How to set up a HL2 mod using ep2 content properly? Developer of Domus asking for help!

[comedown]

I'm in some serious trouble right now and need some help.
Currently I'm developing my first full mod, Domus [URL="http://www.moddb.com/mods/domus"]http://www.moddb.com/mods/domus[/URL]
I've come to the point where I have that much custom content, that I can't work with Episode 2 anymore, so I must set up a proper mod.
Believe, I've tried this hundred times but I never get it work. Either Hammer Editor viewports are black OR all the Ep2-content is missing.
[B]Here are the following Gameinfo.txts I've tried it...[/B]
[QUOTE] SteamAppId 218 // Uses source sdk base?
ToolsAppId 211 // Tools Id
AdditionalContentId 420 // Adds EP2 as the main addition

SearchPaths
{
Game |gameinfo_path|.
Game |all_source_engine_paths|ep2
Game |all_source_engine_paths|episodic
Game |all_source_engine_paths|sourcetest
Game |all_source_engine_paths|hl2[/QUOTE]
[B]^With this one Hammer editor looks normal but ALL the Episode 2-contet is missing![/B]
[QUOTE] SteamAppId 420 // Uses source sdk base?
ToolsAppId 211 // Tools Id

SearchPaths
{
Game |gameinfo_path|.
Game |all_source_engine_paths|ep2
Game |all_source_engine_paths|episodic
Game |all_source_engine_paths|sourcetest
Game |all_source_engine_paths|hl2[/QUOTE]
[B]^This one compiles perfectly with all custom and ep2-contet, BUT Hammer Editor doesn't work! (viewports are black etc)[/B]

So what's the deal here? [B]Have anyone of you worked with a HL2 mod using ep2-content? How did you set up your Gameinfo.txt and Hammer Editor configurations?[/B]
Please help me here, otherwise I'm never gonna finish this project. Thanks.

[IronPhoenix]

Making a mod with 2009 setup is broken. You might be able to port the content you want out of the ep2 gcf into the 2007 mod setup.

[comedown]

[QUOTE=IronPhoenix;38487592]Making a mod with 2009 setup is broken. You might be able to port the content you want out of the ep2 gcf into the 2007 mod setup.[/QUOTE]

I know, I'm working on 2007. I have thought of that, it just seems so troublesome extracting all the specific materials, models, soundscapes etc.
There's got to be another way. If not... fuck.

[IronPhoenix]

[QUOTE=comedown;38487671]I know, I'm working on 2007. I have thought of that, it just seems so troublesome extracting all the specific materials, models, soundscapes etc.
There's got to be another way. If not... fuck.[/QUOTE]

Well...you could try and get valve to fix 2009.

[V3cT0r]

If I recall correct there was a way to load content from an external folder
somewhere on your harddrives using TestPath, Test or something like this in your gameinfo.txt .
You could extract ep2 content in there and use it in hammer
and delete the entry in the gameinfo.txt when your mod was ready for release.

Oh sorry I can't find it anymore must have been deleted from code.

maby you can make a folder named "content" in your mod folder with the content of ep2 in it and then use

Game |gameinfo_path|content

in your gameinfo.txt and delete it when you release your mod.

[comedown]

[QUOTE=V3cT0r;38489056]If I recall correct there was a way to load content from an external folder
somewhere on your harddrives using TestPath, Test or something like this in your gameinfo.txt .
You could extract ep2 content in there and use it in hammer
and delete the entry in the gameinfo.txt when your mod was ready for release.

Oh sorry I can't find it anymore must have been deleted from code.

maby you can make a folder named "content" in your mod folder with the content of ep2 in it and then use

Game |gameinfo_path|content

in your gameinfo.txt and delete it when you release your mod.[/QUOTE]

Sound doable, I might just try that. Thanks!

[Strider_07]

Let me know if you find a way because I've been trying to do exactly that for ages

[Oskutin]

[QUOTE=comedown;38486981]
SteamAppId 420 // Uses source sdk base?
ToolsAppId 211 // Tools Id

SearchPaths
{
Game |gameinfo_path|.
Game |all_source_engine_paths|ep2
Game |all_source_engine_paths|episodic
Game |all_source_engine_paths|sourcetest
Game |all_source_engine_paths|hl2[/QUOTE]
I remember that from my gmod mapping years.
Just comfigure your mod to use source 2009 hammer.
And that should work, unless i forgot something.

[comedown]

[QUOTE=Strider_07;38500043]Let me know if you find a way because I've been trying to do exactly that for ages[/QUOTE]

Sure thing. It's weird because there's like tons of ep2-modders but no one seems to share their information.

[Strider_07]

[QUOTE=comedown;38500129]Sure thing. It's weird because there's like tons of ep2-modders but no one seems to share their information.[/QUOTE]
I've tried everything to fix it short of a solution I saw on interlopers that involved a lot of code modification to force it to load content from other games. Didn't seem worth the trouble.

[comedown]

[QUOTE=oskutin;38500126]I remember that from my gmod mapping years.
Just comfigure your mod to use source 2009 hammer.
And that should work, unless i forgot something.[/QUOTE]

Tried it with these settings:
[IMG]http://i48.tinypic.com/35n7rjs.png[/IMG]
Hammer Editor worked fine, with ep2 and custom content, but got bunch of errors in compile window and the game didn't start at all.
This was in compile process window:
[QUOTE]KeyValues Error: RecursiveLoadFromBuffer: got EOF instead of keyname in file c:\program files (x86)\steam\SteamApps\sourcemods\Domus\gameinfo.txt
GameInfo, (*FileSystem*), (*SearchPaths*),
KeyValues Error: RecursiveLoadFromBuffer: got EOF instead of keyname in file c:\program files (x86)\steam\SteamApps\sourcemods\Domus\gameinfo.txt
GameInfo, (*FileSystem*), (*SearchPaths*),
KeyValues Error: RecursiveLoadFromBuffer: got EOF instead of keyname in file c:\program files (x86)\steam\SteamApps\sourcemods\Domus\gameinfo.txt
GameInfo, (*FileSystem*), (*SearchPaths*),[/QUOTE]
And this window appeared when the game should've pop up:
[QUOTE]Engine Error
SetupArrayProps_R: array prop '(null)' is at inder zero.[/QUOTE]
If I can't get this work this way I'm probably just gonna work with ep2 hammer editor, compile the maps and place them in my mod's "maps" folder.
And use this gameinfo:
SteamAppId 420
ToolsAppId 211

[Oskutin]

Change game executable to ep2/hl2.exe

[comedown]

[QUOTE=oskutin;38502218]Change game executable to ep2/hl2.exe[/QUOTE]

No change, exactly same errors showing...

[comedown]

Okay I think I finally got it to work with following configurations:
[IMG]http://i49.tinypic.com/2ch2wqw.png[/IMG]

These were the only suspicious lines in compile process window:
[QUOTE]Placing detail props : 0...1...2...3...4...5...6..Material NATURE/BLENDGRASSDIRT01 uses unknown detail object type forest_floor_01! Material NATURE/BLENDGRASSDIRT01 uses unknown detail object type forest_floor_01!
Material NATURE/BLENDGRASSDIRT01 uses unknown detail object type forest_floor_01!
Material NATURE/BLENDGRASSMUD01 uses unknown detail object type forest_floor_01!
Material NATURE/BLENDGRAVELDIRT01 uses unknown detail object type forest_floor_01![/QUOTE]
Otherwise everything worked fine, thanks [B]Oskutin[/B]!

[Oskutin]

Those are for detailsprites, they won't affect at all.
But you can fix that by editing the .vmt file or changing detail.VBSP from map properties.

[comedown]

[QUOTE=oskutin;38607925]Those are for detailsprites, they won't affect at all.
But you can fix that by editing the .vmt file or changing detail.VBSP from map properties.[/QUOTE]

Should I replace the default detail.vsb with ep2's one?