Big things are happening RIGHT NOW at this blog. Things involving cultivated brain-fruits. BIG things. Things that rhyme with “lack LSD”. Things that rhyme with “Mac123-hata policed.”
Not tomorrow. But today. BIG THINGS. Stay tuned.
After several months I’ve got the new version of PackBSP where I want it, so I’m releasing (cue fanfare) version “Beta 1” to start the bug-hunt. Particularly possible bugs that I personally would never encounter, because I don’t model or map very prolifically. I’ll make a “proper” page with a list of features etc. when the beta phase is over.
I’m confused, what is PackBSP again?
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.
Installation
Simply extract the ZIP file contents to a directory of your choice. Now read the readme.txt file :)
Despite my best efforts to avoid it, Steam needs to be running to use PackBSP.
Uninstallation is equally simple: Delete the stuff you downloaded.
Supported Systems
- Windows 2000/XP/Vista/7
With Java 1.5.0 or later
Notes:
- I’ve tried to ensure things will work on a 64-bit windows system, but I need a 64-bit system to test with to know for sure.
- With Valve announcing Team Fortress 2 for the Mac today, I wish I could say PackBSP worked on Macs or linux… But it won’t. It may be possible to do so in the future, but not at this point.
Supported Games/Mods
Games I hope this release works with:
- Half Life 2
- Half Life 2 : Episode 1
- Half Life 2 : Episode 2
- Team Fortress 2
- Counter-strike: Source
- Day of Defeat: Source
Games I’d like to support eventually, but probably won’t work quite right:
- Left 4 Dead, Left 4 Dead 2
These games use VPK files to store their data. I would like to support them in the future, but can’t easily develop since I don’t own either one. - Dystopia, Neotokyo, Insurgency, and non-Steam Source SDK mods
While it may work for these games, it assumes the only assets that come with the mod are those that are part of the SDK, thus it will tend to overstate the amount of material which must be packed in for distribution.
Reporting Bugs
Please send a description of the problem and the packbsp_debug.log file to packbsp<atsymbol>technofovea.com.
Known issues (may update as bugs come in):
- If a sprite like glow01.spr does not exist, does not automatically fallback to glow01.vmt.
- Parser for some of Valve Data Format files is a bit stricter than it should be. For example, the TF2 swamp-pack particle-manifest isn’t recognized.
WTF was the beginning of this post about?
Oh, it’s a joke on this TF2 blogpost, from yesterday.
