View source for Setting up Hammer

This page will walk you through setting up Hammer++ with our custom tools for TF2 Classified map development.

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== Step 1: Installing Hammer++ ==

# Make sure Team Fortress 2 Classified is installed on Steam.
# Download the latest [https://ficool2.github.io/HammerPlusPlus-Website/download.html Team Fortress 2 build of Hammer++].
# Copy the files of the Team Fortress 2 build of H++ into the {{code|steamapps\common\Team Fortress 2 Classified}} folder, as if you were installing it for Live TF2.
# Navigate to the {{code|steamapps\common\Team Fortress 2 Classified\bin\x64}} folder, and run {{code|hammer_tf2c_setup.bat}} (this should be right next to {{code|hammerplusplus.exe}} if you have installed everything correctly).
# Run {{code|hammerplusplus.exe}}.

As of the Steam release (3.0.0) we include new customized versions of the compilers with the game. Older versions of TF2C's VBSP, VRAD, and VVIS are no longer compatible. ficool2's compilers [https://ficool2.github.io/HammerPlusPlus-Website/tools.html (VBSP++/VVIS++/VRAD++)] have a superset of our compiler's functionality, however some features like ambient occlusion may need to be retuned, as VRAD++ takes different parameters than ours.

== Step 2: Configuring VRAD ==

When preparing a final compile of your map, you need to make sure that the parameters you're passing to VRAD are supported by our custom build. Some, such as -staticproplighting, are now enabled by default and will produce an error if you include them. The default VRAD settings we use for most official TF2C maps are:

{{pre|-final -hdr -softencosine -ao -aoradius 2 -LargeDispSampleRadius -worldtextureshadows -StaticPropIndirectMode 2 -choptexlights}}

You can add these to your final compile settings in H++ by going to the the "Run Map..."/F9 dialog, click the "Expert..." button in the bottom-left corner of the panel to view your configurations, and add those the parameters to the $light_exe command in your final compile configuration.
 
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