); margin-bottom:.5em">Community Resources</div>
+<span style="font-weight:600;">The Valve Developer Community has a vast number of resources available for modders, by modders:</span><br>
+<span style="font-weight:300">
+* [[Third Party Tools]]
+* [[:Category:Tutorials|Tutorials]]
+* [[:Category:Open Source|Open-Source Mods and Tools]] and [[:Category:Free source code|Free source code]]
+* [[:Category:Publicity & Publication|Publicity & Publication information]]
+<br></div>
-==Resources==
+<div>
-Content for your project. See also [[Material Download Sites]] and [[Free texture resources]].
+<div style="height:fit-content; font-weight:600; font-size:1.1em; color:rgb(255 255 255 / 90%); margin-bottom:.5em">External Sites</div>
+<span style="font-weight:600;">The Valve Developer Community links to [[:Category:External Sites|many additional websites]] which can assist modding:</span><br>
+* [[Modding Sites]]
+* [[Material Download Sites]]
+* [[Image Manipulation Programs]] and [[3D Modeling Programs]]
+* [[International Sites]]
+* [[Hosting Sites]]
+* [[Map Archive Sites]]
+</div>
-===Photo Reference===
+</div>
-* [http://www.3d.sk 3d.sk] -  Human Photo References for 3D Artists and Game Developers (large source -partly free)
+</div>
-* [http://www.shutterstock.com ShutterStock] - 700,000 photos/vectors/illustrations/images/etc avail by subscription. All royalty-free.
-* [http://www.textureref.com TextureRef.com] -  Online repository of Texturekits and high-res Photo References for Artists (small source - partly free)
-{{category cell|background-color=#FBF7EA|border-color=lightgray}}
+<div class="plainlinks" style="background:#303030; background-image:radial-gradient(ellipse at left top, rgba(100 100 100 / 22%), transparent 40%), linear-gradient(135deg, rgba(255 192 0 / 5%), rgba(150 150 150 / 2%)); border:1px solid rgb(255 255 255 / 20%); border-radius:.35em; padding:.4em .6em .6em.6em; margin-block:1em; overflow:clip">
+<div style="height:fit-content; font-weight:600; font-size:1.1em; color:rgb(255 255 255 / 90%); margin-bottom:.5em">Bringing your work to the community</div>
+<span style="font-weight:600;">The Valve Developer Community once served as a hub for promoting Source mods and users willing to/looking for help, although that side of the community has migrated to other platforms over the years.</span><br><br>
+<span style="font-weight:300">If you are creating a custom mod or map pack, and the game involved doesn't have a Steam Workshop, you may be interested in publishing it on {{Moddb}} or {{Gamebanana}}. Depending on the circumstances, you might even be able to publish your mod on Steam as its own application. Mods which are notable or have their own modding ecosystems continue to be documented on this wiki. You can see all of the mods documented on the VDC, past or present, in [[:Category:Mods]].
+{{todo|More comprehensive explanation relating to [[Help:Mod Profiles]]}}
+</span>
+</div>
-==Game Design==
+</div>
-* [http://forum.moddb.com/thread/4386/ Game Design Theory] - Interesting for art directors, team leaders
-* [[Valve in the press]]
-** [http://www.gamasutra.com/features/19991210/birdwell_pfv.htm The Cabal: Valve’s Design Process For Creating Half-Life] (registration required)
-** [http://www.gdmag.com/archive/nov05.htm Scaling the Cabal] (purchase required)
-** Valve's Design Process for Creating Half-Life 2: [http://store.cmpgame.com/product.php?id=114 MP3] [https://www.cmpevents.com/sessions/GD/S1633i1.ppt PPT]
-{{category cell|background-color=white|border-color=lightgray}}
+</div>
-==[[:Category:Steam|Steam]]==
+<div class="plainlinks" style="background:#303030; background-image:radial-gradient(ellipse at left top, rgba(100 100 100 / 22%), transparent 40%), linear-gradient(225deg, rgba(125 125 125 / 5%), rgba(125 125 175 / 5%)); border:1px solid rgb(255 255 255 / 20%); border-radius:.35em; padding:.4em .6em .6em.6em; margin-block:1em; overflow:clip">
-* [http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/ Steampowered forums]
+<div style="height:fit-content; font-weight:600; font-size:1.5em; color:rgb(255 255 255 / 90%); margin-bottom:.5em; text-align:center;">Other Valve Wikis</div>
-* [http://www.steamreview.org/ The Steam review] - Comment and discussion on Valve Software’s digital distribution platform.
+<div style="height:fit-content; font-weight:600; color:rgb(255 255 255 / 90%); margin-bottom:.5em; text-align:center;">NOTE: Of the following sites, only the TF2 Official Wiki is hosted and administered by Valve.</div>
-===[[:Category:Steam Applications|Steam Applications]]===
+{{VWN}}
-* [[Steam Application IDs]]
-{{category cell|background-color=#FBF7EA|border-color=lightgray}}
+</div>
-==Modifications==
+<hr>
-* [[:Category:HL1 Third Party Mods|HL1 Third Party Mods]] {{HL1}}
-* [[:Category:HL2 Third Party Mods|HL2 Third Party Mods]] {{HL2}}
-* [[:Category:Third Party Goldsource Engine Games|Third Party Goldsource Engine Games]] {{HL1}}
-* [[:Category:Third Party Source Engine Games|Third Party Source Engine Games]] {{HL2}}
-{{category end}}
+{{VDC-navbox}}
-__NOTOC__
+[[Category:Wiki]]

Valve Developer Community:Community portal: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 10:36, 3 June 2025

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