Bernier - Source SDK Development Essentials

Brett Bernier has been a creator since he could hold a LEGO brick and a gamer since he was old enough to hold a controller. After his father introduced him to First-Person Shooters, it didn't take long for him to want to create his own world. A lunch time discussion with Chris, his childhood friend and band mate, inspired him to take action and download Valve's Hammer 3.4 to create a Counter-Strike map. While looking for mapping tips online, he stumbled across a small, close-knit community of Half-Life mappers at The Whole Half-Life (TWHL). Brett, also known as Tetsu0, quickly honed his skills with the help of the community's tutorials and forums. When the Source SDK launched with Half-Life 2, he was hesitant to make the jump from GoldSource (Half-Life) to Source (Half-Life 2), but once made, he did not look back. He is currently employed as a Control System Technician at ETTER Engineering in Bristol, Connecticut, and is pursuing his Bachelor's Degree in Electronics Engineering Technology at the University of Hartford. He has been creating maps for the Half-Life game series since 2002.

I would like to thank my entire family for all their love and support; I love each and every one of you with all my heart. Court, thank you for the encouragement and free refills on those Sundays I spent writing at the coffee shop. I would like to thank the members and moderators of the Half-Life Mapping forum, twhl.info for creating a welcoming, supportive community. You all have been a fantastic source of inspiration, help, and support. Without you folks, this book would not have been possible.

I'd also like to thank the fine people at Valve Software for supporting the development community, and for granting permission to use their materials in this book.

Unfortunately, during the writing of this book, a close member of my family was taken away. I love and miss you Uncle Lou, this one is for you.

Dennis Glowacki is a 3D environment artist at Emotional Robots Inc. and an avid Source engine mod creator. He has released several projects including Strider Mountain, The Citizen 2, and Hypercube: Source. He recently worked on another book called How to Become a Video Game Artist , Sam R. Kennedy , Watson-Guptil , (ISBN: 978-0-8230-0809-4).

I'd like to thank Phillip from PlanetPhillip.com for being a good friend, especially during my Source engine development days and for continuing to support the Source engine modding community. Anyone interested in playing the best Source mods should check out his new website (RunThinkShootLive.com).

Tim Kitevski has for many years worked as a 3D artist within the video game industry. Having worked on various titles ranging from First-Person Shooters to Flight Simulators to Mining Equipment Training, his first steps within this field were with the first Half-Life and its main editing suite, back then known as WorldCraft. Since then he has had a keen interest in the ever-evolving Source engine produced by Valve software. He has spent many years using the Source SDK and its tools for both individual projects and group modding. In doing so, he gained a solid foundation of knowledge when developing the Source engine.

Kyle Langley is a self-taught game designer currently working for Emotional Robots Inc. He has also worked on Free Realms with Sony Online Entertainment and Transformers: Fall of Cybertron with High Moon Studios. He is the author of Learn Programming With Unreal Script , CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform , which is aimed at teaching beginners the concepts of object-oriented programming as well as the beginning aspects of programming for the Unreal Development Kit. You can find more of his work at his website (www.dotvawxgames.com).

Kenny Sperling is an environmental designer with a passion for interaction and exploration. With experience in both conventional and contemporary design, he develops levels for games as well as real-world landscapes. His design process includes a strong understanding of how people interact with their environments, a drive to pursue sophisticated technical strategies, and a conviction to seek out atypical design solutions.

Kenny has designed several award-winning environmental concepts, and has consistently been active in community content development for numerous games, including Counter-Strike (CS:S/CS:GO).

Mike Taret is a passionate 3D artist currently residing in Chicago, USA; he also lived for about 13 years in France. Also known as "Az", he has been modding Source for seven years now, and is currently working on a mod called SourceForts 2 with several other people across the world. He considers himself a 3D generalist with his strongest skills focused around hard-surface modeling, texturing, and problem solving. He has worked with many software and engines such as Source SDK, UDK, Autodesk Maya, Autodesk 3ds Max, Photoshop, and a few others. You can find some of his work at www.az3d.net.

I'd like to thank my parents for supporting me, Felipe G. Silveira for being a great friend, and Matt Battaglia for pushing me to be what I am now.