Cube_Figure Eight

[Cheesy89]

Thanks for helping me shimmybot, l3eeron and Mad-Hammer.

[shimmybot]

no problem

[Cheesy89]

You missed a question . Will it run better if I just leave the DX levels at default? Will the performance improve even more if I decrease the maximum DX level?

[shimmybot]

TBH, i dunno


I've always just left the dx levels alone

[Cheesy89]

I have one more question. Is it ok to put func_detail on the whole map or will it make the map look or run weird?

[Mad-Hammer]

[quote="Helios 36";p="117601"][quote="shimmybot";p="117582"][quote="l3eeron";p="117579"]
Cool lookin stuff there...

Cube maps are fun to make

I must warn you though, all that round geometry is going to spell disaster when you go to actually play the map. There are some tricks to keep the FPS playable while using lots of round stuff, but its not for beginners. Keep in mind the game likes straight lines. They're easy to render.

As far as lighting....

place a "light" where ever you think it needs it. And use a skybox/name along with a light_environment to light the map:

here's all the sky names and light_env settings.

http://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/Sky_list

Hope that helps!
[/quote]

This [/quote]
Admit it this look's cool. Can you overdo using func_detail?[/quote]

Yes, something they don't tell you is, you can go over limit on func_detail. You'll get this little error message in the compile log saying too many T-junctions to fix up. Then......your map won't compile and you will cuss for hours...well, at least I did.

If you ever have a chance, study closely how Valve mappers do it. They have all kinds of ways to squeeze more stuff into a map without killing performance.

Never tie an entity to a displacement. Your map won't compile. Your map isn't that complex, it's just the round geometry really screws with the Source engine. Another trick to optimizing your map would be to put hint and skips around the spheres.

Trust me, you could spend hours trying to get the best frame rates. Eventually though, sometimes it comes down to overall map size versus good frames.

[Cheesy89]

What do hint's and skip's do exactly?

[shimmybot]

[quote="Helios 36";p="117648"]
What do hint's and skip's do exactly?
[/quote]


heh, this is the advice l3 gave me when I first started "Dont worry about that stuff"


But if you wanna learn, here's a great guide that tought me that stuff. You'll also learn a thing or two about how source games run in the background http://www.student.ru.nl/rvanhoorn/opti ... fcfb772b5b

[Cheesy89]

I get this error when I taunt in the map

Performance warning: Merge with 'weapons\v_models\v_pistol_scout.mdl'. Mark bone
and it only does this on certain taunts/classes and only after you shoot??? There's probably about 20 more that pretty much say the same thing but are from different parts of the model.

[l3eeron]

leave the dx levels what ever they are default.

[Cheesy89]

They are all at default. I didn't change any of those. I have a couple saves of the same map at different stages. I will see when I got this problem.

[shimmybot]

thats weird o.O

[Cheesy89]

Ok it seems I had this problem at the very beginning .

[Cheesy89]

Since my first map was a failure on my second one I am going to actually plan ahead and plan the layout of the map instead of thinking of stuff to add along the way.

[Mad-Hammer]

Hints And Skips- Nobody.......not even Valve knows exactly what hints and skips do..........I'm kidding, I think Valve knows what they do...........

From my understanding, hints and skips clean up the vis lines which are related to geometry and how the Source engine draws what we see. If we make a cylinder with 16 faces on it, and put it in the middle of a room, the engine will draw 16 vis lines. If we put a hint and skip brushes around the cylinder, it only draws 4 vis lines. It disrerards all the enclosed faces.

Hints and skips come in handy if you're using lots of displacements and have rough terrain. All those bumps and valleys create vis lines, creating more load for the engine. By putting hints and skips in, we clean up what the source engine sees and draws.

Now, with all this beautiful optimization and semi enjoyable frame rates comes some bad news. Hints and Skips, for whatever reason will cause your .bsp to pack on the pounds. Not a problem if you have a map with 20mb of size as it probably won't add another 1 or 2 mb of data.

If, on the other hand, your a goober like me, who never made a map under 40 mb, you'll see data increases upwards of 20 mb. Lots of displacements means lots of data to deal with. Your 40 mb map is now a chubby 60 mb map. Lots of irregular geometry......it's a vis lines killer.

Somewhere along the line, you have to decide what makes you happy as a mapper. Are you happy with your map pulling in 50 frames or 100 frames.