Valve Hammer Editor
Half-life/mods map construction tool.
What's New
Version 3.4 (download)
Features:
The most notable change in this version is the change in name to Valve Hammer Editor. The following changes have also been made:
- Splitter view layout is now preserved from session to session.
- Dialog bars now pop to the top when the mouse cursor floats over them.
-
No longer renders the 3D views when the editor is not the active
application. (This will fix most people's problems with running Hammer
and Half-Life at the same time causing the editor to freeze)
- Added Copy to Clipboard button to the process window.
- Sped up time to bring up the Face Properties dialog when many brushes are selected.
- Sped up 2D view scrolling.
- Added timed selection of objects by depth in the 3D view when the left mouse button is held down.
Fixed:
- Fixed a random spinlock when rendering sprites.
- Fixed texture rendering problems with sprites, etc.
- Fixed freeze when starting map with sprites visible.
- Fixed a crash in the path tool.
- Fixed problem with texture shifts being reset when importing old MAP files.
- Fixed black brushes caused by clipping.
- Fixed a lockup when scaling certain brushes.
- Fixed infinite lines in 3D view in vertex mode.
- Fixed clipping causing duplicate solids.
- Fixed decal repositioning.
- Fixed camera angle view bug.
- Fixed problem with running compile tools from paths with spaces.
Version 3.3
Highlights:
The
editor has been given a facelift, with a completely rewritten OpenGL
renderer for the 3D views. This enables the addition of engine
rendering code for previews of such things as sprites and glow effects.
Texturing, normally the most time-consuming aspect of mapmaking, has
also been streamlined. And, a number of other productivity-enhancing
features have taken the most common hitches out of mapmaking.
- OpenGL 3D Renderer. The real-time renderer is much faster, more robust, and allows for animating visuals in the 3D view.
- Texture Locking.
Texture alignment is now preserved through rotation, scaling, and
flipping, allowing for the hassle-free construction of odd-angled
geometry.
- Powerful Texture Application Features.
Automatic texture continuity is guaranteed when lifting and applying
from one face to another. Textures can be fit across one face or
multiple faces, or aligned to the left, right, top, bottom, and center
of faces with a single button click. Textures can be projected onto
faces from an arbitrary viewpoint, useful for texturing cliff faces or
other irregular geometry. In addition, texture axes are now displayed
in the 3D view.
- Sprite Preview.
Sprites are now automatically previewed in the 3D view, along with
animation. Frame rate and scale key values are correctly reflected in
the preview, eliminating the need to compile and run the map in the
game engine when placing sprites.
Features:
Aside from the above highlights, there have been a number of smaller changes as well.
- Go To Brush Number. Brushes can now be found by entity / brush number for fast tracking down of compiler errors.
-
Iconic Entities. Any point entity can be set to render as a sprite icon
in the 3D view through a specification in the FGD file, making it easy
to distinguish between different entities in the 3D view.
-
3D Preview of Tools. The brush creation, clipper, cordon bounds, and
selection tools all render in the 3D view in real time, taking the
guesswork out of previously painstaking operations.
-
Colored Solid Entities. Solid entities can now be given a render color
in the FGD file, for easier identification in the 2D or 3D views.
- 3D Grid. A new 3D grid allows for easy visualization of brush sizes in the 3D view.
-
Missing Texture Replacement. Added a Replace button to the texture bar,
making it easy to replace textures when they are missing from the WAD
file.
- Texture Usage Report. Statistics on unique textures,
total texture memory, and WADs used in are reported in the Map
Information dialog
- Enhanced Camera Controls. Real-time
keyboard sampling gives smooth camera movement in the 3D view. Holding
down both mouse buttons now enables dollying the camera forward and
back. The mouse wheel now zooms both the 2D and 3D views.
- Point and Click Entity Placement. Point entities can now be placed directly in the 3D view just by pointing and clicking.
-
Entity Key Browse Button. Added a browse button to the Entity
Properties dialog for typo-free setting of sprite, sound, and model
keys.
- Clipper Measurements. Sizes of clipped brushes can
be displayed in the 2D view while clipping. This is useful for clipping
brushes to a particular size, or for matching with a specific texture.
For more details and user comments, view the versions of this application
Version | Description | Latest Rating | Latest Wine version tested | Test results | Comments |
3.4 | Half-life/mods map construction tool. | Platinum | 1.6.2 | 4 | 0 |
3.5 beta | Half-life/mods map construction tool. | Silver | 1.7.8 | 4 | 0 |
4.1 | Contains several bugfixes and added features from the previous 3.x release. | Bronze | 7.0.2 | 20 | 0 |
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