Questions regarding bspzip/pakrat/Packbsp etc....

Resistance

L2: Junior Member
Mar 24, 2009
55
1
I'm nearing the completion of my 1st map and I have some questions regarding custom textures/cubemaps for embedding.

So I'm assuming I need to embed cubemaps in the .bsp in order for them to work for other people downloading off a server....

Will pakrat/packbsp automatically embed the cubemaps into the .bsp?

If yes, Do I need to run the map 1st and buildcubemaps before running pakrat/packbsp? Or for Bspzip too?

If Pakrat/Packbsp fail to embed my custom textures/cubemaps, what exactly do I input for the command for bspzip, heres what it says on the Valve site:

For adding files:

"-addfile <input bsp> <internal path> <external path> <output bsp>"

or

"-addlist <input bsp> <file list> <output bsp>"

and for cubemaps

"-extractcubemaps <bsp file> <output folder>"

The thing I don't get about this is , what EXACTLY do I put in all of the things in <>.

for <input bsp> do I just put in <mapname.bsp>? With or without the <>? and for <output bsp> as well?

For <external path> is FULL directory path of file(s)?

Is <internal path> , for example for textures, something like <materials/metal/new_steel.vmt> ? What about if theres a .vtf file , does it go in the same place? I'm assuming that's all you need to do for a texture? What happens if you choose something other than materials internal path for a texture?


It would be great to just actually have some examples of what you put into the command lines for BSPzip. So I see how other people do it.
 
Last edited:

A Boojum Snark

Toraipoddodezain Mazahabado
aa
Nov 2, 2007
4,775
7,669
You never include <> in anything. They are used universally to indicate a single statement regardless of spaces in the description.

Cubemaps are automatically embedded into the bsp when they are built.

External path is indeed the entire thing, all the way up to drive letter.

You have internal right too. It is where the map will be looking for the resource, relative to the tf directory.
 

Terr

Cranky Coder
aa
Jul 31, 2009
1,590
410
Yeah, the <...> parts are like:

Dear <Recipient>,
This is a test letter.
Signed,
<Your Name>

As mentioned, the cubemaps are done when you built them. In other words, TF2 itself is handling packaging those for you, and when you type "buildcubemaps" it's actually replacing the /tf/maps/yourMapName.bsp with a new copy.
 

Resistance

L2: Junior Member
Mar 24, 2009
55
1
Yeah, the <...> parts are like:



As mentioned, the cubemaps are done when you built them. In other words, TF2 itself is handling packaging those for you, and when you type "buildcubemaps" it's actually replacing the /tf/maps/yourMapName.bsp with a new copy.

ah thx, i looked more into bspzip and it seems like an absolute pain to use. I'll try Packbsp. Does that link in your sig have your latest version of it (says last updated dec. 1)?
 

Terr

Cranky Coder
aa
Jul 31, 2009
1,590
410
Unfortunately PackBSP has some bugs and the next version involves some major changes so it's been taking a while.

Depending on what you do, you might not encounter those bugs, but... IF you use PackBSP, change the "Save As" to a new file that ends in ".packlist" instead of ".bsp".

This means PackBSP just writes out a text file that is the exact same thing bspzip wants for its "-addlist" option. You can then use notepad to edit it, add anything that's missing, etc.