We should have a beta build ready on Monday or Tuesday or next week.
I was thinking about this and about how files are distributed and bzp vs. vpk. Currently if artists release custom materials/models and a mapper uses that they bzip. If two maps use that same texture they both bzip so now there is double the storage needed.
It would be cool if this system could somehow avoid that, say if there was a workshop that supported maps and assets then you would only have to pack a .res or something. Then the game reads that and gets the pack, or if it has the pack it doesn't have to get it again. Or something.
So I guess this makes bzip obsolete, but what if you distribute your bzp and vpk separately? I think that would be a good way to go about things if it works.
Valve has promised that it is spending a "tremendous amount of time" improving its Source Engine SDK.
Oh, yeah, this one is great. Although they limited it too much - when you think about it, there's a huge amount of things (defective turrets, more "observation" rooms, props, doors, bottomless pits, etc...) they could have put quite easily into it, which would have made the thing far better - and they definitely should have added an option to directly generate bsp filesThey're probably referring to the built-in in-game/in-engine map editor that is drag and drop tile based editing. It is amazingly smooth and efficient for making plain chambers, though you need to go back to Hammer if you want any special decoration or story stuff.