SDK question

[jet jaguar]

Will the SDK have all the weapons, textures, and models that are in HL2? Are those things that you have to create yourself? I've never done any level-building so I wouldn't know.

 

[Devindred]

If the SDK is released before HL2, I would think Valve wouldn't include all the weapons, textures, etc. from the game. As soon as HL2 comes out, however, it will probably be an easy task to import those things into the SDK.

 

[Apos]

The SDK will likely include things like entity descriptions of every object in the game, which would indeed be pretty spoilerish if you looked hard. I mean, the map program Hammer wouldn't work very well without those entities listed, right? You wouldn't be able to put things in your maps.

However, while the full SDK would have tons of spoilers about the weapons/entities/creatures, I first of all doubt they'll include any art for them, and second of all it seems like they are going to release the SDK in stages, so maybe Stage one, pre the release of the game, will only have hammer but NOT the entity list, or face poser, but only one or two people models to play with.

 

[Skullhair]

The SDK will likely include things like entity descriptions of every object in the game, which would indeed be pretty spoilerish if you looked hard. I mean, the map program Hammer wouldn't work very well without those entities listed, right? You wouldn't be able to put things in your maps.

However, while the full SDK would have tons of spoilers about the weapons/entities/creatures, I first of all doubt they'll include any art for them, and second of all it seems like they are going to release the SDK in stages, so maybe Stage one, pre the release of the game, will only have hammer but NOT the entity list, or face poser, but only one or two people models to play with.

This may be the reason the SDK has taken so long to be released. Valve has to release a SDK somehow without spoiling the game. It's obvious that they want the game to be a surprise to everyone. They have to make the SDK so people can still work on their MODS but not spoil HL2.

 

[Wilco]

They are releasing the SDK in 2 stages. The first stage that is coming before the game will have the Tools in like Hammer, HLMV, The staging program (that does lip synching) etc, and tutorials, probably a few demo objects not related to the game. This is so you can just see how the programs work. Then once the game is out they will release the source code bit and hopefully more Entities and stuff that are actually in HL2.

 

[LucaZone]

Judging by the initial HL1 SDK, most of the contents of the CD was c++ and VB files, as well as a sample of the models from the game, and a few items that never got included.

The idea of the SDK is not to include all the files to make your own HL2 build, but to show you what makes up HL2 and how this can be used to make your own game......

So dont expect to get many models / textures / levels in the SDK. Its aimed at programmers and designers, not artists and mappers.

 

[Crusader]

The full HL1 SDK had tonnes of models for examples, so that you can change code and compile it right away, rather than having to build a whole mod at once. However I don't see them doing that for a game that hasn't been released yet. Even if they did, you wouldn't have anything to run, since you don't compile a HL2.exe, you compile .dlls for your mod, at least for HL1.