Forum posts

Perhaps you are right and we should lay off, I think people just want to vent there anger at the fact that not only did valve send a fatal error along with the updates (which are mandatory), but it is an error they created AND fixed before.

However, thorough the use of the beta and the method that slackiller generously gave us, we can continue working on out levels and using hammer. It is of course an inconvenience but most of us can live with it.

I agree with you 100% that they will have it up and running shortly. All we have to do is wait...

Well to Valve's Credit, They are consistent. They know that if first you don?t succeed, make the same mistake over and over and over and over.....

Yes I have the "Fatal Error" as well. And my Hammer crashes also. Looks like Im going to have some trouble finishing up my level for the 28th. Ihope thye fix there fix soon.

sounds intersting... i look forward to seeing the fruits of your labour

This is just a follow-up on my question earlier. I did try the displacement landmark and it worked like a charm. I used info_target entities at the base of the transporter pads and used them to displace the objects being transported from the center. This is one of the rare moments where a mapper doesn?t have to settle for less because Hammer doesn?t like what they are trying to do.

This is definitely tutorial worthy. It wouldn?t be too hard to write one up or draw some diagrams in paint or something. If you want to know more about it I could post a more detailed account of what I did to make it work and the ?test level? that I used.

Thanks a lot guys, especially the good captain, all it takes sometimes is a new way of looking at an old problem.

Thanks for your input guys, I have experimented with the pie system in the past and it sortof worked. The displacemnt landmark is an interesting idea and I will have to play with it some time. Unfortunaly right now everytime I compile a map, hl2 crashes. I think it has to do with the vis, I'm to sure anyhow untill i get that sorted out I'll just have to wait on the teleporter.

Have you tried the displacemnt system captain_p? I would really like to hear back from someone who has tried it.

Thanks for your time.

2006 eh? Well I look forward to a "beta " at some point. Keep up the good work!

Greetings, at last my long silence has been broken!
I?ve have been very bogged down with, well life, and have just had some time recently to sit down and continue some work on a map I thought I?d never have the chance to work on again. It is great to see that the level of discussion hasn?t been reduced in the months of late.

Anyhow, I do have a question for the knowledgeable bunch here, regarding the teleport entity. As I experimented with the transported it became clear almost immediately that it was designed with the idea that it would only transport one person at a time. Now this is all well and good most of the time, however my level has a Stargate stile ring system that transports a person form one set of rings to a corresponding set in another part of the level. The problem is that if more than one person get in the rings, well, lets just say Scotty would have a field day trying to clean up the mess.

I would really like to be able to transport more than one person at a time because the rings are the only way form one location to another. If there is a team trying to get through, well, one at a time isn?t fun.

Is there a way to transport 2-4 people in a given area to another given area while keeping their original positions in the rings? Or perhaps would it be possible to key a transport node to 2 or more destinations, (inside the rings), so people don?t end up inside each other?

As always any help is appreciated. My thanks to you guys and keep up the good work.

Have you tried Refreshing the sdk content?
Reseting the game configuration?

Those options are in the Source sdk under utilities.

Well Thank you for that man, but I've still been having some problems.

Seems the "Delay Before Reset" thing is for the movment of the button. now my button didn't move but just to test it I changes it so it would and made the delay longer then the sequence in the hopes that the button would be disabled while it moved. But sadly that was not the case and it was interupted. for the moment I have come up with a way to cover the button with a funk_door rotating, like one of thse fancy ones from the movies... you know, the ones that blow up stuff....

Anyhow that has solved it for the moment yet I still do not have a way of stopping the use of the button while another button is in use. Like if button A rotates a door one way and button B moves the door the other way and 2 people push them at the same time... well it causes a mess. Anyway thanks for your help, I always feel bad asking questions and answering so few but i guess when some one asks this one again I'll Have the answer. Thanks again!

Disabling buttons

Hey there guys I have what may seem like an idiotic question but here gose.
I have been working a lot with long and complicated button sequences, what I mean is when you press a button the button will do something for example:

?OnDamage / sound / playsound? at time 0.00

Then after that it will do the next thing on list:

?OnDamage / sound2 / playsound? at time 5.00

Anyhow the sequence I am doing takes over a minute to complete and if it is interrupted, it begins to do it over again before it?s done and messes things up really badly. What I have been trying to do is make the button unusable for the duration of the sequence, so it can?t be messed up. Ideally I would like the button to be pressed (or shot) and if it is pressed again it will have no affect. I have tried to have a separate button to lock the first one but it doesn?t work, and there are no enable/disable options on it. Anyone know how to do this without the help of a multisouce (because hl2 doesn?t have em)?
Thanks

Man I know it sucks the big One111!
No but really I was very disappointed when I found out that all the ichthyosaur could do was spin around in a circle in the fetal position or whatever. I would do anything for a mod that gave the ichthyosaur its HL1 AI back. I would make HL2 10 times better, (from my point of view anyway).

A scientists killing test chamber just isn't complete without the tangy zip of ichthyosaur!

If anyone knows how to code or knows of some one that could do this it would be single greatest improvement to half-life 2 ever (in my opinion of course).

Well after a rather steep learning curve I managed to learn how to make my own custom textures thanks to the tutorials that were provided in the other thread. (thanks a lot!) But again I have a question regarding textures. Here is what I have been trying to do:

Recently I have learned how to make my own brush based vehicle. I work fine yet there was one feature I wanted to add: A working cloaking device. I figured this would be simple; all I would do was use the env_texturetoggle and switch the textures between the metal one that?s on the ship to the nodraw texture. However I have recently learned that the env_texturetoggle is only used for animating textures that have more than one frame.

I thought of changing the $alpha of the texture but I can?t find a way of triggering it in game, (by a button or the like). I have tried setting the textures $alpha on a sine curve but that just made it look like it was constantly phasing in and out of cloak. Again I couldn?t find a way to trigger it.

What I would like to have ideally is a ship that could, at the press of a button, fade out to an $alpha of 0, (so you couldn?t see it), then, pressing the button again, the ship would fade back to an $alpha of 1.

At this point I could Settle for a button that could just change the frame of an animating texture, one frame being a metal surface and one being a completely translucent material. Any one have any idea how I could work something like this? Thanks a lot.

Well It looks like I've managed to solve my own problem. I think what was hapening was the text file was not changing into a vmt file so it was not recginising it. My solution was to copy one of valves existing vmt files then erase the text in it, replace it with my own and rename the file itslef. a bit of a hasle but it works. I hope this helps anyone in a similar situation; I'd hate to see someone banging there head on the keyboard on when it might just be an oversight like mine.

I have followed the snark pit tutorial to the letter... 7 times... and the texture still doesn't show up in hammer. I got my vtf made (and put in the customtex folder) and i added the text to the txt file then renamed it a vmt file (and placed it in thethe same folder) but Ican't find it in hammer. is there somthing that you have to do to make it apera in hammer i.e. change settings or something?

Are you talking about a tab or somthing? I can't find one in the tools menu. If I remember right there was one for hl but I cant find it in hammer 4.

Hey Guys,
I just had a question regarding custom textures in hl2. I have been working on getting a custom texture in a dm map for several hours to no avail. I have followed multiple tutorials and I believe I know what I am supposed to do, I?m just not sure as to how.

I had a texture in tga format and put it in the Content Sources directory: (usernamesourcesdk_contenthl2mpmaterialsrc) and I used the command prompt to create a vtf file which went to the Game Content directory: (usernamehalf-life 2 deathmatchhl2mpmaterials).

Now I am supposed to have a vmt file as well to make the texture appear in game however I haven?t been able to get a straight answer as to where and how to get one and what to put in it.

As always any help would be appreciated. Thanks for your time.

Shoot it didnt work. Ah well here is the site anyway so you can copy it into your browser.:P

http://72.14.207.104/search?q=cache:gDccK2tX0hUJ:www.chatbear.com/%3FP770881+env_texturetoggle&hl=en

I belive I've found out how to work it, sadly it is beyond me. The level of techno-babble is to the point where my head spins. It deals with making VMT Files, something that I have never attempted before. I still have trouble making brushes lol. Anyhow here is the material I found on the subject, just incase someone understands it.
I hope this works

Well that's the strange thing, the button entity doesn't seem to have a disable input. the only thing that is remotely close to that would be the lock input however I have tried many combinations with it and it seems to have no effect.

I belive I have come up with an alternate solution, though it's a bit low tech. I think I will have the button embedded in a wall and upon being shot a door will close over the button at a high rate of speed so no one will be able to shoot it again until the sequence is over.

That should take care of problem #1. As for #2, I was thinking of a flash that could be bright enough so i could block a persons view of the object or person inside the rings, but not extend much farther than the room that the rings are in. (they are in a building outside with lots of windows)

I think I've got you, have the button deactivate the multisource, which would disable the button. Is that the idea? That sounds good, however I have not been able to locate the multisource entity in hammer source. Is it possible that they removed it in HL2? Any idea what entity could have replaced it or do the same kind of thing?

Hey Guys, I Have recently been working on a stargate sg1 themed map, (not crazy detailed or acurate but just for some fun in deathmatch).

In my map I have decided to input those fancy alien transport rings. For those of you that haven't seen the movie or show, they are basically a set of 5 cylindrical rings that come down one at a time from the ceiling of a room and surround a person or object. there is a flash of light within the rings and the person or object is transported to an identical set of rings at some other location. The the rings return to the ceiling and disappear, (at least that's how I remember it. It has been a while). I even found some cannon sound effects to make for an even better experience.

Now ofcource i wouldn't be writing this if i didn't have a few problem, (not that i don't enjoy talking about my creations). I have been able to get working prototypes set up in a test level. I made the rings funk trains and that seems to work fine, (Gackt and I were able to get them working in DM). There are 2 significant problems with the rings.

1. I based everything that the rings do in the button that controls it. The button is damage activated and when you shoot it a large number of things happen. It first plays a sound file, then activates the first ring. Then 0.25 after that it activates the next ring and so on. The only way I have been able to get it all to work is by making everything the button has to do a "on damage, so and so, dose this, time dealy" so I have a very long list of "on damage" commands in the button. The entire sequence takes 8 second to complete. The problem with this is if Evil Jimmy, (random guy), comes along and unload his machine gun at the button it messes up all the sequences because they are all being told to restart while in motion.

2. OK this isn't really a problem but I could still use help. In the show as I said before after the rings come down there is a flash of light during the transit. Anyone know how I could set up something like that? I really am over my head when it comes to doing cool stuff like that.

Anyhow thanks for your help, I look forward to releasing this map to the community, Gackt and I have been working on if for some time. (Again it is not 100% true to the show just for a few laughs in DM)

Hye Guys, sorry to bother you with a trivial question but I am having trouble getting clear inforamtion from various modding pages out there.
I was hoping to find a tutorial on how to create a team deathmatch level or how to make a deathmatch level into a team dm one. I tried the ones over at the snarkpit but they did litle to help, they were more addvanced. i just need the basics. As always any help would be appreciated. thanks alot

That was it, my cubemaps were all messed up. Everything is working fine now. I guess I never noticed that much of an effect with the old card; i put them in and didn?t calibrate them right. I should have checked them.

Thanks a lot for your help. I seem to overanalyze things and miss simple solutions.

Well I don?t think it is any one texture that is causing the problem; I placed my entire level inside another, older one, (something I learned was messy), and the textures worked fine. So I tried deleting everything out of an older level and placing the new stuff in yet the same problem occurred.:(

Here are some of the textures I have been using just in case though (I?m sure all of them are not working right though)

metal/citadel_metalwall077a
metal/citadel_tilefloor016a
tile/tilefloor021a
concrete/concretefloor026a
dev/dev_water2

Hey guys, recently I purchased a new DirectX 9 compatible card, (ATI Radeon 9600 XT), and it works great. The problem I have been having is with a particular level.

For all of my pervious hl2 and hl2dm levels the textures show up fine with the nice reflections and such, but on my latest level, the textures show up as DirectX 7, with none of the bells and whistles. Models like players and props look like they are DirectX 9 (as they should) but the textures don?t.

Now I have adjusted the video setting but they do nothing, the problem has to be with the level itself because my other ones work and look fine. I also know this because a friend of mine joined my level, (he has a DirectX 9 card as well), and experienced the same thing.

Anyone know why or how the textures of a level could be changed like that? I don?t really know much more but if you need more info I could try to fill you in. any help would be appreciated.

I had the same problem, but it went away. try just running half-life 2 and death match normaly, play for a few mins and try compyling it again. I had to run Half-life 2 death mach indipendantly befor i could get it to work loding maps

Hey guys, I was just looking at the steam update news and noticed the pictures of the winning maps of the map competition. One think I noticed was they were all very elaborate; they all had a rather? planed quality to them. One of greatest weaknesses as a mapper is (among other things), a lack of vision, i.e. I often start on a map with little of no idea of what it will look like in the end. This is fine but looking at the map I have been working on? well the people who?ve played it say if fun, (not finish yet though), but I have very few positive comments on its aesthetic qualities. The level is just boring. The buildings are works of art, (at least I think so), but there just places on a flat piece off ground. The level is too square and too flat. Here are a few screen shots, (they just show how flat the level is):

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y31/john41/pr1.jpg
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y31/john41/pr2.jpg
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y31/john41/pr3.jpg

Any ideas as how to increase the ?squareness? of the level would be appreciated.

http://www.hl2world.com/wiki/index.php/MP3s_and_custom_sounds_on_your_map

Is this what your were looking for?

Yes indeed it was the logic_timer entity. I should probably do some research before posting questions, just couldn?t figure that one out.
I suppose you could say I?m new to mapping; I have been building things in hammer for a while, but getting them functional was a different story. And with all the new entities and completely new input output system, well... Sometimes it seems a bit beyond me.
I do appreciate the offer of help though, perhaps I could get someone to review it when it?s finished and make suggestions on how to improve it.

agreed

Hey folks. Got a mapping question for you:

I'm working on a level with a series of traps. Originally they were going to be remote operated from a control room but that proved difficult for 2 reasons. 1, the camera array works fine in single player but gets messed up in multiplayer and 2, once people find out about the traps, well... there just not fun anymore.

So I would like to automate the traps on a one minute modulation. One minute passes them it tigers the doors to close and the traps to activate, then the next minute the doors will open and the traps will deactivate and so on.

Trouble is: I have absolutely no Idea how to do it.

As always any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks a lot.

So no one knows hoe to do funk tanks in Hl2? Sorry, I want to know too!

Well it seems that I was at fault, I just didnt restart steam. every thing works now. sorry to bother you. carry on.

Yes I could do that, I have also been able to run it on the source dedicated server. It's easy to find ways around the problem, but for the sake of convinience I would like to solve it.

I.E. it' easyer to press go them load up the consol to test my level.

Hey guys.
I a bit ticked of at Steam Today , just downloaded the updateds and now I'm geting a strange error msg everytime I try to run a map in hammer. I am runing a deathmach level and push the run command. The map compiles and I get an error message saying

"Failed to load the launcher DLL:
The specified module could not be found."

I was just wondering if anyone has this problem and better yet if anyone has a solution.

Thanks sir I found that very helpful, Hope you get your boat working Gackt.

Thanks guys. I remember posting a similar question about HL1. I'll Test out the 40 units as a meter and keep the guidlines in mind. Thanks again.

Hey guys, was just wondering if any of you know how to set up units of measure other than, well? units. The start location is 32 x 32 x 72 units big, is there a way to change the scale to metric or imperial units. It would be most helpful in creating actual buildings.

Thanks a lot, those helpers are realy, helpful.

Hey guys, I was recently reading a tutorial at the snark pit about rotating doors. Apparently you no longer need to use an origin brush to make the door turn; it's included in the entity. My question is: has anyone seen this origin? In the pictures it shoed up as a blue or gray ball in the center of the object, yet I can't find anything like it on a rotating door I create. Does anyone else have this problem or know how to fix it?
Thanks a lot.

you download it from steam

Hello, I have been modeling for about a yeah now, (mostly making replicas of places), and could use some help with the scripted sentence object.
I would like to know how to make a scientist say a wave file that i have recorded. So far I only have been able to get them to say sentences form the "sentences.txt" file.
Any help would be much appreciated.
Thx.