Download VMEX Decompiler v0.98g, Decompile BSP to VMF

Valve Map Extractor (VMEX) is a decompiler for Source engine maps. It converts BSP format files back into VMF format maps that can be loaded into Hammer. Since version 0.98g it supports all of Valve's games up to Left 4 Dead.

Download and installation
VMEX is a Java application, and requires Sun's Java Runtime Environment 5.0 (also known as v1.5.0). If you do not have this installed, you may download it from this page, using the Download JRE link (not the "Download JDK" link). Depending on how you download it, the JRE is up to 15 Mbytes in size.

Note that you may be required to restart your computer after the JRE is installed.

The current version VMEX v0.98g can be downloaded here (56 kbyte download). Unzip the vmex.bat and vmex.jar files into a folder containing the compiled map files, for maximum convenience.

To run VMEX, double click on the vmex.bat file, or open a command prompt or DOS box in the folder containing the maps and vmex files. Vmex is run using the command:

vmex [options] <mapname.bsp>

or alternately
java -jar vmex.jar [options] <mapname.bsp>

If you are using windows 98 or earlier, use the command:

vmex2 [options] <mapname>

If these commands do not work, you have probably not installed the Java Runtime Environment properly.

Note that if VMEX is run without a map name being specified, the GUI version is started automatically.

VMEX creates a file called <mapname>_d.vmf in the same folder as the original bsp file. This file can be loaded into Hammer as normal. Note that the file may be very large (~10 Mb) for some of the official maps.

Options
VMEX has a number of command-line options that change the decompilation process. You may wish to change these options if you are having problems with decompiling certain maps, but usually the defaults are sufficient. Most of these options can also be altered when using the GUI interface to VMEX.

-m<mode>
The decompilation mode. 0 for original faces (smallest number of brushes, but some missing faces), 1 for split faces (more brushes, but almost no missing faces), 2 for original faces where possible, else write split brushes (medium number of brushes, few missing faces). Use option 3 (default) to decompile via brushes and planes, which is slow, but gives the smallest files and the best match to the original .vmf file.
-d<value>
The depth (thickness) of brushes created by vmex, in map units. Setting this too small may lead to more brush errors. Set too high and you will see the backs of brushes protruding through opposite faces. The default value is 1.0.
-t<mode>
The texture to apply to decompiled faces. 0 for white, 1 for black, 2 for the orange grid texture (dev/dev_measuregeneric01) and 3 (default) for the original face texture.
-s<value>
The texture to apply to back faces (faces which were not originally part of the map). 0 for white, 1 for black, 2 (default) for tools/toolsinvisible, 3 for the same texture as applied to the front (decompiled) face.
-r<value>
The decimal precision (number of decimal places) that floating-point numbers will be written to the .vmf file. Setting too high will make the decompiled files larger. Setting too small will make vertex, face and texture placement inaccurate. The default value is 8.
-o
Don't fixup the origins of brush entities to be back in their original positions. If you set this option, all brush entities will be located at the map origin (0,0,0), as they are stored in the .bsp file.
-p
Don't output prop_statics. Vmex will not attempt to decode or output the prop_static list as entities.
-x
Don't fixup texture names. Texture names stored in the .bsp file are altered for faces that receive reflections, etc., from env_cubemap entities. Usually vmex will revert the textures to their original names. Set this option to not do that.
-c<value>
Controls env_cubemap entities. 0 for no cubemaps; 1 for cubemaps which specify location only. For value greater than 1, a list of sides tied to that cubemap (receiving environment maps from it) will be output, if there are less than value sides in the list. The default is 8; Setting value higher than about 50 risks crashing Hammer.
-v
Don't output info_overlay entities.
-h
Don't output displacement surfaces.
-D
Output debug infomation to console.
-w
Don't crunch brush face windings.
-u
Use old pyramid-style displacement brushes for hidden faces.