Community Source Development Kit 12 (CSDK 12) is the latest community set of tools made by merging together files from the CS2 Workshop Tools and fixes made by the community members.

Reduced CSDK 12 is a stripped down version of the full CSDK 12 which does not require to download an older version of the game. It can be used for editing models, sounds, textures, vdata and more.

Installation

Note

Follow the instructions in the READ ME FIRST.txt file.

Download and unpack the archive.

Inside the archive is the “Reduced_CSDK_12” folder. Unpack it where you want it to be. Once unpacked, navigate to Reduced_CSDK_12\game\.

You should notice multiple bin folders. Choose one of these based on your needs (explanation is in the Usage section down below).

One of these should have an executable named Deadlock_with_tools.exe. Execute it to load into the CFG Tool.

Full Game Files

To have full game files with your CSDK 12, make sure you:

  1. With Source 2 Viewer open pak01_dir.vpk from Steam folder of Deadlock.
  2. In Source 2 Viewer, right click on a pak01_dir.vpk from game/citadel ,press Export as is to ReducedCSDK12/game/citadel. Make sure ReducedCSDK12/game/citadel and ReducedCSDK12/game/core do not have any pak01 vpks after extraction.
  3. To get the custom toolscenes/asset tags/splash screens back, re-extract game/citadel from the ReducedCSDK12.zip archive into Reduced_CSDK_12\game\citadel. This is a necessary step.
  4. Get the maps from this link and extract them into game/citadel/maps.

Usage

Important

Steam must be running when launching the CSDK12.

CSDK12 for it’s main functionality ships with four sets of binaries:

  • bin - Fix Projected Particles should work with Hammer + particle preview. Now has Fix S2FM to fix an issue with procedural bones / constraints.
  • bin_cs2 - For using with Lighting Compiler / GUI Compiler to compile maps made in Hammer
  • bin_server - Launches Deadlock in server mode with limited tools like Asset Browser, Material Editor and ability to compile some files like vdata. Everything else will crash.
  • bin_tools - Main Tools binaries, cannot compile Hammer maps with lighting due to a VRAD3 issue.

Lighting Compiler

Proceed into ReducedCSDK12/GUIMapCompiler/CS2MapCompiler.exe to use the GUI Map Compiler. Requires bin_cs2 binaries to be present. This tool is needed in order to compile maps with lighting.

bin / Legacy Mode

Open ReducedCSDK12/game/bin/win64/Deadlock_with_tools.exe. This will open the Configuration Tool below, then choose your addon to launch in BinLegacy Tools mode. This mode is needed to view Hammer maps with particles enabled, with Fix Projected Particles selected. New to this mode is Fix S2FM, which fixes S2FM.

bin_server

Open ReducedCSDK12/game/bin_server/win64/Deadlock_with_tools.exe. This will open the Configuration Tool below, then choose your addon to launch in Server Tools mode.

For easier management of addons, use the configuration tool:

Launch the configuration tool by opening ReducedCSDK12/game/bin_tools/win64/Deadlock_with_tools.exe.

From here, you can:

Create a New Addon: Give your addon a name and press the “Create Addon” button. Only use lowercase or bad things will happen. This will automatically create two folders for your project:

  • content/citadel_addons/<your_addon_name>: This is where you’ll place your source files, so they can be used by the tools. It is the main folder you’ll be working in. All raw source content SHOULD be placed here.
  • game/citadel_addons/<your_addon_name>: This is where the compiled versions of your assets will be stored and read by the game. Tools should automatically compile new files if they are present in content/ and be placed by the game in the game/ directory. Some files like localization files might be the exception. Compiled files usually end in _c (e.g., .vtex_c, .vmdl_c, .vdata_c).

Duplicate Addon: Makes a copy of your addon. This is needed to make Template Addons editable addons.

Launch: Once an addon is created and selected, press the “Launch” button to open the Asset Browser for that addon.

Fix Models: This mode is required to view/edit models in ModelDoc. As a downside, particles with projected textures (or a renderer C_OP_RenderProjected) will crash the game.

Fix Projected Particles: This mode is required to view/edit particles with projected textures (or a renderer C_OP_RenderProjected).

Fix S2FM: This mode fixes an issue with S2FM where procedural bones/constraints would break. Legacy Mode exclusive.

No Addon: This launches the tools with no addon mounted. Should be only used to edit some specific tool assets like toolscenelightrigs.vdata, game_asset_tags.vdata.

Warning

For regular mod-making behavior, it’s advised to Create a new Addon or Duplicate a Template Addon. Continuing in No Addon might lead to original ‘game/citadel’ assets being overriden, potential corruption of important data and the addon approach works together with the CS2 Workshop Manager to pack the addons in a VPK, plus it’s much easier and cleaner to organize packs of assets in addons.