Setup Guide

Source Level Editor 2.104 Setup Guide

Source Level Editor (SLE) generally follows the same setup process as Hammer 4.1, with notable differences being the Game Config setup, and storing its settings in a separate registry folder; as such, it does not import/inherit program settings from the existing Hammer installation.
SLE also does not overwrite any existing files for either Hammer or any alternative forks. It is self-contained.

I. Setting up SLE from scratch
The following section assumes the user never set up their Hammer before trying SLE.

1. The contents of the downloaded SLE release should be unpacked to the "bin" folder of the target base game, i. e. in the same folder where Valve's Hammer exe is located. For example, if working under Source SDK Base 2013 (or a mod for it), SLE should be unpacked to [Steam install directory]\Steamapps\common\Source SDK Base 2013 [Singleplayer or Multiplayer]\bin\.
2. Launching SLE (i. e. level_editor.exe) should bring up a user prompt about first-time setup. It will explain that the game configuration needs to be created in the Options, and suggest opening the help page (which is this page, the one you're reading).
Either way, the Configure Editor window will open.





3. At the top of the Configure Editor window, click the Edit button. It will show the list of Configurations (empty at this point). Click Add to create a new config and enter its name, then close 'Edit Game Configurations' dialogue.
4. Now that there is an active config, all the config fields will become editable.
   1. Start by adding Game Data files; press Add to the right of the empty list titled Game Data files.
      The Game Data files, or FGD files, contain all the information about a game's entities that the editor needs. For example, all Half-Life 2 entities are described in halflife2.fgd located in the [Steam install directory]\Steamapps\common\Half-Life 2\bin\ directory. Mods typically provide their FGDs in the mod's folder.
      Note: SLE comes with its own FGD file located in the editor's sub-folder. It is loaded automatically after the game FGDs. Do not add it manually to the list here..
      After you've located the necessary FGDs in the file browser and added them, they should appear in the list titled Game Data files. You can double-check the validity of these files by selecting them in the list, then clicking Edit button to the right. The FGD should be opened in the default text editor of your system (you do not need to edit it at this point).
   2. The Texture Format option at this time contains only one choice, VMT (Source). You can ignore this option now.
   3. The Map Format option offers three choices: Half-Life, Half-Life 2 and Team Fortress 2.
      The first one is experimental/unfinished and exists for loading/saving Half-Life's RMF files; you are unlikely to need it.
      The second one is the standard choice for HL2, Source SDK Base, Portal, CS:S, DOD:S, mods like Mapbase, and most other cases you're likely to come across.
      The third one, for Team Fortress 2, is necessary when making maps for TF2 or its mods. Maps saved in this format won't work for other games.
   4. Default Point Entity is the entity that appears by default when using the Entity Tool. You should set it to something you're likely to use often, such as prop_static. The options available here depend on the loaded FGD.
   5. Likewise, Default Solid Entity is the default entity a brush (a.k.a. solid) turns into when using To Entity command. Again, set it to something you use often, such as func_detail.
   6. Entity Class Quick Access 1-4 is a new addition in SLE. Entities chosen here will be available at the Quick Access button in Object Properties. This is convenient for setting a point or solid entity's class to something you also use often, such as triggers or func entities. You can also just ignore it if you're not going to use Quick Access.
   7. Default texture scale is the scale of the textures assigned to new brushes. If the majority of your textures is 512x512 (common size for HL2's era), 0.25 is a good scale. For 1024x1024, 0.125 may be more convenient. Note that if a VMT has %defaultscale [float] defined, that will be used instead when assigning that material to a brush face.
   8. Likewise, Default lightmap scale is assigned to newly created faces (and can be changed at any later point in the Face Edit Tool). 16 is a good default value, although 32 is also likely to look acceptable while reducing compiled map size.
   9. Cordon Texture is assigned to map-sealing Cordon brushes when using the Cordon tool. The default texture, tools/toolsskybox, will make the Cordon act like the skybox, which is a common choice.
   10. Game Executable Directory should point to the directory with the base game's exe file, such as hl2.exe. The default path is a relative path pointing at the folder "above" the editor directory.
   11. Game Directory is where your game/mod files are located, and the GameInfo.txt file.
   12. Map Sources (VMF) Directory is where your game/mod's map sources will be saved.
5. After you're done with the Game Configs, don't exit the Configure Editor window; switch to the Compiling tab and select the game config you've just created.
   

   

   1. The Game Executable path should point to the exe file of your game/mod, like hl2.exe for HL2 or Source SDK Base, portal.exe for Portal or tf2.exe for TF2. It would be located in the same directory you browsed for the Game Directory option before.
   2. The BSP executable, VIS executable and RAD executable all point to the three main compiling tools: vbsp.exe, vvis.exe and vrad.exe. The default paths look for them at the editor's location. If you use custom compilers, replace the default paths with paths to your compilers.
   3. The Place compiled maps here before running the game refers to the directory where compiled BSP files should be copied to. Most likely this will be your game/mod's maps\ directory.
6. After setting up Game Configs and Compiling, you should be all set. Click OK to save your changes and start the editor.
   After it's loaded, you can open the Tools->Options menu again to either change anything or set up non-game specific editor settings in the other Options tabs. These are covered in detail in the User's Guide section on new options.

II. Setting up SLE from existing Hammer installation
This section assumes Hammer 4.1 already has a config and was used in the past.

1. The contents of the downloaded SLE release should be unpacked to Hammer's location, i. e. the \bin\ folder of the target base game.
   All of SLE's files are named differently from Hammer's, and there shouldn't be any file overwrite prompts. If there are, double-check you're doing everything right.
2. If you used Hammer 4.1 before, you should already have Game Configurations stored in a GameConfig.txt file at Hammer's location. SLE will look it up. There won't be a prompt about first-time launch.
1. If you are not going to use the Entity Quick Access functionality (which is currently the only setting saved into the config by SLE and not recognised by Hammer), you can simply reuse the old config.
2. If you need to change anything in the configs, simply open Tools->Options menu once SLE is loaded.
   Once you're done, the edited configs will be saved into a separate file (the same one that would be created if starting from scratch -
   [editor location]\level_editor\cfg\GameConfig.txt.
   
   As such, this file won't be overwritten by Hammer 4.1, if you ever use it again, and SLE in turn won't interfere with Hammer 4.1.
   Essentially, having a pre-existing Hammer install is the easiest way to set up SLE.
3. Do note that only Game Configurations can be imported automatically from Hammer 4.1. Non-game specific editor settings - such as Viewport settings - are stored in the Windows registry.
   SLE uses its own registry folder to store settings - you'll need to set them up again to your liking.
   You can find information on updated editor options in the User's Guide section on new options.