Garry's Mod

Key points

Receives frequent updates

Supports the Steam Workshop

Runs on low-end hardware

General information

Official Garry's Mod Blog

Official Garry's Mod Wiki

Steam Users' Forums

Steam Community Discussions

Official Garry's Mod Add-on Website - This has since been replaced by the implementation of the Steam Workshop into Garry's Mod.

Availability

All versions require Steam.

Improvements

Garry's Mod V3-V9

All of the older mod versions of Garry's Mod are available at the Facepunch forums, modified to work with Steam.

Console Commands

Games running on the Source Engine can utilize Source Engine Console Commands for various tasks.

Issues, Fixes, and Tweaks

Textures Not Loading

Textures that are checkered purple and black are textures that were unable to be loaded. Garry's Mod doesn't have the texture files itself, you need other games on your computer for the game to work properly. If you don't have Team Fortress 2 downloaded, for example, textures from Team Fortress 2 (characters, items, etc.) will not load. Garry's Mod takes textures from various Source games including, but not limited to, Half-Life 2 (and its episodes), Portal, Counter-Strike: Source, and Team Fortress 2. If you do not have any of these games, among various others, there may be errors in the game.

If textures are not loading in your game there is two things that can be wrong. Either you don't have the game required for the textures or the game required isn't getting included when running Garry's mod.

Crashing during "Sending Client info..."

When trying to connect to a server, you may crash somewhere during "Sending Client info..." If this occurs, open the Event Viewer, click "Windows Logs", then "Application" under it. Look through the folder and find the log that is an error and the source is "Application Error." Then click details and check to see if it says something like this under "EventData":

C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\<steamID>\garrysmod\hl2.exe
C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\<steamID>\garrysmod\bin\client.dll
Note: folder for client.dll can also be C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\<steamID>\garrysmod\garrysmod\bin\client.dll

If it does, open those folders where the files are located and delete hl2.exe and the client.dll. Then open Steam, right-click on Garry's Mod and then click Properties. Then click on the Local Files tab and click "Verify Integrity Of Game Cache...", wait for it to finish, then try reconnecting to the server you had trouble with. You should not crash this time. This does not work the first try every time. If you still crash, then follow the procedure again and keep trying.

As of September 7 2012 this bug is probably because of an engine update (This has apparently been patched on September 19, 2012) For more information go to this thread on the official Garry's Mod forums: link

An apparent fix for this is going into the Garry's Mod console and typing:

vgui_allowhtml 0

(This has apparently been patched on September 19, 2012) Found here: link

Unable to open Developer Console

Players with non-US keyboards often encounter problems opening the Developer Console because the set opening key (~) is positioned in a different location. Binding the key via the config.cfg file will not work because the game resets to the default key automatically. Most of the time the console can be opened by pressing the button to the left of the '1' key/under the 'Esc' key. In UK and similar keyboards, this button is the '`' key.

Borderless windowed mode

It is possible to play the game in borderless windowed mode to simulate a fullscreen environment by right-clicking on 'Properties' in your Steam Library, clicking on 'Set Launch Options...' and adding the following:

-window -noborder

This allows for easier alt-tabbing, but will likely cause a decrease in performance.

Hosting a listen server

To host a server while playing, one must be able to forward ports and enter a console command. The ports 27015 and 27005, both TCP and UDP, need to be forwarded. Then type in console sv_lan 0 without the quotes. Now click "Play Multiplayer", select the map of your choice, and others should be able to join.

In order for your server to show up on the server list, you must change sv_region to a value corresponding to your region.

Installing Mods

To install most mods, simply extract the file downloaded to:

C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\<steamID>\garrysmod\addons.

Some mods, e.g. Wiremod may require some more complex installation. ALWAYS check the readme for the mod before installing.

Low FPS Fix

Command Line Parameters

On a low end PC (Tested on 2GB RAM, 2.4GHz Dual Core Celeron Processor, GeForce 7100) you can modify the command line parameters for Garry's Mod.

1. Go into your Steam Library.
2. Right click Garry's Mod.
3. Click Properties.
4. Click "Set Launch Options".
5. Add the following:
   -dev -console -novid -dxlevel 70 +cl_showfps -w -nomemrestrict -norestrictions -percentvidmem 100 +mat_antialias 0 -refresh 60 -heapsize 1048576
   The -heapsize 104876 parameter assumes you have 2GB RAM.
6. Each time you boot Garry's Mod, you will need to go into your options and turn all settings to low, with anti-aliasing and filtering off.

Note: This works for all Source games pre-Left 4 Dead 2.