Dimensions in Source Created 12 years ago2012-04-07 06:43:39 UTC by TheJulius

Hi there. Im kinda new to mapping, but im not here about the actual dimensions. See, I already read the page at VALVe's developer community.

My actual question is:
Which sizes do you use, or find the best for walls. i am asking because i think 16 units is way to much but 8 units seems like nothing at all.

Especially in relation to doors and windows; The prop_door_rotating is approx 2 units wide. so would you say that the surrounding frame would be like 4 or 6 units thick
I hope you wont mind the possibly misleading title.

Many thanks!

Personally, I use 8 unit walls. The doors are 2 units so I make a 4 unit jam(trim) around them and it gives it a nice look. Plus if you take a look at the window prop_static models, they fit perfectly into 8-unit walls.

Ultimately though it comes down to the situation and material Choice. Concrete walls or cinder
Block walls would most likely be 16 unit thick exterior walls while wood or plaster would be the thinner, interior, 8-unit walls.

For map cleanliness, stick with the base 2 grid. 2,4,8,16,32 etc.
A 6-unit wall would look quite odd in the grid.

It's hard to lock down unit sizes for objects and structures will fit all situations, and i'll scale something weirdly if it accomplishes some goal for the scene or map, BUT:

-exterior walls 16-12 units and and interior ones 8-10 units
-steps with a rise/run of 10-12
-endtable tops and chair seats: 20-25 units
-deskstops height, 30-35
-chair tops(dining room) 40 - 50 units
-wall heights: 128
-outdoor stockade fence 60-80 units

Door frame sizes and window sill heights are different in every one of my maps, sometimes varying from room to room, depending on how you want the scene to look and what the player can see.

Hope this helps, i'm actually pretty interested to see what other people post as their standards

I see. Thanks for the quick and splendid reply!

also: i keep reading and hearing that a window brush should be 1 unit. But if it should be necessary to keep using the base 2 grid, id have to make the windows 2 units thick.

I do however stick entirely to the base grid system, which works great together with the dev_textures.

Again, thanks

It's not necessary to use the base 2 grid, it's just recommended for cleanliness in the wireframe views. Turn it down for the windo and then turn it back up when you're done. I actually always map with the editor set to base 1, and I usually make my walls 6 units, but that's probably just me.

That's gotta be incredibly tedious, using the 1 unit grid.

I don't find it tedious, honestly. That's just the way I've always mapped in hammer.

I have to agree with JeffMOD on this one; its actually quite easy to use 1 unit grid when doing precision brushwork. And you don't have top change the grid size all the time.

Thanks for the advice on windows, JeffMOD.

1 Hammer unit is approximately 1 inch, which is a good rule of thumb for Americans.

Using this knowledge, and compare to the structural dimensions in the real world gives you a good frame of reference.

Walls in the real world come in all sizes, so there is no "standard" wall.

Map Grid | Imperial | Metric

1  =   0.75"   =   0.01905
2  =   1.5"    =   0.04
4  =   3"      =   0.08
8  =   6"      =   0.15

16  =   1'      =   0.3
32  =   2'      =   0.6
64  =   4'      =   1.2

128 = 8' = 2.4
(160 = 10' = 3.0)
256 = 16' = 4.9
512 = 32' = 9.8

Additional info and source:
https://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/Dimensions