User:Valve Hammer Editor
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(1.0, as Worldcraft)
Valve Hammer Editor (more informally known as Hammer, and previously called Worldcraft) is the official mapping tool for Valve's engines: GoldSrc, Source, and Source 2. It is also included in every game made with Source Engine that is not a mod or third-party. Some games like Half-Life, Sven Co-op, Left 4 Dead, Left 4 Dead 2, Zombie Panic! Source, Portal 2 and some other games need to have their SDKs installed to use Hammer.
The beta and 1.x versions were designed for Quake, and Worldcraft 1.6 also supported Quake II and Hexen II.
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![Hammer++](/w/images/thumb/2/25/Hammerpp-512px.png/16px-Hammerpp-512px.png)
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wc.chm
, which is a Worldcraft 3.3 help file. The info shown on that help file are no longer relevant and outdated as the Source 2/Hammer 5.x Hammer was rewritten entirely, and works differently, while also lacking new information for the Source 1 Hammer/Hammer 4.x (which is based off the original Hammer 3.x, modified for Source).Contents
Version History
![Icon-broom.png](/w/images/thumb/7/71/Icon-broom.png/32px-Icon-broom.png)
- Version history for 4.x and 5.x is poorly documented.
Worldcraft Beta and 1.x (Quake/Quake II engine)
The beta and 1.x versions of Worldcraft were developed for id Tech 2. Most versions only support Quake, but version 1.6 also supports Quake II and Hexen.
Version | Release date | Features |
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Beta 0.920 | September 20, 1996 | Fixes:
Fixed a lot of Direct3D crashing bugs. I hope this helps some people. Unfortunately, it won't help people with Matrox cards.
New functions:
(Sidetrack: I am adding a "Vertex/face manipulation mode." Watch for it in the immediate future!) How to use this: - Click on a face to select/deselect it. - Hold down CTRL to select multiple faces. - Hold down ⇧ Shift to select/deselect all of a solid's faces. SHIFT must be combined with CTRL to select multiple solids' faces. When you enter the mode, a dialog box is displayed that contains info about the currently selected faces. Modify the info and hit APPLY to make it permanent. Hit REVERT to restore the original information. While you're in this mode, you can still use the other tools - magnify, camera, etc. However, you MUST select the pointer tool to select more faces. Also, You can use Edit|Clear Selection to deselect all faces.
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Beta 1.007 | October 7th, 1996 | Fixes:
New functions:
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Beta 1.022 | October 22, 1996 | |
Beta 1.030 | October 30, 1996 | Fixes:
New functions:
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Beta 1.031 | October 30, 1996 |
On December 9th Ben Morris announce plans for Unreal support. Fixes:
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??? | November 23, 1996 |
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1.0 | December 3, 1996 |
The full version of Worldcraft was released, the price for the full version was $34.95. Worldcraft was initially distributed by New functions:
The new feature is the use of the , and . keys to cycle backwards and forwards in the Hit List. This also works with 2D views - the left button adds all the "hit" objects to the Hit List, and you can use the PGUP and PGDN keys to cycle thru the objects. Again, hold down CTRL * before* you click to keep the current selection.
- no player 1 start - solid has mixed face contents. - object whose 'target' value has no matching 'targetname' in another object Use Map|Check for Problems or Alt+P to access it.
Fixes:
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1.0a | December 5, 1996 |
Fixes:
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1.0b | February 15, 1997 | |
1.1 | January 27, 1997 | Fixes:
New functions:
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1.1a | February 20, 1997 | Fixes:
New functions:
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1.2 | February 25, 1997 |
On July 14, 1997, Valve hires Ben Morris and acquires Worldcraft. They did so with the intent to use it for the development of Half-Life and later release it with Half-Life. |
1.3 |
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1.5 | September 5, 1997 | New functions:
- you can combine a group with another group by click-dragging it over the destination; - you can delete a group by dragging it out of the listbox - you can rename a group by selecting it and then clicking it again in the listbox.
- the active camera (drawn with a red line) moves in 2D when the 3D position changes. - press DEL to delete the active camera. - press PGUP and PGDN to cycle through the existing cameras.
- unrecognised texture - a texture on a face that's not found in any of the currently loaded WAD files. FIXing this error replaces the texture with the currently selected texture. - invalid brush - a brush that's been mangled by vertex manipulation or other strange phenomena. FIXing this error causes Worldcraft to closely approximate the invalid shape with a valid one. The results might not be desirable all the time. Other Small Features:
Tiny features:
- CTRL+E behavior: - centers on selection - centers on map (if no selection) - centers on selected vertices (if in vertex mode)
- fixed the 1-off scaling problem - fixed texture browser ugliness in NT - pasting objects snaps to grid - fixed the 45 degree texturing problem - toolbar doesn't flash anymore - copying a command sequence in the expert run map feature used to crash. - lines are much crisper in the 2D views - no jaggies on 45 degree lines, for example. - shearing objects now snaps to grid. |
1.5a | September 24, 1997 | New functions:
Fixes:
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1.5b | October 9, 1997 | New functions:
Fixes:
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1.6 | March 6, 1998 | Announced December 18, 1997. Released March 6, 1998. At the same time Ben Morris announced that he has left Valve Software.
New features:
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1.6a | August 25, 1998 |
A Shareware version was released with the 1998 September issue of |
1.6b |
FGDs
Worldcraft/Hammer 2.x and 3.x (GoldSource)
Distributed under the name Worldcraft on the retail Half-Life CD, Hammer 3.x is the official GoldSrc mapping tool. id Tech 2 support is removed.
The version 3.4 of the program is available on Steam (via the Half-Life SDK) and certain other websites, the latest version (3.5) is not available on Steam and can be only found on other websites.
The version 3.5 of the program is a canceled. After the cancelation of Hammer 3.5, the community released it, following 3.5.1, 3.5.2 and 3.5.3
Version | Release date | Features |
---|---|---|
2.0 | November 19, 1998 | Version 2.0 of Worldcraft was released with the release of Half-Life, and only worked with Half-Life.
Worldcraft 2.0 represents the largest jump in feature enhancements and additions to date. Below are a list of the new things along with links to more information about them. There are a few new features on the toolbars. Map Tools:
Map Operations:
Msp Views:
The Texture Application mode (Face Properties dialog) has been enhanced with several new features. A smooth groups feature allows you to specify an angle at which QRAD will consider an object "rounded" and will smooth the lighting accordingly. Any angles at or under the value specified will be smoothed. The material feature shows what material type the currently selected texture is. Material type will effect sounds made directly on the surface of a brush with that texture (footsteps, bullet ricochets, etc). Last, the Quake II surface parameters are available to you, letting you control things like surface lighting and detail brushes. There are several new options available to you through the menus as well.
• general • 2D views • 3D views • textures • game configurations • build programs The game configurations dialog contains all the information for setuping up multiple game configurations. This lets you specify what entity set and map format to use, as well as palette and default entity information. The build programs dialog allows you to specify which compile tools to use with which game configuration. As well, all values entered here are easily referenced in the expert compile dialog by a series of static variables ($game_exe, $bsp_exe, etc). The compile tools included for Half-life are somewhat different than previous games, but operate in a very similiar manner. The tools are as follows: You should say that qcsg analyzes all the geometry, textures, and entities in your map. qbsp2 divides that map up into visible areas, and then vis determines more rigorously which polygons are visible and which ones aren't. You can invent a word "visable", meaning "a level which can be vised" as opposed to "visible", "that which can be seen" You should explain that ahead of time so people don't think it's a typo
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2.1 | April 09, 1999 | Version 2.1 of Worldcraft was released for free, but only worked with Half-Life.
Updates:
New Features:
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3.3 | June 8, 2000 |
Highlights: The editor has been given a facelift, with a completely rewritten OpenGL renderer for the 3D views. This enables the addition of engine rendering code for previews of such things as sprites and glow effects. Texturing, normally the most time-consuming aspect of mapmaking, has also been streamlined. And, a number of other productivity-enhancing features have taken the most common hitches out of mapmaking.
Features: Aside from the above highlights, there have been a number of smaller changes as well.
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3.4 | March 31, 2002 |
An updated version of Valve's level editing tool is now available for download. This release includes new functionality and several fixes. It also introduces a new name for the product, Hammer. Changes include:
Fixes:
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3.5 | April 18, 2003 |
A beta version of Hammer 3.5 was released. This was the last version for GoldSrc engine. This version was released as just the main executable and required Hammer 3.4 to be installed to work. New features:
Changes:
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FGDs
- Half-Life (FGD)
- Counter-Strike and Counter-Strike: Condition Zero (FGD)
- Day of Defeat (FGD)
- Deathmatch Classic (FGD)
- Ricochet (FGD)
- Team Fortress Classic (FGD)
Hammer 4.x (Source 1)
Hammer 4.x, provided as a component of the Source SDK, is the official Source mapping tool. Apart from the construction of level architecture, Valve Hammer Editor 4.x is also heavily involved with creating level events and scripting.
Version | Game/Branch | Release date | Features |
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4.0 | All Source 2004 games | November 05, 2004 | Initial release of Hammer in the Source SDK.
Updates:
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4.1 | Half-Life 2: Lost Coast, All Source 2006 games and newer | November 22, 2005 |
Updates:
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4.1 | Source 2007 | October 10, 2007 |
Updates:
Todo: Add more updates and changes in Source 2007 Hammer.
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4.1 (unknown build) | Left 4 Dead | June 25, 2009 | Initial release of Left 4 Dead Authoring Tools's Hammer. |
4.1 (unknown build) | Left 4 Dead 2 | Between November 17, 2009 and December 26, 2009 | Initial release of Left 4 Dead 2 Authoring Tools's Hammer.![]() |
4.1 (unknown launch build) | Alien Swarm | July 19, 2010 | Valve Map Format (.vmf) that are created using this version are incompatible with previous version of Hammer without some modification and workarounds (such as using Left 4 Dead Authoring Tools/Left 4 Dead 2 Authoring Tools or editing VMF files). Updates:
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4.1 (unknown build) | Portal 2 | May 6, 2011 | Initial release of Portal 2 Authoring Tools's Hammer.[confirm] |
4.1 (unknown build) | Portal 2 | May 12, 2011 |
Fixes:
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4.1 (unknown build) | Portal 2 | May 17, 2011 |
Fixes:
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4.1 (unknown build) | Portal 2 | May 20, 2011 |
Fixes:
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4.1 (unknown build) | Portal 2 | May 26, 2011 to May 21, 2012 | Unknown |
4.1 (BETA, unknown build) | Counter-Strike: Global Offensive | May 5, 2012 (or earlier)[confirm] | Initial release of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Authoring Tools's Hammer. |
4.1 (unknown launch build) | Counter-Strike: Global Offensive | August 21, 2012 | Launch version of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Authoring Tools's Hammer. |
4.1 (build 8678) | Alien Swarm | September 24, 2020 | Latest version for Alien Swarm. |
4.1 (build 9008) | Source 2013 | July 2, 2021 | Latest version for Day of Defeat: Source, Half-Life 2: Deathmatch and Source SDK Base 2013 - Multiplayer |
4.1 (build 9092) | Team Fortress 2 | September 16, 2021 | Unknown |
4.1 (build 9109) | Team Fortress 2 | October 5, 2021 | Unknown |
4.1 (build 9464) | Team Fortress 2 | September 26, 2022 | Unknown |
4.1 (build 9520) | Half-Life 2 | November 17, 2023 | Latest version for Source 2013 (only in ![]() |
4.1 (build 9540) | Team Fortress 2 | December 8, 2022 | Unknown |
4.1 (build 10038) | Team Fortress 2 | April 18, 2024 | Added a dedicated 64 bit version. |
4.1 (build 10042) | Team Fortress 2 | April 22, 2024 | Latest version for ![]() |
FGDs
![Note.png](/w/images/thumb/c/cc/Note.png/10px-Note.png)
Hammer 5.x (Source 2)
Hammer 5.x is the official Source 2 mapping tool. The UI has been redesigned to utilizing Qt and adding more new features. Hammer 5.x can be obtained via the game's Workshop Tools DLC if available.
Unlike the previous Hammer in both Source and GoldSrc engine, this version utilizes meshes instead of BSP brushes and includes many "modeling" software features.
Version | Game | Release date | Features |
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5.0, (build 9743) | Dota 2 | September 2015? | Initial release of Source 2 Hammer for Dota 2. Todo: Add more information.
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5.0 (build 8838) | SteamVR Home | 2017 | Todo: Add more information.
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5.0, (unknown build) | Half-Life: Alyx | May 16, 2020 | Todo: Add more information.
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5.0, (unknown build) | S&box | July 26, 2022 |
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5.0, (build 9832) | Counter-Strike 2 | June 7, 2023 | Initial release of Source 2 Hammer for CS2.[confirm]
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5.0, (build 9960) | Counter-Strike 2 | March 22, 2024 | Latest version for CS2. |
Troubleshooting
This section list the common issues that users may encounter when using Hammer, and how to troubleshoot it.
Hammer won't display grid
If you try to load or create a new level in Hammer and the viewports don't show the standard grid, it's possible you just need to press ⇧ Shift+R to toggle the grid, so go ahead and try that first.
Many new modders have been reporting that when they try to create new levels for their mod, Hammer will load, but it won't display the grid, and they can't add new entities to the map, and if it was a loaded map, they can't see anything except through the main camera. If you're having this problem, you probably also aren't able to launch your mod from Steam (even if you can launch it from your compiler). If this is the case, the problem probably lies in your mod's gameinfo file.
Check gameinfo.txt
and check the number after SteamAppId. This needs to match the Steam Application ID of the base game you will be using to launch your mod. If the number points to a game that you don't have installed, you won't be able to launch your mod, and Hammer won't work either.
Moving the location of Hammer will cause it to be unable to find key files when loading a configuration, notably gameinfo.txt
. To fix this, adjust the file paths in GameConfig.txt
which can be found in the same folder as Hammer.
Poor performance
Due to Hammer being limited to single core, having high render distance will result in poor performance, even on powerful hardware.
To change the render distance, go to Tools ▶ Options ▶ 3D views, and adjust the Model and Detail render distance to be less than 5000-6000, or alternatively, use third-party or community-made modified version of Hammer.
See also
- Hammer Feature Requests[
Deprecated]
- Brush
- Entity
- FGD
- RMF, VMF, and MAP
- J.A.C.K. (Website) – an alternative to Hammer for GoldSrc. It supports Windows and Linux and adds several new features for level editing and modding.
- Hammer++ - an alternative to Hammer for most Source engine games. It also adds several new features for level editing and modding.
- Slammin' Source Map Tools - an alternative to Hammer for most Source engine games, with performance upgrades and modernization.
- Sledge – a free and open-source alternative to Hammer for GoldSource. It supports Windows. It is no longer being developed.
- Svencraft - a modified version of Hammer 3.4 for Sven Co-op.
- Gearcraft - a modified version of Hammer 3.4[confirm] for James Bond 007: Nightfire.