getting started
Hahah dont worry about it, its all about how focused you are, and how much you really want to put into a map. Its not how about how complex it is, its how complex you make it.
ok, thanks, and hammer is working now i think
do you think i should attempt making a counter strike map before I make a portal one?
Start by making whatever you want to make, but start simple. Before you try any serious entity stuff, make some rooms connected by hallways and experiment with some simple triggers, get familiar with the I/O system etc...
1) Use the edit button
2) Making a CS:S map compared to a Portal map are two completely different things. CS:S might be easier, in the sense that there are very few entities you would need to set up as most things in CS:S are static. No moving platforms, no buttons that open doors (most doors are on-use), etc etc. But the design of the whole thing is completely different as well. Trying to balance out T's and CT's areas you start getting into a different territory than just a single-player map. Making a CS:S map, I suppose, will help you learn hammer. Working with brushes, getting used to the interface and such... but I'd suggest just starting with very simple maps of portal. Don't think up really complex puzzles to begin with.
Read some of the basic brush tutorials found on other sites mentioned here to get used to creating brushes, applying textures and the like, then come back here and try to create a button that opens a door. (which was the first thing I did with Hammer) and keep adding to the basics until you get a couple elements in place that could resemble some sort of map.
Feel free to pm me in Steam with any questions... my s/n is rivid11. I'll try to help you out
You should be very careful if you begin with portal. Every little thing is VERY complicated compared to any other steam game. Some examples:
Round door: 7 entities
Button: 4 entities
Ball Launcher: 3 or 6 entities depending on what kind of launcher you want.
Ball Catcher: 6 entities
Elevator: 5 entities
And so on. There are prefab-packs you can download to simplify things alot, but you should get used to the I/O system first anyway. Eventually everybody gets the hang of it, don't worry.
I agree with espen in general, however do NOT use prefab packs until you fully understand how each thing is set up on your own. It will only cause you more trouble down the road when you try to edit some details about the prefabs, and end up breaking them and then getting completely confused. Understanding what you are doing is key... there aren't prefabs for everything you will want to do, so first learn how to do it yourself!
I made each thing on my own to begin with, then after I had made each thing ~3 times and got bored of doing it over and over again as I had already had it memorized, so I made my own prefab out of the things I had already made.
Portal, in my opion is extremely easy to make maps for, due to its geometry is very basic, square, and simple. No reason to stare at the goal and dream of it, it's just better if you try.
thats strange, hammer stopped working again. whenever i attempt to start creating a cube on the graph to start out a map it freezes up, its only worked one out of six times today, and theres usually always something wrong with it on my computer.
Try reinstalling Source SDK.
Also, what are the specs on your computer?