SDK Improvement Group

hi every one iam new just join steam and i need help with my hammer editor so when iam open it to make map left 4 dead 2 and get error black grid can some one know how to fix it ?

I truly am behind the cause but aren't they going to update the sdk when the mac sdk comes out?

http://www.interlopers.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=33491&start=90#p436737 Did what I could at PAX West.

Remove the space in the word "phoneme" in Theory's link for it to work.

DORD: there's a fixed phoneme extractor at http://www.moddb.com/engines/source/downloads/windows-vista7-phoneme-extractor-11

Wish you can port games/mods to the Left 4 Dead 2/Alien Swarm Authoring Tools. But the tools are set to work with vpks and the new engines. I have better luck and less issues with those tools. :/

Lol na you can't use UDK i wish man its really niceeee and its way simpler to use compared to sdk... Sdk was a bitch to remember but i got used to it but now that i look at UDK and cry engine Valve needs to step their game up or else they'll be left in the dust with no money and no fans...

Too bad you cant use UDK to map/mod for Source Games haha... or can you? :/

My friends and I are planning on making a mod. We chose Source SDK over UDK for several reasons including my general familiarity with the tools and interface, the ability to create a mock-up of a level very quickly with good results, and the very friendly choreography tools.

However, the more recent updates have made our jobs harder. Hammer will randomly crash, the method of displaying compile progress hasn't been updated for years, even though a new method is being used in Left 4 Dead 2, no one's fixed that ATI 4xxx/5xxx text readability issue from a long ago, Faceposer doesn't work on any OS made in the last decade because of some changed function names in Microsoft SAPI that Valve never updated Faceposer to reflect, and models aren't cleanly imported. With UDK, it's just an intermediate format that's not proprietary and has been available for years - .ase, not needing a .smd with a .qc, then compiled with another tool using a batch file.

I really hope Valve can polish the SDK.

I agree with Enraged the most. In terms of engine competition, Source is nothing in comparison to Unreal Engine 3 and UDK. Modders are being being ever constricted by Source's ancient pre-computational methods. The only thing keeping the Source modding community intact is it's massive player base. Since the UDK's opening, I've seen countless independent modders and developers begin moving over, with no regrets.

dont use the internal compiler, it sucks. Use VBCT

You know. I love it when vrad.exe or vvis.exe stops working. Cause then you have to end that process, then you have to restart steam. That is stupid. They should make it so that if you happen to end those processes, that you don't need to restart steam to keep mapping or for that matter, play source based games.

I don't have a problem with the SDK itself; I've gotten used to the quirks, but what worries me is how little care Valve have given to the competitive engine market. It is not viable or economical for most developers to use it for commercial titles, and so more flexible engines, most notably UDK, are overtaking it. I have nothing against UDK, but Source should not become obselete any time soon, but Valve's attitude is not helping.

Welcome aboard Toneh, the more the merrier.

Joined this, left the other. Again, I hope this works. I'm using UDK just because it doesn't flip out on me every other minute. Long time loper lurker, I only read posts I don't post. Hope Valve reads and actually helps themselves (and us) out.