I have some interest in starting mapping for DoD source and I have some quick questions.

1) Do you have to pay for the tools or can you download them for free?

2) What are the minimum system requirements for mapping?

3) I have some experience with 3D programs, so it's not completely new to me. That being said, are the tools used to map DoD Source a pain to learn?

I appreciate your time and answers!

Thanks

1) All are freely downloadable. Download the Steam SDK (found in your Games menu in Steam) and get to work.

2) Hard to say. I have a 2ghz computer + 1 gb of ram, and the new Hammer gets quite slow, especially when browsing through textures. When working on a map, it usually uses around ~500mb of memory :S
Of course, with carefull use of visgroups and the texture filter, your work will go smoother.

3) Hammer (Worldcraft) is one of the easiest editors around to learn. Take a few weeks to learn it, then a few years to make your first good map :)

Patience - and lots of spare time!

Thanks for the feedback guys. Appreciate it.

A cash advance to the mod team....or me:cool:

Okay, I've downloaded the utilities and I'll give them a look. If it's something I become more serious about, then I'll have to look to buy more memory. I run a 2.4 GHz Pentium but I only have 640MB Ram. Memory is cheap, so it's not a big deal.

Graph paper, ruler, French curves, abacus and set of 8 coloured crayons*

Test is 2 sides and lasts for the rest of your life.

*"Bessie the Cow" poseable life-life figurine is optional.

Memory is cheap, so it's not a big deal.

Well, as the matter is a fact, I need about 512 ddr ram more.

Email me ;)