How to Build Counter-Strike Maps

Preparation

• 1

  Download and install the Valve Hammer Editor program on your computer. This is considered by most gamers to be the best application for making Counter Strike maps. Load the Valve Hammer program, go to the File menu and select "New" to create a new map.

• 2

  Use the cursor to drag away any toolbars that are in the way of the grids on screen. The toolbar most likely to be in the way is one you will not be using for this map anyway.

• 3

  Study the four windows on the screen, particularly the three grids. The X/Y grid up top shows a top-down "birds-eye" view of the map you will create. The X/Z and Y/Z grids at the bottom show side views of the map.

Creating the Map

• 4

  Select the "Block" tool from the left-side toolbar on the left--the fifth tool from the top--and use it to create a square block on the X/Y grid. Drag the block with the cursor to enlarge it to your desired width and depth. Go to one of the side-view grids and drag the block for the room's height. A room 256 units wide and deep and 192 units tall is a fair size to start with.

• 5

  Hollow out the block by pressing "Ctrl" and "H." Enter an amount in the pop-up dialog box; this amount determines the wall's thickness. Enter "-32" for a good starting thickness. Click on the "Entity" tool above the Block tool. This tool creates player characters and the many other objects in the game. A list of entities will be shown on the right side of the screen.

• 6

  Select the "Light" entity from the list, and then use the cursor to place it in the room on the X/Y grid. Take the cursor to a side-view grid and drag the entity down until it is within your room. Press "Enter" and a red dot will appear in the room to represent the light entity.

• 7

  Select "Info_Player_Counterterrorist" from the list and use the same process to place it within the room. This creates the "Spawn Point" that your player character will appear at the start of the game. Make sure the Spawn Point's position is at least eight units above the floor, or your character could start the game stuck in the floor. Repeat the entity-creating process to add other entities like weapons to pick up and non-player characters. The list of available entities is long, giving you a wide variety of objects to place within your map.

Compiling the Map

• 8

  Save the map before compiling by pressing "Ctrl" and "S." Choose a name for the map and a location on the computer to save it to, like you would when saving any other file. Press the "F9" key and look for a dialog box to appear. Select "Normal" in the three squares within the dialog box--"BSP," "VIS" and "RAD." Check the box that says "Don't run the game after compiling."

• 9

  Press "Enter" and wait for the map to compile. A long list of messages will appear as it compiles. It will be finished when you see the messages "** Executing..." "** Command: Copy File" and "** Parameters:" (Parameters will have two long C: locations next to it).

• 10

  Close the Valve Hammer program and open your Counter-Strike game. Bring up the game's console and type in "Map," followed by the name you gave your saved map file. Press "Enter" to load the map into the Counter-Strike game.