Your FINAL Compile switches? Created 20 years ago2004-02-03 07:56:16 UTC by Andy

Ok, there was a post in another forum about compile switches, I thought it would be interesting to see what people are using as the final compile switches for a map release.

The idea is that I will test all the options people put forward using a simple batch file on the same map.... Hopefully there will be an addition to the Compiling tutorial based on the results.
And I agree with Jobabob, HLCC is a great tool if used wisely

hlvis : -full -high -estimate -chart
hlrad: -extra -high -estimate -chart -bounce 5 -lights (my rad file )

there are lots more i can't list off the top of my head.. i'll get them all when i get home

HLVis: -full -high
HLRad: -extra -high

Additional lights written into a custom lights.rad

GTKRadiant:
BSP: -meta
VIS: -vis
Rad: -light -filter -super 2 -bounce 8

full hlRAD compile:

-extra -sparse -notexscale -bounce 5 -smooth 45 -chop 48 -high -estimate -chart

ah.. that usually adds 75% of compile time

Guys who don't know what these are should read the Zoner's HL tools documentation. I'll think I'll do it myself. What's "chop"?

What about -coring 0.2?

(copied from my other post)
my normal rad string is:
hlrad.exe -bounce 0 -chop 128 -lights "somerad.rad" -chart -estimate "mapname.map"

My full rad string is (for a full compile of a large map):
hlrad.exe -sparse -bounce 4 -chop 64 -coring 0.2 -smooth 80 -lights "somerad.rad" -chart -estimate -extra "mapname.map"

If you want an explanation, I put up what most of the switches mean here

Full normal compile
hlcsg.exe -high -chart -estimate -developer
hlbsp.exe -high -chart -estimate -developer
hlvis.exe -full -high -chart -estimate -developer
hlrad.exe -extra -high -chart -estimate -developer -lights "moprad.rad"

Maximum detail final compile
hlcsg.exe -high -chart -estimate -developer
hlbsp.exe -high -chart -estimate -developer
hlvis.exe -full -high -chart -estimate -developer
hlrad.exe -extra -high -chart -estimate -developer -lights "moprad.rad"
-sparse -chop 50 -bounce 5

The full compile normally takes about 1-2 hours on a medium map. The maximum one takes a much longer time. Timed on a 1.4GhZ Athlon t'Bird with 512mb of ram. It is much less on my new computer. But I don't use that for mapping! And also, the bloody hard disk is broken!

Perhaps someone should do a tut on this...

there's no point - all the cmd line switches are pretty well explained in ZHLT guide ...

Ok,
So everyone is doing pretty much the same, with a few personal tweaks.
Not really enough to do a test map on, but I might keep these in mind for later.

there's no point - all the cmd line switches are pretty well explained in ZHLT guide ...

That about says it all, and Jobabob has even given you a link to his post that explains a lot of the switches anyway...

Is anyone experimenting with XP-Cagey's compile tools?

me, the planes reducer is useful, but he really should rewrite CSG with a bigger data value than unsigned 16bit, you can only reduce planes AFTER csg which has a limit of 65535

Hmm.. i might give them a go... :

MoP,

hlcsg.exe -high -chart -estimate -developer

Which -dev # are you using? because the switch won't work on it's own.

I spent 3 hours this morning compiling the same map with everyones favorites. I was going to do an image post, but there really is very little in it.
I used zhlt compile tools without switches as a control.
All the above switches made the final product better.... I think it comes down to pesonal preference, as there wasn't much in it.
If you are thinking of tweaking your Final compile, then have a look at what the switches do.
If you want a switch explanation, run the .exe by itself, without any commands, in Dos and it will list the switches. It is a little less confusing first time around than Zoner reference.

Oh.. never knew the tools had an in built ref.

Most command-line things do.

I use -developer 2 cos I like reading through it's spam to sort out errors.

Ok,
That makes sense now... -dev 2 or -developer 2, either way it works Ok.
Must try that....

I've using Nemesis's excellent batch compiler with Merle's Zoner.
The batch file is :

<snipped - don't worry about it >

HAHA, YOU'RE POST GOT SNIPPED!
Nah, don't worry about posting ur batch file!

He wanted it edited out it was insanely long and rambly.

How come you dont edit my posts anymore then? They make less sense than a rant about why rants aren't as good as they were 10 years ago. But really why are they not? Is it because the quality of ranting has gone downhill, or is it because NOONE is prepared to listen to reason and instead whines on needlessly about nothing that noone really cares about except the author?? I think people should respect my opinion more as it is correct, and theirs isn't. Quite simple really.

It was a lot worse than that