r_speeds Created 20 years ago2004-07-02 03:22:50 UTC by hefsys

U people might find this funny:

Before I compiled one of my maps that lagged so badly the fps was 0 & the wpoly count was about 2500. Now when I add 6 monster_grunt_repel's to it the monsters don't even appear in the map even though I have clearly placed them in the map.

PS: If anyone wants to have a go @ reducing the lag in my map, go ahead. It's waiting for u in the map vault unfinished section.

The map is just too massive, too large. I'd say you'd better start with smaller maps. You can then expand later once you get some more experience.

But I do have some tips and info for you:

1. Faces get split up each 240 pixels. Stretching the textures on large flat surfaces would therefor help somewhat but it also reduces detail. Mind that stretching beyond factor 10 and below factor 0.1 can give problems. Generally I prefer a 1:1 scale as it looks quite natural, stretched textures tend to look not so good.

2. Don't surround your map with a box. Usually beginning mappers use the 'skybox' method, e.g. surrounding their map with a box that is textured with the 'sky' texture (used to let the sky be visible there). This method has several disadvantages (extra faces get compiled thus longer RAD time, extra leafs have to be made thus longer VIS time, often performance lowers because of these extra faces too). Instead, seal of the level with skybrushes as if they were walls and ceilings.

Yeah I actually fixed both those things before u posted those two pointers I just didn't see the point in making a proper sky at that point in time because I hadn't finished the map. I scaled the cracks to normal size as well but thanks for your input. The r_speeds are still shite but they have improved, by the way, do you think you could get it to not lag? As in, get fps to about 40, wpoly to about 1000, & epoly to 0?

Do you think hint brushes or func_walls could help the r_speeds for this map?

Hint brushes wouldn't help anything here. The VIS process is more suited for indoor area's, it divides the level into so-called leafs (3D blocks of space) and then determines what leaf has a line of sight to what other leafs, and stores this information in a table. This table is accessed by the engine so it knows what it has to render and what not.

Good article about vis and hint-brushes:
http://www.gamedesign.net/book/view/266

You see, HL is more suited for indoor levels. Outdoor levels have to be made with caution. It's possible but requires quite a bit of understanding of the engine and the compile processes.

Was it true (or do you think it was true) that the grunts in my map didn't appear because of the lag?

Unrelated: why do so many people use the hl engine?

You used monster_grunt_repel. These have to get triggered first. After triggering, they appear, sliding down a rope untill they hit the ground, after wich they become a normal monster_human_grunt. You'd better use these instead of the repelling grunts... if you want them to start on the ground...

for mapping that is.

HL is a popular game, CS is a popular mod... so you have a great public for your maps.

Another thing is that it's so easy to mod for. Good support, tools accessible for free...

That's why I think so many people still map for HL.

It is easy enough for beginners to Mapping/Modding to do their stuff in the Half-Life engine. Try doing it with Unreal...the editor takes hours upon hours of training and practice to be able to use efficiently, and has so much complexity, entities, and data that takes a full knowledge of the engine and editor to begin producing even simple rooms. Half-Life's editing engine makes it so that beginners can produce good maps while providing advanced options to experienced mappers. And as it was the game that defined the FPS genre and won so many GOTY awards, it's no wonder it has a huge and supportive community.

That's why they're building Half-Life 2 to be similar to the original. The new version of Hammer will basically be the same as the current.

I can't wait