Hammer feature wishlist

Pocket

Half a Lambert is better than one.
aa
Nov 14, 2009
4,694
2,579
So we all have our gripes with Hammer, let's face it. And we all have things we'd like to see added to it. That's what this thread is for. From the simple to the whimsical to the technically unfeasible, as long as it's a feature you genuinely want to see added, it's fair game.

  • Yet another mode for displacement editing, where each vertex can be manipulated with the mouse in the 2D windows just like the vertex edit tool. As a tradeoff, you'd be limited to the 1-unit grid, but for shaping displacements to match (and with the intent to replace) complex brushwork, it would be quite handy.
  • The option to make the compile process "bomb out" the time it encounters an error. I can't tell you how much time I've had wasted waiting for a map to compile all the way, only to find it didn't really but still took as long as if it had.
  • Some kind of "drop" tool. What this would do is let you position a static prop, and then let it "drop", as if it were a physics prop, properly on top of whatever's below it. Perfect for making uneven stacks of crates or placing props on displaced ground.
 

Draco18s

L9: Fashionable Member
Sep 19, 2009
622
136
A way to browse and view particle systems in Hammer.

I added the rain from Sawmill to my map, guessing at the spacing I would need, and ended up having to add more when I found huge gaps. But I still have no idea how wide the systems are individually.

It's also incredibly difficult to find new particle systems to use without first starting up TF2 with the -tools option (and being someone who leaves TF2 running while I test compiles, that means I have to exit first, start TF2 in tools, exit TF2, and return to Hammer).

Likewise for finding sprite textures. Right now Hammer will open up the texture browser with a filter set to "sprites/" but there are none listed.
 

lana

Currently On: ?????
aa
Sep 28, 2009
3,075
2,778
The ability to build navmeshes in hammer.
 
Nov 14, 2009
1,257
378
Carve that doesnt crash Hammer, or create crazy visgroups

Real time lighting that doesnt crash hammer
 

Draco18s

L9: Fashionable Member
Sep 19, 2009
622
136
Realistic lighting preview. Right now it doesn't take into accound the x100, x1000, x10000 multiplier boosts to brightness for various falloffs.
 

Draco18s

L9: Fashionable Member
Sep 19, 2009
622
136
i would absolutely love to see props being able to be scaled up and down and all around.

Personally I think it would need to be limited to certain multiples (0.25, 0.5, 2, 4...) and only if it scales the model in all directions (so you can't squish things).

There's also a bunch of valve models that I'd like to have split apart (search "truss" in Hammer and find some of the really complex train track pieces, or in L4D2 there are some railings*).

*The mall railings for the finale of Dead Center are all one model for the entire stair case. :(
 

gamemaster1996

L13: Stunning Member
Sep 30, 2009
1,064
134
A even smaller grid for displacements and a tool to make two displacements meet excactly at the seams.
 
Feb 18, 2009
640
629
I want to see:

  • As steve said with props (I know about map_edit, but it would be really really quick if it was just a button in Hammer)
  • Carve completely removed, or make it manipulator based tool, which only allows carving of a cube or cuboid (i.e. you hit the button, and a cube appears which you then move, resize and then cut with).
  • Plug-ins as Boojum said. That could be so cool and make it so very diverse.
  • A particle browser of some sort, as Draco18s said.
  • Particles and better lighting rendering somewhat, but I think they should be toggle-able.
 
Last edited:

Draco18s

L9: Fashionable Member
Sep 19, 2009
622
136
What really needs to happen is that carve needs to be smarter, and I know how it could go about that, too.

1) pick longest side (if many, then one at random, priority to ones that are othogonal in more dimensions, but not required).
2) slice along that side
3) find the opposite side (draw a line perpendicular to the midpoint), if at a vertex or edge, then the largest side touching that point.
4) make a trapezoid with these two sides (by drawing lines at both sides) and slice the two nearest faces to those lines.
5) slice for the faces nearest the "top" and "bottom" of the cuboid we've formed from the first four cuts.
6) auto-carve (as it currently exists) any remaining sides. These are likely to remain small, as we've already encased our "to carve" object in a cuboid. Preferably auto-combine these into a func_detail.
 
Feb 18, 2009
640
629
I'm not convinced by making the carve tool "intelligent", just make it fool-proof. With any kind of system involving the computer making decisions like that, people are going to not think, and carve with stupid geometry. There is no better way of making someone not make stupid geometry, than to make them do it by hand.
 

Pocket

Half a Lambert is better than one.
aa
Nov 14, 2009
4,694
2,579

Wow, that's a really neat tool! I'll have to try it next time.

Also, along similar lines, this is more an engine thing than a Hammer thing, but I want the ability to set a physics prop's center of gravity, either in the prop's data itself or in Hammer. It's so stupid that there's no way to tell the engine that the orange lamp is supposed to be able to stand up on its base.