Releasing A Portal 2 Map

Now that you have made your brilliant map you need a way to get this out to the public. If your map happens to have custom content such as sounds, scripts and materials the best way to release it is putting it inside a VPK. This collects all of your content into a single file and makes it easy to distribute.

Creating the VPK

1. Create a folder and label it with your addon name.
2. This folder should now mimic the structure of the 'Portal 2\portal2\' folder.
3. Start with adding a folder called maps and add in your compiled .BSP.
4. If you have any scripts be sure it lies in the same relative folder inside scripts\vscripts.
5. The same applies for sounds and materials.
6. Inside 'Portal 2\bin\' there is an executable called 'vpk.exe'. Drag your folder you created in step 1 onto this executable.
7. You will now have a .VPK file in the same folder with the same name.

Tip:As an added convenience, a folder can also be dragged onto a shortcut of 'vpk.exe' (provided in Portal 2) in any location.

Installing the VPK

1. Create a folder in 'Portal 2\portal2\' called addons.
2. Place your .VPK file inside the addons folder.
3. If Portal 2 was running during step 2, type the following in the console: update_addon_paths. Otherwise, skip to the next step.
4. To load a single player map, type in the console: map mymap and replace mymap with the name of your map.
5. To load a Co-op map, start a Co-op game with your friend, once you enter the hub type in console: changelevel mymap replace mymap with the name of your map.

See also

• L4D2 Campaign Add-on Tutorial

External links

• How to make custom VPK
• Installing and playing custom maps / campaigns