FGD input types

This is a list of data types the FGD reader understands.

angle
A Pitch, Yaw, and Roll. A small yellow line will be drawn from the entity's origin pointing in the resulting angle. The properties windows will also display a white line in the top right, showing the line how it appears in the top (x/y) view, and a drop-down menu with shortcuts for pointing the entity up or down. There's also a Point At... button which will make the entity point wherever the user clicks in the 3D view.

Use 3 numbers (decimals allowed) corresponding to degrees.

60 40 20

angle_negative_pitch
Used on. Functions the same as.

axis
This has only been seen on. It is meant to define an axis based off a line drawn between two arbitrary points.

Use two XYZ coordinate pairs, separated by.

128 -32 -384, 64 -96 -448

boolean
Yes or No. True or False.

Before Alien Swarm this was not an actual type. is basically a shortcut to making a with   for "No" and   for "Yes".

choices
Simply that; choices. The properties window will create a drop-down menu with every choice listed in the FGD. It's possible that choices are not limited to the ones in the FGD (depends on the programming inside the entity).

color1
An RGB (Red Green Blue) color value. In SmartEdit mode, a color picker is available.

Use three decimals between 0 and 1. Depending on context, a fourth value can also be specified (might also be bound to 1).

0.25 0.5 0.75 (color of this box)

color255
An RGB (Red Green Blue) color value. In SmartEdit mode, a color picker is available.

Use three numbers from 0 to 255. Depending on context, a fourth value can also be specified (might also be bound to 255).

200 250 100 (color of this box)

decal
Any texture, but probably one from the  folder. A button to select from the Hammer texture browser will appear.

decals/alienflesh/shot1_subrect

filterclass
The of a filter entity. The dropdown menu will only show entities in the map which have  in their FGD entry.

flags
This type is coded to show things under the "Flags" tab in Hammer. It is only compatible with the keyvalue.

float
A positive or negative number that accepts decimals.

instance_file
For use solely with. Filepath to the instance VMF. It must be in the same folder as the main map or in a subfolder of it.

instance_parm
For use with. Stores info about instance parameters.

instance_variable
For use solely with. The text entered in the Value field will replace the Variable text wherever it appears inside the entities of the instance.

integer
An integer is a positive or negative number, with no decimals allowed.

material
A filepath to a VMT. Hammer will show a button to open the texture browser. brick/brickwall021a

node_dest
The Node ID  of a  node.

npcclass
A of any entity, but probably an NPC. The dropdown menu will only show entities in the map which have  in their FGD entry.

origin
An origin is a set of three coordinates (XYZ) defining the center of an object. In the FGD context, this usually means any three coordinates.

particlesystem
A particle effect. Usually, the particle browser will not show any effects by default. To fix this, copy the files from your game's   into the   folder.

pointentityclass
The of any entity, but probably a point entity. A brush entity might work as well.

scene
A filepath to a VCD.

scenes/eli_lab/airlock01.vcd

script
A VScript file, without any file extension.

scriptlist
A list of VScript files, separated by a space. The order from left to right is the order that the scripts will be executed in. If any of the scripts conflict on the definitions of variables or functions, the script that was run last takes precedence.

side
An unused input type. Probably useless compared to.

sidelist
A list of brush face ID's, separated by. Faces can be selected by clicking the Pick button and clicking on them in the 3D view. Multiple faces can be selected by holding down.

sound
A filepath to a valid sound file, starting from the  folder, or the name of a. Hammer will have a button to open a sound browser.

ambience\mechwhine.wav AI_BaseNPC.BodyDrop_Heavy

sprite
A filepath to any texture, but probably one from the  folder. A button to select from the Hammer texture browser will appear.

sprites/glow01.spr

string
Text. A string (figuratively) of characters/letters. Some characters will not recognized and require special escape sequences. Hammer does not recognize these, so the VMF must be edited in a text editor.

studio
A filepath to a studio model. Hammer will show a button to open the model browser.

models/alyx_emptool_prop.mdl

target_destination
Intended to be the of another entity. Some entities may accept multiple entities which have the same targetname, and wildcards, which are inserted with. Entities named,  , etc, can all be targeted at once with.

target_name_or_class
The or  of any entity.

target_source
The of this entity. The name will be added to a list of s.

vecline
A vecline is a line (like a is), drawn between the entity's  and another point in space which the level designer is allowed to choose. In Hammer's 2D views, a white circle will appear at the entity's origin to act as a visual representation of this arbitrary point. This white circle can also be dragged around with the mouse.

vector
A triplet of numbers for X, Y, and Z distances away from an origin.

32 units left, 72 units forward, 50 units down: 32, 72, -50

void
Nothing. Often used on inputs and outputs that don't deal with parameters.