Few questions Created 14 years ago2010-10-28 09:15:34 UTC by Stojke

Instead of making a lot of threads ill just ask here.

1. Can hint texture go trough an entity thats on the middle of the hallway corner? Example:

http://img43.imageshack.us/img43/7971/hintq.png

Green - how i put it
purple - can i put it like this?

And what do you recomend.

2. A little hint when placing models, what are the common errors / problems and stuff, and how do i import models into hammer (i want to place custom models on my map)

3. Whats the most optimal compile settings, using Nems BC, when doing a final compile?

4. Why cant a block with CLIP texture be used as an entity?

5. When making an animated texture whats the number limit? And can i set the speed of the animation? And if you can point me to an tutorial about this.

Thanks. Sorry if im boring with all the questions ^^

1. On that note, I have always done my HINT brushes (1 HINT face, all other faces are SKIP) like this:Is that correct? I mean it works but is there a better method?

To answer question five, I believe the number limit is ten. As far as I know, you can't set the speed )I think the default is one frame every 0.1 seconds, not too sure though). And you don't need a tutorial, just make sure the textures for each frame are all the same size, and all have the same name with +# added at the start, with # being the frame number.
So the first frame would be +0texturename, the second would be +1texturename, the third is +2texturename, and so on.

@ Moaby, well i wanted to do it like that, thats why i asked can hint go trough an entity, thanks

@TJB

Oh i see, well i thought it was something like that my self, thanks! That answers one question.

-nodesize 64 or 128 with full vis compile. Let the map optimize itself.

What do you mean by "Let the map optimize itself." ?

What about FULL rad and stuff?

no such thing as full rad. just -extra.

Let me break it down. A vis node is a section of your map that when you stand inside that section, whatever is seen from that position is drawn and what isn't is not drawn. by default, the size is 1024. So everything that can be seen from that 1024 cube will be drawn. This is why sometimes areas will be inexplicably drawn and r_speeds will skyrocket. Making the node size smaller will not draw anything further until you practically have to see it. Thus the map will optimize itself without the use of hint brushes.

Too good to be true? Yes and no. 10 years ago this would have cause a fraction of a second loading lag. Today, its nonexistent because our systems are much better. Originally that's why nodesizes were bigger to begin with. Also, it adds a little more to the filesize of the BSP. However, a slightly larger BSP for a perfectly optimized map is easy.

Hint brushes were originally design to be the catalyst half-way between large vis nodes and small vis nodes by allowing the mappers to cut them in half and angles that were beneficial, but hints also cut up the geometry of your map and can cause geometry errors and clipping issues if not used with consideration.

Yeah. Let the map optimize itself.

4. I'm not sure, but I think it's because the clip brushes simply remove the clipping where the brush is, rather than actually acting like a brush. Whether or not that's right, I hear you can't use it anyway (I've never tried). If all you need is an invisible brush entity, you could probably just use {invisible or another texture like it, and set Render Mode to Solid and FX Amount to 255.

Apologies if I'm telling you stuff you already know, I don't know how skilled you are with Hammer.

@ Rim

Ohh! I get it now, that makes it a lot easyer than. Thanks for explanation!

@ Darkie

Yeah i know about that, the thing is, is that a trap in my map is an invisible wall (wall toggle) that activates and deactivates as the terrorist pushes the button. There are 2 walls, and when he pushes the button one is active other isn't.

I wanted to use clip because its a perfect way of making the wall not detectable by either putting a LOGO on it (spray) or shotting in it to see is it there. I achieved the anti-logo part using NULL texture, but the player can still shoot at that place and find out on which side is the real wall.

Well i think i am quite skilled xD

I still haven't tried bevel, but i think that will just make the player fall trough it (i was thinking of putting bevel all over and null at the bottom side of the wall).
I don't know, ill experiment...

As for animating textures, there is no possible way to control the animation and they can usually only have 10 frames (ie, +0~texturename, +1~texturename, +2~texturename, ect)

They are not customizable and you cannot control them in any way. You can pretend to slow them down by using the same image in duplicate frames so that it uses the same image for longer than one frame, but then you use up twice as many frames doing this.

Yeah i figured that... Ah well, just have to deal with what i have, ive tested the texture i made and it works good, so it no control is needed.

You can always fake a longer animation with more than 10 frames using any framerate. However it requires some clever entity work.

Here's an example i've just put together using 3 frames:

1. Make the textures (the frames).

2. For each frame, create a func_wall_toggle brush and apply each texture to one of its faces. Then name them:

1st frame: fwt_frame1
2nd frame: fwt_frame2
3rd frame: fwt_frame3

3. The func_wall_toggle that has the first frame applied to it should start visible. The other frames should start invisible. You can do this on the Flags tab by checking the Start invisible checkbox

4. Place the following point entities:

1 multimanager
6 trigger_relay's

5. Open the multimanager property window. Name the multimanager:

mm_anim_cntrlr

6. With SmartEdit off, add the following keyvalues:

Key: tr_frame1_2
Value: 0

Key: tr_frame2_3
Value: 0.5

Key: tr_frame3_1
Value: 1

Key: mm_anim_cntrlr
Value: 1.5

The values here represent the actual framerate, in this case, 1 frame every half a second.

Finally, set the multithreaded flag.

7. Now for the trigger_relays. Here's an image to help you identify them:

1a
Name: tr_frame1_2
Target: fwt_frame1
Trigger State: Off

1b
Name: tr_frame1_2
Target: fwt_frame2
Trigger State: On

2a
Name: tr_frame2_3
Target: fwt_frame2
Trigger State: Off

2b
Name: tr_frame2_3
Target: fwt_frame3
Trigger State: On

3a
Name: tr_frame3_1
Target: fwt_frame3
Trigger State: Off

3b
Name: tr_frame3_1
Target: fwt_frame1
Trigger State: On

And thats all. All you need to do is trigger the multimanager.
Note that this example uses 3 frame. More frames equal more entities (more trigger_relays).

Ohh i see, that makes sense! Cool
Thanks a lot Atom dude! ^^

Can any one pls answer the model question, i would really like to experiment with models in maps...

If it's just a generic detail model, like a desk or something, then use monster_furniture. Otherwise, I wouldn't really know.

I have downloaded an archive with lots of models in it, like palm trees, tables, benches... Not an animated player model, just a normal passive model.

Monster_furniture works, as well as cycler entites. Depending on the model, the model is either solid or non-solid.

Ive tried with cycler_sprite and it works, needs adjusting, but its ok
Also its non solid so i had to add null. Also CS doesnt have monster_furniture

Thanks guys you helped me a lot!
I will credit ya all