Quick Entity Guide

[Tutorial]

category
General Half-Life 2/Editor

description
A few basic pointers when it comes to laying entities.

keywords
entity, guide, quick, quick entity guide, props, prop.

So you have a nice looking map, but it looks a bit plain and you need some cars, junk, barrels and of course weapon and spawn points.
So here is a quick guide to get you started in messy-ing up your map.


First things first: Placing Rules

The most important factor in placing spawn points and pickups, is to make sure they dont overlap brushes. I havent had any problems with models overlapping, but with weapons and pickups, if they overlap a brush (the floor its on or a surrounding wall) they either wont show, or you wont be able to pick them up. So, make sure that the red bounding box of spawn points, weapons, ammo, health kits etc doesnt go into the floor or a wall. Feel free to rotate them and manipulate them as you wish, just remember that the bounding box of the item wont rotate with it, it will just change size - so while your gun might now be on its side lying on the floor in the editor, the box will still be the original orientation, and be going in the floor!

I've found the easiest and best (for me) method to make sure this doesnt happen is by placing them in the 3d view. If you select the entity tool (4th icon down, looks like a light bulb), your mouse cursor will turn into a little axe. Select the entity you want from the list at the far right and then move your 3d view to see the area you want it in, and left click on the surface you want it to be on. Hammer will automatically have the entity created on top of the brush rather than in it, and you can then rotate it as you see fit.


Ok, on to the fun stuff.

1. Spawning

The only entity you need for this is info_player_deathmatch. Place these around your map in good locations. Using the 3D view to place will put them on the brush (which works fine) too high will cause the player to fall when he is spawned and TOO high could cause blood loss! Think carefully about where you want players to spawn. You dont want a player spawning in the middle of a heavy gunfight area or that player wont stand a chance and be shot to bits before even moving, things like that. I dont think its necessary to place 16 spawn points on the map, as not every player will spawn at the exact same time when the map starts, but if you feel its big enough to warrent that many, go for it.


2. Throwable Props

The really fun stuff - junk to throw at each other in an incredibly nasty but extremely satisying fashion!

There are a few different entity types to use here, but the most common for "Chuckable-Junk(TM)" are: prop_physics_multiplayer and prop_physics_respawnable.

To place stuff like this, select either of the above entities in the list and place them in your map. Once you have placed one, make sure its selected and hit ALT-Enter to bring up its properties. In here, click "world model" and then browse. You'll then be presented with a laggy, vague and downright frustrating model browser to find the object you want. To do this, double click a folder and wait 15 minutes till it loads. Once your done choosing your entity (in March 2005) hit ok, and then hit apply in the properties and youll notice your bit of junk on the 3d window. Rotate and move accordingly and remember to not let them overlap brushes (they will fall into place when the map loads so you wont have floating boxes or cars)



prop_physics_multiplayer

For your regular 9 to 5, brain hurting junk. Things like sinks, filing cabinets and chairs etc.


prop_physics_respawnable

Use this for the same types of items above, but for ones that break and you want to respawn. Perfect for exploding barrels, crates and other breakable/destroyable items.



If you check the properties of these, you can set the time it takes to respawn the item after it has been destroyed (the default is 60 seconds).


3. Spawning Weapons

Weapons are simple to place, and can be found with the prefix...wait for it...you wont believe me when i tell you..."weapon" in he entity list. Same rules apply to placing. Remember to think about how you want to balance your game (a good example is placing the RPG in and open-to-sniping area, so it makes it a risk to go get that weapon)


4. Spawning Items

Med Kits, and ammo for that matter, have the "item" prefix and same rules apply.


5. Large Props

Large items such as rock formations, barricades, trucks etc (read: anything that CANT be moved byt he physgun) should be placed with:

prop_static

Then bring up the properties and assign a model. Its fun to place lots and lots of little items to give the map a lived-in look, but dont go overboard or youll find map performance will suffer, and it could simply be TOO cluttered meaning people can never get a clear shot, or keep hitting into something.
One thing to note about placing these static entities, is that you should think of theme. Dont place a huge rock in the middle of a living room, as it will look, quite frankly. rubbish. Another good tip is to apply decent overlays on the surrounding brushes to give it a full effect i.e. stains underneath barrels and rubbish next to a dumpster. All these things make your map more cohesive and realistic and there is a degree of artistry involved.


Thats the basics of entities and junk, so go crazy and see what you can do to liven up the map a little bit. I'll leave you with a short list of the most common items for first time entity placers, so that you dont spend 6 years trawling thru each folder in the browser.


props_junk/TrashDumpster02.mdl - Blue Dumpster from cs_office remember
props_junk/TrashDumpster01a.mdl - Smaller green dumpster props_c17/oildrum001_explosive.mdl - Exploding Barrel
props_c17/oildrum001.mdl - Normal Barrel
props_wasteland/prison_heater001a.mdl - Radiator
props_junk/wood_crate001a.mdl - Breable Wooden Crate props_vehicles/truck001a.mdl - Static truck seen on the corner in dm_overwatch
props_c17/fence02a.mdl - Nice Fence model
props_wasteland/coolingtank01.mdl - Good for on rooftops

2manycontrols

[Bolle]

hello, i was trying to make a crane magnet, where i could place a cargo conainer under it....
which thing should i use, it doesnt have to be magnetic it has to stand still...
if ya know what i mean

i tried prop_static > model: /props_wasteland/cranemagnet01a.mdl

but when i ran the map, there was no magnet, only a cargo container

[zombie@computer]

this tutorial is wrong at a lot of points:
-spawning points also are info_player_combine and info_player_rebel
-props should never be _multiplayer, unless they aren't supposed to be solid (e.g. small debris like chineese food-boxes) use prop_physics for anything that should be damaging a player. same accounts for the func_physbox and func_physbox_multiplayer (they are the brush-based variants)
-should mention the workaround for respawning explodable barrels:

Code: Select all

1)have each barrel target a math_counter(name them all the same, e.g. "exbarrel") when they explode
2)have the math_counter target a template_maker once sufficient barrels have been destroyed (and reset itself)
3)have the template maker make a template of the barrels, simply type their common name in  'template1' e.g. "exbarrel"

-should mention not all models work with not all entities. some models only work with prop_static, others only with prop_physics, and others only with prop_dynamic. READ THE COMPILE LOG AND THE HL-CONSOLE, because they will mention EXACLTY which models dont work with the entities you set them up with and which entities you should use instead

[Bolle]

hello, i was trying to make a crane magnet, where i could place a cargo conainer under it....
which thing should i use, it doesnt have to be magnetic it has to stand still...
if ya know what i mean

i tried prop_static > model: /props_wasteland/cranemagnet01a.mdl

but when i ran the map, there was no magnet, only a cargo container

could someone plz help me ...

[Spartan]

First off this is a tutorial thread and even if it's yours it's not the place to be asking for help on another subject. If your new to Hammer and not 100% sure of what you typing about then leave it to someone else.

[zombie@computer]

i DID:

not all models work with not all entities. some models only work with prop_static, others only with prop_physics, and others only with prop_dynamic. READ THE COMPILE LOG AND THE HL-CONSOLE, because they will mention EXACLTY which models dont work with the entities you set them up with and which entities you should use instead

[agentorange]

I am a beginner maper and I used this to help me start out. I made a room with a CT spawn, T spawn, cone, and a tire. when I clicked RUN MAP in the file menu my map opened up, the pylone and tire didnt show up, nore did the skins on the CT or T players or the hands/weapons you see. they were just black. I also noticed that they were black when I was editing the map.

I didnt put a roof on this map and I also wonder if that might have caused this. could you tell me how to fix this problem?

[Blink]

I am a beginner maper and I used this to help me start out. I made a room with a CT spawn, T spawn, cone, and a tire. when I clicked RUN MAP in the file menu my map opened up, the pylone and tire didnt show up, nore did the skins on the CT or T players or the hands/weapons you see. they were just black. I also noticed that they were black when I was editing the map.

I didnt put a roof on this map and I also wonder if that might have caused this. could you tell me how to fix this problem?

You must seal the map, no part of the outside void can be allowed to be visible to the engine.

I strongly suggest you read these:

http://www.valve-erc.com/srcsdk/Levels/leaks.html

http://forum.interlopers.net/viewtopic.php?t=2248

[agentorange]

thanks, I sealed the map and now the tire shows up. the players are still blackend instead of having skins and so are the hands and weapons in first person view. do you know how I can fix that problem?

[zombie@computer]

have you placed a light in your map?

[Sauce]

Is there any way to flip props? I've tried using the flip and transform commands in the right-click menu but they don't help me with what I'm doing. The Flip horizontally button simply flips the enity from one side of it's bounding box to the other, while the flip vertically button WILL flip it upside down. I have no idea why the hell that works and the other dowsn't but thta doesn't matter. What matters is how the hell do I flip it another way? I have two combine tower models and want them to face the opposite direction to each other. I can get them to face the oppossite (sorry if that's spelt wrong ) direction but the side where they are meant to enter the tower via a ladder won't line up to the same side?!? I'm sorry if this is a little hard to understand. Here's a pic of what I want and what I get.

What I want (I just flipped that in photoshop ):


What I get:

[Blink]

Select the prop in the top down view, then click it again until the rotation handles appear, then spin it around.

[Shr3d]

No blink he wants the platform shifted around. You cant do it without decompiling the model and making adjustments and recompiling / retexturing. I know, it's a bitch

[DRX]

Thats not true. You can simply change the direction its looking at in its properties. I've gotten the result you wanted with doing just that without it being switched.

[Rick_D]

Impossible.