Kat's Hammer Guide


HAMMER GUIDE

 

Okay kids, time to make maps. This page is made to be a useful reference guide, and maybe teach you some new things.

 

If anyone has a question or wants a tutorial made, lemme know :D

 

Mappers, edit whatever you like, and add tutorials for cool things you know how to do. Step-by-step screenshots are always awesome.

 

Also, don't forget about here and here.

The Basics

 

Optimizing your map for compiling test versions

 

Compiling takes a bloody long time in HAMMAH so use these tips to speed it up if you wanna test your map out.

 

Tutorials

 

Keeping the above in mind, here are some tutorials for specific things.

 

Nodrawing to raise FPS, lower packets both clientside and serverside, and overall be a better person.

I couldn't have said it better myself. This is a good habit to have, and speeds up gameplay on your map because you won't load unnecessary brush edges.

  1. Clear your selection.
  2. Open the Texture Application tool (Shift+A) and select all edges of a brush that will never show (For example, edges covered by other brushes, or the outside walls of a room that should only ever be seen from the inside)
  3. Browse textures searching for "nodraw".
  4. Apply this texture.

 

Making teleports

I couldn't get teleporting to work because the three tutorials I watched left out a vital point, so here's Kat's version.

  1. Teleports need two parts: the teleporter (a brush) and destination (an entity). Start by making a brush at the teleporter's entrance - keep in mind that people will teleport when they touch the edge of this block.
  2. Now, make an info_target entity where you want your teleporter's destination to be. Right click > Properties and name it - we'll use the name to link the entrance and destination.
  3. Back to our teleporter brush. Select it and hit Ctrl+T. In Class, find trigger_teleport and hit enter.
  4. Set "Remote Destination" to the name you gave the info_target.
  5. Go to the Flags tab and select exactly what you want to be able to travel through your teleporter (Clients = Players - you probably want at least this one checked)
  6. All done! Try it out.

 

How to be awesome at texturing

The glorious moment when you discover the Texture Application tool brings back wonderful memories of moving from Easy Weld to the Easy Precision Tool. Anyone can texturize, but not everyone can texturize awesomely. FLAUNT YOUR NEW SKILLS. FLAUNT THEM!

  1. Open the Texture Application tool (Shift+A)
  2. Bask in its glory
  3. Click the edge of a brush - check that out! You can texture individual sides.
  4. Play with settings. Raise Texture Scale (Keep X and Y at 1:1) to prevent the look of repeating tiles, especially on a large brush.
  5. Justify is awesome. Left, Right, Fit, Top, Bottom, Center. Just like text, super useful for textures with noticeable edges, ie. some walls.
  6. "Treat as one" is used to line up a texture on multiple brushes. Veryyyyy useful. (If you don't notice the textures lining up after checking it, play with Justify)
  7. Watch out for Justify's "Fit". It changes your Texture Scale settings and doesn't keep the ratio at 1:1, so if you think you might want to undo it, remembering your Texture Scale numbers. It can be useful, but rarely.
  8. Lightmap scale affects how good shadows look on the texture. Smaller number = crisper, looks better, larger number = loads faster, less intensive. I use 64 on huge brushes and 16 on normal things.

 

Zero gravity in an area

Testing this out for the first time - some awesome guy made func_gravity for us, as the hammer inbuilt gravity-adjusters suck balls and don't do what we want at all. THANK YOU, AWESOME GUY! Check these links for everything you need to know.

 

 

Current problems I'm havin (if you have any tips lemme know! <3)