Source Level Design

Template:WIP This page contains articles relating specifically to level design for source

Hammer Editor Every Valve game has the Hammer Tools located in its bin directory. Examples of the game directory for the core Source games on Windows: Half-Life 2 C:\Program Files\Steam\SteamApps\Common\Half-Life 2\bin\hammer.exe Counter-Strike: Source D:\SteamLibrary\SteamApps\Common\counter-strike source\bin\hammer.exe Half-Life 2: Deathmatch C:\Program Files\Steam\SteamApps\Common\half-life 2 deathmatch\bin\hammer.exe Note:External Drives start at SteamLibrary Hammer++ Hammer++ Is a community created replacement for Hammer. Officialy Supported It officially supports Template:Game name, Template:Game name, Template:Game name, Template:Game name, and Template:Game name. Officialy Recommended Template:Game name and Template:Game name work if you follow the tutorial on there website. Working Note:You will have to reconfigure hammer++ for these to work. Template:Game name, Template:Game name, Template:Game name, Template:Game name, and Template:Game name will work under the Template:Game name branch and Template:Game name, Template:Game name, Template:Game name, and Template:Game name will work under the Template:Game name branch Getting Started Level Design Overview Your First Map Inputs and Outputs General Dimensions Optimization The Face Edit Tool Displacement Surfaces (Terrain) Prop Types Overview 2D Skyboxes Grouping and VisGrouping Entity Hierarchy (parenting) Filter Applications List of entities Creating and Using Prefabs Instances Adding Water Trigger Events Between Levels Lighting Lighting HDR Lighting Basics Intermediate Lighting Advanced Lighting Connecting Areas Doors Working Ladders Elevators Teleporters Curved Hallways Angled Geometry Detailing Environmental Lighting, Sun, Weather, & Outdoors Displacement Grass Glass & Windows Cables and Ropes Sound and Music Complex Brush Creation

Special Effects Physics Physics Entity Overview Trains Beams and Lasers Explosions Dust, Fog, & Smoke Color correction Sprites Lists of Special Effects NPCs and AI Introduction to AI Nodegraph construction Finishing Up 3D Skyboxes Cubemaps Optimization Expert compile mode Bspzip (Embedding Custom Content) Pre-publication evaluation Fixing lighting on a static prop Level Transitions Design Theory Single-Player Mapping Tips Bounce (level design) Loops (level design) Push Gameplay Map Compiling Theory How To Develop A Map That Works Adding More Detail to a map Color Theory in Level Design Decompiling Maps Troubleshooting Troubleshooting Level Design Level Design FAQ Using the Showbudget Panel Compile Errors Source SDK FAQ External Links Level Design Video Tutorials - A list of video tutorials related to Source mapping. Mapping Sites - sites about mapping, including tutorials, articles General Sites - Sites covering a wide variety of topics including mapping Map Archive Sites - sites where you can download maps for Valve's games File Hosting Sites - A list of reliable websites for hosting user-created maps Image Hosting Sites - A list of reliable websites to share screenshots of user-created maps News Site List - A list of websites for hype/advertisement and discussion