Configuring Hammer for Empires

Prerequisites

First you need to install the Source SDK, available through Steam under the Tools section. You may or may not need to run Source SDK Base 2007 (required for Empires) at least once in order for the game executable to be set up. Although likely taken care of already, it is also required that you have the latest version of Empires installed in order to map for Empires.

Please note that the Source SDK and Source SDK Base 2007 are not the same thing. Source SDK Base 2007 is required for Empires, and is used by the Source SDK.

VBSP.exe

Since the current version of empires uses parallax occlusion mapping its required to use a modified BSP compiler (vbsp.exe). Its shipped with empires and can be found in the empires_base.gcf located in your Steam\SteamApp directory. Inside the .gcf the file is located in empires/sdktools.

To extract the file from the .gcf you need a tool like GCFScape. If you want to save the file in the SourceSDK2007\bin directory you should rename the file.

Hammer Setup

Provided you've installed the latest version of Empires, installed Source SDK, as well as installed and ran Source SDK Base 2007, open the following file:

Steam\SteamApps\YOUR_STEAM_ACCOUNT_USERNAME\sourcesdk\bin\source2007\bin\GameConfig.txt

This file stores the Hammer configurations for all games or mods that utilize Source Engine 2007 (formerly known as OrangeBox). In order to use Hammer to create and edit maps for a given game or mod on a particular version of the engine, that game or mod must have an entry within the appropriate game configuration text file.

You may already see some entries in the file for:

• Half-Life 2: Episode Two
• Team Fortress 2
• Portal
• Day of Defeat: Source

Take note of how these entries are made. Each one has a game title in quotation marks, and beneath it there are sets of braces nested within each other. These braces are important delimiters that must exist in the proper places for the Source SDK launcher to be able to read the entries.

The configuration file has the following format:

"Config"
{
	"Games"
	{
		"Entry for Game 1"
		{
		}
		"Entry for Game 2"
		{
		}
		"Entry for Game _ and so on..."
		{
		}
	}
	"SDK Version"	"3"
}

The purpose of this quick method is add an entry for Empires. Essentially, your config file should have the following basic structure when done:

"Config"
{
	"Games"
	{
		"Entry for Game 1"
		{
		}
		"Entry for Game 2"
		{
		}
		"Empires"
		{
		}
	}
	"SDK Version"	"3"
}

To setup Hammer for Empires, copy and paste the following text into the appropriate location of your GameConfig.txt file. You will proceed to change each instance of YOUR_STEAM_ACCOUNT_USERNAME to your actual username with which you login to your Steam account. Please note that your account username and Steam Friends alias are not the same thing. Your Steam Friends alias can be changed at any time, but your account username will always remain the same.

This file assumes you installed Steam on your C: drive, if its different for you dont forget to change it aswell.

               "Empires"
		{
			"GameDir"		"c:\program files (x86)\steam\steamapps\YOUR_STEAM_ACCOUNT_USERNAME\empires\empires"
			"hammer"
			{
				"TextureFormat"		"5"
				"MapFormat"		"4"
				"DefaultTextureScale"		"0.250000"
				"DefaultLightmapScale"		"16"
                                "DefaultSolidEntity"		"func_detail"
				"DefaultPointEntity"		"info_player_start"

				"GameExeDir"		"c:\program files (x86)\steam\steamapps\YOUR_STEAM_ACCOUNT_USERNAME\Source SDK Base 2007"
				"MapDir"		"c:\program files (x86)\steam\steamapps\YOUR_STEAM_ACCOUNT_USERNAME\empires\sourcesdk_content\empires\mapsrc"
				"CordonTexture"		"tools\toolsskybox"
				"MaterialExcludeCount"		"0"
				"GameExe"		"c:\program files (x86)\steam\steamapps\YOUR_STEAM_ACCOUNT_USERNAME\Source SDK Base 2007\hl2.exe"
				"BSP"		"LOCATION_OF_THE_ALTERED_VBSP.EXE"
				"Vis"		"c:\program files (x86)\steam\steamapps\YOUR_STEAM_ACCOUNT_USERNAME\sourcesdk\bin\source2007\bin\vvis.exe"
				"Light"		"c:\program files (x86)\steam\steamapps\YOUR_STEAM_ACCOUNT_USERNAME\sourcesdk\bin\source2007\bin\vrad.exe"
				"BSPDir"		"c:\program files (x86)\steam\steamapps\YOUR_STEAM_ACCOUNT_USERNAME\empires\empires\maps"
				"GameData0"		"c:\program files (x86)\steam\steamapps\YOUR_STEAM_ACCOUNT_USERNAME\empires\empires\empires.fgd"
			}
		}

Once pasted, and once you've verified that the structure of nested braces is intact, save the GameConfig.txt file.

Now you should be able to launch the Source SDK, choose Source Engine 2007 for Engine Version, choose Empires for Current Game, and then launch the Hammer Editor. From here on out, you should be good to go. However, always be certain that you have the latest version of the empires.fgd file. Occasionally, this file has been left out of installer packages for older versions of Empires. As of Empires 2.25, the empires.fgd is properly included in your client's /mapsrc/ directory, and will likely not need to be updated. For whatever reason now or in the future, if you find yourself missing the empires.fgd, check the Mapping forum to see if an updated empires.fgd has been released, otherwise simply PM another mapper to ask for a copy of the fgd, and if necessary, make a thread to request it.