Source SDK Known Issues

This is a list of known and verified issues with the Source SDK release, and potential workarounds.

General issues

Visual Studio 2002 is no longer supported (Since 8/4/2006)

As of this SDK Release Visual Studio 2002 is no longer supported. We are sorry for the inconvenience that this causes our customers.

For those who are brave there is a patch that allows for VS 2002 compilation.

Note:This patch is provided here as a convenience. Valve does not maintain or support it.

Hammer Editor issues

Direct shortcuts to hammer will not work (Since 8/4/2006)

With this version of the SDK you will get an error if you attempt to run hammer.exe from the 'sourcesdk\bin' directory. Here is the best way to work around this issue:

1. Right-click on the Source SDK item on the Tools tab in Steam.
2. Select Create desktop shortcut.
3. Add -runhammer to the end of the steam.exe command line.

   For example: C:\Program Files\Valve\Steam\Steam.exe -applaunch 211 -runhammer

4. Rename the desktop shortcut to something appropriate, such as "Hammer Editor".

This has the added benefit of actually launching the SDK Launcher before Hammer, making sure it is the latest version.

Note:Shortcuts for Model Viewer and FacePoser can be created by following the same procedure and replacing -runhammer with one of these command line arguments: -runmodelviewer or -runfaceposer.

3D Lighting Preview View in Hammer causes strange behavior and crashes (Since 8/4/2006)

There is a main menu item for 3D Lighting Preview that should not be exposed at this point. Please do not use it as it does not work.

This issue is addressed and the fix will be available in the next release.

3D View in Hammer appears empty (Since 8/4/2006)

The newest release of Hammer requires that at least on Camera be placed in the map in order for the 3D Views to work. If you are experiencing empty 3D views simply place a camera in your map.

Error when running maps from within a mod (Since 8/4/2006)

When attempting to run a map from within Hammer you may come across the following error message:

Here is the process for working around this issue until it is addressed in the SDK:

1. On Hammer's Tools > Options > Build Tools page change the Game Executable to be:

   $SteamDir\steam.exe instead of $SteamUserDir\half-life 2\hl2.exe
   
   

   

2. From the Run Map dialog, prepend the -applaunch 215 parameter for the '$game_exe' command:

   

What this will do is run Steam and instruct it to launch 'Source SDK base' and point it to the map defined by the remainder of the $game_exe parameters. One thing to look out for is that you will need to build the DLL's for your mod before running it.

SDK code issues

Error running a new mod (Since 8/4/2006)

In the new SDK it is necessary to build the client and server DLLs before running the mod. Please build them if you see this message when trying to run the mod.

From scratch mod exits when launching from Steam Menu (Since 8/4/2006)

Launching a (Make a mod from scratch) mod from the Steam menu enters the game, shows the game menu, dings, and then exits, no error. Although, launching from a command line works fine.

Well actually it should work fine. Though note that if you have compiled your DLLs in debug mode you have to add -allowdebug to the mod's launch options! The run_mod.bat already adds it.

See also

• Source SDK Release Notes