Category:Level Design

Getting Started

• Building your first map in Hammer (en)
• Introduction to Editing (en)
• Optimization (en)
• Entity Inputs and Outputs (en)

Half-Life 2 (en)

• Single-Player Mapping Tips (en)

Team Fortress 2 (en)

• Team Fortress 2 Level Creation (en)

Portal (en)

• Portal Level Creation (en)

Left 4 Dead (en)

• Left 4 Dead Level Creation (en)

Counter-Strike: Source (en)

• Counter-Strike: Source Level Creation (en)
• How to Develop a Map That Works (en)

Day of Defeat: Source (en)

• Day of Defeat: Source Level Creation (en)

The Ship (en)

• The Ship SDK (en)
• The Ship Level Creation (en)

Intermediate Topics

• 3D Skyboxes (en)
• Level Overviews (en)
• Cubemaps (en)
• Displacement Surfaces (Terrain) (en)
• Entity Hierarchy (parenting) (en)
• Grouping and VisGrouping (en)
• HDR Lighting Basics (en)
• Releasing a Map (en)
• Nodegraph construction (en)
• Dynamic assaults (en)
• Physics Entity Overview (en)
• Creating and Using Prefabs (en)
• Prop Types Overview (en)
• Source Mapping for Half-Life 1 Mappers (en)
• Intermediate Lighting (en)

Half-Life 2 (en)

• Category:Regions & Atmospheres (en)

Advanced Techniques

• Color correction (en)
• Expert compile mode (en)
• Bspzip (Embedding Custom Content) (en)
• Menu Background Maps (en)
• Filter Applications (en)

image:Css.gif (en) Counter-Strike: Source (en)

• Navigation Meshes (en)

Hammer Editor

• Hammer Editor Documentation (en)
• What's New (en)
• Hotkey Reference (en)
• Hammer Feature Requests (en)

Abstract Mapping (en)

Objects

• List of entities (en)
• Prop Gallery (en)
• Items (weapons, pickups) (en)
• NPCs (monsters, allies, characters) (en)

Troubleshooting

• Category:Level Design FAQ (en)
• Optimization (level design) (en)
• Troubleshooting Level Design (en)
• Using the Showbudget Panel (en)
• Compile Errors (en)
• Source SDK FAQ (en)

Design Theory

• Single-Player Mapping Tips (en)
• Bounce (level design) (en)
• Loops (level design) (en)
• Push Gameplay (en)
• Map Compiling Theory (en)
• How to Develop a Map That Works (en)
• Adding More Detail to a map (en)
• Mapping Process

External Links

• Level Design Video Tutorials (en) - A list of video tutorials related to Source mapping.
• File Hosting Sites (en) - A list of reliable websites for hosting user created maps
• News Site List (en) - A list of websites for hype/advertisement and discussion