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{{Software Infobox
{{Cleanup}}
 
 
|image=[[File:Hammer splash logo.png|250px]]
{{Software_Infobox
 
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|image2=[[File:Hammer coast screenshot.png|250px]]
|imageBG=
 
|image=[[File:Hammer splash screen.png|250px]]
 
 
|name=Valve Hammer Editor
 
|name=Valve Hammer Editor
 
|author=[[Valve Corporation]]
 
|author=[[Valve Corporation]]
 
|developer=Valve Corporation
 
|developer=Valve Corporation
|date=
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|date=1996
 
|programming language=
 
|programming language=
 
|operating system=[[Wikipedia:Windows 2000|Windows 2000]], [[Wikipedia:Windows XP|XP]], [[Wikipedia:Windows Vista|Vista]], [[Wikipedia:Windows 7|7]]
 
|operating system=[[Wikipedia:Windows 2000|Windows 2000]], [[Wikipedia:Windows XP|XP]], [[Wikipedia:Windows Vista|Vista]], [[Wikipedia:Windows 7|7]]
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|status=Active
 
|status=Active
 
|type=[[Wikipedia:Level editor|Level editor]]
 
|type=[[Wikipedia:Level editor|Level editor]]
|license=[[Wikipedia:Proprietary software|proprietary]]
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|license=[[Wikipedia:Proprietary software|Proprietary]]
 
|website=[http://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/Main_Page The Valve Developer Community]
 
|website=[http://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/Main_Page The Valve Developer Community]
 
}}
 
}}
   
'''Valve Hammer Editor''', formerly known as '''Worldcraft''' and now commonly called '''Hammer''', is [[Valve Software]]'s map creation program for their game engine, [[Source]]. Old versions of Worldcraft also supported ''Quake'' and ''Quake II''. Versions prior to 4 supported exclusively [[Goldsrc]], Source's predecessor. The current version only supports Source. It is freely available to anyone who has purchased a Source based game as a part of the Source SDK.
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'''Valve Hammer Editor''', formerly known as '''Worldcraft''' and commonly named '''Hammer''', is [[Valve Software]]'s map creation program for their game engine, [[Source]]. Versions prior to 4 supported exclusively [[Goldsrc]], Source's predecessor. It is freely available to anyone who has purchased a Source based game, as a part of the [[Source SDK]].
   
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The current version for use with Source is 4.0, however an alpha of Hammer 5 (for Source 2) was released as part of the DOTA 2 Workshop Tools Alpha, featuring an overhauled UI, WYSIWYG viewport, new file formats, support for more advanced displacement meshing, and much more.
== Level design with Hammer ==
 
Prior to the release of Source, Hammer used only brushes (blocks) called primitives. Sets of simpler primitives can be used in older GoldSrc games. However, some features of version 4 and above, such as displacement maps, are not compatible with GoldSrc. Many level designers who work with both Source and GoldSrc games usually keep an install of 3.5 to avoid using unsupported features in a GoldSrc game.
 
   
== Files and compiling ==
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== Overview ==
Valve Hammer Editor version 4.0 saves a level file in the ''.vmf'' format by default. Before this, it saved a level file in the binary, proprietary ''.rmf'' or text-based, human-readable ''.map format.'' The .vmf format is a simple file that contains all the information about a level. It originated because of ''[[Half-Life]]'''s reliance on the ''Quake'' engine, and has remained as a result. [[Valve Software|Valve]] includes compiling tools with the ''Source SDK'' - ''vbsp'', ''vvis'', and ''vrad''. The following list is largely true for both formats, but is intended as a reference for Source levels.
 
   
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The Hammer editor is used by level designers to create new maps for Source-based games. It is used to create geometry and to place objects (entities) in the game world. It can also be used to script events in maps, such as [[Overwatch Soldier]]s ambushing the player, via manipulation of entities.
*First, a level is passed through the ''bsp'' program. This program uses the brushes to create the architecture of the level. It also places all entities where they should go based on the level design file (.vmf file). This program writes the initial .bsp (Binary space partitioning) file.
 
   
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The current version of Hammer, 4.0, supports both [[Source engine]] and [[GoldSrc]] games. However, placing an entity used in only one engine can cause errors. Those that create maps for GoldSrc usually use version 3.5, which is the last version that only supports GoldSrc games.
*Second, the level passes through the ''vis'' (Visible Information Set) processor, which determines what polygons are rendered and what lights appear where. Since the Source engine uses portal based rendering to determine what is visible at any given time, this program creates the portals by dividing the map into convex regions with visibility data, like [[GoldSrc|Quake]]-based engines do at a per-polygon level.
 
   
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In order to create a map for a certain game, Hammer must have a special file, called a .fgd file, associated with it. This file tells Hammer what entities the game uses so that it will let the user select them. The .fgd files for official Valve games using the Source engine already come prepackaged into Hammer with the [[Source SDK]], but for the GoldSrc games, the user must add them manually.
*Finally, the level passes through the ''rad'' program. This program computes the lighting of the map, including pseudo-radiosity for Source maps, resulting in more natural-looking lighting. If there is a leak in the level, only standard lighting will be computed - radiosity will not be simulated, resulting in faker/harsher lighting. If the mapper doesn't run the ''rad'' application, the level will appear as full-bright (without static shadows or lighting of any kind, with every texture being fully lit.) If the level designer decides to compile the map with [[Source|HDR]] lighting enabled, the level must pass through an additional stage of rad compiling- one stage to calculate normal (LDR) lighting, and a second stage for calculating HDR lighting.
 
   
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Hammer can also be used to compile maps so that they can be played in a game. To do this, Hammer runs the map through three (four in 3.5 and earlier) .exe programs; vbsp.exe, which renders the geometry, vvis.exe, which renders what geometry appears where, and vrad.exe, which renders the lighting. Versions 3.5 and earlier included an additional program, qcsg.exe, which renders the basic outline of the map for vbsp.exe to fill in. In 4.0, this has been merged with vbsp.exe.
*With earlier versions of VHE (up to 3.5) and games for the GoldSource engine, there were four steps in the compilation. ''BSP'' is preceded by ''CSG'' (constructive solid geometry), which parses the brushes, places entities, indexes textures, and sets up the general framework of the level for the BSP pass which generally only performed space partitioning. In the Source engine and VHE 4.0, Hammer stores the files in a CSG format, rather than vertex based, and lets the ''BSP'' tool handle all the entity placement tasks, so the ''CSG'' process has effectively been merged into ''BSP''.
 
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The compilation process in Hammer 5 has been simplified drastically, due to Source 2's use of on-the-fly visibility calculation and a deferred lighting model. As a result, much of the compilation process is no longer required - VBSP, VVIS and VRAD have been replaced by Resource Compiler. Hammer 5 makes use of the Qt Framework for it's UI, allowing for much flexibility in the position of windows and buttons, as well as the rebinding of hotkeys.
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==Behind the scenes==
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*Hammer originally started out as a paid ''Quake'' level editor named "Worldcraft". During the development of ''Half-Life'', [[Valve]] hired [http://www.mobygames.com/developer/sheet/view/developerId,34586/ Ben Morris], the creator of Worldcraft, and purchased the rights to own the program. They then developed it into the Valve Hammer Editor.<ref name="history">[http://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/Hammer_Editor_version_history Hammer Editor version history] at The Valve Developer Community</ref>
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*When Hammer was still an independent product, the developer planned on allowing Hammer to edit [http://liandri.beyondunreal.com/Unreal ''Unreal''] maps.<ref name="history"/> This never came into fruition because Worldcraft was purchased by Valve before ''Unreal'' came out.
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*Hammer's first name was "The Forge", but it was changed because the level editor for the ''[http://traxus.bungie.org/index.php/Marathon Marathon]'' game series is named "[http://traxus.bungie.org/index.php/Forge Forge]".
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==Trivia==
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*Old versions of Hammer also supported ''Quake'' and ''Quake II''. This is because of the similarities between the [[GoldSrc]], ''Quake'' and ''Quake II'' engines.
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*With some manipulation, it is possible to make ''Quake'' maps in Hammer 3.3.
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*When first launched, the Hammer featured in the playable [[Half-Life 2 Beta|''Half-Life 2'' Beta]] plays a 3 seconds [[Wikipedia:Musical Instrument Digital Interface|MIDI]] intro of the song "[[Wikipedia:U Can't Touch This|U Can't Touch This]]" by [[Wikipedia:MC Hammer|MC Hammer]] (named "hamrtime.mid"), an obvious play on the name of the artist, and the infamous sentence featured in the song, "Stop... Hammer time!".
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*The icon used for obsolete entities consists of what presumably is the head of a Valve developer pasted on the [[Wikipedia:File:Fonz Pic.PNG|bust]] of [[Wikipedia:Fonzie|Fonzie]] from the TV sitcom ''[[Wikipedia:Happy Days|Happy Days]]'', with his trademarks thumb up and leather jacket.
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==Gallery==
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<gallery widths=140 position=center captionalign=center hideaddbutton=true><!--- DO NOT ALTER THESE CODES --->
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File:Wc01.jpg|Worldcraft 2.0, map editing.
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File:Wc05.jpg|Worldcraft 2.0, texture browser.
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</gallery>
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==References==
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{{Reflist}}
   
 
== External links ==
 
== External links ==
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* [http://games.softpedia.com/get/Tools/Valve-Hammer-Editor.shtml Download link for Hammer 3.5]
* [http://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/Main_Page Valve Developer Community], Official wiki dedicated to editing the ''[[Source engine]]''.
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* [http://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/Main_Page The Valve Developer Community] - official wiki dedicated to editing the Source engine
* [http://zhlt.info/ Zoner's Half-Life Tools], alternatives to the compiling tools included with the original Hammer Editor.
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* [http://zhlt.info/ Zoner's Half-Life Tools] - alternatives to the compiling tools included with the original Hammer
* [http://www.twhl.co.za TWHL] - A large, active mapping community with support for both GoldSource and Source engines.
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* [http://www.twhl.co.za TWHL] - a large, active mapping community with support for both GoldSource and Source engines
* [http://www.bluesnews.com/archives/ Blue's news Archive] - Many old Worldcraft and Quake related "news".
 
   
 
{{RW}}
 
{{RW}}

Revision as of 15:47, 12 August 2014

This subject is in the Real world.This is a good article.

Valve Hammer Editor, formerly known as Worldcraft and commonly named Hammer, is Valve Software's map creation program for their game engine, Source. Versions prior to 4 supported exclusively Goldsrc, Source's predecessor. It is freely available to anyone who has purchased a Source based game, as a part of the Source SDK.

The current version for use with Source is 4.0, however an alpha of Hammer 5 (for Source 2) was released as part of the DOTA 2 Workshop Tools Alpha, featuring an overhauled UI, WYSIWYG viewport, new file formats, support for more advanced displacement meshing, and much more.

Overview

The Hammer editor is used by level designers to create new maps for Source-based games. It is used to create geometry and to place objects (entities) in the game world. It can also be used to script events in maps, such as Overwatch Soldiers ambushing the player, via manipulation of entities.

The current version of Hammer, 4.0, supports both Source engine and GoldSrc games. However, placing an entity used in only one engine can cause errors. Those that create maps for GoldSrc usually use version 3.5, which is the last version that only supports GoldSrc games.

In order to create a map for a certain game, Hammer must have a special file, called a .fgd file, associated with it. This file tells Hammer what entities the game uses so that it will let the user select them. The .fgd files for official Valve games using the Source engine already come prepackaged into Hammer with the Source SDK, but for the GoldSrc games, the user must add them manually.

Hammer can also be used to compile maps so that they can be played in a game. To do this, Hammer runs the map through three (four in 3.5 and earlier) .exe programs; vbsp.exe, which renders the geometry, vvis.exe, which renders what geometry appears where, and vrad.exe, which renders the lighting. Versions 3.5 and earlier included an additional program, qcsg.exe, which renders the basic outline of the map for vbsp.exe to fill in. In 4.0, this has been merged with vbsp.exe.

The compilation process in Hammer 5 has been simplified drastically, due to Source 2's use of on-the-fly visibility calculation and a deferred lighting model. As a result, much of the compilation process is no longer required - VBSP, VVIS and VRAD have been replaced by Resource Compiler. Hammer 5 makes use of the Qt Framework for it's UI, allowing for much flexibility in the position of windows and buttons, as well as the rebinding of hotkeys.

Behind the scenes

  • Hammer originally started out as a paid Quake level editor named "Worldcraft". During the development of Half-Life, Valve hired Ben Morris, the creator of Worldcraft, and purchased the rights to own the program. They then developed it into the Valve Hammer Editor.[1]
  • When Hammer was still an independent product, the developer planned on allowing Hammer to edit Unreal maps.[1] This never came into fruition because Worldcraft was purchased by Valve before Unreal came out.
  • Hammer's first name was "The Forge", but it was changed because the level editor for the Marathon game series is named "Forge".

Trivia

  • Old versions of Hammer also supported Quake and Quake II. This is because of the similarities between the GoldSrc, Quake and Quake II engines.
  • With some manipulation, it is possible to make Quake maps in Hammer 3.3.
  • When first launched, the Hammer featured in the playable Half-Life 2 Beta plays a 3 seconds MIDI intro of the song "U Can't Touch This" by MC Hammer (named "hamrtime.mid"), an obvious play on the name of the artist, and the infamous sentence featured in the song, "Stop... Hammer time!".
  • The icon used for obsolete entities consists of what presumably is the head of a Valve developer pasted on the bust of Fonzie from the TV sitcom Happy Days, with his trademarks thumb up and leather jacket.

Gallery

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 Hammer Editor version history at The Valve Developer Community

External links