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How to Make Custom Skybox Textures with Source SDK

Source SDK is a game development kit that uses the Source Engine. It allows you to create custom content for games like "GMod," "Half Life 2" and "Left 4 Dead 2." The Hammer map editing tool comes packaged with Source SDK and allows you to create new maps to play on. A skybox is a map feature that gives the map depth and makes it feel larger, creating a static texture around the map to give it a sky. Skybox textures in Source SDK can be custom created to fit your needs.

Instructions

- 1
  Load Steam, the software platform, and click on the "Tools" tab.
- 2
  Select "Source SDK" from the list of tools, and open the Hammer map editor. Start a new map or load an already existing one to edit.
- 3
  Click on the "Tools" menu, select "toolsskybox" and select a brush tool to use.
- 4
  Prepare the image files using the brush tool to make your custom textures for a skybox. All image files must be in the same resolution. You need six texture files to create a complete skybox.
- 5
  Convert the image files to Valve Texture Format (VTF) by clicking "File" and "Import." Select the texture files to load into your map, and change their format to VTF.
- 6
  Open the Materials folder in the Source SDK file, and open the file "skybox." Create the materials for the new texture files by adding the following lines:
  
  TextureName
  
  {
  
  $basetexture "<VTF>"
  
  $hdrcompressedtexture "<VTF>"
  
  $nofog 1
  
  $ignorez 1
  
  }
- 7
  Select "Map," "Map Properties" and "Skybox Texture Name." Type in the name of your skybox texture.
- 8
  Apply the custom textures to the skybox, and save your map.

Computer Games