n00b question about custom elements

KaiserFate

L69: Deviant Member
Dec 9, 2009
69
12
By Custom Elements, I refer to just about everything, including models, textures and sounds.

I'll no doubt get a lot of headsmacks for asking this - it's a question that could apply to virtually any Valve game, I imagine, but TF2 is the only one I wish to map for - but I'll ask anyway.
How do custom elements work when releasing a map?
For example, I have been on servers with additional sound effects added to the game; these files wind up in the TF2 files. I have also been on a server where any class can wear a tiny party hat that I'm certain isn't Valve's work.
While I am also interested in these things (importing custom hats would be cool), the main thrust of this question is whether I can simply include my own textures in a map.
Granted, it will all work on Hammer and on my computer, and it would work on anyone's if I simply provided a rar with my map and all the necessary files in their correct paths, but say my friend was renting a server and was able to include my .bsp in their map rotation. Would these custom elements be installed automatically, as has been done on my computer?
If not, how do you go about doing this? Is it viciously complicated?

Thanks in advance.
 

TMP

Ancient Pyro Main
aa
Aug 11, 2008
947
560
Oh yeah, you can. It's not hard at all really. You merely have to pack in the textures into the bsp. There are many ways you can do it. BSPZip is the program which is default in the source sdk, but I find that it is fairly difficult to use at times because it is command prompt. A good median is Pakrat (you can google it, I think), which scans for custom textures used and packs them in.
 

KaiserFate

L69: Deviant Member
Dec 9, 2009
69
12
TMP, that looks like a great program (exactly what I'm looking for, in fact), but I just spent twenty minutes trying to install it. Seems that Java doesn't want to co-operate with my computer, and they don't have a normal windows installer.
I guess I'll have to get used to the command prompt! Thanks a lot though!

Edit - If anyone else is thinking of doing this, I just found Hawk's custom objects tute. It is amazingly in-depth. http://forums.tf2maps.net/showthread.php?t=838
 
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Seba

DR. BIG FUCKER, PHD
aa
Jun 9, 2009
2,364
2,728
Kaiser, PakRat doesn't annoy just you. In fact, Terr is making a replacement for it here. Although it's a WIP, I still find it better than PakRat.
 

KaiserFate

L69: Deviant Member
Dec 9, 2009
69
12
Kaiser, PakRat doesn't annoy just you. In fact, Terr is making a replacement for it here. Although it's a WIP, I still find it better than PakRat.

Yeesh. Map corruption - sounds like I was better off not installing it, lol.
Let's hope Terr's project comes to fruition!
 

honeymustard

L9: Fashionable Member
Oct 26, 2009
698
573
I don't see what's wrong with Pakrat, it takes about half a second to pack the custom content into the bsp and couldn't be any easier to use. Scan and save.
 

gamemaster1996

L13: Stunning Member
Sep 30, 2009
1,064
134
Actually the hats dont always appear on typing tf_birthday 1
 

Dr. ROCKZO

L8: Fancy Shmancy Member
Jul 25, 2009
580
159
It looks like Terr's Map Packer will become the standard for implementing custom elements in maps soon enough.