Lol. Imagine the description of the map once the results are posted:
"Box" by PenguinBoy Grab it!
It's rare to see such beauty contained in only one room.
The HL2 water shaders have never been put to better use. The simplicity of the setting highlights the value of the reflection, giving you a sense of "less is more" and totally making the player one with the map in an overwhelming and esoteric experience. A wonder to behold, this entry will make you thirsty for more (pun intended)"
Forum posts
So, what did you add since the last time it compiled right?
(Answering this question solves 80% of all compiling problems)
Check all your props. Your compile stopped right before the part where my log usually tells me about prop errors, and right before "Placing detail Props"
(Answering this question solves 80% of all compiling problems)
Check all your props. Your compile stopped right before the part where my log usually tells me about prop errors, and right before "Placing detail Props"
1)Use prop_static for things aren't meant to be moved around.
2)The little things you did have created too many portals. Simplify your geometry and transform into func_detail any brush that isn't needed for blocking visibility.
2)The little things you did have created too many portals. Simplify your geometry and transform into func_detail any brush that isn't needed for blocking visibility.
Less so than water, since a mirror wouldn't need animating or refractive effects.
LoL. I had never tried to use higher cubemap resolutions than the default.
It's still not a mirror, but closer than my previous attempts!
http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/1213/mirrorcw6.jpg
It's still not a mirror, but closer than my previous attempts!
http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/1213/mirrorcw6.jpg
Decals are really obsolete. Just use overlays. You can scale them and decide exactly in which faces they show up, as well as putting them on top of each other in the order you decide.
Edit: doh
Edit: doh
Yes, the real one. Those are the stairs to the stream. It has l33t bumpmapping, real time reflections and a lightmap grid value of 0.000005. Pretty detailed, and with no framerate problems! 
The error says you have a door entity with ONLY the origin texture. Make sure your door and your origin brush are part of the same func_door_rotating entity.
cs_fallingliquid download available. I hope pakrat did its job properly. I'll try to get proper hosting soon, but meanwhile be quick to download it if you're interested. I recommend taking a look at the map with HDR before playing if you have to disable that effect for performance needs. The lighting color is better in the HDR version.
http://twhl.co.za/mapvault_map.php?id=4497
http://twhl.co.za/mapvault_map.php?id=4497
Is the texture you're using for the illusionaries a water texture?
Well, a touch of humour is never out of place in a HL1 mod, so who knows...
Actually, Rimrook already posted the general outline of the story a while ago.
I'll try to change the bumpmap a bit. But the real stone looks like it is built with layers of blocky elements, not the irregular stones in the texture I used.
The latest version isn't available. It was in the vault for a short period of time (which gave me some input to change several things) but I had to remove it for several reasons. As of today, only the bigger HL2 version is available for download.
The latest version isn't available. It was in the vault for a short period of time (which gave me some input to change several things) but I had to remove it for several reasons. As of today, only the bigger HL2 version is available for download.
More news on cs_fallingliquid. It seems the batch compiler is unable to run the HDR part of the VRAD. It always crashes at some point or another.
The compile works perfectly in Hammer, but because of memory usage, it takes much, much longer.
Some lights don't seem to work with HDR. They are not really that important but I have no idea why it happens. The values are OK since the same HDR brightness works with other lights in the map.
In what concerns performance, I think things are much better now. I managed to play a 2 vs 2 match with full anisotropic filter and full anti-aliasing. I haven't tried those settings with HDR. I'm not THAT optimistic.
As far as textures go, I could still try to change the main stone texture. After looking at the real pictures, my version of the stone (with bumpmap) looks way too flat in comparison.
http://img112.imageshack.us/img112/3830/comparejh0.jpg
The compile works perfectly in Hammer, but because of memory usage, it takes much, much longer.
Some lights don't seem to work with HDR. They are not really that important but I have no idea why it happens. The values are OK since the same HDR brightness works with other lights in the map.
In what concerns performance, I think things are much better now. I managed to play a 2 vs 2 match with full anisotropic filter and full anti-aliasing. I haven't tried those settings with HDR. I'm not THAT optimistic.
As far as textures go, I could still try to change the main stone texture. After looking at the real pictures, my version of the stone (with bumpmap) looks way too flat in comparison.
http://img112.imageshack.us/img112/3830/comparejh0.jpg
Any updates on the story? Have you decided if you're going to have a character giving you hints?
It'd be rather cool to have a map in which an npc like the ferret would have to crawl into small passages and trigger things that the player would be unable to. A companion of some sort.
It'd be rather cool to have a map in which an npc like the ferret would have to crawl into small passages and trigger things that the player would be unable to. A companion of some sort.
It's a testament to Valve's great game that people are doing these quizs more than 8 years later.
A tip, or rather a habit I have when making a map with a light_enviroment:
The first thing I do after deciding the theme of the map, is deciding the angle of the sunlight. You might think it's an artificial way of working, but things turn out much better if you already know how light is going to flow into a room. What parts will be dark and will need other types of lights, and how the shadows will spread across the surfaces. When you know the direction of the light, you can actually place other elements to achieve the desired shadow across a certain floor etc.
It might seem this method takes away the possibility of making versions of the map at other times of the day. However, if you are mapping for Source, for example, it will be much easier to keep track of which faces you can have a more detailed lightmap grid scale!
The first thing I do after deciding the theme of the map, is deciding the angle of the sunlight. You might think it's an artificial way of working, but things turn out much better if you already know how light is going to flow into a room. What parts will be dark and will need other types of lights, and how the shadows will spread across the surfaces. When you know the direction of the light, you can actually place other elements to achieve the desired shadow across a certain floor etc.
It might seem this method takes away the possibility of making versions of the map at other times of the day. However, if you are mapping for Source, for example, it will be much easier to keep track of which faces you can have a more detailed lightmap grid scale!
A quick google search
http://www.interlopers.net/errors/index.php?e=3-4
http://www.chatbear.com/board.plm?a=viewthread&b=4989&t=793,1105601748,27748&s=0&id=774637
It seems you have some complicated world geometry causing VIS to go crazy. Turn any brushes that are not blocking visibility into func_detail entities.
http://www.interlopers.net/errors/index.php?e=3-4
http://www.chatbear.com/board.plm?a=viewthread&b=4989&t=793,1105601748,27748&s=0&id=774637
It seems you have some complicated world geometry causing VIS to go crazy. Turn any brushes that are not blocking visibility into func_detail entities.
Yes, I quoted it before. Leaf 3271 (portal 10129) with too many portals. But I have no idea on how to fix it. I've never come across it.
I like the little lamps, but I think there might be too many of them.
Then fix the problems that are happening to your VIS compile.
I went through a lot of trouble to get it working, but finally the water in the stream splashes when you shoot at it. I had to create a new water material, which is completely invisible except for one pixel. Anything else made the scrolling-water invisible.
There's also a minimum brush height needed so water actually splashes!
I'm doing a test compile right now, which will probably be one of the last, since most graphical bugs have been fixed. I'm still having trouble with the glass materials, since some use "$nocull" and others don't. The engine seems to have trouble deciding which to draw first.
After that, it's just a matter of making the nav file, packing the materials into the bsp and uploading it somewhere without a bandwith limit...
Edit: 2 hours 39 minutes of VIS... and almost everything is func_detail...
There's also a minimum brush height needed so water actually splashes!
I'm doing a test compile right now, which will probably be one of the last, since most graphical bugs have been fixed. I'm still having trouble with the glass materials, since some use "$nocull" and others don't. The engine seems to have trouble deciding which to draw first.
After that, it's just a matter of making the nav file, packing the materials into the bsp and uploading it somewhere without a bandwith limit...
Edit: 2 hours 39 minutes of VIS... and almost everything is func_detail...
The problem you have is tricky. Valve won't update Hammer 3.5 so it works in Vista, and Microsoft won't update Vista so Hammer 3.5 works... 
Leaf 3271 (portal 10129) with too many portals. Use vbsp -glview to compile, then glview -portal -portalhighlight X or -leafhighlight L to view the problem.And later it says
No vis information, direct lighting only.I don't know how to solve that VIS error, but at least we know it's there.
Interesting questions on the subject of HL would be something like asking in how many hours/days does the story take place?
People don't tend to remember irrelevant details while playing a game...
People don't tend to remember irrelevant details while playing a game...
Post the compile log. It sounds as if something went wrong with the compile.
Are you completely sure everything during compile went OK?
Does the water splash when you shoot it, etc?
Does the water splash when you shoot it, etc?
Are you talking about Hammer 4 or the 3.x version?
You can't use the old Hammer editor for Source games like css.
You can't use the old Hammer editor for Source games like css.
Final version of cs_fallingliquid will be ready sometime this next week. I transformed most of the 3D window and door frames into 2D with new custom materials. It should help with performance. The river has a new material which I talked about some posts ago and the waterfall looks a bit better now (I added the ripple effect).
The env lighting will reflect a time of the day closer to sunset. As a matter of fact, the light color in previous versions was wrong according to the sun angles.
http://img70.imageshack.us/img70/4650/csfallingliquidbigjpgbf4.jpg
The env lighting will reflect a time of the day closer to sunset. As a matter of fact, the light color in previous versions was wrong according to the sun angles.
http://img70.imageshack.us/img70/4650/csfallingliquidbigjpgbf4.jpg
There is no WON version of HL2 :
You read the tutorials in the Where to start? section on the left of the page.
http://twhl.co.za/tutorial.php?id=47
http://twhl.co.za/tutorial.php?id=47
The official docs are always useful http://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/Category:Level_Design
The only files you really need are the TGA files. Put them in the gfx/env/ folder of the mod you're working for.
The name of the sky in Hammer would be cm_bch1-256_ which is the part of the name that all the files have in common.
The name of the sky in Hammer would be cm_bch1-256_ which is the part of the name that all the files have in common.
Nah, I think it has something to do with "trying to chop down a tree with a knife".
Invisible water is caused by an incomplete VIS compile. The cause of such a compile can be a leak but it can be lots of other things. Check for other problems.
Two causes I can think of.
-You made one object with a certain grid size, and you're moving it with a bigger grid size. Try selecting the vertices one by one with vertex manipulation instead of changing the whole brush size.
-You are resizing brushes, which results in off-grid vertices.
-You made one object with a certain grid size, and you're moving it with a bigger grid size. Try selecting the vertices one by one with vertex manipulation instead of changing the whole brush size.
-You are resizing brushes, which results in off-grid vertices.
Ask yourself three questions:
What are you going to map? Anything from the most detailed recreation of an existing place to the most abstract mapping exercise follows a set of rules and objectives. That's what we call a theme. What you are trying to represent or tell with the map.
Why will this theme work? Will your map offer anything new at all to the thousands of existing maps or will it at least be an enjoyable experience to map for from which you can gain experience? Do you like the theme enough not to get bored soon?
How are you going to do it? Do you have the resources needed for the map or the ability and dedication to make them? Do you know beforehand if the entity setups you want to achieve are possible with the engine?
There are so many paths that take you to the same places. You can have a map inspired by films or places you have been to. You can make a good texture set and make a map according to what those textures suggest. You can think of spaces and gameplay situations and then think up a good theme for them etc
What are you going to map? Anything from the most detailed recreation of an existing place to the most abstract mapping exercise follows a set of rules and objectives. That's what we call a theme. What you are trying to represent or tell with the map.
Why will this theme work? Will your map offer anything new at all to the thousands of existing maps or will it at least be an enjoyable experience to map for from which you can gain experience? Do you like the theme enough not to get bored soon?
How are you going to do it? Do you have the resources needed for the map or the ability and dedication to make them? Do you know beforehand if the entity setups you want to achieve are possible with the engine?
There are so many paths that take you to the same places. You can have a map inspired by films or places you have been to. You can make a good texture set and make a map according to what those textures suggest. You can think of spaces and gameplay situations and then think up a good theme for them etc
Those files (I presume .tga files) should go in your cstrike/gfx/env/ folder
In the "Map properties" menu in Hammer, you can type the name of the sky you want to use. It should be the part of the name that the sky tga files have in common. For example, your files could be "myskyup", "myskydn", "myskylf" etc. In this example, the name of your sky would be just "mysky"
In the "Map properties" menu in Hammer, you can type the name of the sky you want to use. It should be the part of the name that the sky tga files have in common. For example, your files could be "myskyup", "myskydn", "myskylf" etc. In this example, the name of your sky would be just "mysky"
Enter the map without sounds or replace them with sounds from the pak file. There are water sounds for HL, so I don't know why you needed custom sounds for the compo 
I didn't. Although I have worked with water in both HL1 and Source these past few weeks.
I takes as much time to set up a minimod as it takes to write a couple of forum posts 
The only thing in common with my laptop is the 256 megs or ram. Could that have anything to do with how the trigger_auto works?
The clip brush doesn't stop physic propsFunc clip vphysics
That's probably the reason, and it gives me a second reason to get rid of the trigger_auto.
What I still don't know is why it happens in some computers and not in others. Until I fix it, you can play my Vilcabamba map http://twhl.co.za/mapvault_map.php?id=3857 and then load the Idol Hunt minimod and type "map idolhunt" in the console. The problem is that you won't have the weapons...
By the way, what are your PC specs? It might give me an indication as to why it happens in some PCs.
What I still don't know is why it happens in some computers and not in others. Until I fix it, you can play my Vilcabamba map http://twhl.co.za/mapvault_map.php?id=3857 and then load the Idol Hunt minimod and type "map idolhunt" in the console. The problem is that you won't have the weapons...
By the way, what are your PC specs? It might give me an indication as to why it happens in some PCs.
I have trouble associating all the background story with a mod. Would all that information also be told in the mod? Would it be relevant at all to the game?
I mean, is this war going to be fought as a singleplayer or multiplayer mod?
It's nice to have a story, but games are based on solid things like enviroments with interesting gameplay.
I mean, is this war going to be fought as a singleplayer or multiplayer mod?
It's nice to have a story, but games are based on solid things like enviroments with interesting gameplay.
I get the same error in my laptop and not my desktop. Try reinstalling the 1.1.1.0 patch again. I'll try to recompile that map, as it's the only one giving problems.
I made some changes in cs_fallingliquid, most notable a new water material, which is refractive, reflecting and scrolling. I have this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4g5Q19VqpY although youtube's horrible compression makes the scrolling effect hard to see. It looks very good and convincing ingame.
I made some changes in cs_fallingliquid, most notable a new water material, which is refractive, reflecting and scrolling. I have this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4g5Q19VqpY although youtube's horrible compression makes the scrolling effect hard to see. It looks very good and convincing ingame.
As well as keeping you notified of how the process is going at any time (unlike Hammer's compile-log window which tends to "dissapear" if you deactivate the Hammer window).
I've never used a game_info entity, but game_text works fine for me. It doesn't need any master field or anything.
For HL1, the entity used was game_playerjoin, and you could set a master for each team.
For source, try using a logic auto and tell if to trigger the game_text with the correct parameter. I don't have Hammer4 in this computer, so I can't tell you which one that'd be. Look for something like "OnPlayerJoin" or similar.
By the way, is the message intended for all players or just the one who joins in a particular moment? Giving us that kind of info might also help.
For HL1, the entity used was game_playerjoin, and you could set a master for each team.
For source, try using a logic auto and tell if to trigger the game_text with the correct parameter. I don't have Hammer4 in this computer, so I can't tell you which one that'd be. Look for something like "OnPlayerJoin" or similar.
By the way, is the message intended for all players or just the one who joins in a particular moment? Giving us that kind of info might also help.
Yes, I noticed it the first time I died in the first level. The reason is a stupid trigger_auto I used to trigger the message
Edit: I'm also not sure if the idol shows up at the end, inside the machine at Black Mesa. Sometimes i see it, sometimes I don't (it's a func_wall with no name... or maybe I gave it a global name. I initially planned on the idol being an optional pickup)
Edit2: Here's the overview of the whole thing. I rotated the first map because it overlaps with the third one.
http://img262.imageshack.us/img262/3924/idolhuntmapshc4.jpg
Edit: I'm also not sure if the idol shows up at the end, inside the machine at Black Mesa. Sometimes i see it, sometimes I don't (it's a func_wall with no name... or maybe I gave it a global name. I initially planned on the idol being an optional pickup)
Edit2: Here's the overview of the whole thing. I rotated the first map because it overlaps with the third one.
http://img262.imageshack.us/img262/3924/idolhuntmapshc4.jpg
