PackBSP 2.0 Beta 1 ... Needs testing.

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Terr

Cranky Coder
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Jul 31, 2009
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See the blog post..

PackBSP is a program for people creating custom maps for Valve Software's "Source Engine" series of games. It looks at the map you've made and attempts to determine every custom sound, texture, model, etc. that is involved in the map. Then it helps you embed those assets into the map so you can distribute it for other people to enjoy.

I only hope Valve's updates today don't break anything, or the difference between Beta 1 and Beta 2 will could be hilariously small ;)
 

Porkchop

L1: Registered
Apr 6, 2009
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I noticed your site said you needed to test on a 64-bit OS, so I thought I'd give it a go for you.

First thing I got when I opened it was this warning:
23t0ewz.png

Though I'm sure it's easily ignored, just a warning after all.

Went through a few things, worked fine, then go to the "Run dependencies" screen. When I clicked on it, I got this:
25gdoog.png

HlLib.dll is located in the main folder in which I have this extracted, so I'm not sure what the issue is.

Also nice to see another packing tool coming out. I've felt as if Pakrat is getting a bit stale, though that's just me.
 
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Terr

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Jul 31, 2009
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I noticed your site said you needed to test on a 64-bit OS, so I thought I'd give it a go for you.

Domo.

First thing I got when I opened it was this warning
It's my "don't sue me" fig-leaf ;)

HlLib.dll is located in the main folder in which I have this extracted, so I'm not sure what the issue is.

Pretty much what I expected. (But hey, at least it didn't crash with a bizarre error :)) HlLib is a 32-bit DLL. I had hoped that the batch file starting the JVM with the "-D32" option would force 32-bit mode in such a way that it would work, but I guess not. (You double clicked on the .bat file, not the .jar, right?)

Ultimately I may need to compile a 64-bit compatible version of HlLib (my C-fu is weak), and have the app choose the appropriate DLL to load. Alternately, package PackBSP so that it runs off of it's own 32-bit copy of the Java runtime.

One possible workaround is to download and install a 32-bit version of the JVM on your machine.

Also nice to see another packing tool coming out. I've felt as if Pakrat is getting a bit stale, though that's just me.
Well, three years with no updates and explicitly abandoned by the author... yeah ;)
 

Porkchop

L1: Registered
Apr 6, 2009
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Actually ran the .jar, .bat gives the same issue though. I'll be happy to help if you compile the 64-bit HlLib, but if I have to in the end, I have no issue downloading the 32-bit version of the JVM.
 

RavenStryker

Former Alias: †Blade†/Xi.Cynx
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Nov 25, 2008
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I'm running Windows 7 64-bit Enterprise
No error on startup
Now warning about java version

I got the following error right at the first screen when I clicked next after my steam directory was selected.(running the .jar file)
packbsperror.png


I got the following error when I started up the program.(running the .bat file)
packbsperror1.png
 
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Terr

Cranky Coder
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Jul 31, 2009
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Good news: Looks like since I started with HlLib (2.1.1), Nem put out a new version (2.3.0) that has x64 support, so I'll see what I can do about upgrading and getting that in for testing in Beta-2.

I got the following error right at the first screen when I clicked next after my steam directory was selected.(running the .jar file)

  • Do you have Half Life 2 : Ep 2 installed on the computer?
  • What does the following file look like?
    Code:
    c:\program files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\YOUR_USERNAME\sourcesdk\bin\source2007\bin\gameconfig.txt
  • If the file doesn't exist, is the source2007 folder absent as well?

It is possible the SDK doesn't bother to create folders/configs for engines you own no games for, in which case it should be an easy fix.

I got the following error when I started up the program.(running the .bat file)

It probably means that the javaw.exe program isn't on your environment path. It exists if your double-clicking works, it's just not doable from the command line... Hmm.
 
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RavenStryker

Former Alias: †Blade†/Xi.Cynx
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Nov 25, 2008
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  • Do you have Half Life 2 : Ep 2 installed on the computer?
  • What does the following file look like?
    Code:
    c:\program files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\YOUR_USERNAME\sourcesdk\bin\source2007\bin\gameconfig.txt
  • If the file doesn't exist, is the source2007 folder absent as well?

  • yes HL2: Ep2 is installed
    packbsphl2ep2.png
  • This is what the following folder looks like(no .txt file)
    packbspmissingtxt.jpg
  • The source2007 folder is not absent
 
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Terr

Cranky Coder
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Jul 31, 2009
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Weeeeiiirrd. AFAIK that's the file the SDK Launcher relies on.
  • Can you successfully launch Hammer for HL2:Ep2 through the SDK launcher, or does it fail?
  • If Hammer starts up fine, was the file silently created by the SDK?
  • If the file is still missing, does "refresh SDK content" make it appear?

Whatever the outcome, I'll try to make it so that kind of failure is recoverable, so you can still choose from whatever stuff does exist.
 
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RavenStryker

Former Alias: †Blade†/Xi.Cynx
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Nov 25, 2008
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Nope! Lol, maybe this is the reason.. Do I have to launch HL2: Ep2 first? I got this error when I tried opening it in hammer:
packbspsdktoolerror.png


And also, curious, why source engine 2007 and not 2009?


EDIT: Make sure you let people know a pre-requisite right now to make sure it loads up properly is to have ran HL2: Ep2 at least once so it builds a gameinfo.txt for your program to read off of. After I got that error I actually loaded up HL2, HL2: Ep1, and HL2: Ep2 and adjusted all the game settings in them and now I can open hammer for HL2: Ep2.

So now I tried to run the program and I got the following error:
packbsperrorep1.png
 
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Terr

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Jul 31, 2009
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That's probably the exact same problem, except for Half Life 2: Episode 1.

And also, curious, why source engine 2007 and not 2009?

I'm guessing they created the source2007 category specifically to hold games (such as HL2:Ep2) which are not (yet?) being moved forward onto their new cross-platform-buildable engine. In a sense, Source2007 is probably "Older Orange Box" ;)
 
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RavenStryker

Former Alias: †Blade†/Xi.Cynx
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Nov 25, 2008
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That's probably the exact same problem, except for Half Life 2: Episode 1.

I would of thought this was the problem EXCEPT that when I started up HL2: Ep2 I did it for HL2 and HL2: Ep1 as well :/
 

Terr

Cranky Coder
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Jul 31, 2009
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OK... Does the following file exist, and does Hammer for Ep1 start up?
Code:
c:\program files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\YOUR_USERNAME\sourcesdk\bin\ep1\bin\gameconfig.txt


____________

More generally... right now I have a quick choice between "Ignore it and log an error the user won't see" versus "Stop everything and complain in a way they can see". (It's more work to do a third alternative.)

On one hand I don't want to block the user more than I have to, but on the other hand if Source SDK is messed up so Hammer won't start, that seems like something that the user ought to fix anyway.
 

Terr

Cranky Coder
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Jul 31, 2009
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BETA 2

  • Should have 64-bit support now.
  • Has an executable launcher which should make it easier for people to run.
  • Log window improvements. Color-coding, auto-scrolling, popup on error.
  • Less picky about broken SDK environments ("the source2007 problem")
  • Improved packing screen, integrated file-picking and color-coding to show missing files.
 

Porkchop

L1: Registered
Apr 6, 2009
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Just tried out Beta 2. Packed some custom materials, and it all seemed to work without a flaw. Changed folder names with materials and such, went in-game and tried it.

I have no models or sounds to try and pack, so couldn't try that. Shouldn't make a different though (I hope :p).

Great job though. Simple enough to use, and no hassle. I suppose I'll be using this from now on (and let's hope you're able to pull off the L4D1/2 support as well ;))
 

Terr

Cranky Coder
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Jul 31, 2009
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Sorry if this is rude, but can you summarize the benefits this offers over pakrat/that other one?

I.e. does it pack prop materials, soundscapes, detail cards et al?
Well, if you can find something it doesn't pack, you tell me ;)

In terms of dependencies
  • Parses the actual FGD files for mods, so that if Valve adds a new entity "training_thumbnail" that takes a material for "thumb_material", it should "Just Work" without a patch. This also means that the tools is out-of-the-box compatible with a host of Source games, no custom coding for each game.
  • Soundscapes, and the WAV files they reference
  • Particle manifests, and the PCF files they reference
  • Up-to-date with OB features when it comes VMT directives
  • Parses MDL files, follows MDLs' "search paths" for model props
  • Packs only specified skin textures specified for static props
  • Packs all skin textures for dynamic props
  • Detail materials
  • Custom LDR/HDR skyboxes
  • Map description files, for each language
  • TF2 map thumbnails
  • Color correction point/volume entities


Other benefits
  • It knows what files are already in the GCFs, so it can accurately detect files that could be necessary that you don't have sitting on your hard drive. It will protect you from "overriding" a "stock" GCF file with a custom copy embedded in the map.
  • Covers many edge cases like WVT-Patch files. (Using a custom blend texture on a non-displacement brush, Hammer VBSP auto-replaces it with a generated non-blend material for the first blend item.)
  • Knows about cubemaps and doesn't bug you.
  • Uses the same stuff the SDK launcher does to provide you a Engine/Game dropdown. If you add a new game to an engine in the SDK, it should just appear.

As a result (I think) my custom particles did not get packed at all.
So what's missing is: particles.txt and 2 .pcf's

I ran into this with the Swamp Pack particle manifest. The problem is that the parser engine thinks this style is invalid:
Code:
particles_manifest
{
"file[COLOR="Red"]""[/COLOR]!particles/bugs.pcf"
}

The problem is the fact that there's no whitespace between "file" and "!particles/bugs.pcf", so it doesn't recognize it as a valid key/value pair. I've tried to make it more lenient but ran into some problems, so in the short run I'd say "fix your file so it doesn't look wacky".
 
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Ravidge

Grand Vizier
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May 14, 2008
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since it works ingame to leave out the whitespace, I think its quite possible a lot of people will have the same issue as me. Good to see that it's not completely hopeless though, but there is definitely room for improvement there :)

Hope you can get it to read even my particle.txt files, can't see anything else wrong with it!
 

Freyja

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Jul 31, 2009
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My main question is: Have you fixed my ice bug where it was picking up my ice textures as cubemap ones?

If so then I love you.

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