Using Hint Brushes - Question

Garry's Mod mapping
#1

I was wondering, I’m having long compile times, and am planning on implementing hint brushes to break up the open areas,(correct me if I’m wrong, this is what I understand they’re for).

Now my question is, is it feasible to make the entire map brushwork into func_details( a heavily brushed map with a lot of intricate detail, perhaps rotated to lie off the grid) and then use hint brushes to block out the buildings and details, thus rendering the map in a optimized way? Would this increase or decrease performance?

#2

Turning everything into a func_detail? Sounds like a bad idea.

Try reading this, http://rvanhoorn.ruhosting.nl/optimization.php?chapter=hints

#3

My understanding is that func_detail won’t occlude anything behind it, so you’ll still be rendering the whole map at once.

#4

Well, I’d still be editing the visleaf setup, and making it more optimized by telling it exactly how to render the map, no?

The hint brushes I place would ensure that, this is assuming they work how I think they work.

#5

Func_details do not cut up visleafs.

vvis would just think the whole level can see its self, thus you would render the whole map.

#6

Sure, you can break up open areas with the hint brush, but the compiler’s still going to make leaves every 1024 units along that open area, so it doesn’t help. The only way I know of making fewer leaves in an open area is to use the hacked vbsp.

#7

Hint brushes do cut up visleafs, so the visleafs would be cut up according to where I put my hint brushes, so I could make the map render parts that are within view, and not render the whole map.

#8

Yeah but you are probably going to get unnecessary space left for vvis to think you can render and so your map size would be bigger.

Why don’t you try a test? one with your method and one normal method, make sure you use the same map.

#9

But my problem is my map is rendering too much at the same time, I’m haveing problems with compile times.

#10

It wouldn’t be optimised because no matter how many hint brushes you put in, the whole map will still be rendered at once because it’s made of func_detail entities.

#11

You’ve ignored several important things that have already been said in this map, so I’m going to repeat these people.

  1. VBsp makes default cuts every 1024 units in the X and Y planes, and there is nothing you can do about this without using the h4xxed compiler, so you’ll never have complete control over your visleafs.

  2. VVis will take one looooong look at your map, and decide that every visleaf can see every other visleaf. Because it can as far as the engine is concerned since func_details don’t block visibility as well as not making visleaf cuts, so your whole map will be rendered at once.

Just read that optimization tutorial already posted and do it properly.

#12

I think he means his map is over detailed, so instead of cutting up the visleafs too much he’s going to control it himself.

#13

While it would be nice to have a hacked VBSP compiler that only made cuts where they were defined by the mapper, it currently doesn’t exist.

#14

Word. Someone should go talk to the guy who made the hacked compilers and say “make a hacked compiler that makes one giant visleaf for the whole grid.” That way, hint brushes become the only way the compiler knows where to cut leaves. It’s gotta be like a two minute hack for him…

#15

:ohdear: brushes cut up visleafs, so pretty much just use bruhes and bam there you go. Is that so hard?