Are custom sprites possible in HL2? Created 19 years ago2005-09-30 16:52:40 UTC by Gackt

Sorry for yet another question, but this one just came to me as I started adding the previous topic's fixes to my project. In my original HL1 version of this project, I had "people" standing around that were actually sprites (I opted for sprites rather than brushes because they always face you, making it seem as though they're not just cardboard imitations). I've searched quite a few mapping websites and have not been able to find out if it is currently possible to put custom sprites into the game. My belief is that it should be, since the original game allowed it and it'd be unwise for Valve not to keep such functionality (especially since we have the reality of custom textures/materials/models in Source).

All I'm asking for is if it is possible - if you know anything beyond that, though, like what program I should look for, please let me know.

I'm sure it is. Absolutely plum(b?) certain.

Sure it's possible...

Sprites are just materials, usually placed in the materials/sprites folder (though I'd argue any other folder within the materials folder could do). All you need to do is using some different parameters in the .vmt file. For example, this is the blueflare1 .vmt file:

[quote]"Sprite"
{

"$spriteorientation" "vp_parallel"
"$spriteorigin" "[ 0.50 0.50 ]"
"$basetexture" "sprites/blueflare1"
"$additive" "1"

}[/quote]

So instead of using "LightmappedGeneric" for world faces or "VertexLitGeneric" for model faces, you use "Sprite". Well, the rest you can find out yourself...

EDIT: I'm actually surprized there aren't any tutorials or articles about this, at least not on the Valve Wiki. It isn't hard to find out, I just looked at where the browser went when choosing a sprite for an env_sprite and that happened to be looking in the materials/sprites folder, but it's lacking documentation. Ow well...

Thanks everyone. Hopefully the next time I mention this project will be to announce its completion.