Does anybody know how to manipulate a hammer map so that the test sign in the entrance airlock shows the approriate test elements? As far as I can see many test elements are not recognized.

Download this.

It's a useful application that allows you to create chamber sign VTFs, choose icons, et cetera. Please be sure to pakrat the vtf and vmt into the map or else the textures will not appear for others because they won't have the files.

Pakrat

You should do what Dr. Toast Waffles said, because the workshop overrides scripts that make the appropriate sign. There is a tutorial somewhere to make it flash when you trigger it, but I'm not sure where.

I hesitate to use the test sign creator. I think it's an awesome program but it creates a custom texture and can't adjust the progress bar of the test sign. I thought there might be an easy way, like put this instance or that entity in your map to get this or that sign.

DO you know whether the test sign elements are computed during compile or during run-time?

You should be able to adjust the bar... There is an instance too, but PTI overrides it for it's own order of maps.

innocentive wrote:
I hesitate to use the test sign creator. I think it's an awesome program but it creates a custom texture and can't adjust the progress bar of the test sign. I thought there might be an easy way, like put this instance or that entity in your map to get this or that sign.

DO you know whether the test sign elements are computed during compile or during run-time?

So what exactly is your problem here? Hammer doesn't automatically calculate which icons to put on the sign, that's a special script used in PTI. As yishbarr said if you use the instance, the script will override your sign when uploaded to the workshop.

You can adjust your progress bar, just write in numbers in the "test progress text" space, then click calculate from progress, or write it in manually in the "groups of four ticks on progress bar" space.

If you don't know how to set up the custom texture in Hammer, I recommend this guide:

mapping-help/custom-chamber-signs-without-vscripts-t3663.html

Dr.Toaster Waffles wrote:
You can adjust your progress bar, just write in numbers in the "test progress text" space, then click calculate from progress, or write it in manually in the "groups of four ticks on progress bar" space.

I know that and I know how to use the test sign maker and set everything up in Hammer. The only thing that I don't like about it is that the progress bar doesn't adjust to the amount of maps a player has in his/her queue. Since the program creates a custom texture the test will always indicate the same progress. You get my point?

I know that I'm probably very picky with this but I just thought someone might be able to point me in the right direction for further research. As far as I can see (and understand your comments) there is a script that runs when a workshop map is loaded in Portal 2. This script probably isn't available but I figured that it reads the bsp file with respect to entities included therein and then calculates the appropriate test sign. Now, if i have a hammer map funnel and lightbridge in the map are recognized and displayed on the sign, other entities aren't which lead me to conclude that the PTI maps contain something a hammer map doesn't (necessarily) include. What would that be?

Looking into this a little more, I remembered why I called this thread Workshop Tags. I figured that the test sign elements that are displayed on a hammer map in the workshop depend on the workshop tags that are computed during upload to the workshop. Because only those elements are displayed that are recognised during upload. So if there was a way to add tags, it might change the test sign display in-game...

I do believe it auto-detects the presence of some entities in a map to figure out what tags to give it which the sign uses. One of my hammer maps has the faith plate tag because it uses trigger_catapults. It'll probably recognise those items that have their own entity (lasers, tractor beams, gel, cubes etc) but not those things that have to be built in hammer (panels, cube droppers etc). You could try uploading as hidden a map with a nodraw room off to the side with a few entities like that inside.

Already did that. It's not as simple as you suggest. While
- faith plate (trigger catapult),
- tractor beam (prop_tractor_beam),
- laser emitter (env_portal_laser), and
- light bridge (prop_wall_projector)
are recognized, a prop_laser_catcher doesn't show. Same goes for a simple prop_weighted_cube, or a prop_floor_button. Why is beyond me. The thing I noticed however is that the exact same lack of test elements already shows in the workshop tags of a hammer map uploaded to the workshop.

So maybe the standalone cube INSTANCE works maybe? I don't know. But I don't really think too many people worry about the map tags they're playing.

yishbarr wrote:
But I don't really think too many people worry about the map tags they're playing.

Oh, you're definitely right! I'm a fool for those details and I'd also really just like to understand what exactly happens when those tags are "computed" during map upload...

Hey,

Regarding the tags to a map, I wouldn't pay those any mind as a creator or as a player. I know from experience the tags are decided by entities in the map. For example, an info_target creates the tag for a faith plate. While this makes sense in PTI, as the only test element for the in game editor that uses this entity is a faith plate, it has hundreds of other uses besides providing a target for a faith plate.

I wouldn't bother yourself with this too much, as they are quite wonky to work with