Methods to decrease File Size Created 17 years ago2007-01-20 16:19:17 UTC by Raa

Anyone have any proven methods of decreasing file size. There are no custom textures/wads included. I've pretty much done all of the brush simplifying/cleanup I can do. Wondering if there is anything else I could be doing.

thanks..

No, there's not really anything you can do to decrease the size of a BSP, short of making the map smaller. I'm wondering though, why do you even need to reduce the file size? They usually don't get above 1 to 3 MB for a normal sized map with no custom textures.

currently the map bsp is sitting around 4.5mb. In all honesty I'm on the verge of pushing the limit of geometry detail that CS.16 can handle. A lot of arches and alot of trimming. I will do some test to see what gives the biggest drop. Will post later.. maybe

Lightmaps take up quite some space. Increasing texture scales should lower the filesize somewhat because it lowers the size of the associated lightmaps. Nodrawing unseen faces will help a bit, too. Other than that, it's probably going to be cutting away brushes and stuff.

I don't think 4.5 MB is that much of a problem though, although I don't know how easily players are put off by such download sizes.

omgzipfile

Removing all the details, and using just one texture scaled to 10x10 should decrease the file size adequately. ;D

Captain P,
Thanks for your post. Doing that in not important places reduced the file size a little(which is good) thanks again.

penguin,
a zip file will work fine for downloading off a site. But not for HLDS's trickle down content delivery method. Personally I have fast downloads, so 4.5mb isn't a big deal. Just trying to think beyond my little needs for the sake of the maps future benefit.

Strider,
lol.. yeah that would be a wonderful map then eh? In all seriousness though with the amount of detail I have, I think I did a good job at keeping the performance and file size pretty good. I'm not about to erase all of that.

Heres some screenshots to show the kind of detail I'm talking about. Nothing special really, just enough to be detailed but not over the top.

My cards gamma is up a little though.. =P
http://img259.imageshack.us/img259/2395/ss25zn.jpg
http://img259.imageshack.us/img259/9991/ss32lb.jpg

(still working out the architecture in the back a little, cuz it's looking to random)
http://img405.imageshack.us/img405/2061/ss14na.jpg

Those arches have way too many faces, in my opinion. That's the kind of thing you see in Source, not Half-Life.

Good looking map though. It looks like you put a lot of work into it, but I still think those arches are overdoing it a bit.

You know what... I think you may be right... What do you think?

LEFT: old arch, RIGHT: new less faces Arch.
http://img209.imageshack.us/img209/6049/untitled4gw.jpg

Can you tell? LIke would it look dumb when you were playing?

It's not really that noticable a difference, and it can only do good for the performance. Stick with it.

EDIT: I just look at the earlier screens, and this map is looking goooood. Nice work.

Doesn't look bad at all, no. It's little hard to tell because one is farther away in that screenshot, but I would say it makes little or no difference, aesthetically.

I agree with srry: those arches don't need that much faces. CS is an older game these days anyway so you can get away with some lower detail - I mean, I would blame the engine for it, not the mapper.

Looks good, but the lighting is a bit monotone on the outside. I kinda like the architecture, looks very Greek palace-like. Keep it up.

kk, well thanks for pointing out the archs. I agree most fraggers will not notice. I replaced of them with lower faceted ones. knocked 20k off the map. and the texture scaling, 3k. down to 4.37mb. If anyone has any other suggestions, plz step up..

monotone lighting? you mean the textures or? any suggestion?