GoldSource Mapping Tips
Created 18 years ago2006-01-02 09:43:42 UTC by
Kasperg
Created 18 years ago2006-01-02 09:43:42 UTC by
Kasperg
Posted 17 years ago2007-05-08 11:36:44 UTC
Post #221413
Make the material metal because landmines are metal... then you can have the boom and whoosh(falling sand) sounds after that.
Posted 17 years ago2007-05-09 07:09:04 UTC
Post #221484
What about if you set the material as rock? (And anyway most modern landmines are made of different materials, to avoid metal detectors. There used to be one made of concrete!)
Posted 17 years ago2007-05-09 19:03:06 UTC
Post #221539
And wood.
Posted 17 years ago2007-05-09 19:10:22 UTC
Post #221542
use the 'target on break' string to target a env_sound that has a custom explosion sound.
If you have dod, those explosions sounds are friggin awsome.
If you have dod, those explosions sounds are friggin awsome.
Posted 17 years ago2007-05-09 21:15:57 UTC
Post #221551
Here's a tip,
Never use carve, hollow, clip, etc...
Learn to do it by scratch, believe me, it's very beneficial in the long run.
Never use carve, hollow, clip, etc...
Learn to do it by scratch, believe me, it's very beneficial in the long run.
Posted 17 years ago2007-05-09 21:25:53 UTC
Post #221553
I did that, i really dislike using those tools. Doing it all by vertex manipulation is easy really, and it gives you greater control.
Posted 17 years ago2007-05-09 23:06:05 UTC
Post #221556
Clip tool is fucking awesome, and extremely useful. Otherwise, you would have to work with a bunch of different blocks just to get a shape you could easily form with the clip tool in a second. Maybe I would have more reason to believe you if you actually explained why it's better not to use it.
Those other two tools are practically useless though. The hollow tool promotes blocky, unoriginal brushwork, and carving inevitably leads to sloppiness.
Those other two tools are practically useless though. The hollow tool promotes blocky, unoriginal brushwork, and carving inevitably leads to sloppiness.
Posted 17 years ago2007-05-10 03:06:47 UTC
Post #221565
I never carve and i never clip. I like to be very neat in the way i brush my rooms, even the parts you don't see. Being neat and doing everything manually can prevent a lot of problems.
Posted 17 years ago2007-05-10 03:50:53 UTC
Post #221570
Espen, carving windows and doors in walls will cut the brushes up horizontally, instead of from floor to ceiling. This makes it harder to manipulate later on.
And Strider... I just don't understand you. How is clipping not neat and controlled? You define the exact way you want your brush to be split, and you apply it.
And Strider... I just don't understand you. How is clipping not neat and controlled? You define the exact way you want your brush to be split, and you apply it.
Posted 17 years ago2007-05-10 03:54:05 UTC
Post #221571
Well it makes no real difference, i have more practise with vertex manipulation and i find it a more desirable approach than clipping.
Posted 17 years ago2007-05-11 10:56:12 UTC
Post #221660
In the Using Sprites tutorial, Atom said ''In Half-Life, the sprites will always face the player, no matter which direction the player is looking. This is why it isn't easy to get the positioning of sprites right - make a mushroom-cloud type explosion occur too near the player, and it might appear to follow him. It might even appear to be exploding along the ground.'' If you use an env_laser at ground level, and info_target directly above it about 64 units off the floor (depending on the sprite used), and set the sprite name as a flame sprite or something, it won't ''explode along the ground''. It will stay vertical. I thought of this idea when I died next to a flame, and it went horizontal. 
Posted 17 years ago2007-05-17 11:05:09 UTC
Post #222411
Sorry, I made a mistake. that worked with a flame sprite, but when I tried to make a flame jet, it didn't, so it seems to be random.
Posted 17 years ago2007-05-20 15:39:11 UTC
Post #222750
Well it makes no real difference, i have more practise with vertex manipulation and i find it a more desirable approach than clipping.Complete waste of time.
Posted 17 years ago2007-07-07 17:57:36 UTC
Post #227829
Draw a plan, a topview of your map. I think layout is one of the most important. You can see the meeting areas (where teams meet) and in these spots you have to give advantage for both teams, unfortunatelly many maps have problem with it which looks beautifull, but this not so little problem makes the game no fun for one of the teams...So plan, plan, plan before start creating plenty of brushes as it was mentioned above...
Posted 17 years ago2007-07-07 18:44:10 UTC
Post #227831
That can work for some people, but others prefer to just map as they go, without an overall plan for how everything is going to go. It leaves more to chance, in a way. Of course, I assume you're just talking about deathmatch or Counter-Strike maps here... otherwise, there's little purpose.
Posted 17 years ago2007-07-07 22:16:31 UTC
Post #227851
why is there a debate about VM and clipping?
For best results use both.
For best results use both.
Posted 17 years ago2007-07-08 04:50:16 UTC
Post #227892
Amen to that.
Posted 17 years ago2007-07-08 05:13:48 UTC
Post #227899
Draw a plan, a topview of your map. I think layout is one of the most important.Drawing a top view of your map is the best way to forget that the layout can be three-dimensional instead of flat. It works sometimes, but the gameplay potential is drastically reduced.
Posted 17 years ago2007-07-08 12:50:08 UTC
Post #227945
You are right, but by the help of your drawn plan you have more chance to create a deathmatch map on which the teams have the same odds (think about meeting points)...I meant just draw a facile plan to get a better result...and you can draw more than one top view, 1th and 2nd floor (just think about the architect's job)...you can draw stairs, elevators and simple ways that go upper or downer levels as well...it is just a help not an exact plan...xD
Posted 17 years ago2007-07-08 13:04:54 UTC
Post #227948
For teamplay, yes.
For deathmatch, no. There area other ways of moving vertically in deathmatch besides stairs or eleveators. Think about gauss-jumps, bounce pads, fans with trigger_push, catapults...
For deathmatch, no. There area other ways of moving vertically in deathmatch besides stairs or eleveators. Think about gauss-jumps, bounce pads, fans with trigger_push, catapults...
Posted 17 years ago2007-08-23 14:59:25 UTC
Post #232695
I don't know if someone said this already but I have seen doors just stuck on the side of a building, I would recommend making a hole in the wall and putting a door in there to make it look more realistic. 
Posted 17 years ago2007-08-23 15:38:52 UTC
Post #232699
Hahahahahahahahah. Heh.. he.. tee hee.. Brilliant.
Posted 17 years ago2007-08-23 15:56:45 UTC
Post #232702
Here's a good one:
Work on the parts that you want to make more interesting than the rest of the map. Rooms that have trademark features or have important parts in them especially. The reason being is that it is easier to make parts then connect them. Also, when time is short, or you're getting bored of it, you have the more important and impressive parts done already. Its easy to rush hallways and still make them look nice. Also, if you're main parts are heavy, you can make a curvey hall to elude the vis to help with the r_speeds, rather than some expensive alternative.
It also works with modding as well. Make the maps with really important events, then connect them. By the time you start mapping, you should have a good idea of what they are anyway.
I got this tip from a game dev book available at my workplace. I never sat down and read through it until recently. Not all of it is very useful, so I didn't buy it.
Work on the parts that you want to make more interesting than the rest of the map. Rooms that have trademark features or have important parts in them especially. The reason being is that it is easier to make parts then connect them. Also, when time is short, or you're getting bored of it, you have the more important and impressive parts done already. Its easy to rush hallways and still make them look nice. Also, if you're main parts are heavy, you can make a curvey hall to elude the vis to help with the r_speeds, rather than some expensive alternative.
It also works with modding as well. Make the maps with really important events, then connect them. By the time you start mapping, you should have a good idea of what they are anyway.
I got this tip from a game dev book available at my workplace. I never sat down and read through it until recently. Not all of it is very useful, so I didn't buy it.
Posted 16 years ago2007-12-06 08:56:55 UTC
Post #240026
More than a mapping tip, this would be a tip for modders:
When thinking of a story for a mod, consider the resources you have (original game content) and try to make your story be possible to tell with just that. From that moment, you can start adding your custom materials, voice acting, and if you have the right people, new models. I think people tend to do the contrary>> Thinking of a story about something very different to the HL universe and then facing the fact that they're incapable of creating even 20% of the custom content required.
Base your work on your own skills and readily available resources, and it'll be easier to add from there. Don't make the core of your idea be born in something you're not even sure is possible to do.
I guess that would apply to maps sometimes.
Edit: What I really mean is that very few people could take the hard route and succeed (I hope Rimrook does). Minerva for example is based on default content, which is sometimes combined (pun intented) in new ways to make the best of it.
When thinking of a story for a mod, consider the resources you have (original game content) and try to make your story be possible to tell with just that. From that moment, you can start adding your custom materials, voice acting, and if you have the right people, new models. I think people tend to do the contrary>> Thinking of a story about something very different to the HL universe and then facing the fact that they're incapable of creating even 20% of the custom content required.
Base your work on your own skills and readily available resources, and it'll be easier to add from there. Don't make the core of your idea be born in something you're not even sure is possible to do.
I guess that would apply to maps sometimes.
Edit: What I really mean is that very few people could take the hard route and succeed (I hope Rimrook does). Minerva for example is based on default content, which is sometimes combined (pun intented) in new ways to make the best of it.
Posted 16 years ago2007-12-06 09:28:23 UTC
Post #240028
Thinking at kasperg's post ....that's correct.
But here's another one : if you just get bored and have nothing to do and like mapping , just start with a box and then add more and more things . Thats a good way because when you have a base , you can figure out how/what to do next .
But here's another one : if you just get bored and have nothing to do and like mapping , just start with a box and then add more and more things . Thats a good way because when you have a base , you can figure out how/what to do next .
Posted 16 years ago2007-12-06 19:29:17 UTC
Post #240081
just start with a box and then add more and more thingsIt's already been a while since I decided to drop the style of mapping of joining boxes together with hallways. It's what the engine really asks us for, but everyone knows it's not that interesting and hardly realistic. I'm going with a procedure of layers in my latest WIP, meaning a series of different elements (a mesh of pillars, a series of platforms, some big sets of stairs etc) overlap each other and create interesting spatial relationships between them as well as creating a nice game of shadows and light.
If an area is perfectly understandable once you're in it (for example: now I'm in a rectangular and evenly lit hangar room) and doesn't offer enough variation inside its own elements, it becomes uninteresting to look at it, let alone to play in it. Valve solves this problem partially by giving the whole HL2 world a theme of destruction and makeshift construction. The objective is always the same. Keep the player's eyes busy.
Posted 16 years ago2007-12-07 00:32:49 UTC
Post #240107
Kasperg, the thought process behind your mapping is phenomenal, its like you map on some higher plane of existence 
I wish i could do the same kind of thinking with my mapping, i guess it would come with experience
Therefore, my only tip for mapping, would be to plan what you are going to do, make sure everything has a purpose. Of course, this only applies to realism maps, which is my style.
I wish i could do the same kind of thinking with my mapping, i guess it would come with experience
just start with a box and then add more and more thingsi prefer to plan out, draw, and think about what i want to do before i map it. I mapped from boxes when i first started, and the maps were terrible, end result.... boring rectangular rooms, buildings turning out to be huge squares...need i go on?
Therefore, my only tip for mapping, would be to plan what you are going to do, make sure everything has a purpose. Of course, this only applies to realism maps, which is my style.
Posted 16 years ago2007-12-07 09:10:02 UTC
Post #240114
Detail works in different scales, and that's probably the most important thing about mapping, which can make a map fail even if it's apparently well crafted.
Detail doesn't mean every window in a building has to be carved in a bit to look three-dimensional, or that every spotlight needs 3 cables going to it. The setup and positions of things, as well as how they're lit, is much more important than how many things are actually there. And that also helps performance! It's not a question of how many brushes make up your pillars, it's about what exists between them once everything is compiled.
Detail doesn't mean every window in a building has to be carved in a bit to look three-dimensional, or that every spotlight needs 3 cables going to it. The setup and positions of things, as well as how they're lit, is much more important than how many things are actually there. And that also helps performance! It's not a question of how many brushes make up your pillars, it's about what exists between them once everything is compiled.
Posted 16 years ago2007-12-14 19:18:53 UTC
Post #240945
Posted 16 years ago2007-12-14 19:42:33 UTC
Post #240951
Wins.
You can do that with arches and it works the same.
You can do that with arches and it works the same.
Posted 16 years ago2007-12-14 19:45:00 UTC
Post #240954
I'm afraid of the arch tool. No clue why. But that's good to know i'll have to try it out.
Posted 16 years ago2007-12-16 03:56:50 UTC
Post #241150
I use the arch tool all the time. In a lot of ways it can simply replace the cylinder. It gives you more control over what goes into it, like just shifting a single part up and copying it down again to make window.
It also solves the problem of hollowing cylinders. With a bit of work (and the arch tool), you can get one without useing a cylinder at all. :rly:
It also solves the problem of hollowing cylinders. With a bit of work (and the arch tool), you can get one without useing a cylinder at all. :rly:
Posted 16 years ago2007-12-16 04:08:38 UTC
Post #241152
It's a bad idea to make little details like pipes (where you don't see the interior) out of arches, though. It creates way more brushes than is necessary for such a thing. It also solves some clipping problems with curves if the curve is one whole brush instead of multiple ones.
Posted 16 years ago2007-12-16 04:51:21 UTC
Post #241166
well, yeah... I did say "in a lot of ways", and by that I meant "in a lot of situations". Come to think of it, a haven't made a pipe for ages. I could use one in a map im making now.
Arches are especially useful for spiral staircases, and not just for the stairs themselves.
Arches are especially useful for spiral staircases, and not just for the stairs themselves.
Posted 16 years ago2008-01-04 23:12:44 UTC
Post #242619
So I'm thinking some people should be appointed to get the best tips from this thread and make a downloadable .pdf of the content.
A package for people starting mapping, and people who want to improve their mapping.
A package for people starting mapping, and people who want to improve their mapping.
Posted 16 years ago2008-01-05 00:19:50 UTC
Post #242625
you just volunteered. go.
Posted 16 years ago2008-01-13 03:55:03 UTC
Post #243331
Bigger minds think bigger and better!!!this is my first tip, the first of many. iIt is ok to do anything yes anything like using vertex manipulation. in vertex manipulation its fine to create invalid brushes in the editord not forget that you clip the invalid face. its also fine to hollow out and carve brushes as long as you ungroup all!!! the brushes that are automatically grouped because the compile programs might think that the grouped brushes is a single brush therefore treating it as an invalid brush.
thats all!!! Hope you like it
Posted 16 years ago2008-01-13 04:37:35 UTC
Post #243333
no. It's wrong.
Posted 16 years ago2008-01-13 04:55:19 UTC
Post #243334
Errr, your quite wrong there bud.
When you group stuff together, it is local to the editor only. Invalid brushes are caused by a face from a particular brush not being flat.
And, always remember, quality over quantity, bigger minds don't build more open maps, with long levels and things, if thats what you mean.
Also, I recommend you re read your posts before you post em, quite a few spelling errors, the internet is not going to run away.
From a personal stand point, you seem new to forums or are young. You seem to be having a rough beginning, people might be giving you shit over the next few months or year or whatever, listen to what they say but don't take it personally. Half of us start out fine, and the other half will get flamed and yelled at and spoken about negatively, I started out like you, exactly like you. But no matter how we start, we all grow to achieve greatness in the end. If you have any problems, send a pm my way.
Nice avatar btw, you got good gaming taste
When you group stuff together, it is local to the editor only. Invalid brushes are caused by a face from a particular brush not being flat.
And, always remember, quality over quantity, bigger minds don't build more open maps, with long levels and things, if thats what you mean.
Also, I recommend you re read your posts before you post em, quite a few spelling errors, the internet is not going to run away.
From a personal stand point, you seem new to forums or are young. You seem to be having a rough beginning, people might be giving you shit over the next few months or year or whatever, listen to what they say but don't take it personally. Half of us start out fine, and the other half will get flamed and yelled at and spoken about negatively, I started out like you, exactly like you. But no matter how we start, we all grow to achieve greatness in the end. If you have any problems, send a pm my way.
Nice avatar btw, you got good gaming taste
Posted 16 years ago2008-01-14 01:49:58 UTC
Post #243376
Yeah, it's like that. I mapped for five years before coming to TWHL and I still copped crap. And as mentioned before the arch tool is an excellent tool for curved architecture, and creates a more stable environment than carving with a cylinder. Another thing is that the cylinder vertex points are often not alight with the grid but Arch vertexes always are AND after creating an arch you can use vertex manipulation tool to square out the sides creating a perfect square only using the arch brushes. REMEMBER though! Always create a full 360 degree arch and delete the pieces afterwards as the end result will always be perfect. Create a 180 degree arch and sides can often become scaled wrong in the middle and will be the wrong shape and size.
Just trying to help!
I also like Kasberg's maps. I tend to study them and learn different techniques to create good maps. Unfortunately, my downfall is that I get carried away and the R_speeds get out of hand. Like in my Anti Reality map
Just trying to help!
I also like Kasberg's maps. I tend to study them and learn different techniques to create good maps. Unfortunately, my downfall is that I get carried away and the R_speeds get out of hand. Like in my Anti Reality map
Posted 16 years ago2008-01-14 03:36:03 UTC
Post #243378
Man, I haven't used the arching tool for so long I forgot it existed. Nice tip.
Posted 16 years ago2008-01-14 04:01:32 UTC
Post #243382
But aaron, you still haven't achieved greatness, so WTF? 
Posted 16 years ago2008-01-14 05:43:15 UTC
Post #243388
KasPerg..
i see that mistake far too often.
i see that mistake far too often.
Posted 16 years ago2008-01-14 09:23:59 UTC
Post #243396
Maybe because "p" is an unvoiced consonant and its voiced pair is "b"...
Posted 16 years ago2008-01-14 20:57:59 UTC
Post #243443
But aaron, you still haven't achieved greatness, so WTF?Nuh, not yet my friend, its a work in progress.
Posted 16 years ago2008-01-16 18:54:59 UTC
Post #243545
ok... i can clearly see that Kasperg is here... i want you to answer why someone has said this to me, Kasperg.
"who do you think you are? kasperg's son?"
"who do you think you are? kasperg's son?"
Posted 16 years ago2008-01-16 19:13:22 UTC
Post #243548
I loled
Posted 16 years ago2008-01-19 21:29:19 UTC
Post #243853
Topic: Leaks
i know you all have leaks in your map. and really want to know where to find it and to fix it. well this is my advice.
1. you can find it in-game. when you compile it an extra file will appear. it is mapname.pts. its a pointfile. so you need it to test it in game on SP.
bring out the console and type "pointfile" without the quotes then there will be a series of points somwhere around your map then it will lead to the leak!
2.you can prevent to make a leak by putting sky brushes around your map.
i know you all have leaks in your map. and really want to know where to find it and to fix it. well this is my advice.
1. you can find it in-game. when you compile it an extra file will appear. it is mapname.pts. its a pointfile. so you need it to test it in game on SP.
bring out the console and type "pointfile" without the quotes then there will be a series of points somwhere around your map then it will lead to the leak!
2.you can prevent to make a leak by putting sky brushes around your map.
Posted 16 years ago2008-01-20 00:26:21 UTC
Post #243867
Topic: LeaksOk. Thanks for the info.
i know you all have leaks in your map. and really want to know where to find it and to fix it. well this is my advice.
1. you can find it in-game. when you compile it an extra file will appear. it is mapname.pts. its a pointfile. so you need it to test it in game on SP.
bring out the console and type "pointfile" without the quotes then there will be a series of points somwhere around your map then it will lead to the leak!
2.you can prevent to make a leak by putting sky brushes around your map. sarcastic -
Posted 16 years ago2008-01-20 09:52:38 UTC
Post #243886
2.you can prevent to make a leak by putting sky brushes around your map.Of all the things in the list of things not to do in your map, this rivals deleting the .rmf for 1st place.
Seriously. Don't do that.
You must be logged in to post a response.