Why is Hammer so confusing???

[Judess69er]

i spent the first 10 minutes trying to figure out how to actually place a shape and from there iv been sitting at a blank box for about 20 minutes trying to figure out how to apply an actual texture to the faces

not to call the program bad but is there not a better method of creating stuff? the whole thing seems extremely tedious for basic level design i know some people are going to laugh at what i say next but why cant these Mapping programs be more like Minecraft or Roblox Studio where it doesn't take 100 hours of prior experience with the program and knowledge of all the secret keybinds and functions that make everything work correctly. something anybody can pick up and build a red brick house with a white picket fence effectively without having to read an instruction manual

[Judess69er]

ahh well after reading many steam guides, wiki pages and watching a few youtube guides i finally came across that vital key that makes everything work... the Enter Button

there always has to be a hidden function that you have to know to make everything work... -.-' its like having a conversation with a dungeon master....

[Moltard]

tbh, Hammer is pretty easy to use for anyone. If you compare it to 3d modelling software like Blender or 3DSMax, you will see that you dont need much knowledge to build basic stuff.

You should anyway always watch 1 or 2 video guide (or read the get started page of valve wiki) to know how to do the basic stuff, and what is the goal of each tool.

[Judess69er]

i can see its pretty basic to use altogether just the interface seems a little clumsy, iv been at it for a few hours now and all iv been able to successfully create is a straight road with a grass square beside it and a wide 90° corner

its not like you cant create with it but it feels like i'm fighting with the program to get anything to come out how i want it

Edit: actually iv used Blender before and i picked that up easier then Hammer, the Extrude tool makes creating unique geometry and stuff like roads a breeze and the Mirror Mod really helps cut back on what you have to create

far as 3DSMax iv never used it but if you ever built in Minecraft or Roblox Studio or if you ever used EOSERV Map Editor in the days of Endless Online private servers, very slight chance but its worth mentioning because the program itself was very User Friendly to use it didn't require training just an imagination and the tools at hand

Edit2: like the Forge in Halo 3 and the Creator in GTA5 it provides anyone with the will to create a simple set of tools that are easily learned and applied, not trying to dumb the program down any because it allows great freedom of creation with the prerequisite of memorizing the program so you can actually navigate it with ease and that's the mountain climb that winds the average john/jane with the imagination and will to create before they can reach the summit let alone the peak

sure its not rocket science to learn the keybinds and functions but its a whole lot more to take in then you really need, im still scanning through the keybind's list trying to learn the basic's but you could probably fill a Lined Piece of Paper back and front with all of em, like sure textures, decals, cutting and adding blocks are pretty straightforward but you end up looking all over the place for simple things like Rotate and moving blocks accurately feels harder then it needs to be

[Heretic]

In term's of game development tools, Hammer is incredibly friendly to new users and is much easier to grasp than other World Editing tools.

[xdshot]

RTFM!

https://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/Category:Level_Design

[Judess69er]

Originally posted by Clinky:

In term's of game development tools, Hammer is incredibly friendly to new users and is much easier to grasp than other World Editing tools.

idk i have used many different map editors and creation platforms and i do agree Hammer isn't the hardest to grasp but some of the editing tools i find are more difficult to use then they should be the most recent thing that has troubled me are the resize increments the resize seems to run off the current grid size its difficult to get an idea of how large to make stuff, like i found the Units thing in the Map Dropdown menu, but i don't feel like it changes anything regardless of the setting its on and i still cant determine how large each unit actually is so the scale of everything feels like a huge guessing game

[Judess69er]

Originally posted by xDShot:

RTFM!

https://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/Category:Level_Design

why does everyone think reading will solve everything??? i understand how to use the program after learning the basic keybinds but that doesn't suddenly dismiss the fact that the ui is kind of clumsy to use and requires a lot of tedious memorizing to use tools effectively

an example would be move,resize and rotate being grouped together onto the selection tool, idk personally it would be a lot simpler and less confusing to have a button for each of those 3 different functions and the selection tool would be reserved for selecting o.o'

everything just seems hidden and squirreled away in a secluded corner where you have to go on a treasure hunt looking for these vital pieces of information required for basic operation

[xdshot]

>why does everyone think reading will solve everything???

Because it does. Either you accept it as is, or don't use it. Simple.

[Judess69er]

Originally posted by xDShot:

>why does everyone think reading will solve everything???

Because it does. Either you accept it as is, or don't use it. Simple.

reading over techniques i already know for mapping wont solve already existing clumsiness in the program and revisiting the Hotkey Reference isn't going to make it easier to use the system and determine the actual size of objects in reference to these grid units, and memorizing all these function hotkeys isn't really going to help anyone... because its just another thing taking up precious brainpower having to constantly remember what keys do what... even MMORPG's feature a Hotkey Menu Display because of the simple fact that its time consuming and tedious to have to remember 80 different button combinations off memory

Edit: Sure they give you a Dimensions chart but that talks about converting units to feet but then you go to the actual program and your confronted with numbers like 512.0 and if that's the unit count then its already more confusing then it needs to be having to do a conversion to figure out the size of an object, how about instead of a static size grid selection make it so the user can set an increment to determine the grid size so if the user wants to edit at a 0.5 increment they just set it to 0.5 or if they want to edit 1 foot at a time they can set the increment to 16

[xdshot]

Blahblan...

[Judess69er]

Originally posted by xDShot:

Blahblan...

you sound insulted to the idea that this program can be improved o(*.*o)

[[B.n.B] AlcyToronto]

Originally posted by Judess69er:

Originally posted by xDShot:

>why does everyone think reading will solve everything???

Because it does. Either you accept it as is, or don't use it. Simple.

reading over techniques i already know for mapping wont solve already existing clumsiness in the program and revisiting the Hotkey Reference isn't going to make it easier to use the system and determine the actual size of objects in reference to these grid units, and memorizing all these function hotkeys isn't really going to help anyone... because its just another thing taking up precious brainpower having to constantly remember what keys do what... even MMORPG's feature a Hotkey Menu Display because of the simple fact that its time consuming and tedious to have to remember 80 different button combinations off memory

I've made more than 200 maps with Hammer, and sincerely the only hotkeys I use are Ctrl+S to save the work, Ctrl+A to resize the windows, Ctrl+E to go to selected item and Shift+Q to unselect all. All most used functions are in the menus, what the problem using your mouse?
About the unit dimension, it changes from game to game, and there is a page about it in Valve Viki. https://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/Dimensions
But experience is the best teacher. All the questions are answered in Valve Viki, but we need the patience to learn. Mapping is not a smartphone app, just click and play.

[יNubbie ฅ^•ﻌ•^ฅ]

Hammer is outdated, however, still a powerful tool when you get the hang of it.

Hammer is a bit more advanced than a in-game editor and not the easiest editor to work with - but after a while if you’re interested, you will get a grasp of how it works

[Judess69er]

Originally posted by Nubbie:

Hammer is outdated, however, still a powerful tool when you get the hang of it.

Hammer is a bit more advanced than a in-game editor and not the easiest editor to work with - but after a while if you’re interested, you will get a grasp of how it works

exactly i'm not denying that it can do its job i'm just trying to say that the interface for manipulating scale, rotation and position and pretty much everything around the idea of having to convert units to measurements could be easier to use

i'm not trying to say the program is bad but then you got all these people thinking i'm just some idiot that's never picked up Game Studio Software telling me to read to learn how to use things you shouldn't have to use a map to find and accusing me of "expecting people to hold your hand and give you the easy answers."

no i'm not expecting it to be easy i already came to reality with that fact 10 years ago when i thought creating my first game would be a walk in the park and it ended up being more then i originally could handle myself, i'm not looking for the easy road but i'm not interested in doing things the hard way when there can be an easier method

[Judess69er]

Originally posted by Peter Brev:

Originally posted by Judess69er:

why cant these Mapping programs be more like Minecraft or Roblox Studio

Originally posted by Judess69er:

why does everyone think reading will solve everything???

Right, I see where you're coming from... expecting people to hold your hand and give you the easy answers.

Originally posted by Judess69er:

you sound insulted to the idea that this program can be improved o(*.*o)

Because it's fine as it is and it's more you insulting us and Hammer. What you're looking for is to use some lazy aѕѕ editors that can't do half of what Hammer does.

This entire thread serves no purpose. So just wallow in your ignorance like I know you will, cause I won't care more than that anymore.

the very fact that you replied in such a manner just proves your own ignorance o.o' sure Hammer Works Fine, My grandmothers 48 year old clothes dryer works fine, it just doesn't work as effective as the newer models...