Changes: Valve Hammer Editor

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Valve Hammer Editor, formerly known as Worldcraft and now commonly called 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 of Hammer is 4.0.

Overview

The Hammer editor is used level designers to create new maps for Source-based games. Hammer 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 support 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'll let the user select them. In 4.0, the .fgd files for official Valve games already come prepackaged into Hammer with the Source SDK, but for the GoldSrc games, the user must add the .fgd files manually.

Hammer can also be used to compile maps so that they can be played in 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.

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.

External links

Download link for Hammer 3.5
Valve Developer Community, Official wiki dedicated to editing the Source engine.
Zoner's Half-Life Tools, alternatives to the compiling tools included with the original Hammer Editor.
TWHL - A large, active mapping community with support for both GoldSource and Source engines.
Blue's news Archive - Many old Worldcraft and Quake related "news".

Real-World subjects
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Production staff	Artists • Character models • Composers • Voice actors • Writers • Other
Software	Achievements • Compilations • Demos • Games (Half-Life • Multiplayer • Non-canon • Portal • Third-party) • Game Engines • HL HD Pack • Mods
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Cut content	Prospero • Half-Life Alpha • Half-Life 2 Beta • Half-Life 2: Episode Three • Half-Life 2: Episode Four
Misc.	Canon • Development (Commentary • Half-Life 2 • Portal • Next Half-Life game) • Mr. Valve • Retcons

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-'''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.
+'''Valve Hammer Editor''', formerly known as '''Worldcraft''' and now commonly called '''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]].
-== Level design with Hammer ==
+The current version of Hammer is 4.0.
-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 ==
+== 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.
+The Hammer editor is used level designers to create new maps for Source-based games. Hammer 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.
+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 support 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.
+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'll let the user select them. In 4.0, the .fgd files for official Valve games already come prepackaged into Hammer with the ''[[Source SDK]]'', but for the GoldSrc games, the user must add the .fgd files 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.
+Hammer can also be used to compile maps so that they can be played in 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''.
+==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.
 == External links ==
+* [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]]''.
 * [http://zhlt.info/ Zoner's Half-Life Tools], alternatives to the compiling tools included with the original Hammer Editor.