Mapping Tutorials

How BSP decompilers reconstruct a .map from a compiled GoldSrc map, why the result has off-grid vertices, lost entity keyvalues and damaged brushwork, and the ethics of only decompiling your own maps.

The exact folder layout for shipping a CS 1.6 map over FastDL: the bsp, its res manifest, external wads, models, sounds and sky, mirrored under cstrike.

How GoldSrc lighting works: point lights, spotlights, the single light_environment sun tied to your sky, texture lights, and why hlrad bakes it all into lightmaps at compile time.

How to light an outdoor CS 1.6 map with a single light_environment, aim the sun with angle and pitch, and set the skybox name so gfx/env files render.

How to build a GoldSrc texture WAD in Wally: the 16-color-per-transparency rules, the 16-pixel dimension requirement, blue transparency and {\ textures, and getting the WAD into your map without the missing-texture error.

How to configure Valve Hammer Editor 3.5 for Counter-Strike 1.6: game configuration, the FGD, the WAD list, the ZHLT/VHLT compile tools, and the run map paths.

How to make a de_ map's bomb sites work: the brush func_bomb_target versus the point info_bomb_target, the func_buyzone the Ts need, and info_map_parameters to control bomb rules.

A practical pass-by-pass checklist for keeping a CS 1.6 map fast and inside engine limits: NULL, func_detail, VIS, hint brushes, texture scale and clip hulls.

Which spawn entities CS 1.6 actually uses, how info_player_start and info_player_deathmatch map to CT and T, how many you need, and the placement mistakes that cause spawn kills and "stuck in wall" bugs.

What a .res file lists, why every custom model, sound, sprite and texture must appear in it, and how to build one with RESGen or by hand.

How to give bots navigation on a custom map: the difference between YaPB graph files and POD-Bot .pwf waypoints, where each file lives, how to record nodes in-game, and how to auto-download community graphs.

Why hlcsg cannot find a WAD referenced by the map, and how to correct the wad key paths, use relative paths, or copy WADs locally so the compile completes.