Particle, Commentary, and Materials Editors Released

Lord Ned

L420: High Member
Feb 11, 2008
421
174
For those of you who haven't heard, i'ma go try it now.

Rejoice mod creators, for tonight's Orange Box update also brings about the release of the binaries for the particle editor, the commentary editor, and the materials editor. Mike Durand, via the HLDS mailing list, mentioned that he is "still working on an SDK update that includes a convenient way to
launch the tools as well as some example particles and commentary files."

For the time being, you can run any of the three games with the additional command line of '-tools' included in order to access the new tools.

Full documentation is also on the way. For the time being, have a read through of the CliffsNotes version of the changes.

* 1. These three tools run in the same process as the engine and you can switch between the tools.
* 2. The F10 button changes context between playing the game in the 'Engine Viewport' window and editing content via the current tool.
* 3. In the lower left corner is an input field that allows the user to dispatch console commands to the game while working with the tools.
* 4. Particle systems are defined in .pcf files that are located in the 'particles' subdirectory beneath the game directory. You should extract some of the TF2, Portal, or Ep2 particle files from the game caches if you would like to see some examples. The SDK update will include example particles.
* 5. Commentary node information is stored in text files in the games' 'maps' subdirectory and the established naming convention is _commentary.txt. Again, you can extract these files from our shipping games to check out the editor ahead of the SDK update and example nodes.
* 6. The material editor is a GUI front-end and preview tool that provides a more convenient way of tweaking materials settings. You can extract VMT files from our shipping games or those from your own mods to check it out.

FYI prepare for bugs and crashes.

FYI it's really confusing.
 

TheBladeRoden

L420: High Member
Oct 26, 2007
491
168
[starcraft marine]Hell, it's about time.[/starcraft marine]

The particle whore in me that's been lying dormant since UT2004 can live again
 
Last edited:

Axii

L1: Registered
May 27, 2008
47
7
[starcraft marine]Hell, it's about time.[/starcraft marine]
Starcraft Ftw :p, Cant wait for the full details of this.

Edit: OMG, I testing the Material Editor, And Lets just say you dont need Note pad anymore, Complete Set of all The Choices and Editable-ness Of your Vmt Files. Going to Check the Particals Editor now.

OMFG, JUST TESTED PARTICLES EDITOR, AND ITS AMAZING TOO LOL, I made my teleporters do some crazy glowers/after effects :D!
It Also Updates And shows the Particles effect in a little window and Shows you what it looks like instantly after changes.
 
Last edited:

YM

LVL100 YM
aa
Dec 5, 2007
7,135
6,056
OMG OMG OMG PARTICAL EDITOR!!!!!!

*dies with joy*

edit: If only I wasn't halfway though an all day exam right now! I'd test this out RIGHT NOW if I could :(
 

YM

LVL100 YM
aa
Dec 5, 2007
7,135
6,056
yeah doesn't seem many people can save, yet another fancy but useless update :D keep em coming valve!
 

Corion

L2: Junior Member
May 17, 2008
67
8
I can't wait for people to take Valve's wonderful particle effects and absolutely destroy them in headache- and seizure- inducing ways in custom maps, proving once again that any wonderful tool, game, or content can be destroyed with enough stupidity and lack of even a modicum of restraint or subtlety.

koth_rainbow could use a few custom particles, doncha think?

Also, I'm sure there will be some good ones too. But mostly bad ones. Very, very bad ones. :0(
 

TheDarkerSideofYourShadow

L10: Glamorous Member
Apr 12, 2008
792
286
As a general rule of thumb, if you have to include a disclaimer saying your map is a health risk, then you should probably not release it.
 

TheDarkerSideofYourShadow

L10: Glamorous Member
Apr 12, 2008
792
286
I had to advert my eyes...

Not sure if thats because I'm a faithless heathen or because I was about to have a seizure though.
 

Ace

L3: Member
Feb 15, 2008
112
9
OMG OMG OMG PARTICAL EDITOR!!!!!!

*dies with joy*

edit: If only I wasn't halfway though an all day exam right now! I'd test this out RIGHT NOW if I could :(


Wow, I wana go where ever you do if exams are lax enough that you can browse the internet and post on the forum :p

http://www.dokimos.org/ajff/

I guess I found his inspirational links...

Obviously I'm not a believer, otherwise that wouldn't be so painful
 
Last edited: