How to Make Water and Basic Displacements in Source

by Pinky @LambdaGeneration.com

Back when I was trying to learn Source mapping, I ran into several issues, most of which involved lighting or water. While I have not mastered Source lighting, I can offer some help to those having issues with water. Read more...

Optimization in Source: A Practical Demonstration

by MangyCarface @Nodraw.net

Optimization is one of the least understood parts of mapping in source; there is a lot of hearsay on the matter and generally the topic can appear overwhelming to new mappers. Today we’re going to discuss how optimization in source works, not from a theoretical approach, but from an example-by-example method that will hopefully bring us around to understanding the underlying theory. When implemented correctly, good optimization can be more beautiful than the aesthetics of a map itself. Read more ...

Source SDK Update Released

Updates to Source SDK have been released. The updates will be applied automatically when your Steam client is restarted. The specific changes include:

Source SDK

• Added source files for ten shipping TF2 maps
  
  • arena_lumberyard
  • arena_ravine
  • cp_badlands
  • cp_dustbowl
  • cp_granary
  • cp_gravelpit
  • ctf_2fort
  • pl_badwater
  • pl_goldrush
  • tc_hydro
• Updated shadercompile binaries and added missing DLL needed for shader compilation

SDK Tools

• Fixed the issues with the following tools: height2ssbump, normal2ssbump, pfm2tga, splitskybox, vbspinfo, vmt_tweak, vmtcheck, shadercompile
• Fixed an issue in studiomdl pertaining to $shadowlod

Hammer

• The texture browser automatically ignores most textures that cannot be placed on brushes or displacements, as well as anything inside a .svn folder for those using svn as their choice of versioning software.
• Added additional auto visgroups for sprites and cubemaps
• Separated the VRAD calls into two sequential while using HDR (-ldr and -hdr) instead of -both
• Model browser is now created once per session
• Displacement brush dial now has greater range
• Added a stop button to sound previews

SDK Launcher

• Added the ability to edit game configurations with vconfig

Source Code

• Added a new template mod that replaces the old 'advanced' source . This template has options for teams,classes, sprinting, prone, stamina, etc.
• Added shader source; fxc.exe, psa.exe and vsa.exe must be placed into the dx9sdk\utilities folder and you must modify materialsystem\stdshaders\buildsdkshaders.bat to set your paths.
• Most tonemap controller options now work in multiplayer. The 'template mod' map 'sdk_teams_hdr' demonstrates this.
• All three mod types by default mount the required appids - Multiplayer uses 218 and mounts 320 for example. Gameinfo.txt contains a new entry 'AdditionalAppId' for this purpose.
• Particle systems can now be defined with a per-map manifest, similar to soundscapes.
• Fixed a number of issues which caused the server to not compile in linux

Multiplayer Source Code

• Players animate with the new animation system that came along with TF2.
• Fixed third person animations and all effects
• Fixed SLAM issues
• Fixed Use of UTIL_GetLocalPlayer on the server in various locations
• Fixed a number of other bugs / asserts

Singleplayer Source Code

• Fixed a number of issues preventing the source from functioning correctly
• Added new vehicle "hl2buggy" so that users may have both the charger and the old buggy

• http://store.steampowered.com/news/2579/
  http://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/Source_SDK_release_notes_archive#6.2F15.2F2009_Release