To get the program, click here. The level viewer lets you view all the levels and models in SH2,3 and 4.

The level viewer is pretty easy to use, though I had a few problems on different computers and OSs, but no huge problems with the program itself. Earlier versions would close the program if you hit any key besides the hotkeys, which kind of sucked, but later ones did not. Pressing “HOME” will give you a menu of the hotkeys. Bear in mind that it will only dump models in SH3, though you can dump textures from any game with F2.

The level viewer is really a huge improvement on using things like the camhacks that were available before, at least for viewing the levels and models from any angle, seeing hard-to-reach places, and so on. Things like the shadows are not perfect though, and the level viewer doesn’t do well on SH4 levels (and some sh4 models).

NOTE: the level viewer is made by perdedork[at]yahoo.com. I have nothing to do with it, I am just writing a tutorial.

Anyway, unzip the stuff somewhere on your computer.

Ignore the .exe file for now, you need to set up the cfg file before it works right. Open default.cfg in notepad and just edit the paths to your files. There is commenting in here to help you, and you should also read the README at some point.

This is how mine looks (keep in mind that yours may be different, depending on where things are installed):
o_sh2_data_dir c:\Program Files\Konami\Silent Hill 2\data\
o_sh3_data_dir c:\Program Files\Konami\Silent Hill 3\data\
o_sh4_data_dir C:\Program Files\KONAMI\SILENT HILL 4\data\

The only other thing you might want to change is the background color.

#Background Color
d_screen_color 0.0 0.0 0.0

If you make them all 0s, the bgcolor will be black.

If you don’t have a certain game (and this works for sh2, sh3, sh4) you will get an error saying it can’t load the models/levels, but just click through that. If it gives an error for a game you have installed, it means you haven’t input the path correctly in the cfg file. Fix that before continuing.

The controls are fairly easy. First, figure out which game you want to look at. SH2 will load first, if installed. F10 or F11 will get you to SH3 or SH4. In SH2/3, you can toggle between levels and models using F4. SH4 is a bit different, since everything is in the same folder, so levels and models all load together.

Once you’ve decided which game, you should know that SH2/3 use collections of files in an .arc archive, and the names will show up at the top of the screen. To go between files in an archive, hit the right SHIFT. To go back, hit the left SHIFT. Left and right CONTROL switches the archive file. A level archive file will contain all the rooms/areas in that level. Each room/area loads separately.

Use the arrows to move through the level.

If you want to make a screenshot, it is possible to use “print screen” and paste it into an image program, but it is easier to use something like FRAPS. I have hotkeys set up so I can press a key to take a screenshot or make a video clip without leaving the program.