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Installation Guide

This guide will walk you through setting up your development environment and building the HotWheels SDK DLL.

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Prerequisites

Visual Studio

Visual Studio 2019 or 2022 with C++ development tools

DirectX SDK

DirectX SDK (June 2010) for D3D9 development

Windows 10/11

Windows 10 or 11 (x64) operating system

CS:GO

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive installed

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Step 1: Install Visual Studio

1

Download Visual Studio

Download Visual Studio 2022 Community (free) or Visual Studio 2019.
2

Select Workloads

During installation, select the Desktop development with C++ workload.Required components:
  • MSVC v142 (VS 2019) or v143 (VS 2022) build tools
  • Windows 10 SDK (10.0.19041.0 or later)
  • C++ profiling tools
  • C++ CMake tools (optional)
3

Install Platform Toolset

The project uses v143 (Visual Studio 2022) toolset by default. If using VS 2019, update the .vcxproj file:
<PlatformToolset>v142</PlatformToolset>

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Step 2: Install DirectX SDK

The DirectX SDK (June 2010) is required for Direct3D 9 development. Newer Windows SDKs don’t include D3DX9.
1

Download DirectX SDK

Download the DirectX SDK (June 2010) from Microsoft.
2

Install SDK

Run the installer and note the installation path (usually C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft DirectX SDK (June 2010)).
3

Fix S1023 Error (if occurs)

If you get error S1023 during installation:
  1. Uninstall “Microsoft Visual C++ 2010 Redistributable” (both x86 and x64)
  2. Install DirectX SDK
  3. Reinstall the redistributables
4

Verify Environment Variable

The SDK should set the DXSDK_DIR environment variable automatically. Verify:
echo $env:DXSDK_DIR
# Should output: C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft DirectX SDK (June 2010)\

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Step 3: Clone the Repository

git clone <repository-url>
cd hw-sdk

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Step 4: Project Configuration

The project is pre-configured with the following settings: 
Platform: Win32 (x86)
Configuration: Debug
Output: ./debug/zipudhe2.dll
Runtime Library: Multi-threaded Debug (/MTd)
C++ Standard: C++20
Character Set: MultiByte
Preprocessor: WIN32, _WINDOWS, NOMINMAX, CONSOLE_ENABLED
Debug builds include console output for logging via console::print(). The DLL is named zipudhe2.dll.

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Include Paths

The project automatically includes: 
$(DXSDK_DIR)Include
$(SolutionDir)hw-sdk\dependencies\freetype\include

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Library Paths

$(DXSDK_DIR)Lib\x86
$(SolutionDir)hw-sdk\dependencies\freetype\lib

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Linked Libraries

  • freetype.lib - Font rendering for ImGui
  • Standard Windows libraries (automatically linked)

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Step 5: Build the Project

1

Open Solution

Open hw-sdk.vcxproj or the .sln file in Visual Studio.
2

Select Configuration

Choose your build configuration:
  • Debug | Win32 - For development with console logging
  • Release | Win32 - For production use
Always use Win32 (x86) platform, not x64. CS:GO is a 32-bit application.
3

Build Solution

Build the project:
  • Press Ctrl+Shift+B, or
  • Menu: Build → Build Solution, or
  • Right-click project → Build
4

Verify Output

Check for the compiled DLL:
./debug/zipudhe2.dll
./debug/intermediate/  # Object files

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Troubleshooting

Problem: Build fails with “Cannot find DirectX SDK include path”Solution:
  1. Verify DirectX SDK is installed
  2. Check environment variable: echo $env:DXSDK_DIR in PowerShell
  3. Restart Visual Studio to load new environment variables
  4. Manually set include/library paths in project properties
Problem: Linker error about missing freetype.libSolution:
  1. Verify FreeType library exists at dependencies/freetype/lib/freetype.lib
  2. Check that library is for x86 architecture (not x64)
  3. Rebuild FreeType from source if necessary
Problem: Compiler errors about C++20 featuresSolution:
  1. Update Visual Studio to latest version
  2. Verify C++ Language Standard is set to C++20 or /std:c++20
  3. Check Platform Toolset is v142 or v143
Problem: Linker errors about missing functionsSolution:
  1. Ensure all .cpp files are included in the project
  2. Check that Runtime Library setting is /MT (Release) or /MTd (Debug)
  3. Clean and rebuild: Build → Clean Solution, then Build → Rebuild Solution
Problem: Debug DLL is very large (>50 MB)Solution: This is normal for Debug builds with symbols. Use Release configuration for smaller output.Typical sizes:
  • Debug: 30-80 MB (includes debug symbols)
  • Release: 2-10 MB (optimized)

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Build Output Structure

After successful build: 
hw-sdk/
├── debug/
│   ├── zipudhe2.dll          # Debug DLL
│   └── intermediate/         # Debug object files
├── release/
│   ├── chungy.dll            # Release DLL
│   └── intermediate/         # Release object files
├── dependencies/             # Third-party libraries
├── game/                     # CS:GO SDK headers
├── globals/                  # Global state and interfaces
├── hacks/                    # Feature implementations
├── hooks/                    # Hook implementations
├── utils/                    # Utilities
└── hw-sdk.vcxproj           # Visual Studio project

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Next Steps

Quick Start Guide

Now that you’ve built the DLL, learn how to inject it into CS:GO and start using the SDK.
Build Time: First build may take 2-5 minutes depending on your system. Incremental builds are much faster (10-30 seconds).

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