Half-Life 2 VTFTool
Jul0
VTFTool needs to exist in the SourceSDK\Bin folder but doesn’t need Steam
to be running to actually work (at the moment).
From the ‘File’ menu, choose the type of conversion you want to perform and
if you want to convert just a single file or a whole folder.
VTFTool has quite a few extra options you need to know about. Tooltips are
provided on each options giving a brief explanation of what they do.
The drop down box provides a list of current Source games and mods taken from
the SDK config which can be used to automatically set your materials source
and materials folders. This is NOT 100% foolproof so make sure you do check
that the folders that it sets are correct for your project. Alternatively, you
can set these using the “…” browse buttons to the folders of your choosing.
The reference paths are uses by “smart mode” which will attempt to keep sync
between the layout of your source and final materials folders and is used in
creating any folders and files that are needed.
The reference paths do NOT have to be set for simple conversions but you
will need to choose the “Output to same folder” or “To ‘materials/materialsrc
only’” option to stop the alert boxes being shown.
The other options are fairly familary to those who have used the command line
VTF2TGA and VTEX tools before. However two extra options need explaining.
“Output to same folder” is used for simple, quick conversions of one file format
to another. Simply put, the converted file will be places inthe same folder as
the source regardless of the reference paths. No smart placement will be done.
“To ‘materials/materialsrc’ only” will output the converted file to the materials
or source folder (depending on the type of conversion) but won’t attempt to place
the file in the relevant sub-folder structure.
Additional options - Generate/Use config TXT will export or read extra flags for
the VTF files header. When converting to TGA this will be written out, when making
a VTF these are read in. If during VTF creation the config doesnt exist its ignored.
‘Export MIPs’ which will export the MIP TGA’s as well as the original 1:1 scale
image file.
Half-Life 2 Valve Map Extractor
Jul0
VMEX (valve Map Extractor) is a .bsp to .vmf map decompiler for Half-Life 2 games (HL2, HL2DM, CS:S and DoD:S).
It also partially supports decompiling of .bsp files from Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlines.
It requires the Java Runtime Environment 5.0 (aka 1.5.0) which can be downloaded from this page:
http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.5.0/download.jsp
By following the “Download JRE” link.
The decompiler can now be used from a graphical interface or the command line.
For the GUI, double-click on the vmex.bat file. Use the “Browse” button to select a .bsp file
to decompile, and the “Decompile” button to start decompilation. Note that any errors will appear
in the command-line window.
Half-Life 2 Source Server Query Tool
Jul0
This is a tool to query a Valve Source server via UDP (User Datagram Protocol). It will return all of the information provided by the Source server in response to the A2S_INFO query.
The tool is missing some features such as robust input checking and a receive timeout. If you enter a malformed IP or port it is liable to throw an exception.
The Visual Basic.Net source is located in the included source folder with the associated Visual Studio .Net 2003 support files. Simply double-click on the project file and it will open in Visual Studio.
This tool is provided as a courtesy to the community. It is intended as a starting point for other .Net based projects looking to query the Source engine. The executable and source are provided as-is with no warranty either expicit or implied. I cannot support this application.
I hope you find it useful and educational.
by Technocrat
Half-Life 2 Source MDL Texture
Jul0
MDLTextureInfo needs to exist in the SourceSDK\Bin folder but doesn’t need Steam
to be running to actually work (at the moment).
Create a shortcut to it, or use it via the command line. Either drag and drop
a MDL file onto the shortcut you created or type MDLTextureInfo.exe followed by
the path and filename to your MDL file.
Half-Life 2 Random Map Creator
Jul0
Settings
When you start you must select a steam account with BOTH Half-Life 2 and Source SDK installed. It needs the compilers in source sdk to compile the maps. If you don’t know how to install Source SDK, goto “My Games” in the steam menu, and dubble-click on Source SDK. The installer will start then. If you would like to change your account later, click on the “change account” button in the main window.
The main window is filled to the limit with options. Do not change them if you don’t know exactly what they do. Extreme settings will result in exteamly un-balanced maps.
-Rooms/Level Setting: This isn’t hard to understand. It defines the ammount of rooms that your map will contain. The more room’s you got, the longer it will take to compile. This setting will be manipulated by HL2rmc so it’s not entierly accurate!
-Levels: This setting defines the ammount of levels your scenario will have.
-Enemy Difficuly: The more you set it to the right, the harder will the enemies be. There is a filter that keeps the tough monsters from spawning too quickly in the map, the higher this option is set, the weaker the filter.
-Alien/Combine Balance: At normal, 50% of the room will contain ailiens and 50% of them will contain combines. This is becouse the combine (or the ailiens) wont slaghter the other race at start. The more you pull this to the left, the more ailiens will spawn and vice versa.
-Game Difficulcy: It got 3 modes, easy, medium and hard. This will set the game difficulcy when HL2 launches.
-Theme/Genre: No special genre is supported yet. It will probably be enabled in the future if someone want to make a mod, with rooms that can only be used for his standard.
-Ammo and Weapons: The higher you select this option, the more of the legal weapon point positions will be used. (In clear english: ..the more weapons will spawn)
-Get New Weapons: This works about the same way as the Enemy Difficuly, if you set this option high, the powerful guns won’t spawn until late in the game.
-Time of the Day: Select here where the map is located and what the time should be. It will use theese options for calculating the sun angle. (Tip: If you don’t care, just click “randomize time”)
For the man with ice in his stumick, press “set randomize options” to randomize all options for a total randomized map.
The room manager is an important tool for the room developer. It displays all the rooms witch are currently loaded into the HL2rmc memory. Click refresh to update the list. Select a room to see it’s properties. You can test a room here too, it will make the room selected, the only option for the selected room type. To reset this, press the same button again. The other two buttons are quick functions that deletes the room permanently or launches HL2rmc SDK, witch can be used for compilation of vmf files.
Compilation options:
-Random Seed: Custom randomized seeds could be used to makes maps that looks the same. This doesn’t always work.
-Detailed Status: If you select this options you’ll be awarded with more information about the process, but you’ll get a bit slower room creation.
-Write Log File: If anything goes wrong, it’s good to have this option set, becouse then you can send me the log with an angry e-mail, telling me to fix it!
-Start HL2 automaticly: Will start hl2 when the compiling is done.
-Run Compiler Unhidden: See “the compiling process”
-FlashLight power: Will turn of any light, the only source will be the sun.
-Silent Halls: No monsters, for debuging purposes.
-Armed and Ready: You start with all weapons and ammo.
The compiling process
You think your’e ready to make your first map? Simply click the button and the compiler will start. It will display important events while working. When it’s finaly produced a map, it needs to be compiled. If you have selected the “run compiler unhidden” options, you should be able to see the compilers running in dos-command-line windows. You can follow the process anyways, by simply looking at the built in progressbar at the bottom. There are three compilers that need to run, vbsp, vvis and vrad. Vbsp creates the basic structure of the map, vvis optimizes it so certain sectors will be sealed of when looking, to prevent lag, and least but not last vrad runs. Vrad creates realistic light structures so it wont look fullbright.
When the map starts….
When the compiling is done, half-life is started (if you’ve selected that option) and it launches your map immidiatly. Press F12 and write “buildcubemaps;restart” in the console, this creates cubemaps for realistic reflections in walls and restarts your map to use those settings.
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