Is it bad to use prefabs?
My topic pretty much says it I guess. Would I be shunned on for realeasing a map using say... CP4P? I mean, I've done my own buttons an things but it takes a long time. What if I make prefabs for myself to use?
I'm only wondering because say, I release a map and it wins a contest. They say "So how did you make this so well?" and I say " O well, I used CP4P" Would that like disqualify me or something? 
Thanks for reading, and, I hope this isn't a stupid question but I just want to know.
-Elv02
I doubt you'd be disqualified or anything because prefabs are fair game. Using prefabs to make things easier is the whole point of prefabs.
The only thing you can't do with prefabs (other people's) is use them for commercial gain, so if you ever sell your map/mod you have to only use prefabs that the creator has allowed you to use. Or your own ones.
Since the competitions here arent commercial you should be fine.
The only thing you can't do with prefabs (other people's) is use them for commercial gain, so if you ever sell your map/mod you have to only use prefabs that the creator has allowed you to use. Or your own ones.
Since the competitions here arent commercial you should be fine.
Phew, thanks! I was a little worried there for a second.
Take time to study how a prefab is made though. By doing that, you could considerate that you can make the prefab yourself afterwards, so that you can use it blindly to save time.
Author of Minecraft mods (MAtmos, Minaptics, NoteSlider) and Garry's Mod addons (Gunstrumental, SharpeYe, GarryWare, DepthHUD).
Ya, I've looked at CP4P. So I could make my own entities... but... it's the time issue 
So that's why I saw wondering about prefabs like CP4P
Personally I'd never use someone else's pre-fabs, and if you're new to mapping they are honestly a bad idea. They teach you to just copy and paste someone's work, rather that learn how entities work and how to do things on your own.
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You should definitely use prefabs. Don't re-invent the wheel.
The real question is: With things like buttons and ball catchers being used in almost every level, why didn't valve just include them in the SDK?? They give us the "Hammer" without the nails!! We have to make our own nails? No thanks, I just want to use the nails to make something bigger.
The real question is: With things like buttons and ball catchers being used in almost every level, why didn't valve just include them in the SDK?? They give us the "Hammer" without the nails!! We have to make our own nails? No thanks, I just want to use the nails to make something bigger.
great analogy. me personally i think prefabs are a must. but. i think its even MORE important to learn how to build EVERY CONCEPT by hand. that what i do. build/learn them all... so i know how (if i need to) by hand, but also it gives you the understanding of the elements so you can make your own NEW elements, or change/customize the ones already there if need be, then once learned, use the prefabs to hammer out the easy (albeit time consuming) elements,
You are overestimating Valve. They're not humanity's benefactors.
They don't bother releasing tools for making mods that work as expected, they let people wait months for a simple .exe file they used during the development of their games (splitskybox.exe ? captioncompiler.exe ?) and they let horrible bugs lying around for years before changing the only one line of code that should be changed in the program. Also, they're not answering e-mails related to these kinds of issues (at least if you are not "important" in the community or a company)...
They do the strict minimum to keep beginners interested in their SDK but don't really bother if advanced users are stuck for months because no one there is able to communicate or provide proper tools. And this is the same story since Half-Life 1 came out, unfortunately (rant over).