Hint Brush Help Created 20 years ago2004-07-27 17:12:12 UTC by Enigma

Hi, I've been making my first Half-Life map and want to keep my r_speeds under 1200 (wpoly). I've read some hint brush tuts, but dont seem to have the hang of it. I was wondering if someone who is good with hint brushes could take a look at my map and make some suggestions.

There are 2 spots where the r_speeds go a little above my 1200 mark, and when I use gl_wireframe 2, I see some stuff that I don't think should be rendered. I tried using hint brushes, but like I said I dont have the hang of it.

I would post the map in the vault, but I dont want anyone to see it until its done . I was hoping someone who is good with hint brushes would volunteer to have a look and I could give just you the map.

Here are a couple screens:Thank you,
Enigma

a thought. are those radiactive canisters func walls? cos that could be splitting faces up real bad.

Wow, that looks excellent for a first map!

Try running VIS with the argument -full. You'll need to either batch-compile, use a compile GUI (recommended) [here], or use Hammer's compile frontend on "Expert".

I'll have a look at the map if you e-mail it to seventhmonkey0@icqmail.com.

Hint brushes are no magical r_speed reducers, they are helpfull in only a few situations. First, you need to know how the vis process actually works, only then you can take advantage of hint brushes.

I strongly advise reading this article, it explains it all very well:
http://www.gamedesign.net/book/view/266

As for your map, looks good, shows talent and effort. As for other r_speed reducing methods, I suggest looking through the map in wireframe mode and reducing the face splitting by making small objects that touch other faces (and split them up then) func_walls. This also makes your vis process a bit faster, details and small objects are best made entities. But that's covered in that article... Good luck!

try the null brush fromw the zeno.wad. It may help.

Hey thanks a lot 7th. I sent you the map. Thanks everyone else for the comments and suggestions too.

Enigma

Captain P, I read the article. Can a hint brush be used horizontaly or do the nodes automaticaly go from the ground to the sky when outside?

Enigma

Hint brushes can be used on almost any plane, but Horizontal and vertical produce the best results.
Have you read:Pyramid Hints by NinjaGrinch ?

Apologies for the tardiness, it was sent to my Spam folder (Hotmail :)) and I can't get it right now because my e-mail servers' web interface is broken.

Gottit and played it. Really nicely done, the way it all links up, but I can't honestly see that hint brushes would help that much. They're best for big open spaces, not rooms (as far as I know). Maybe someone else'll think differently.

Thank you Seventh, Captain, Andy, and everyone else. After looking at the links and messing around with some hint brushes I managed to get the r_speeds to drop around 100. Then after more experimenting, they went back up some. I think with some more experimenting I might be able to get them down where I need them. They werent that high over my limit to begin with.

Thanks again Seventh for taking a look at it. I appreciate it.
Enigma

No problem. Sorry I couldn't be of more help on this one.

LOL...
Sorry, but all the work I have done with Hints normally end's exactly the same way you mentioned...
The Speeds go up!
To understand this a little better, you also have to understand that the initial bsp split of the map is different every time you compile. Normally it is only slightly, but it can throw all the good work out the window.

I haven't seen the map, but did you give Horizontal Hints a really good try?.
Best way to use them is to think of a ceiling. Can the player see above a certain height, if not then Horizontal hint that plane. It can save the poly count, but it can also raise it.

The work looks good.
If you manage 1000 wpoly in a few non/ minimal combat areas, I think you will be ok... My machine would have a heart attack, but thankfully not everyone is as technologically challenged as me