Level Design For 'The Stanley Parable'

Have you ever wanted to make a map for The Stanley Parable? I did. Unfortunately, 6 years after release, it doesn't have too much documentation, and I couldn't find a guide on how to do it.. So, I'm making one. What will be covered here is how to make Portal 2's Authoring Tools work with The Stanley Parable.

If you've got a better solution, put it in the comments.

I recommend having Notepad++ installed.

I might redo this guide in a more reader friendly format.

Setting It Up

1. Locate Portal 2 or its authoring tools in your steam library.
   
   
2. Right click it and go to 'Properties'.
   
   
3. From there press the 'LOCAL FILES' tab.
   
   
4. Now, press the 'BROWSE LOCAL FILES...' button.
   
   
5. You will now be in your Portal 2 folder. From here, open your bin folder.
   
   
6. Copy the file labelled 'GameConfig.txt' and paste it.
   
   
7. Rename it to 'GameConfig.txt.old' or something similar, in case you wish to return to Portal 2 maps.
   
   
8. Go back to Steam.
   
   
9. Follow steps 1-4 but for The Stanley Parable instead.
   
   
10. Open Portal 2's GameConfig.txt.
    
    
11. On the fifth line it says 'Portal 2', replace that with 'The Stanley Parable'.
    
    
12. Go to your Stanley Parable file explorer window and copy the path of "thestanleyparable".
    
    
13. In the GameConfig.txt, on the seventh line, replace the file path with the one you just copied.
    
    
14. Go to your Stanley Parable file explorer window and copy the path of "stanley.fgd".
    
    
15. In the GameConfig.txt, on the tenth line, replace the file path with the one you just copied.
    
    
16. Go to your Stanley Parable file explorer window and copy the path of "stanley.exe".
    
    
17. In the GameConfig.txt, on the fifteenth line, replace the file path with the one you just copied.
    
    
18. Do Not change lines eighteen through twenty.
    
    
19. In the GameConfig.txt, on the twenty-first line, paste the same thing as on the fifteenth line, but this time remove the "/stanley.exe".
    
    
20. The "MapDir" can be anywhere you want it to be. This is where your vmfs are defaulted to save.
    
    
21. Go to your Stanley Parable file explorer window and copy the path of "/maps".
    
    
22. In the GameConfig.txt, on the twenty-third line, replace the file path with the one you just copied.
    
    
23. You don't have to worry about changing the prefab directory as they were rendered effectively obsolete since instances were added. If you wish to set it, you may.
    
    
24. Save your file
    
    
25. (Re)open your Portal 2 Authoring Tools

My GameConfig.txt

The following is what mine looks like. Feel free to copy it, but be sure to fix all of the file paths.
Note: I have Portal 2 installed on my external hard-drive. That's why it switches between D: and C: drives.

"Configs"
{
	"Games"
	{
		"The Stanley Parable"
		{
			"GameDir"		"D:\SteamLibrary\steamapps\common\The Stanley Parable\thestanleyparable"
			"Hammer"
			{
				"GameData0"		"D:\SteamLibrary\steamapps\common\The Stanley Parable\stanley.fgd"
				"TextureFormat"		"5"
				"MapFormat"		"4"
				"DefaultTextureScale"		"0.250000"
				"DefaultLightmapScale"		"16"
				"GameExe"		"D:\SteamLibrary\steamapps\common\The Stanley Parable\stanley.exe"
				"DefaultSolidEntity"		"func_detail"
				"DefaultPointEntity"		"info_player_start"
				"BSP"		"C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Portal 2\bin\vbsp.exe"
				"Vis"		"C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Portal 2\bin\vvis.exe"
				"Light"		"C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Portal 2\bin\vrad.exe"
				"GameExeDir"		"D:\SteamLibrary\steamapps\common\The Stanley Parable"
				"MapDir"		"D:\Documents\source\maps\stanlyparable"
				"BSPDir"		"D:\SteamLibrary\steamapps\common\The Stanley Parable\thestanleyparable\maps"
				"PrefabDir"		"D:\SteamLibrary\steamapps\common\The Stanley Parable\bin\Prefabs"
				"CordonTexture"		"tools\toolsskybox"
				"MaterialExcludeCount"		"0"
			}
		}
	}
	"SDKVersion"		"4"
}

Returning to Portal 2's editor

If you wish to return to editing maps for portal 2, you just need to rename your new stanley parable gameconfig.txt to something else like "gameconfig.txt.stanley". Then rename the "gameconfig.txt.old" to just "gameconfig.txt". It should be good to go.

Notes:

If your semi-familiar with GameConfigs, you may ask why I don't just put both Portal 2 and The Stanley Parable's setups in the same file. It's because it will automatically load which ever is at the top of the list first. If you try to change it in hammer's options, it'll require you to restart which then opens it back up as the first on the list.

[LiminalDoggo]

Thanks for the guide man, worked first try for me!

[Matt]

Glad I could help.

[Lolo Réel]

Thanks !
I had problems with Hammer but now everything works perfectly ^^

[Matt]

Nice. Perhaps you should make a replica of one of your Minecraft maps in The Stanley Parable.

[Jiglinsky]

I made an exact replica of The Stanley Parable in Minecraft 1.8. Great game

[Matt]

The Stanley Parable uses portal 2's vvis and vrad so it doesn't need to have the path changed. I'd be willing to take a look at your gameconfig to see if I can spot anything wrong. Other than that, I can't think of anything that would cause lights.rad to not be recognised.

[Freduardo]

lights.rad is there, but just to be sure I went ahead and verified Portal 2, and 1 file was reacquired. Still the same issues even with lights.rad in \portal2. Do I also need to copy filepaths of vvis and vrad from The Stanley Parable into the Portal 2 config? I checked the Stanley Parable folders and couldn't find either of those, or lights.rad for that matter.

[Matt]

Could you check the '.../common/Portal 2/portal2/' filepath and see if the lights.rad is there? If it's not there, try verify the integrity of portal 2.

[Freduardo]

Thanks for the tutorial.
I gave it a shot and it works fine for the most part; I can access the Stanley Parable assets and build and compile a map with them. One oddity I noticed is that, after compiling a map, any changes I make to the map will not be compiled unless I save a new version first. Not a deal-breaker but it's something I haven't encountered before while just making Portal 2 maps.
The compile window also gives the following message:
[code] Could not find lights.rad in lights.rad.
Trying VRAD BIN directory instead...
Warning: Couldn't open texlight file C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Portal 2\bin\lights.rad. [/code]
I don't know what this is about exactly or if it even matters, but lighting still renders just fine.