Getting your tools

Great! You have installed Steam. Now what? There are a multitude of games that run on the Source engine. There are also many different versions of the Source engine: 2006, 2007, 2013, and multiplayer and single player variants for each. This book will focus on Half-Life 2: Episode Two (HL2: EP2) since it's the most recent single player build of the Source engine at the time of writing this book. In order to create content for HL2: EP2, you just need to own a copy of the game. Steam makes it easy to install games. So, if you haven't already, purchase and install HL2: EP2.

Tip

You don't need HL2: EP2 to follow this book. The principles taught cover the Source SDK tools, which are applicable to multiple games.

Instructions for installing Half-Life 2: Episode Two

Downloading and installing games with Steam is easy! Steam lets you securely purchase any game and will automatically install them once downloaded. The steps for installing Half-Life 2: Episode Two are as follows:

  1. Open Steam and log in.
  2. In Steam, just below the main toolbar, you will see STORE, LIBRARY, COMMUNITY, and your username in a large white font. Click on STORE.
  3. Search for Half-Life 2: Episode Two, purchase it, and install it.
  4. You can monitor the download progress within the Downloads tab in the LIBRARY drop-down menu. HL2: EP2 will begin to install automatically once the download is complete.

The STORE is located in the top-left corner of Steam as shown in the following screenshot:

Instructions for installing Half-Life 2: Episode Two

Browse for Half-Life 2: Episode Two as shown in the following screenshot. You can also get any other Source game.

Instructions for installing Half-Life 2: Episode Two

Once the download and install is complete, launch the game and play around with the engine you will be developing for, as shown in the following screenshot:

Instructions for installing Half-Life 2: Episode Two
上一章目录下一章