Using old Hammer for HL2 map

I am starting a new HL2DM map. I usually have a decent amount of time at work to be able to devote to it. Unfortunetly, my laptop doesn't even come close to being able to run Steam/HL2/SDK decently. I can, however, run HL1/VHE 3.4 with no problems. Based on what I can find, it appears that I could import a full HL1 map into the Steam Hammer.

What I would like to do is find out how I can get a bit of work done, but not make too much work for myself, and find the "point of no return" as far as making this map.

I was planning on only doing the regular geometry (brushes only) in the old version of Hammer. No textures, or entities or anything else that might have to just be redone once I convert it to the newer version.

I figured I could at least get a majority of the actual map done, (with only basic textures, just see what I'm doing). Once I've gotten that done, then I can change to the newer Hammer and keep going with the rest: Textures, lighting, entities. I'm assuming at that point, I wouldn't be able to do much of anything in the old version.

Does anyone have any sugestions or warning that I should be aware of? The only thing I was possibly worried about is the actual map size, but I don't think it will even exceed the limits of HL1. I would just like to see if I am the right track for this.

Thanks,
Ryandor

Sounds about right to me. The player unit sizes are the same in both games. Even though it says in hl2 1 unit = 1 inch ... it still looks weird in game.

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Blame it on Microsoft, God does.

Yeah it should be okay. Just keep in mind what things you can build with displacements etc. and leave those for when you port the map from HL1 to HL2. Like you said, just do the brushwork.

You could try to make a shortcut for the new Hammer and use "-dxlevel
70" command line variable to tone down the gfx in Hammer, also setting
the model draw distance to minium will help. :smile:

Or you can use the olde hammer at first.

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''Everyone wades in s**t until they're competent enough to walk on it. Jesus style.''
Dystopia - Empires

Ill chime in here and say the way to move VHE 3.5 ---> Hammer 4 is
in VHE 3.5 you export the .rmf to .map, then in Hammer 4 you import the
.map (just in case you didn't know).

But that does sound liek a solid plan. You'll just have to take your time on the model placements.

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Posting And You

I have a similar query (not sure if I should have started a new thread or not...):

In anticipation of TF2 I loaded one of my old tfc maps in Hammer, and fired it up in HL2DM. Other than the obvious missing entities & textures the map just seemed... bigger. I've read that player size hasn't changed, yet the steps seem taller, the rooms larger, and the player movement slower. Is this a psycological thing? Am I doing something wrong? Or do I simply need to down-scale my map slightly for the HL2 Universe?

How high are the walls in hammer units? How high are the steps?

Player movement in HL2 is slower anyway, I think - probably to make the sprint button have some usefull effect.

As for being larger, I don't know what's causing that, perhaps there's indeed some scale difference between the two. So you're probably better off checking for scale in the game itself first before doing too much. Mapping without regular in-game testing can end you up with odd results sometimes.

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Create-ivity - a game development blog

I have a similar query (not sure if I should have started a new thread or not...):

In
anticipation of TF2 I loaded one of my old tfc maps in Hammer, and
fired it up in HL2DM. Other than the obvious missing entities &
textures the map just seemed... bigger. I've read that player size
hasn't changed, yet the steps seem taller, the rooms larger, and the
player movement slower. Is this a psycological thing? Am I doing
something wrong? Or do I simply need to down-scale my map slightly for
the HL2 Universe?

Interesting query....I'll have to look into it myself

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Posting And You

Nope, it's me going mad. Here's a Photoshop merge of the two maps taken in-game from the same location:



Definately slower in HL2 to walk, but that'll probably change in TF2 (as all the classes have different speeds), so I'll stick with what I've got atm! Thanks for the nudge to actually go and find something out for myself :smile: I'm sure I'll be back with more questions in the not too distant future!!

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If you can dream it, you can do it - Moo Power!

Using that image was a smart way to confirm. Case closed I guess :smile:

Thanks for the feedback regarding this.

I'll be using Hammer 3.4 for now to get the "core" of the brushes done. Once I get the majority finished, I'll move over to 4.0 (rmf->map) to finish up.

Pvt.Scythe: Unfortunetly, I can't even get the sdk loaded correctly on this computer, much less get hammer to work.
Just as FYI: This laptop is a PIII/850MHz, 256 MB Ram, and.. wait for it.. video: ATI Rage Mobility w/ 8MB Ram.. so you see why it doesn't run anything in Steam very well :wink:

Thanks again.
-Ryandor