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Description
i decided i wanted to give S2FM a try, but i thought i had to pay $60 for it bc of Half-Life Alyx, but it turns out it's COMPLETELY FREE when you get DOTA 2 and the asset tools, it comes with S2FM! totally saved me 60 bucks today, ain't no WAY IN HELL i was gonna spend that much money- (my wallet CANNOT handle that rn, with my budget) and when i got it, i thought i'd make a simple test poster with wolves from DOTA 2, i thought they were cool lmao. the thing is, i didn't NEED to edit this bc this already looks good the way it is bc of the source2 engine being so damn good. LOTS more freedom than source1, and i DIG IT! (even tho this is hella simple lol)

there's LOTS of positives and lots of negatives- i can state them all here from my experience so you don't have to:

POSITIVES/PROS:

- performance is 1000% better overall, WAY WAY WAAAAY better than sfm1 when it comes to this (it's fast, no lagging or low fps, as well as no more worrying about having a hot fan and 100% CPU including your MEM being red)
- quality is crystal clear! you can render in ANY resolution you want! (instead of SFM's limit being 720p-1080p)
- you can do big projects ALL in one session without any problems
- more freedom and less limited! (but still limited to SOME extent, but DEFINETLY not as limited as SFM1- there's a LOT more content and props)
- LOTS of different types of light options and improved camera settings
- you can see previews of your models AND YOUR MAPS NOW so you know what they look like before loading them in!
- you don't have to heavily edit your stuff to make it look good because source2's graphics do that for you. (the animationsets and camera settings you have, plus you kinda need experience in source1 first lmao)
- and yes, finally- the moment you've been anxious to know... NO. MORE. CRASHING!!! HOORAY!! = D
- on top of this, NO MORE CURBTREE OVERFLOW! OUO (this causes sfm to crash and your session is no longer accessible- and possibly corrupts the project)
- all of sfm's other previous bugs that were bothersome are all fixed here.

NEGATIVES/CONS:

- instead of left clicking to move, it's RIGHT CLICK. this is going to take you quite a bit to get used to if you've used SFM1 for so long (hi that's me)
- most controls are the same, but you will notice some of them are different. (scaling, override materials, selecting bones, etc) AGAIN- it will take a bit to get used to, so be patient.
- porting custom models is a NIGHTMARE. i've tried to do it for an hour and instantly gave up. it's too damn difficult. this is VERY inconvenient for those who want to move to s2fm, but can't get in their models. (trust me, it's a complicated process and you HAVE to have multiple programs to do this- more than just BLENDER TO SFM ports- if not harder)
- being able to access OTHER'S custom models, there is NO workshop and NO ONE has gave anyone a tutorial on how to download custom S2FM models for the usermod and how to put them in the right folders. :/ (it's different than SFM's way of getting custom models in) again, inconvenient.
- longer download time if you're downloading DOTA2 AND the asset tools (where S2FM is) for the first time, it takes 3x LONGER to download than SFM1 combined. (you have to be SUPER patient, i waited 3 1/2 hours for it all to download but it may just be my sh*t graphics card lol)
- if you want to get the Half-Life Alyx version of S2FM, it's NOT free. it is $60 for the game and for s2fm. (if you don't want to pay, just get DOTA2 and get source2 that way, like me. work smarter, not harder)
- you need a powerful pc to run it with a graphics card that can AT LEAST handle ambient occlusion. SFM1 lets you get away with this by taking away the AO and MAYBE the bloom and give that WHITE LINE you have to remove, if you have a weak computer (specs) and graphics card. but with source2, that isn't the case and WON'T let you get away with it. i can't get it on my laptop at ALL. (it can't run AO and i've had to get it fixed about a month ago) wait until you can afford a gaming pc that can BOTH run DOTA2 and SFM with all the graphic settings. (i have source2 on my gaming pc, the one i'm on now)

- - - -

do i recommend it and do i plan to switch?

YES, i recommend it! BUT what's stopping me from switching is lack of custom models accessibility and lack of workshop support for other custom models i want to use. as well as the porting process being too much of a nightmare. if you're also struggling with porting and custom models, maybe source2 isn't for you. BUT i'll use it sometimes for stuff like this lmao. i have some ideas in store.

- - - -

how am i doing overall? not horrible, but not good either....i'm trying to recover best i can from something and i'm just trying to take everything slow. i have lots on my plate atm and i can't do much..hence why this is so lazy. i'm on a small break rn but hope you understand though- 🖤 love you guys. 🥺🖤 see you all soon~ <333333333333

Description
i decided i wanted to give S2FM a try, but i thought i had to pay $60 for it bc of Half-Life Alyx, but it turns out it's COMPLETELY FREE when you get DOTA 2 and the asset tools, it comes with S2FM! totally saved me 60 bucks today, ain't no WAY IN HELL i was gonna spend that much money- (my wallet CANNOT handle that rn, with my budget) and when i got it, i thought i'd make a simple test poster with wolves from DOTA 2, i thought they were cool lmao. the thing is, i didn't NEED to edit this bc this already looks good the way it is bc of the source2 engine being so damn good. LOTS more freedom than source1, and i DIG IT! (even tho this is hella simple lol)

there's LOTS of positives and lots of negatives- i can state them all here from my experience so you don't have to:

POSITIVES/PROS:

- performance is 1000% better overall, WAY WAY WAAAAY better than sfm1 when it comes to this (it's fast, no lagging or low fps, as well as no more worrying about having a hot fan and 100% CPU including your MEM being red)
- quality is crystal clear! you can render in ANY resolution you want! (instead of SFM's limit being 720p-1080p)
- you can do big projects ALL in one session without any problems
- more freedom and less limited! (but still limited to SOME extent, but DEFINETLY not as limited as SFM1- there's a LOT more content and props)
- LOTS of different types of light options and improved camera settings
- you can see previews of your models AND YOUR MAPS NOW so you know what they look like before loading them in!
- you don't have to heavily edit your stuff to make it look good because source2's graphics do that for you. (the animationsets and camera settings you have, plus you kinda need experience in source1 first lmao)
- and yes, finally- the moment you've been anxious to know... NO. MORE. CRASHING!!! HOORAY!! = D
- on top of this, NO MORE CURBTREE OVERFLOW! OUO (this causes sfm to crash and your session is no longer accessible- and possibly corrupts the project)
- all of sfm's other previous bugs that were bothersome are all fixed here.

NEGATIVES/CONS:

- instead of left clicking to move, it's RIGHT CLICK. this is going to take you quite a bit to get used to if you've used SFM1 for so long (hi that's me)
- most controls are the same, but you will notice some of them are different. (scaling, override materials, selecting bones, etc) AGAIN- it will take a bit to get used to, so be patient.
- porting custom models is a NIGHTMARE. i've tried to do it for an hour and instantly gave up. it's too damn difficult. this is VERY inconvenient for those who want to move to s2fm, but can't get in their models. (trust me, it's a complicated process and you HAVE to have multiple programs to do this- more than just BLENDER TO SFM ports- if not harder)
- being able to access OTHER'S custom models, there is NO workshop and NO ONE has gave anyone a tutorial on how to download custom S2FM models for the usermod and how to put them in the right folders. :/ (it's different than SFM's way of getting custom models in) again, inconvenient.
- longer download time if you're downloading DOTA2 AND the asset tools (where S2FM is) for the first time, it takes 3x LONGER to download than SFM1 combined. (you have to be SUPER patient, i waited 3 1/2 hours for it all to download but it may just be my sh*t graphics card lol)
- if you want to get the Half-Life Alyx version of S2FM, it's NOT free. it is $60 for the game and for s2fm. (if you don't want to pay, just get DOTA2 and get source2 that way, like me. work smarter, not harder)
- you need a powerful pc to run it with a graphics card that can AT LEAST handle ambient occlusion. SFM1 lets you get away with this by taking away the AO and MAYBE the bloom and give that WHITE LINE you have to remove, if you have a weak computer (specs) and graphics card. but with source2, that isn't the case and WON'T let you get away with it. i can't get it on my laptop at ALL. (it can't run AO and i've had to get it fixed about a month ago) wait until you can afford a gaming pc that can BOTH run DOTA2 and SFM with all the graphic settings. (i have source2 on my gaming pc, the one i'm on now)

- - - -

do i recommend it and do i plan to switch?

YES, i recommend it! BUT what's stopping me from switching is lack of custom models accessibility and lack of workshop support for other custom models i want to use. as well as the porting process being too much of a nightmare. if you're also struggling with porting and custom models, maybe source2 isn't for you. BUT i'll use it sometimes for stuff like this lmao. i have some ideas in store.

- - - -

how am i doing overall? not horrible, but not good either....i'm trying to recover best i can from something and i'm just trying to take everything slow. i have lots on my plate atm and i can't do much..hence why this is so lazy. i'm on a small break rn but hope you understand though- 🖤 love you guys. 🥺🖤 see you all soon~ <333333333333