Hammer++
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Hammer++ is a community-made modification of the Valve Hammer Editor for Source that provides an updated, more stable, feature-rich version of the editor.
Hammer++ currently supports the following branches of the Source engine:
Team Fortress 2 (x64 only)
Counter-Strike: Source (via 
)- Source 2013 Multiplayer
Source 2013 Singleplayer
Garry's Mod (x64 only)
Left 4 Dead 2
It is also included with 
Military Conflict: Vietnam, in lieu of vanilla Hammer.
Hammer++ for 
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is no longer supported; Ficool recommends using Garry's Mod Hammer++ and porting the 
lightmapped_4wayblend shader. Alternatively, use Military Conflict: Vietnam's version of Hammer++.
Other games/mods tested
Main article: Hammer++/Docs/Installation for Other Games
Important:In order to use CS:GO Hammer++, you must have the csgo_legacy beta branch installed for 
Counter-Strike 2. The CS:GO Hammer++ no longer receives updates, so it's highly recommended that you use the Garry's Mod version alongside it instead, if you have GMod.| Game | Engine branch (game) | Hammer++ Version | Notes    
|
|---|---|---|---|
 Alien Swarm
|
Alien Swarm engine branch | Garry's Mod | Errors about reading particles, use mount.cfg to mount Alien Swarm data. Note:Functions differently than Hammer, instead of using a func_brush with name structure_seal, use a normal brush to close your maps.If compiled it forces the map to be fullbright even if there are lights. Important:Use func_details for your entire map as it will generate unwanted portals |
 Half-Life: Source
|
Source 2013 Singleplayer | Source 2013 Singleplayer | Configure Hammer for Half-Life: Source, then install to game's  bin folder normally.
|
 Half-Life Deathmatch: Source
|
Team Fortress 2 branch | Team Fortress 2 | Configure Hammer for Half-Life: Source, then install to game's bin/x64 folder normally.
|
 Half-Life 2: Deathmatch
|
Team Fortress 2 branch | Team Fortress 2 | Install to game's bin/x64 folder normally.
|
 Left 4 Dead
|
Left 4 Dead engine branch | L4D2 | L4D2 Hammer++ appears fine on Left 4 Dead, except when compiling the map. Once compiled and joining the map, an error will appear and display: STEAM validation rejected and unable to interact with the menu after pressing ok. Workaround:Before compiling the map, check the box Don't run the game after compiling and then compile the map, after it has been compiled, enter Left 4 Dead and via console, type: map <map name>. Tip:You can enable dev by going to manage < properties and on Launch options, type: -dev 1.Fix:Remove the steam_appid.txt from the hammerplusplus folder. |
| Left 4 Dead 2
|
L4D2 | Identical to Left 4 Dead, without the Steam rejection, only displaying error on console and unable to interact with the menu when exiting the map.Fix:Remove the steam_appid.txt from the hammerplusplus folder. | |
 Momentum Mod
|
Strata Source | Garry's Mod | Need retest using GMOD version. [confirm] |
 Source Filmmaker
|
Alien Swarm engine branch | Garry's Mod & Portal 2 | Need retest using GMOD version. Portal 2's compile tools also work. Hammer++ shouldn't be installed in SFM's bin folder, but works when pointed to from another game.
|
 Team Fortress 2 Classic
|
Source 2013 Multiplayer | Source 2013 Multiplayer | Setting up Hammer |
 Black Mesa
|
Xengine | Garry's Mod | Follow this guide to make it working. Check out issues in relevant subpage. A separate version for Black Mesa is not planned. |
 Black Mesa (mod) (2012 mod version)
|
Source 2007 | Source 2013 Singleplayer | Install to Source SDK Base 2013 - Singleplayer's bin folder and add a game configuration pointing to the mod; the Source 2013 SP compilers generate BSPs that are compatible with  Source 2007.
|
 Mapbase
|
Source 2013 Singleplayer | Source 2013 Singleplayer | Install to game's bin folder normally.
Check out the issues below in the relevant subpage. |
 Pirates Vikings & Knights II
|
Source 2013 Multiplayer | Source 2013 Multiplayer & Team Fortress 2 | Hammer++ shouldn't be installed in PVKII's bin folder, but works when pointed to from another game.Important:Requires the Use special I/O delimiter (ESC) setting to be off. |
 Postal III
|
Source 2009 | Source 2013 Singleplayer | Requires modification to Postal 3's FGD file(s); Recommended to use Postal 3's compilers instead; Some Hammer features from Postal 3's are missing like 'prefabs' (not to be confused with Prefab on Hammer);
Requires Source SDK Base 2013 MP/SP to be installed; Requires folder linking inside SDK Base's |
 Portal
|
Source 2013 Singleplayer | Source 2013 Singleplayer | Install to game's bin folder normally.
|
 Portal 2: Community Edition
|
Strata Source | Garry's Mod? | Check out the issues on the relevant subpage. Support by developers is not planned, and usage is strongly discouraged; some Hammer++ features will be added to  Strata Hammer.
|
| SDK Base 2013 - MP (2025)
|
Team Fortress 2 branch | Team Fortress 2 | Install to game's bin/x64 folder normally.
|
 Source SDK Base Source 2006 games & mods(including Counter-Strike: Source v34, Half-Life 2 Old Engine, etc...) |
Source 2006 | Source 2013 Singleplayer | See Installation for Source 2006 games. Don't forget that Source 2006 games will have less textures (including tools textures such as 2D Skybox), differences in LDR + HDR lighting compared to Source 2007 and later (including Hammer++ lighting preview). So remember to run both Source 2006's Hammer and Hammer++ and check see if the same texture exists in Texture Browser on Source 2006's Hammer before adding it to the map. |
 Hunt Down the Freeman (launch version)
|
Source 2013 Singleplayer | Source 2013 Singleplayer | Install to game's bin folder normally.[confirm]
|
| Hunt Down the Freeman (latest)
|
Source 2013 Multiplayer | Source 2013 Multiplayer | Install to game's bin folder normally.[confirm]
This build uses |
 Jabroni Brawl: Episode 3
|
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive | Counter-Strike: Global Offensive | Install to game's bin/win32 folder normally.[confirm]FGD must be modified to replace soundscape and sky KVs with string.As CSGO version of Hammer++ is frozen on an older version, it may be desirable to use H++ alongside the native CSGO version, to take advantage of newer features like Propper++.
|
Features
- Accurate lighting preview
- Upgraded graphic fidelity
- Significantly better stability
- Particle rendering
- 2D + 3D skybox preview
- New model browser, particle browser, color editor, and keybinding editor
- Realtime display of fog and ropes
- Variety of new tools such as physics simulation, gizmo manipulation, drawing of polygon shapes, and convex brush merging
- New func_instance tools
- Quality of life improvements
- ... and much more!
A more detailed feature list can be found on the Hammer++ website and you can support ficool2 via Ko-fi
Caveats
Bug:
- Always uses Windows's high-DPI scaling setting, even when scaling override mode is set to "Application" in
File Explorer's compatibility settings for 
hammerplusplus.exe. This can result in less real estate than
Hammer 4.x, depending on Windows settings. - Does not correctly render env_beam previews when the env_beam itself is set as a start or end point. [todo tested in ?]
Warning:
- Does not support some features from Hammer 4.x, such as "Convert WAD to VMT...", or loading GoldSrc ".MAP" files directly.
- Ignores
%notooltexture, with no option to disable this change. - Manifests are not supported, only instances.
- Lighting preview ignores
_minlight.
Additional bugs can be found in the official issue tracker, which is no longer maintained.