Mapbase
Mapbase is a base mod for 
Source 2013 which expands and improves the toolset available to modders, augmenting other maps and mods for development purposes. It's designed to be used as a platform for mappers to build their maps on and for larger mods to draw code from. Mapbase is generally used as a large package of utility features and general-purpose fixes.
Mapbase is NOT an improved version of 
Hammer or an improved version of the engine itself. It is a fork of Source 2013 which acts as a regular sourcemod. Maps using it must be played in Mapbase or a mod running its code in order to function correctly. Mappers would create their maps based off of this mod and larger mods with their own unique changes would draw from Mapbase's code and assets. Mapbase does not use any content that originates from leaked or unauthorized sources.
Mapbase is currently only built around 
Half-Life 2 and 
Half-Life 2: Episode Two via 
Source 2013 Singleplayer. Other games are not yet supported, although a 
Source 2013 Multiplayer version of Mapbase is currently in development, which will extend Mapbase to sourcemods of 
Half-Life 2: Deathmatch.
Most of Mapbase's changes are quality-of-life improvements that could largely only be noticed in the editor. The original goal of this project is to improve the mapping experience without changing too much of the game itself.
Features
- 80+ new entities (mostly logic-related), including new filters and ports/replications from newer engines
- Hundreds of new Inputs/Outputs/KeyValues added to existing entities
- Custom implementation of VScript as of v4.0
- Heavily revised and reworked FGDs
- Custom shaders meant to stick to objective improvements, including projected texture fixes, Parallax cubemaps, and radial fog originating from the Alien Swarm Authoring Tools
- More all-around entity flexibility
- Countless miscellaneous fixes and improvements
It also has a few new features mostly specific to Half-Life 2 mapping:
- New (optional) gameplay features (NPCs capable of using more weapons, etc.)
- More map-specific file capabilities (actbusy files, talker files, etc.)
- New
hl2_gamerulesentity capable of modifying game behavior in various ways
Availability
History
Mapbase technically started in February 2018 as a prototype, but the project as it exists now began in August-September 2018.
Mapbase was created by Blixibon from a set of FGD improvements and various code changes previously brought from project to project. Mapbase's original goal was to take advantage of Source 2013 code modifications to allow mappers to do more things with their maps. The February 2018 prototype mostly contained a few basic code changes and an early version of the map-specific file system.
The project was revisited several months later at the end of 2018. At this point, Mapbase started to gain traction, forming a wider scope as well as its own following. Mapbase started to become a heavily augmented (yet relatively vanilla-looking) version of Source 2013 as a whole, introducing custom shaders, additional NPC animations, and more.
Mapbase was released at the end of September 2019. Mapbase has continued to receive large periodic updates with new features since its release.
In May 2020, a custom implementation of VScript running in Source 2013 was created as a contribution, being introduced in the v4.0 update.
The last update 7.1 Mapbase focuses on VScript VGUI, 
Linux support, and bug fixes this is of October 2023 the update came out in Nov 24, 2022.
Mapbase is still being maintained as of October 2022. A port to Source 2013 Multiplayer is currently in development.
Release Information
Mapbase's release build and source code were first released on September 30th 2019. Other kinds of files can be found here.
Documentation
Mapbase uses its own wiki to hold most of its information and documentation, although some changes may be put on the VDC for reference purposes. For example, Mapbase documents some of its entities on the VDC and may be mentioned in other articles.
Relevant fixes and features originally created for Mapbase have occasionally been added to the VDC for general-purpose use as well.
Credits
Mapbase was started and mainly created by Blixibon, but it couldn't have been done without contributors, community repositories, and the VDC itself. The full credits page can be found here.
Community Made features
CSM for Mapbase it makes realistic looking Shadows at a cost for performance by celisej567,Source Code,YouTube Video and Install Tutorial
See also
- Mapbase Mods
- Mapbase's original trailer
- Images of Mapbase on the ModDB gallery
- Mapbase Videos Playlist on YouTube