Hammer++ vs Sprite Fusion

Hammer++ is a free Windows modification of Valve’s Hammer editor for creating maps in the Source engine. It aims to improve stability and keep the editor current through fixes and changes. It can simulate Source lighting inside the editor, with adjustable quality and speed and dynamic updates, and preview particles, fog, skyboxes, rope physics, render effects, and material proxies. Mapping tools include a 3D gizmo, polygon and sprinkle tools, multiple cordons, brush merging, and object placement on floors or ceilings. If the editor crashes, it shows a detailed error message and autosaves open VMF files. Saved VMFs retain precise vertex data while also storing less precise data for compilers and compatibility with other Hammer versions. Downloads bundle HLMV++, which can be installed optionally. The download page lists build 8871, last updated April 14, 2026. The maker directs users to its official Discord for discussion and says the project is not affiliated with Valve. It also notes antivirus software sometimes flags downloads and advises allowing them or adding an exception. The old Source 2013 Multiplayer version is unsupported, and CS:GO support is frozen on build 8864.

Sprite Fusion is a tilemap editor for designing 2D game maps, available in a browser and as a desktop app. You can import tilesets by dragging and dropping, loading an image, or pasting one from the clipboard, then draw with pencil, fill, selection, and attributes tools. Autotile layers use neighboring cells to resolve tiles, with variants, weights, and reusable rule presets. Collision layers can be exported for supported targets. Game engine exports include Unity, Godot 3 and 4, Defold, Bevy, Love2D, GDevelop, Phaser, Cocos, and GB Studio; other formats include TMX, Sprite Fusion JSON, PNG, and UVTT. UVTT exports can represent collider layers as walls for virtual tabletop software such as Foundry VTT. The Web Edition costs nothing and limits map exports to 4.5MB. The Desktop Edition costs $14.99, paid once, works offline, and exports maps of any size. It has Windows and macOS builds, plus an experimental 64-bit Linux build.