TrenchBroom Source Tools

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What is this?

This is a collection of tools, config files, and textures for creating Source engine maps with TrenchBroom. This is geared mainly to mapping on Linux. It includes the following:

• MapToVmf, a tool for converting Quake .map files to Source VMFs
• A ready-made Source engine game profile and FGD formatted for TrenchBroom
• Special scripts for running native and Wine versions of VBSP, VRAD, and VVIS
• A handful of basic tool and dev texture placeholders for working with TrenchBroom

How to use it

First, follow these steps:

• Make sure you have Java installed.

• Put the contents of the scripts folder in your bin or bin/linux64 folder alongside your compilation tools.

• Put the textures folder in your game directory. For example, for Team Fortress 2 it's the tf folder, for Momentum Mod it's the momentum folder, for Counter Strike: Source, it's the cstrike folder, and so on. You should have something like tf/textures when you're done.

• Put the Source folder in your TrenchBroom game profiles folder, probably in ~/.TrenchBroom/games.

When you open TrenchBroom next, you should be able to select "Source" as an option. Now, all you need to do is set the correct game directory. This can be done by going to View > Preferences > Source > Game Path, and then entering the correct path for your game.

Finally, when you make your maps, save them in (game directory)/mapsrc. For example, for Momentum Mod you would save your maps in momentum/mapsrc. If you want to use a different directory, you will need to change your compilation profile to use that folder instead.

MapToVmf

MapToVmf is the heart of these tools. It has some special features to allow the creation of Source maps with Quake mapping tools. It's only been tested with TrenchBroom but it probably works with other editors too.

Options

--lightmapscale scale or -l scale

Specifies the global lightmap scale for every brush face. The default lightmap scale is 128.

--textureprefix prefix or -t prefix

Sets a prefix to be used on every texture. For example, a texture of GRASS01 and a prefix of WORLD/ would produce an ouput of WORLD/GRASS01.

--standard or -s

Convert from "standard" axial coordinates to Valve style coordinates. This is only partially working, and it is not recommended to use.

Entity I/O

MapToVmf can handle specially formatted key-value pairs to output entity I/O connections to the VMF. The basic format is this:

Key: *name

Value: Output,target,Input,Parameter,Delay,Repeat

For example, an input to change the color of an entity called bob when the owning entity is triggered, with a delay of 4.55 and a repeat of 9 could look like this:

Key: *io3

Value: OnTrigger,bob,Color,255 255 0,4.55,9

The contents of the key are not important, as long as they start with an asterisk and are unique. Only the contents of the value will actually be used in the VMF.

Other Features

MapToVmf automatically deletes any patches it finds in the map. This might be useful for porting Quake III maps.