Object Viewer
Note:This is currently just a copy and paste placeholder from Nem's Website (see External links).About
Crafty is a 3D object, material, model and file browsing utility developed by Nemesis and targeted towards Half-Life modders or enthusiasts looking for a Steam Independent application for quick previews. It currently supports Half-Life 2 .bsp, .mdl, .vmf and .gl formats along with Half-Life .map and .rmf formats in a variety of render modes.
Release schedule
As I stated before this is a feature incomplete release meaning that some features targeted towards the final release have yet to be implemented and the software, though stable and capable, is not ready for the general users yet, just those who want to get a head start in the game. I will be releasing updated builds weekly up until the time of the final release (hopefully within the next two months).
System requirements
The requirements for Crafty change dramatically depending on what you are trying to do with it, but for general usage (say Source .bsp viewing) the minimum and recommended system requirements are as follows:
Minimum requirements
- OS: Microsoft Windows XP SP2 or Microsoft Windows 2000 SP3 or Microsoft Windows ME or Microsoft Windows 98 or Microsoft Windows NT or Microsoft Windows Server 2003.
- Frameworks: Microsoft .NET Framework v2.0.
- CPU: 1.4 GHz Intel Pentium 4 class processor or equivalent.
- RAM: 512 MB.
- Video Card: 3D accelerated video card.
Recommended
- OS: Microsoft Windows XP SP2 or Microsoft Windows 2000 SP3.
- Frameworks: Microsoft .NET Framework v2.0.
- CPU: 2.0 GHz Intel Pentium 4 class processor or equivalent.
- RAM: 1024 MB.
- Video Card: Radeon 9700 Pro or GeForce FX 5600.
Note:There are still several optimizations that need to be made on both CPU and RAM utilization so I expect these requirements to come down in the final release.Setup
Crafty doesn't yet know how to save it's settings so you will have to set Crafty up each time you use it. Fortunately, it is pretty simple. To set Crafty up:
- Start Crafty.
- Select View then File System Browser.
- Right click on root and select Mount Package (alternatively, select File and then Open).
- Select the .gcf files you require.
- Click Open.
- Close the File System Browser.
If you are opening a Half-Life 2 level you need the source materials.gcf and source models.gcf packages. If you are opening a Counter-Strike: Source level you need the counter-strike source shared.gcf, source materials.gcf and source models.gcf packages (in that order). If you are opening a Day of Defeat: Source level you need the day of defeat source.gcf, source materials.gcf and source models.gcf packages (in that order). If you are opening a custom map with custom local resources, you will also need to mount the required folders (hl2 or cstrike or dod or even just materials and models, it doesn't really matter where you mount from). Because Crafty needs to scan your mount points, I recommend against mounting your entire C drive.
Features
Feel free to suggest any features you would like to see in Crafty. I can't guarantee that I'll add all suggested features but I will certainly consider them. The following items are on my todo list before the final release:
- Configuration saving.
- Light models in BSP levels.
- Light displacement maps in BSP levels.
- Occlusion cull displacement maps in BSP levels.
- Fallback render paths for uses without multitexturing support.
- Model Browser rendering options.
- OBJ exporting.
- Other minor features.
Bugs
If you experience any bugs using Crafty (specifically crashes) please let me know (at 30,000+ lines of code there are bound to be a few). If you think your bug may simply be a feature I have yet to implement, please hold off until the final release. When posting bugs it helps if you can:
- Explain what you did to cause the bug and if it is repeatable.
- Post any related error message and the stack trace if it is a crash.
- Post the log (in the Console) if you believe it contains valuable information (i.e. red text).
Hidden features
Crafty is designed foremost as an object viewer, but it also contains several useful features that can be invoked externally. For example, Crafty's File System Browser, Material Browser and Model Browser can all be invoked with special command arguments. To view one or more packages in File System Browser simply use: Crafty.exe -fsb -mount [package 1] -mount [package 2] ... . To view one or more packages in Material Browser simply use: Crafty.exe -msb -mount [package 1] -mount [package 2] ... . To view one or more packages in Model Browser simply use: Crafty.exe -mb -mount [package 1] -mount [package 2] ... . For example, if you wanted to view thumbnails of the materials in source materials.gcf you would use Crafty.exe -msb -mount "source materials.gcf". If you are familiar with Windows you can also add shortcuts to these features in the system context menu.