Outdated SDK (ALL)

[KyleSanderson]

When OB was ported to Mac, Alfred said a compatible SDK would be released so we could compile our mods against it so we could too, add Mac support. However, as far as I'm aware, this never occurred. The last released SDK feels decades old, and mostly does not represent the current state of the engine. There are well maintained RE'd Plugin SDKs that allow server plugins to support current released games (huge thanks to AlliedMods). However, seeing as Linux has launched, I was hoping a current SDK would see a release so mod authors can add support for Linux (and hopefully Apple).

[jethrogb]

Seconded.

[yaakov-h]

Thirded. I'd also add to the request updated documentation - some newer engine features such as client plugins have zero useful docs.

[sRaH]

:+1:

[JenniferPylko]

Agreed.

[zpostfacto]

We're going to refresh the SDK.

[obidm]

Edited post to reduce the snide coefficient.

With each passing day, more mappers say to hell with it. Mappers are what have kept these games active. Without them, they would have ceased a long time ago.

I'm sorry, "we're going to" isn't good enough. Give us a date. Hell, give us an incorrect date. If you're going to string us along, do it well. Keep as many people hanging on to this ephemeral hope as possible.

Yeah, this post is LESS snide than before.

[bender180]

please update the current one while you make the new one, like obidm said with each day that goes by I more and more want to say fuck it and go and pick up radiant mapping for W@W (which ive been putting off to work my source map projects) and just forget the source tools....

[yaakov-h]

@fletcherdvalve Any plans for a code / SDK Base update, or just a tools fix?

[Jds1234]

yes! please fix sourcesdk...alot of my online friends who own their hl2dm RP servers , are getting really tiresome of waiting for this big update on source sdk...comon valve! pull your socks out and do it! not just say "we're going to fix it..."

BTW what are you valve guys waiting for??? whats the reason for the delay of an update? and we want a damn good excuse!

@fletcherdvalve @bdeen-valve @johnv-valve @ValveSoftware @alfred-valve @davidw-valve can any of you guys answer this..if any of you guys are anyhing to do with valve software...if not..sorry to disturb you...

[CaptainJack1]

@fletcherdvalve "We're going to refresh the SDK."

When ?

[dangerousbrian]

http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?p=34316325&posted=1#post34316325

[CaptainJack1]

Blame the dev will not solve the problem...

[Jds1234]

just a question of can't or won't...

[obidm]

Fletcher, FWIW, I apologize. Neither the SDK issues or the delay are your doing.

I have a team of about a dozen mapper friends who have over a year invested in what we thought would be the ultimate map for hl2dm. All the workarounds are terribly inefficient and only partially work. The whole group is just sick with disappointment. Most of them have posted here or in the original github and have been watching closely for signs of hope. Beyond my group is another dozen or so old-time mappers who have contributed hundreds of maps total. As a group, these are the people who kept hl2dm alive the last few years. I understand it seems sophomoric to be so downtrodden over what is just a map editor for a very old game. It's because, while at first we just loved the game, now we love our little community and we are saddened to helplessly watch it die. Any encouragement you could offer would really help.

Again, I apologize for my tone.

[NoroiKisaragi]

why is this labeled as a feature request anyway? this is clearly a glitch or a bug and breaks source sdk completely.

when is valve going to fix this..? and why is the milestone 'future'? If Valve is serious about fixing this the milestone should be 'Next Release'..

[KyleSanderson]

The bug was recycled @NoroiKisaragi. The original bug was in regards to the SDK being out of date, whereas at the time the current set of Authoring Tools still worked. However, this is now both(?).

[tagmacdaddy]

Guys, I have the CSS server on my pc for running LAN and tonight I opened SDK Hammer and edited the "Current Game" counter-strike to point to to the C:/program files/valve/css/cstrike folder and hammer works like normal. I was like Wooo Hooo! I have not actually ran the server in the past month, so I'm sure I can not play on that LAN server now that my cstrike has been updated.

[MachineHead95C]

I've been mapping for CS:S for literally years. I have 2 projects in the works (with 10's of hours of work into each one) when you guys "upgraded" the file and delivery system. Now the Source SDK no longer works properly for CS:S (now I know how the HL2DM mapping community feels). What a joke. I have no intentions of abandoning my work, but at least a tentative release date for a fix would be greatly appreciated.

In regards to the problem, I'd like to say I'm surprised, but the truth is it seems this is what usually happens (even going years back). You "make the game better" in some way while at the same time breaking something even more significant. Why can't anyone properly beta test these updates (including MAJOR official utilities which would be effected by such) before pushing them out? I'm sure most people would rather still have the old version with everything working than a slightly faster and more convenient version with major features broken.

[yaakov-h]

@MachineHead95C SteamPipe conversions have been in beta for weeks and weeks now.

[dangerousbrian]

yaakov-h i think what MachineHead95C is saying is when they update the game update the authoring tools to match Beta was for game only

DB

[CaptainJack1]

The problem has been solved with this : http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3111054

You have to remplace the gameinfo file.

[obidm]

This problem is not solved, just another partial workaround. We need an SDK update. Now then, TF2 ($maker) has gone SteamPipe. Well super dooper yay. NOW can we get an update, please??? I'll beg, I SWEAR I will.

[obidm]

May we have an ETA, please?

[zpostfacto]

I have released a very early beta of the TOOLS (not the source). We're changing how we distribute this. They are going to live in the same folder as the game. (They might eventually be different app that installs into the same folder, but for now, to make it easy to iterate quickly, I've just shipped them with the game.)

Here's how to get the build for, e.g. TF2:

1. In the Steam client, opt into the “sdktools_beta” branch. (Right client on the game, properties, select the “betas” tab.)
2. Set the VPROJECT environment variable to your game dir. (e.g. c:\steam\steamapps\common\Team Fortress 2\tf)

Similar instructions apply for the other games.

There's no front end launcher for the tools, but you can just launch bin\hammer.exe.

This build is EXTREMELY EARLY. For example, I am still debugging some problems getting hammer to find the .fgd files. It might just work for you right out of the box. Or you might need to fiddle with the files. If you find problems with the out-of-the-box configuration and know how to fix them, please post the answers here.

[Bubka3]

@fletcherdvalve When will the model viewer work? hlmv.exe

[obidm]

Bugs in process don't matter, hope does! THANK YOU for the early release!

[Jds1234]

ok, i tryed the sdktools_beta content, i tested it on hl2mp(HL2 Deathmatch), had to make a new game config in sourcesdk to do this... hammer & modelviewer now runs(with toolsappid 211 included inthe gameconfig.txt of the game)....if i edited the gameconfig.txt to include toolsappid 211, then maps can be loaded in hammer successsfully...if i do not include the toolsappid 211 in the gameconfig.txt, if you do try to load a map into hammer, hammer will crash, and will shut down, without any errors shown...and modelviewer will not run

modelviewer...if you try to go into any custom model folder...modelviewer reports that the file does not exist, it thinks a directory is a file?? wth?

also i do see red errors in hammer for certain weapon ammo models, especially a few larger weapon ammos...

[BenLubar]

Could the sdktools_beta EXEs be included in the Linux version? From your description, I don't think (correct me if I'm wrong) that the tools need to communicate with Steam anymore, so it'd be better than nothing, at least until there are native Linux authoring tools.

I hate having to shut down Steam, start Wine Steam, open the SDK with a second copy of the game and all its content on my hard drive, and then work my way back to the native Steam when I'm done since Wine adds all kinds of new bugs to Steam (mostly noticeable in chat).

[wareya]

I couldn't find any fgd files in common/ w/ ls and grep, so I pointed hammer to the old one in steam/steamapps/wareya/sourcesdk/bin/orangebox/ (for me). I assume that there being no fgd anywhere under common/ would be a long term bad thing?

[wareya]

The above thing made entities show up and smartedit properly Some displacement stuff didn't look/work right and copying wareya/sourcesdk/bin/orangebox/bin/filters to common/Team Fortress 2/bin fixed it I'm getting purple checkerboard textures on models rendered in 2d when not selected and copying everything from orangebox/bin to /Team Fortress 2/bin (no overwrites; don't know what compelled me to try it anyway) happened not to fix it, so I dunno what's up with that Compiling a map with this setup seems to work perfectly fine, but the purple checkerboarding on 2d display props in hammer is a little annoying.

[aleksismichael]

thank you too i was going a bit twitchy for not being able to find a better workaround myself until i googled then i was sad i couldnt figure out something to share with everyone, about this whole issue, woulda been nice if i coulda figured out a workaround and been like yea :p thank you again for posting all the fixes and responses everyone

[dangerousbrian]

what version of source SDK is now being used in tools we now only have base 2006 and base 2007

DB

[zpostfacto]

@wareya: The fgd's should be in the bin folder (same directory as hammer.exe). Which game are you modding?

@bubka3: I thought hlmv worked. What do you see when you launch it?

@jds1234: Can you show me exactly what change you made to gameinfo.txt? I would be really surprised if adding the tools app ID fixed anything. I'd like to know why it helped.

Everybody is just launching the tools directly from the bin folder, right? The old SDK launcher is no longer part of this process at all.

[zpostfacto]

@wareya: I thought we were shipping all the filter images in the sdk build. Are they not present? Would you mind deleting your filters folder, validating your cache files (which will restore any files we are shipping), and then tell me exactly which files are missing?

Regarding the purple checkboards: Is there any clue in the console about the filenames that are producing the error textures?

[wareya]

@fletcherdvalve: Doing TF2 mapping. fgds weren't present in common/Team Fortress 2/bin/ (which is where it was looking) when I got to it.

Just did validation, and the whole common/Team Fortress 2/bin/filters directory is still missing, which is where hammer is looking for the filters ("Couldn't load filter file C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\SteamApps\common\Team Fortress 2\bin\filters\dispfilters.txt!"). Validating also didn't download any fgds to bin/, which is where I assume they should go?

No console message whatsoever about the checkerboards unfortunately. Note that they show up properly with their normal textures when they're selected; it's only some ghost when moving them and their appearance when not selected that checkerboards.

[Jds1234]

@fletcherdvalve ok this is what i have done to gameinfo.txt for hl2dm,dods, tf2, and css...for example

"GameInfo" { game "Half-Life 2 DM" title "HALF+LIFE'" title2 "deathmatch" type multiplayer_only nomodels 0 nohimodel 1 nocrosshair 1 hidden_maps { "test_speakers" 1 "test_hardware" 1 }

FileSystem
{
    SteamAppId              320
    ToolsAppId              211

    //
    // Setup engine search paths.
    //
    // If a search path contains "_english", and the current language is not english, then
    // another search path will be inserted above the english one by replacing "_english" with
    // the appropriate language.
    //
    // To debug how the engine has parsed this file, type "path" at the console.
    //
    // Search paths are relative to the base directory, which is where hl2.exe is found.
    //
    // |gameinfo_path| points at the directory where gameinfo.txt is.
    // |all_source_engine_paths| points at the directory cintaining HL2 shared content.
    //
    SearchPaths
    {

        // First, mount all user customizations.  This will search for VPKs and subfolders
        // and mount them in alphabetical order.  The easiest way to distribute a mod is to
        // pack up the custom content into a VPK.  To "install" a mod, just drop it in this
        // folder.
        //
        // Note that this folder is scanned only when the game is booted.
        game+mod            hl2mp/custom/*

        // We search VPK files before ordinary folders, because most files will be found in
        // VPK and we can avoid making thousands of file system calls to attempt to open files
        // in folders where they don't exist.  (Searching a VPK is much faster than making an operating
        // system call.)
        game+mod            hl2mp/hl2mp_english.vpk
        game+mod            hl2mp/hl2mp_pak.vpk

        game                |all_source_engine_paths|hl2/hl2_textures.vpk
        game                |all_source_engine_paths|hl2/hl2_sound_vo_english.vpk
        game                |all_source_engine_paths|hl2/hl2_sound_misc.vpk
        game                |all_source_engine_paths|hl2/hl2_misc.vpk

        platform            |all_source_engine_paths|platform/platform_misc.vpk

        // Now search loose files.  We'll set the directory containing the gameinfo.txt file
        // as the first "mod" search path (after any user customizations).  This is also the one
        // that's used when writing to the "mod" path.
        mod+mod_write+default_write_path        |gameinfo_path|.

        // Add the hl2mp directory as a game search path.  This is also where where writes
        // to the "game" path go.
        game+game_write     hl2mp

        // Where the game's binaries are
        gamebin             hl2mp/bin

        // Last, mount in shared HL2 loose files
        game                |all_source_engine_paths|hl2
        platform            |all_source_engine_paths|platform

        // Random files downloaded from gameservers go into a seperate directory, so
        // that it's easy to keep those files segregated from the official game files
        // or customizations intentially installed by the user.
        //
        // This directory is searched LAST.  If you visit a server and download
        // a custom model, etc, we don't want that file to override the default
        // game file indefinitely (after you have left the server).  Servers CAN have
        // custom content that overrides the default game files, it just needs to be
        // packed up in the .bsp file so that it will be mounted as a map search pack.
        // The map search pack is mounted at the top of the search path list,
        // but only while you are connected that server and on that map.
        game+download   hl2mp/download
    }
}

}

notice the ToolsAppId 211 underneath SteamAppId 320?...if this is included in the gameinfo.txt of each game, after the SteamAppId line, you CAN open a decompiled map in hammer and a map would load up successfully, and hammer stays...if you had it removed from each game....hammer will NOW run, because of the the sdk_beta added(it didn't before that, it would come up with a green window error, i forget what the error says...)if you try to load up a decompiled hammer will crash/shut own without ANY errors showing, without that ToolsAppId 211 included in each gameinfo.txt file of each game...and yes i am using the old source sdk menu sorry...

BTW...in hl2dm mode, i do see red missing model errors, for a few ar2/pistol/smg large ammo models in hammer...

[Jds1234]

@fletcherdvalve ok, these are the classes in hammer that show up as a red model error, under hl2dm config in hammer...

item_ammo_pistol_large item_ammo_smg1_large item_ammo_ar2 item_ammo_ar2_large

[Jds1234]

@fletcherdvalve ok, i did a file integrity check on steam, for hl2dm, it replaced the modified gameinfo.txt file(with ToolsAppId 211) with the original(without ToolsAppId 211 added), the hammer.exe file i ran from the game's bin folder runs ok now...BUT...still shows the same hammer classes mentioned in last post, as red model errors...and hammer no longer crashes with no errors!

i do not see any problems, for css, dods, or tf2, in hammer...

[Jds1234]

ahh scrap that 2d models in css config...all show in grid as purple/black...but in 3d view you can see the textures are there...

[Jds1234]

@fletcherdvalve none of the fgd files for each game were installed, i ran a file integrity check from steam...none of them got installed, hl2dm,css,dods or tf2...are they not included??

[NarryG]

@fletcherdvalve DMX convert seems to be missing so when I try and compile a model using DMX, it throws this error http://puu.sh/2MOqc.png

[Jds1234]

ok, i have take printscreen shots of the classes that show up as red model errors..

[Bubka3]

@fletcherdvalve http://screen.artiet.us/2013-05-04.18_43_14.png

Hammer is working fine for me however.

[Pineapple212]

@fletcherdvalve Hello, i am currently an avid mapper for DoD:S i have been reading so many forums for days... I used to have a working hammer editor (because i had two copies of all of the folders) but recently i decided im going to delete my steamapps/username/day of defeat source folder since it should be no longer in use. Annnnd hammer is no longer working. I've tried everything, i have changed the game configurations in hammer and the game directory FOR hammer...all to steamapps/common...and it still won't let me open ANY map, but hammer opens fine. I am launching hammer straight from the /bin (not using the launcher) AND i have sorted out GameConfig.txt to have all the right directories...Please help!

[Jds1234]

@Pineapple212 seems your trying to run hammer from the old source sdk utility, toosAppId 211 is not included by default in the game's gameinfo.txt, thats why hammer is crashing/shutting down, when loading your map...you have to run the hammer.exe file fom the bin directory, in your dods game folder instead , its in common/Day Of Defeat Source/bin...

oh also...if you see no hammer.exe file there...right click your game in steam..properties...Beta tab...select sdktools_beta content...then wait for the download to start...it might be somthing like a 39.9mb download...

After that...there should be a hammer.exe there...run it...then select your game in the list...and hammer should be ok

[marcopixel]

Are we going to see the compile log like the one in the CS:GO Authoring Tools? Or the old one which stops every time responding.

EDIT: You can get the fgd files meanwhile from sourcesdk.gcf, its under bin/orangebox/bin and you need the base.fgd and tf.fgd.

[nineteeneleven]

Is anyone getting the obsolete thing where entities should be? This is happening with all entities in my map, model, or logic.

Edit i was able to fix it by refrencing this file E:\Steam\steamapps\MyNAME\sourcesdk\bin\source2009\bin

But now my map instant crashes TF2

[bender180]

@nineteeneleven looks like your missing the fgd file for the game you are mapping for

[Jds1234]

he is missing the tf2.fgd & the base.fgd...you can also copy the games fgd & the base.fgd from steamapps//sourcesdk/bin/orangebox/bin i think...to the bin directory in your root game folder...not the bin in your hl2mp/cstrike/dod/tf2 folder

for hl2dm you need 3 fgd files, hl2mp.fgd,halflife2.fgd & base.fgd.

[dodbits]

DoD:S Win 7 64 bit. I tried it and it works fine so far. I was only missing dod.fgd and base.fgd in the bin folder.

1. Opt in via Right click on your Day Of Defeat Source link in Library, Properties, BETAS tab, "sdktools_beta..."
2. It downloads after a little pause.
3. I needed to grab my dod.fgd and base.fgd from my old files ... C:\program files (x86)\steam\steamapps\My account name\sourcesdk\bin\orangebox\bin ...and put them in ... C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\SteamApps\common\Day of Defeat Source\bin
4. Start up hammer, it had a few errors browsing models, start again... works.

Note: you start hammer via the hammer.exe in .... C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\SteamApps\common\Day of Defeat Source\bin

1. Compiled a simple map for dods.
2. Checked the map all basic stuff like flags, cap outs and simple textures working fine.