How do I install resource packs?

Anguish

L2: Junior Member
Jan 24, 2016
94
4
I've gotten a bunch of great looking models and textures for my map yet no matter where I look I cannot find any answer to how I install them! Can anyone shed some light?
 

Bogdy

L4: Comfortable Member
Aug 13, 2014
187
208
I know that .vmt's and .vtf's have to be in steamapps/common/Team Fortress 2/tf/materials

I don't know about models, though.
 

Anguish

L2: Junior Member
Jan 24, 2016
94
4
I know that .vmt's and .vtf's have to be in steamapps/common/Team Fortress 2/tf/materials

I don't know about models, though.
I'll go fiddle around with the files a bit more. I think they're in the right place (The same you specified) but the browser isn't picking them up.
 

Bogdy

L4: Comfortable Member
Aug 13, 2014
187
208
I'll go fiddle around with the files a bit more. I think they're in the right place (The same you specified) but the browser isn't picking them up.

Make sure the .vmt's $basetexture points to the right directory where the .vtf is. But if you have the .vtf in your materials folder, you should only type the name of the .vtf.
 
Mar 23, 2013
1,013
347
Go to SteamApps\common\Team Fortress 2\tf\custom

no, if you use client mods, this is unorganized.
Just use SteamApps\common\Team Fortress 2\tf instead and put your mapping stuff in the materials and models folder there.
You can probably faster acces them and you aren't mixing them together with mods
 

worMatty

Repacking Evangelist
aa
Jul 22, 2014
1,257
999
no, if you use client mods, this is unorganized.
Just use SteamApps\common\Team Fortress 2\tf instead and put your mapping stuff in the materials and models folder there.
You can probably faster acces them and you aren't mixing them together with mods

No, it's not unorganised. In fact it's better-organised than putting all your custom content in to the same folder. If you need to delete or temporarily hide a content pack, you only need to change one folder. If all the content was in the same folder, you would need to go through it file-by-file. There is no access speed disadvantage from using tf/custom, because all content is mounted and read the same when you load Hammer/the game. tf/custom's sole purpose is to serve as a convenient place for you to store and segregate your custom content so that your game's root asset directories can stay in the state they are distributed in, which makes debugging easier.

Custom content in the tf/custom directory is organised like this:
  • tf/custom/
    • client_mod1/
    • client_mod2/
    • client_mod3/
    • content_pack1/
    • content_pack2/
    • content_pack3/
Client mods might also be stored in VPK files instead of folders. VPKs have a read speed benefit, because they are already indexed, and so the game engine doesn't need to scan their contents.

So for example:
  • tf/custom/tf2m_construction_pack/materials/construction/*.vtf,*.vmt
  • tf/custom/tf2m_construction_pack/materials/construction/models/props_construction/*.vtf,*.vmt
  • tf/custom/tf2m_construction_pack/models/props_construction/*.vtx,*.mdl,*.vvd,*.phy
All you need to do to get the content packs in-game and in-Hammer is copy the extracted folder (e.g. tf2m_construction_pack) in to tf/custom. The same goes for the Swamp Pack and any other content pack.
 
Mar 23, 2013
1,013
347
disagree, since proper custom content is stored in folders like props_construction, you have different packs just as split apparts as in induvidual tf/custom folders. While the downside is that you have two folders (models and materials/models) you have your mods at an entirely different path and you don't need to pack everything manually in VIDE.
So I highly recommend newbies to use the tf folder so they don't sit forever on packing a map.
 

Bogdy

L4: Comfortable Member
Aug 13, 2014
187
208
Guys, right now you're arguing when poor OP still doesn't have his question answered completely.
 

worMatty

Repacking Evangelist
aa
Jul 22, 2014
1,257
999
Guys, right now you're arguing when poor OP still doesn't have his question answered completely.
I answered their question thoroughly in my previous post.

VIDE picks up custom content in tf/custom. It doesn't need to be in the root asset dirs. If your installation of VIDE is having trouble locating your custom content whilst it's installed in tf/custom, then change its search path to tf/custom/<whatever>. This method also works with Pakrat.

I can't deny that a content pack that uses a decent folder nomenclature can be distinguished from others when installed in the root asset dirs. Though the temporary removal of custom content for debugging purposes is still not as convenient.

If you're feeling advanced, there is a launch argument for Hammer that lets you specify an additional custom content directory for it to load map assets from when it launches. This means you could store custom content outside of the game directory, say in My Documents. The benefit is that when you test your map, any content that has not been packed in to the BSP will show up as errors, and the game may load a little bit faster.
 

EArkham

Necromancer
aa
Aug 14, 2009
1,625
2,773
You can do that in /custom/, too. Once you've packed up your map, just exit everything (hammer, tf2, etc plus any programs like photoshop, etc that might still have content from custom open), rename /custom/ to /xcustom/, load up your map, and noclip around looking for purple checks and giant red errors. Painless and easy.

Long as you check your entire map, you tend not to miss anything that way.
 

Vel0city

func_fish
aa
Dec 6, 2014
1,947
1,589
Better yet, don't mess around with folder names, but instead use the console command sv_pure 2. That command will force TF2 to ONLY read from the game's stock folders and the assets packed inside the bsp. I've had cases where renaming folders (including tf/custom) showed up fine in TF2 only to realize that not all was packed when I switched to my clean TF2 install on OS X.