Black Mesa Workshop for Multiplayer maps

Black Mesa Archive Help!
#1

Hello guys.

I just wanted to ask how I have to upload my Multiplayer maps to Steam workshop so that people always get to download the newest available version with all textures and loadingscreens when they join a dedicated server running that map. ( btw it would be nice if you removed the “map differs from the server”-error and added a popup window which would ask you if you want to download and replace the existing files with the files of the dedicated server )
Can I upload my map to Steam workshop with all files in 1 .vpk? Can server admins run multiplayer maps directly from Steam workshop or do they have to put .bsps and material files on their server? If the latter is the case, how can I make sure that clients will download the .bsp + all material files from the dedicated server? I tried to use pakrat to pack all materials into the .bsp but it doesn’t seem to work as intended. Pakrat says that the .bsp has all materials saved in it but in game they don’t show up. Do I have to put every single material in the .lst file in bms/downloadlists? What’s the easiest way? ( It would be very easy if server admins were able to run maps / vpks direktly from steam workshop. )

Help pls.

#2

Bump.

#3

Perhaps ask over on the steam forums. The dev team hangs out there more than they do here.

#4

It’s down to the dedicated server owners to set up their servers correctly to handle downloading files and such, and on them to keep their maps up to date too. When we first were implementing workshop support we looked into allowing it to all be done automatically (like CS:GO), but the system was too complicated and required some coordination with Valve, which we weren’t able to fully organise.

For modders, put everything in VPKs. Use a separate VPK for each type of resource (each VPK must be under 100mb, so if you have 150mb of materials, use 2 VPKs). For example, one VPK for the map, one for the materials, one for models, etc. Keep all your VPKs for the map/mod in one folder, and point the publish tool at that folder. Done. Quite easy overall.

#5

Thanks for your reply. Will try it out :slight_smile:

#6

Any chance of that feature getting implemented in the future?

#7

The workshop works well with singleplayer stuff.
For multiplayer maps, i face the following problem:

The chance that a client subscribes to the same workshop map as the server is very low.
If the client does not subscribe to the workshop map, he will download the bsp file from the server on connect.
This map file is saved as bsp in the maps directory on the client.

The following can happen when the mapper updates his map:
-the client did not subscribed, but has already played the map on the server: map differs error
-the client did not subscribed, has never been on the server: the client download the map, everything is fine until the next map update
-the client has subscribed: everything is fine

At the moment, only this way seems to work:
The mapper has to use postfixes on the map name which is updated on every update like dm_datacore_v1, dm_datacore_v2, dm_datacore_v3, _alpha1,_beta2,_final
I recommend the admins to unpack the bsp & update manually to keep the control, when using the map-name in cfg files.
Unpacking is also important to offer the maps via http fastdownload (hint:there is a map size limit,download speed limit for non http downloads).
The admin also has to preload, downloadlist all files.

Now the following can happen when the mapper updates his map:
-> the server admin update the map manualy or via a cron/shell script
-the client did not subscribed, but has already played the map on the server: redownload (cause of the new postfix), everything is fine
-the client did not subscribed, has never been on the server: download, everything is fine
-the client has subscribed: everything is fine

-> the server admin did not update the map:
-the client did not subscribe, but has already played the map on the server: everything is fine
-the client did not subscribed, has never been on the server: download, everything is fine
-the client has subscribed: download the old version (cause of the old postfix), everything is fine

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