Installing Hammer++ for Other Games
Hammer++ is a powerful mapping tool that solves many issues that the Valve Hammer Editor introduces, and adds some much needed features that useful to every mapper. However the only official versions of Hammer++ available are for Counter-Strike: Source, Source 2013 Singleplayer, Source 2013 Multiplayer, Team Fortress 2 and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. Thankfully, it is possible to configure Hammer++ to use assets and compilers for other games that they were not originally intended for, including Portal 2, Left 4 Dead 2, Black Mesa, and more! Almost every source game can run using some version of Hammer++. The games in the list below have been proven to work using the method below:
csgo_legacy
beta branch installed for Counter-Strike 2.
Game | Hammer++ Version | Notes |
---|---|---|
Alien Swarm | CS:GO | |
Half-Life: Source | Source 2013 Singleplayer | Configure Hammer for Half-Life: Source, then install to game's bin folder normally.
|
Half-Life Deathmatch: Source | Source 2013 Multiplayer | |
Half-Life 2 Half-Life 2: Episode One Half-Life 2: Episode Two |
Source 2013 Singleplayer | Install to game's bin folder normally.
|
Half-Life 2: Deathmatch | Source 2013 Multiplayer | |
Left 4 Dead | 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 input: map <map name>.
Also you can enable dev by going to manage < properties on Launch options type: -dev 1. |
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. |
Momentum Mod | CS:GO | [confirm] |
Source Filmmaker | CS:GO | |
Team Fortress 2 Classic | Source 2013 Multiplayer | Setting up Hammer |
Titanfall engine branch games | CS:GO | [confirm] |
Day of Defeat: Source | Source 2013 Multiplayer | Install to game's bin folder normally.
|
Black Mesa | Source 2013 Multiplayer | Check out the issues below in the relevant subpage. A separate version for Black Mesa is not planned. |
Black Mesa (2012 mod version) | 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 | Install to game's bin folder normally.
Check out the issues below in the relevant subpage. |
Postal III | 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';
Requires Source SDK Base 2013 MP/SP to be installed; Requires folder linking inside SDK Base's 'sourcetest' folder to load assets; Hammer++ will crash if placed inside Postal 3's bin folder. |
Portal | Source 2013 Singleplayer | Install to game's bin folder normally.
|
Portal 2 | Garry's Mod | Portal 2 support still has some problems, this will be released at a later date. |
Portal 2: Community Edition | 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. |
Hunt Down the Freeman (launch version) | Source 2013 Singleplayer | Install to game's bin folder normally.[confirm]
|
Hunt Down the Freeman (latest) | Source 2013 Multiplayer | Install to game's bin folder normally.[confirm]
This build uses Source 2013 Multiplayer to reduce map size. |
TeamSpen's Hammer Addons | Any which supported by TeamSpen's Hammer Addons | Check out the issues below in the relevant subpage. |
This method and accompanying pictures were taken from this steam guide by the user RosemaryWebs.
Installing Hammer++
According to Erin-Rose-Webs' original guide, Ficool2 has announced the possible release of a dedicated Portal 2 version of Hammer++. If this does come to fruition, this tutorial will persist but will have the examples changed to instead use a different supported game (Editor's note: Will likely be installation for Garry's Mod, L4D2, or Black Mesa when it happens, because that is the next biggest use case that I see-Equalizer5118, an idiot who cant spel (talk) 11:02, 15 October 2023 (PDT))
Discuss this here!
Download List
In order to proceed, you will have to download the following programs:
- Supported Hammer++ version for your game (See Above, Portal 2 uses CS:GO)
- Link Shell Extension (This is not required, but will make a further step much easier)
- Game with supported Hammer++ version (See Above, Portal 2 uses CS:GO)
Installing Hammer++ on supported game
The next step is actually installing Hammer++ into the files. Extract the bin
folder in the archive into the Counter Strike: Global Offensive folder in your steamapps/common
folder. Now, go into the bin
folder and launch Hammer++. Now, we will create a new configuration pointed at the Portal 2 assets. Now, this is where things can get complicated. You will now launch the hammerplusplus.exe
executable. You will get a popup that says that there are no configurations. Make sure to click no, otherwise you will get redirected to another article on this wiki. After clicking no, you will see a screen that is similar to the one seen below, but just completely blank:
Then, copy the information that is seen above into the respective boxes. If your game is in a separate folder than your normal steam directory, you will have to replace $SteamUserDir
with the full file directory. Now click "Ok" to close and save this information. You will get two popups that say how this information will not update until Hammer++ restarts, but they are not important so just click "Ok" on both. With this completed, you are halfway done with configuring Hammer++.
Now, for compiling the map, we need to define the build programs. Go to Tools>Options>Build programs and copy the information below:
After you do this, press "Apply" then press "Ok" to save your changes. Then, close Hammer++. Now, we will have to bring over Portal 2's lighting data into CS:GO. Because Portal 2 had different texlights compared to CS:GO, we need to define portal 2's lights in the CS:GO directory l. Open Portal 2's lights.rad
located in Portal 2/portal2
with any text editor and copy all of its contents. Then, go to CS:GO's lights file and paste Portal 2's contents at the bottom of the file. It should look similar to this (comments not needed):
You have now completed the setup of Hammer++! However if you load a new map you will find that many of your custom models and textures are missing. This is because the program is searching through the CS:GO directory for the necessary files and then it doesn't find them it presents you with a missing model/texture. To fix this, we will need to create symbolic links.
Adding custom content
This is where things can get complicating. You can copy-paste all your custom files, but that can bloat your hard drive more than it needs to. Instead, it can be more space effective to create symbolic links. This is where the Link Shell Extension can help, but it is possible to use command prompt.
First, navigate to Portal 2\portal2\Gameinfo.txt
and add all the Portal_dlcx folders as well as all your custom folders following the format seen below:
We do this because CS:GO's engine, and in turn Hammer++'s engine, do not search automatically for the dlcs folders, so we have to manually list them.
Link Shell Extension
Go to your base Portal 2 directory and Ctrl+Left click all your custom folders and dlcs folders and right click. Select "Choose link source" to start creating links. Then, go to your CS:GO directory and right click an empty space. Hover over "Drop link as" and select "Symbolic Links".
Command Prompt Method
Press the Windows key on your keyboard and type "cmd". Right click "Command Prompt" and click "Run as Administrator." A User Account Control prompt should pop up, press "Ok".
mklink
command in Windows 10. Never run random apps as administrator or type strange commands you don't know into Command Prompt! It can cause permanent damage to your device!
We will now use the mklink
command to create a symbolic link. The syntax for this command is as follows:
The first directory is the name of the folder the link will be named. The second directory is the name of the folder you are linking to. To simplify, by running this command you are creating a folder in the first directory that, when you open it, will show all the contents of the linked folder in the second directory. By creating a link from your CS:GO directory to your Portal 2 directory, you are not actually copying the files in those folders, you are essentially tricking Hammer++ into thinking that it is accessing a folder in CS:GO's directory when it is actually seeing files located in Portal 2's directory. This also works across drives, so you can have symbolic links on your D:
drive that point to folders in your C:
drive.
An example of this command is as follows:
You will now repeat this process for every custom folder you use, including the dlc folders. This is not needed for the base game (in this example portal2
) folder, as hammer automatically mounts this directory.
Final Result
After you make links to all the folders, your CS:GO folder should look similar to this, just with all your custom folders instead:
Now to fix the Hammer models, open the Counter-Stike Global Offensive\platform
folder and delete/rename the materials
and Models
folder and replace them with Symbolic Links to their respective folders in the Portal 2\platform
folder. It should look similar to this:
After you do this, open Hammer++ again. Now, you should be set! To get a list of all new features, try checking out the Hammer++ website and its page on this wiki. For general Hammer assistance, check out this article.