Forum posts

Posted 20 years ago2004-08-20 08:04:58 UTC
in idea for a map with cliffs... Post #52276
You can also draw a heightmap first and then load it into GenSurf. This way you have the terrain and the heightmap which you could use for other purposes (like, say, creating your own textures). This also makes you able to flatten certain parts of your map and you can create certain effects, like ripples, quite easily. :)
Posted 20 years ago2004-08-15 13:18:09 UTC
in You've Been Mapping Too Much When... Post #51197
-when dozing off and getting back to reality just is a level transition

-when you suspect that behind each closed door the void starts
Posted 20 years ago2004-08-12 05:15:08 UTC
in Spirit of HL Post #50328
DoD uses or used Spirit, but only a very early build. If you are planning to do something with Spirit you'll have to make a minimod. At this point several minimods are being created where some of them are solely based on the Spirit code (so, no extra coding). These kind of mods include even RTS games :P
Posted 20 years ago2004-08-10 14:50:14 UTC
in Ineternet Router question Post #49799
Most of the wireless routers I know provide as well a 4 port UTP switch as the wireless connection. For maintenance reasons it's even exceptionally hard to configure a wireless router without the possibility of connecting to the router by UTP cable. So the answer will be yes, I give you about 99% chance it will work (if set up correctly).

In reply to m0p about the meaning of wireless connections: if your pc hardly ever moves and you have the possibility to connect it to the router by cable why waste that chance? A direct connection by cable is still faster and more stable as a wireless connection. Also a 100ft cat5 utp cable is cheaper than a wireless network card for a desktop system.
Posted 20 years ago2004-08-09 15:30:13 UTC
in CS scripted sequence? Post #49418
I believe that at some point in the development of CS you could still add a func_vehicle to your map manually, so I don't know whether the term if its not in the CS fgd, you cant.. is correct. I also have a hard time imagining that the code has actually been removed, it is however very possible and likely that the scripted_sequence won't work.
Posted 20 years ago2004-08-06 07:50:59 UTC
in favorite hl hero or villian Post #48390
Friendly
The chumtoad ;)
Enemy
The tentacles, no need to explain this one either :)
Posted 20 years ago2004-08-03 04:21:37 UTC
in question on wall again =[ Post #47670
Actually, you'll only need two walls. First one, like RabidMonkey777 said, a func_illusionary and the second one a clipbrush, but placed at the exact same spot as the func_illusionairy. This way you can also walk against the fence (which would be nice :P).
Posted 20 years ago2004-08-01 06:19:17 UTC
in Monstermaker spawn grenades? Post #47305
If you're working with Spirit, then what's your problem with creating exploding particles? (keywords: env_shooter, trigger on hit, env_explosion, *locus)
Posted 20 years ago2004-07-31 07:51:17 UTC
in Calling all C++ programers!(not just HL) Post #47054
hefsys wrote:
Yeah I know what Java is but not necessarily javacode.
Java is a programming language, and "code" is a part of a program so hence javacode, a part of a program which was written in Java. Either way, it was fairly easy recognizable by the use of the System package in combination with the used syntax ;).

ps: good moderation over there :cool:
Thanks - Seventh :)
Posted 20 years ago2004-07-31 07:11:21 UTC
in Monsters WILL NOT move (spirit) Post #47042
Day of Defeat uses (or used?) Spirit too :)
Posted 20 years ago2004-07-31 07:04:10 UTC
in Calling all C++ programers!(not just HL) Post #47040
Captain P. wrote:
where i is an integer that increases each time the while is run, as long as (i <= input).
Since the input is the product of two elements the sum of those two elements will always be smaller than (or equal to) 2*sqrt(input). Basically this means that when you do a run from 1 till input, you will be repeating steps after the square root of the input.

For example, the number 24 :

24 % 1 = 0 -> 1 is a valid element, 24 / 1 = 24
24 % 2 = 0 -> 2 is a valid element, 24 / 2 = 12
24 % 3 = 0 -> 3 is a valid element, 24 / 3 = 8
24 % 4 = 0 -> 4 is a valid element, 24 / 4 = 6
24 % 6 = 0 -> 6 is a valid element, 24 / 6 = 4 <- we had this one already!

So, instead of going through 1 to 24, you can stop at 4 which means about 86% gain in speed(!). Ofcourse this is a little less since you have to calculate the other factors(6, 8, 12, 24) as well which can be done by dividing the input with x where x = (input - x * n = 0) & (x < sqrt(input)) | (x E N).

As you might suspect, this especially comes in handy when factorizing large numbers since the time saved in percentage is about (100 - 100 / sqrt(input)). When we take input as infinitely large wel'll notice a 100% decrease in numbers to be calculated. Unfortunately at infinity you'll still have to calculate sqrt(infity) numbers which is an infinite amount :P.

Maybe interesting, even the fastest factorial algorithm delivers tons and tons of overhead. Computing the factorials of the product of two 512 bit primes takes more than 5 years on a distributed network! This characteristic behaviour is cleverly used in the RSA public/private key encryption system which makes it one of the safest encryption systems of the last 25 years.

Either way, here is some javacode on how to do it :P.
...
int input = 24;
int sqrt = (int)Math.sqrt((double)input); //take the root
for(int i = 0; i <= sqrt; i++) //do the loop
if ((input % i) == 0) //is the input dividable by the number?
    System.out.println(i + " / " + input / i); //then print the numbers
...
Posted 20 years ago2004-07-28 13:29:02 UTC
in what are YOU? Post #45907
I am a SoHL'er ofcourse :P
Posted 20 years ago2004-07-28 06:52:47 UTC
in Visibility problem.Need help. Post #45791
First things first, the mapvault isn't ment for uploading screenshots so don't.

Now, your problem, that screenshot is not sharp enough for me to be able to determine what's wrong with the visibile faces in your map. The only thing I can say at this moment is that you lack lights or have a leak in your map. This is a lighting problem though and not a vis problem. Uploading a better screenshot elsewhere would increase the chance of me actually being able to help you.
Posted 20 years ago2004-07-28 06:42:01 UTC
in ToDo Post #45788
How about a "My active threads page" where the forumvisitors can find the threads they started and/or the threads they replied at?
Posted 20 years ago2004-07-27 08:28:45 UTC
in ToDo Post #45427
Pepper is right at that point, although I disagree with his idea that TWHL should be less friendly against people who just started to map. but, so far I'm quite (very) content with the changes about to be made around here :)
Posted 20 years ago2004-07-25 18:40:26 UTC
in Website Questions Post #44810
Try this site for html/xml/... tutorials and go here for the HTML/DHTML reference.

ps: When arrived look for "<BODY BGCOLOR=*>" and "ALIGN="
Posted 20 years ago2004-07-25 18:32:28 UTC
in MY COMPUTER. PLEASE HELP :( Post #44807
The easiest way is always a good format, whenever a computer is this messed up it's harder to fix everything without damaging anything than it is to do a clean format. Most off the time, processes that activate "themselves" when you activate other software are viruses. When a virus takes up this much cpu it's possible that your computer is being used as a mail client (which would explain the 50% cpu usage). If this is not recognized by your virusscanner, a format is (in case of a regular computer user) inevitable. So, either way I (as a more professional computer user) recommend a format.

Maybe you could post a log of your active (out/in)bound connections. Start command, type "netstat -a" and copy the result into this thread.
Posted 20 years ago2004-07-25 18:09:51 UTC
in Compiling Error i think..? Post #44801
A lot of trouble can be saved when you use the customized compile tools for Half-Life. Get them here, install them and if it still not works, we'll have a look at it :-P
Posted 20 years ago2004-07-14 18:10:09 UTC
in Could I get some help from the experts? Post #41391
First of all, I love your eye for detail. I can see you really put a lot of time in this one. Now, for increasing your fps... You really 'use' a lot of available wpolys at the (church/hotel)windowframes. If you converted these ones to func_walls it would be a dramatic decrease on wpolys (and a lesser increase on epolys, since the areas around the frames won't be sliced up). Also, lower the details at the parts the players won't pay attention to anyway (like the roof of the small church). Where there is a lot of action going on or where the player can't reach, scale down the textures (use low res textures). About each texturepatch increases your wpolycount. On the blocking of vis, unfortunately for you, there isn't much to improve. One thing more, could you also upload your compiled bsp? That way we can see where the fpsdrops occur and thus we can work more efficiently :P
Posted 20 years ago2004-07-08 13:36:56 UTC
in hello everybody. Post #39739
Welcome. Don't forget to stop by at IRC at times :P.
#TWHL #ValveERC
Posted 20 years ago2004-07-03 20:52:15 UTC
in modeling tutorial Post #38590
The car looks great for a car that I expect to see in Half-Life. Personally I think I will read your tutorial but won't try to model myself :P. Either way, good luck on finishing it (it's your holiday well spent ;))
Posted 20 years ago2004-07-03 20:45:48 UTC
in Transparent texture problem Post #38589
That's a matter of good image-editing. This should be done before you import the image into Wally. I recommend not saving your images as JPEGs but saving them as BMPs where no qualityloss occurs. Second I recommend working in layers where you have a background layer and a foregroundlayer where the backgroundlayer is pure blue. This way you can easily correct mistakes and be sure there won't occur any odd colorblends. (Ofcourse, you can work with more layers if you like :P)
Posted 20 years ago2004-07-03 19:50:05 UTC
in Transparent texture problem Post #38580
If you edit the texture in Wally go to 'colors-> edit palet'. Make sure here the lowerrightmost color is '0 0 255' and make sure you replace the '0 0 254' colors with this one. Now save, load, compile and enjoy your transparent texture. :P
Posted 20 years ago2004-07-03 19:15:01 UTC
in !!LEAK LEAK LEAK!! Post #38576
Oh, and by the way, in reply to #1. VIS is used to determine the optimal collection of visible faces at any place of the map. By doing this the HL engine can skip rendering non-visible faces(which will be just overdrawn by the engine) and thus making the game faster (a good VIS run often results in lower r_speeds). :)
Posted 20 years ago2004-07-03 19:11:27 UTC
in !!LEAK LEAK LEAK!! Post #38574
That is called the HOM or Hall of Mirror effect, it's just a place where nothing gets redrawn. Now about leaks and rad. In order to have a level correctly lit, there can be leaks in the map. This is, however, not supported by 'our' compile tools. Although it's highly unlikely it is possible Valve used other compiletools which took care of leaks right away (by just ignoring them). If you are using ZHLT you can also create the HOM effect by null-texturing a wall. I believe your map will still be correctly lit after you do this.

One 'hack' which uses HOM is motion blur. Make a map, make all the brushes which touch the void func_walls and render them transparant (texture). Now surround the bunch with a null textured 'skybox' (nullbox rather) or place nulltextured brushes to seal the entire map from leaks, and play the map, just have a look at what happens. :)
Posted 20 years ago2004-06-27 05:48:00 UTC
in wally makind transparent textures Post #36837
Yes, yes really. Read other posts, It has to do with the game recognising a certain bit (dunno how it works) of teh palette that makes it transparent. The blue is just to designate where it should be transparent on teh texture.
It's just hardcoded; the engine draws all the visible pixels on the texture unless the pixel it's color is equal to the last color on the texture's palet. Ofcourse this only occurs when a brush it's rendermode is set to solid. :)
Posted 20 years ago2004-06-15 07:22:27 UTC
in How did you find TWHL? Post #33505
I have always been a regular visitor of the VERC and I'm also a regular visitor of their chatbox ever since DarkTruths was in development. At a certain day I typed /list in mIRC and discovered that it was not only #darktruths and #valveerc that had visitors but also a small room called #twhl. So I joined, visited the website and I liked what I saw. However since I got to know twhl by chat and not by the internet I'm still more active there than I am on the forums. So for all of you non-believers click here for all the other good in the world :P
Posted 20 years ago2004-06-13 10:03:58 UTC
in Another map preview, de_full_city Post #32974
Why are there sodamachines on the middle of the (seemingly to be) roundabout?
Posted 20 years ago2004-06-11 14:27:21 UTC
in Cars Post #32405
Public Transport (mo-fr free transport ;) )and my bike at the campus :)
Posted 20 years ago2004-06-08 03:43:43 UTC
in Leaks that dont exist! Post #31352
Maybe there's a lost info_player_deathmatch somewhere outside your map? :)
Posted 20 years ago2004-06-07 10:24:52 UTC
in Changing Sky Post #31091
It can be done with Spirit of Half-Life v1.2. It even makes it possible to generate clouds or you could let brushes move through the sky (as if they were giant vessels or meteorites). You can create pretty neat effects with it :cool: . But then again, if you make a Spirit-map you should release it as a minimod which is more work :).
Posted 20 years ago2004-06-07 04:01:40 UTC
in C++ Compiler Post #30984
Or use the Microsoft Visual C++ Toolkit. It's freeware :)
Posted 20 years ago2004-06-06 14:40:05 UTC
in A far fall and (YOU DONT GET HURT!??!!) Post #30844
BrattyLord
Mike! thats way too compicated! make invisable water and use the materials tut to get rid of the sound.
Erm, well it prevents you from editing textures and materialfiles, besides it only takes 3 brushes too achieve the desired effect. I think you just think it's complicated because of the lap of text I added to describe why this works. :P
Maybe I'll add an example into the vault :)
Posted 20 years ago2004-06-06 11:49:10 UTC
in A far fall and (YOU DONT GET HURT!??!!) Post #30807
Here is a possible solution:
User posted image
When the player steps into the hole he gains speed until he comes into the first pink brush. This is a trigger_gravity with the gravity set to 0. When the player enters this brush he won't gain any more fallingspeed but nor will he lose his speed gained at his previous fall. Until the player reaches another trigger_gravity with another value he won't be affected any longer with it. Now he falls with a constant speed to the next pink brush. This pink brush is also a trigger_gravity with the gravity set to -1 (-1 * original gravity = -800 standard). Here the player will lose his speed and because he deaccelerates as much as he accelerated his endspeed will be 0. At fallingspeed 0 the player should reach the last pink brush where the gravity is reset to normal (1 * original gravity = 800 standard). Here he falls the last piece and he doesn't get hurt even though he made a rather quick drop.

You could experiment with the distances, the gravity values and the brushthicknesses to make it look more realistic (since the player comes to a complete halt in this example). You could even make the player able to jump up again by making the -1 trigger_gravity reachable within jumpheight and placing another trigger_gravity with gravity @ 1 at the beginning of the drop.

Either way have fun experimenting with this, I never tried this out myself so I'm curious whether it works. :)
Posted 20 years ago2004-06-02 17:05:05 UTC
in Half-Life 2 Post #29860
Captain P : 2 Jun 04 14:11
// Ow, Mike... you're Dutch I see? Heh, I knew we were with so much more people...
Yeah, I believe the dutch are quite well represented in the HL (editing) community. Talking about that, Dutch people are quite often involved in editing games. In fact the most important editingtools for Command & Conquer and the Sims were written by us :)
Posted 20 years ago2004-06-02 08:47:18 UTC
in Half-Life 2 Post #29804
In reaction to Captain P, yes there is proof that the parts shown at E? 2003 were all scripted. For example, the strider had an 'limbo_under_bridge' animation. However I do think that the scripted parts will be gone when HL? gets released. It's very well possible they've prepared for E? 2003 at the end of 2002 where they weren't fully done with the AI yet and thus unable to show their AI in action. I sure hope so because it's not done to lie. However I'm still a HL2/Valve fanboy and I'm quite confidend that everything will be juuuust fine :P

(ps: physics, graphics already rocked @ alphastage)
Posted 20 years ago2004-05-31 07:54:18 UTC
in Half-Life 2 Post #29463
In reaction to Pepper about the scripting part:
Everything (well, the most impressive stuff) shown at E? 2003 was scripted. From the combines kicking in doors till the strider limbo-ing under the bridge (the strider even had his own limbo animation). It is very well possible that Valve is working on a revolutionary artificial intelligence but they didn't showed it at the E? 2003 and I'm even not sure about the E? 2004. I just hope most of the scripting will be gone when HL? (I love alt + 253) gets released. :
Posted 21 years ago2003-08-30 19:37:50 UTC
in 500th Login Message Post #1106
Good point monkey, in fact, this is my 1 billionth login! let's all celebrate ;). Actually the whole discussion is pointless indeed and trying to get your logins up is just bad for twhl's upload.
Posted 21 years ago2003-08-29 12:41:52 UTC
in 500th Login Message Post #1103
Just open and close the window quite often, it should raise your logins to 1000 or so within a matter of hours-minutes. (somebody wants me to write some software? ;) )
Posted 21 years ago2003-07-27 09:19:43 UTC
in Competitions Post #593
*me pokes people :P
Posted 21 years ago2003-07-19 09:39:05 UTC
in Competitions Post #591
When will there be a new competition?

-Mike
Posted 21 years ago2003-06-28 14:46:42 UTC
in func_vehicle Post #661
Hmm, well I'd say you stop trying to make a func_vehicle in HL[DM] cause it won't work since HL doesn't support a func_vehicle. For a func_vehicle you have to stick to CS or wait for HL2 :).