Half-Life 2 Episode One - Sky Materials

[M1RAG3]

Hey all,

Been learning hammer and I am currently trying to make an ocean map with islands for Half-Life 2 EP1.

I have two questions;

1. What are the HDR skies for HL2 EP1? (Are they the same sky names as HL2?)

2. How do you create an ocean that extends to the horizon? (I am guessing a 3D Skybox...?)

Finally, since I barely know anything (very new) about Hammer and Map Creation I was wondering if anyone knew of any good tutorials/videos that use a single map and progresses (i.e. through Chapters) adding and using more advanced techniques, like developing a professional quality level from start to finish. I have only found unrelated tutorials that focus on specific tasks or objectives, not an all-inclusive “Level Creation” tutorial.

Thanks all for your help.

 

[M1RAG3]

Anyone have any ideas...?

 

[PanzerSmurf]

3D Buzz has a great VTM series (which can be found here) that I recommend watching. As for your two questions, the skyboxes are located within the Episode 1 GCF file and therefore need to be extracted before you can use them with Hammer. Alternatively, you could add a Hammer configuration file strictly for Episode 1, but that wouldn't be that much use as I'm pretty sure you are interested in the creation of multiplayer maps rather than singleplayer. Basically, what needs to be done (in a very brief outline) to get the skyboxes:

1) Download GCFScape
2) Extract episode 1 shared.gcf and grab all the files from the episodic\materials\skybox folder. You can simply copy and paste that entire folder into

C:\Program Files\Steam\SteamApps\username\counter-strike source\cstrike\materials\

...and designate which skybox you wish to use in Hammer. Change the directory if you wish to use the skyboxes for Half-Life 2: Deathmatch or Day of Defeat: Source.

As for an ocean, simply create a water plane in the 3D skybox. Just note that if you have water in your level, it will not line up with the water in the skybox. This seems to be an issue with Hammer, and I've personally yet to find a solution.

 

[M1RAG3]

Awesome, thanks for the info about the VTM series and the heads up concerning the ocean.

I am actually trying to create a single-player map, so I assume that it would be easier to add a config file for EP1. I thought that there already was a config for Episode 1 through the Source SDK front-end/launcher?

Thanks again.