I need to know the sins of mapping.

[ASmellyOgre]

Please, list everything you can think of that I should not do, things to increase performance, and whether or not it is a good idea to have three different complex multi-stop elevators in one map. Also, I will request the following:
> How do I make one area significantly darker than the rest of the map (unlit caves)?
> What do you look for in a build map?
> I really need to eliminate lag without sacrificing quality. Have any tips?

[HiddenMyst]

Just don't ad lights in the caves.
Nothing.
Optimise.

[ASmellyOgre]

Thanks, that was really helpful. :downs:

[Daveh]

Make sure you have an Light_env or something other than fullbright to have the caves dark.

[ASmellyOgre]

By the way, I really mean it. What do first-time mappers do that I can avoid? What does not work well? What have you had problems with in the past?

[Daveh]

Avoid Fullbright, Boxiness, Carving, repeating, and many more things that I'm too lazy to think of.

[Case-Sensitive]

Don't carve. Fucking ninja

[HiddenMyst]

Don't make the map fullbright, don't leave the map unoptimised, don't carve, don't release your first map, don't decompile, don't just release a rehash of gm_construct.

[brotonamous]

- Don't overlap brushes
- Don't carve
- Always optimize
- Always add lights
- Don't make a fullbright map(s)

[Zambies!]

Have fun no carving no full bright.

[ASmellyOgre]

Is it okay to carve to get rid of a small corner of a brush that has no purpose but overlaps another brush (I'm saying the corner of the brush has no purpose, not the brush itself)?

[Case-Sensitive]

[QUOTE=ASmellyOgre;17560963]Is it okay to carve to get rid of a small corner of a brush that has no purpose but overlaps another brush (I'm saying the corner of the brush has no purpose, not the brush itself)?[/QUOTE]

Use the clipping tool

[b00ce]

[b]Things I can think of:[/b]
[list][*]Don't carve (we can't stress this enough)
[*]Do not NOT make lights
[*]Do not make blocky brushes.
[*]Do NOT, repeat, [i]NOT[/i] make a concave brush, it will not work.
[*]Leaks are bad
[*]Construct clones are boring, don't make them
[*]Don't release your first map. In all honesty we don't care if it is, we only care that it's good. Save yourself embarrassment. :wink:
[/list]

[b]Tips for optimization:[/b]
[list][*]Func_detail is a god send. It's strength is its weakness though. What you gain in compile time may kill you in game. (IE. you make a wall inside a building facing outside Func_detail.) Long story short use Func_details for detail brushwork, nothing more.
[*]Use hint brushes in doorways and windows. It makes visual calculations better. Check a tutorial to see how to use them, it can be complicated sometimes.
[*]Put a "NoDraw" texture on all of the brush faces you won't ever see. (IE. the underside of a street brush.)
[/list]

[HiddenMyst]

[QUOTE=b00ce;17561114][list][*]Put a "NoDraw" texture on all of the brush faces you won't ever see. (IE. the underside of a street brush.)
[/list][/QUOTE]

The underside of a street is almost always going to be in the void or flat against another face, so nodrawing it is pointless.

[b00ce]

Perhaps, but it's a good habit to get into.

[DanielPinoy]

i liked the way that you ask first before releasing your maps :D good luck

[sltungle]

For the love of Buddha, Jehovah, Allah, Zeus, Thor, and Satan don't try to carve a fucking sphere into anything!... Ever!

[editline]05:27PM[/editline]

Oh, and use nodraw as your DEFAULT texture. It's much harder to go back later on and try to find every hidden face to nodraw it. It's much easier to find every VISIBLE face and texture that.

[Lord Ned]

But you don't NEED TO NODRAW EVERY HIDDEN FACE. VBSP MERGES THE FACES AND THOSE DISAPPEAR.

[MaxOfS2D]

Always compile at max quality for your final release

[sltungle]

[QUOTE=Lord Ned;17563174]But you don't NEED TO NODRAW EVERY HIDDEN FACE. VBSP MERGES THE FACES AND THOSE DISAPPEAR.[/QUOTE]

So then why bother having nodraw?

[OvB]

[QUOTE=sltungle;17563185]So then why bother having nodraw?[/QUOTE]

For surfaces not necessarily hidden by another brush, but still will never be seen by the player like roofs of buildings in maps where noclip is not intended.

[sltungle]

[QUOTE=OvB;17563230]For surfaces not necessarily hidden by another brush, but still will never be seen by the player like roofs of buildings in maps where noclip is not intended.[/QUOTE]

Oh, well... I don't know how that's not come up in the course of the past two or so years that I've been mapping.

That's the first time that's ever been mentioned to me. Thanks, I guess.

[fippe]

[QUOTE=sltungle;17563185]So then why bother having nodraw?[/QUOTE]
[img]http://img198.imageshack.us/img198/1346/whynoclip.png[/img]
Let's say that you are making an underground map with tunnel leaving to the surface. However, you don't want the player use it and you have blocked it with debris, fence, or whatever.

In the image, the blue area is playable area. Green area is maximum the player could see. So, you would make the RED walls nodrawed to prevent your map from leaking and to optimize. You got it?

Anyway, interlopers has pretty good tutorials - I suggest on reading lighing and optimization first, as they are important aspects of the gameplay AND atmosphere on the map.
[url]http://www.interlopers.net/tutorials[/url] - General tutorials.
[url]http://www.interlopers.net/tutorials/17779[/url] - The lighting tutorial. I suggest on reading this and then finding the optimization tuto.

EDIT: Damn, ninjaed.

[TheDecryptor]

[QUOTE=sltungle;17563110]For the love of Buddha, Jehovah, Allah, Zeus, Thor, and Satan don't try to carve a fucking sphere into anything!... Ever!
...[/QUOTE]
Ehh, it worked ok for me.

[img]http://localhostr.com/files/9c1334/Hammer%20-%20Carved%20Sphere.png[/img]

[sltungle]

[QUOTE=TheDecryptor;17563411]Ehh, it worked ok for me.

[img]http://localhostr.com/files/9c1334/Hammer%20-%20Carved%20Sphere.png[/img][/QUOTE]

May the Flying Spaghetti Monster have mercy on us all...

[IronPhoenix]

[QUOTE=sltungle;17563110]For the love of Buddha, Jehovah, Allah, Zeus, Thor, and Satan don't try to carve a fucking sphere into anything!... Ever!

[editline]05:27PM[/editline]

Oh, and use nodraw as your DEFAULT texture. It's much harder to go back later on and try to find every hidden face to nodraw it. It's much easier to find every VISIBLE face and texture that.[/QUOTE]

I use dev textures, then just do a replace at the end. That way it hits all the faces which i haven't textured.

[Zanibar]

[QUOTE=IronPhoenix;17563836]I use dev textures, then just do a replace at the end. That way it hits all the faces which i haven't textured.[/QUOTE]

Oh, that's actually a very interesting idea, never thought of that. Might have to do that myself.

[Case-Sensitive]

[QUOTE=Max of S2D;17563181]Always compile at max quality for your final release[/QUOTE]

Also if your only doing simple tests like seeing if a func_door_rotation works just put the settings on fast since you don't need any high quality for the moment and its faster so you cna get more done.

[bsp-reviews]

Never try to make "models" (like detailed seats) from brushes (tried it once, copied and pasted 6 seats, then ran out of brushes :S) get a modeller to do it for you, or download an existing model.

[arienh4]

[QUOTE=bsp-reviews;17582901]Never try to make "models" (like detailed seats) from brushes (tried it once, copied and pasted 6 seats, then ran out of brushes :S) get a modeller to do it for you, or download an existing model.[/QUOTE]
Use Google Sketchup if you've L4D, you can directly import Sketchup models into Hammer, all you've to do then is texture it.