Valve Hammer Editor

Infobox Software
name = Valve Hammer Editor



caption = VHE with the "" map "Carousel" open.
author =
developer = Valve
released =
latest release version = 4.1
latest release date =
latest preview version =
latest preview date =
operating system = Microsoft Windows
platform =
language =
genre = Level editor
license = proprietary
website =

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 supports both Source and GoldSrc, and can only be accessed via a free download of the Source SDK.

Level design with Hammer

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

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 in a format vaguely similar to an XML file. It originated because of Half-Life's reliance on the Quake engine, and has remained as a result. 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.

*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.

*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 Quake-based engines do at a per-polygon level.

*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 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.

*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"

History

Initially Worldcraft was known as The Forge, but as this was also the name of Bungie Software's Marathon editor, the name was changed to Worldcraft.The program was initially developed for Quake by Ben Morris. The program was available for free during the beta development.

Beta

Version 0.920 was available for free download around September 28, 1996.November 23, 1996 a beta of the help file is released.

Version 1.007

October 7th, 1996

Version 1.022

October 22, 1996

Version 1.030

October 30, 1996Fix for qbsp.exe

Version 1.031

October 30, 1996Fix for qbsp.exe that would crash light.exe (rad.exe)December 9th Ben Morris announce plans for Unreal support.

Version 1.0

December 3, 1996The full version of Worldcraft was released on December 3, 1996. Price for the full version was $34.95.Worldcraft was initially distributed by ACDSystems.Registered users would receive updates via mail on CD's.Some CDs where not shipped before January 6, 1997.Initial features included.Primitives (wedges, cones, cylinders etc.).Prefab library (full version only).

Version 1.0a

December 5, 1996. Fixes for Minor issues in 1.0.

Version 1.0b

An update for 1.0b was released on February 15, 1997

Version 1.1a

Released on February 20, 1997

Version 1.2

Released on February 25, 1997.On July 14, 1997 Valve hires Ben Morris and aqcuires Worldcraft. They did so with the intent to use it for the development of Half-Life and later release it with Half-Life.

Version 1.3

Vertex manipulation

Version 1.5

Version 1.5 was released September 5, 1997 8:00 together with a 30 day shareware version.

Version 1.5a

Released September 24, 1997

Version 1.5b

1.5b Was released October 9, 1997 and then re-released on October 10, 1997 with a new logo and a bug fix.

Version 1.6

July 3, 1997 Announced December 18, 1997. Released March 6, 1998. At the same time Ben Morris announces that he has left Valve.Changes were: Added support for Quake II and Hexen II. FGD's for Quake, Quake 2, Hexen2, and Quake 2 CTF. Added the Game Configurations tab. Support for loading multiple .wal and .pak files. Browse textures per container. Edit the Quake 2 surface attributes. "Check for Problems" was added. Colored picker for light entities. View path files in 2D views. Expert Compiler options. The Build Programs tab.No shareware version was released for this version.

Version 1.6a

Shareware version released with the 1998 September issue of PC Accelerator Magazine.

Version 1.6b

Version 2.1

April 09, 1999 Version 2.1 of then Worldcraft was released for free, but only worked with Half-Life. Changes include: Crash fixes. New registry path to support coexisting with version 1.6.New mouselook ASDW navigation like in Half-Life. Better memory allocation.Autoupdate utility. lights.rad renamed to valve.rad. New lights.rad containing only +0~WHITE.

Version 3.3

Version 3.3 fixed a lot of the bugs that were left in 2.1.Rotate brushes and keep alignment..rmf (rich map format) is added as the default save format. This allows for saving vis groups and arbitrary brush shapes.

Version 3.4

Renamed from Worldcraft to Valve Hammer editor. This version fixed a few bugs and added some minor improvements.

Version 3.5

A beta version of Hammer 3.5 was released on April 18, 2003. This is the last version that fully works with Goldsrc. Changes where: Supports Half-Life .mdl models in 3d view. View path files in 3D view. Pitch and Roll compass added, but not working. This version was released as just the main exec and requred hammer 3.4 to be installed to work. Improved texture application tool. Improved advanced compile mode dialog UI. Select viewport background color.

Version 4.0

Initial release of hammer in the Source SDK..vmf (valve map format) is added as the format for source maps.

Version 4.1

Current version

See also

* Source SDK

External links

* [http://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/Main_Page Valve Developer Community] , Official wiki dedicated to editing the "Source engine"
* [http://www.halflifestorm.com/?page=tutorials&cat=1 Half Life Storm] - A Website with various Source Engine Mapping Tutorials
* [http://www.ammahls.com/?p=3 AMMAHLS] , alternatives to the compiling tools included with the "Source SDK"
* [http://www.twhl.co.za TWHL] - A large, active mapping community with support for both GoldSource and Source engines.
* [http://www.bluesnews.com/archives/ Blue's news Archive] - Many old Worldcraft and Quake related "news".