Is it normal for a half life map to take over 6 hours to compile? I left mine on over night, and it still didn't finish. Everything is fine. No errors (As far as i can tell).
Map help
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- #2
That could be normal... 
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- #4
How long did those maps do on fast? And i only see normal and no and fast, no full. And what do i do once im happy with lights and architechture? Is there possibly a program that can do it faster?
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- #6
Hammer
I suggest using the Nemesis Batch compiler, great little tool, very customizable. http://nemesis.thewavelength.net/index.php?p=2
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- #9
LOL 
shows how much i know. .bat files? can u save you maps as that in hammer? Or do you have to convert them? or...? i really have no clue. I didnt even know there was anything else.
shows how much i know. .bat files? can u save you maps as that in hammer? Or do you have to convert them? or...? i really have no clue. I didnt even know there was anything else.
Hammer automaticly exports the map to a .map format for it to then compile.
The advantages to batch files is the ability to easily use more advanced options to make the compile easier and/or possible in some cases.
Edana, for example, goes over the 4meg texture limit, as such, we had to add a special switch in order for it to compile.
The advantages to batch files is the ability to easily use more advanced options to make the compile easier and/or possible in some cases.
Edana, for example, goes over the 4meg texture limit, as such, we had to add a special switch in order for it to compile.
Maps do tend to take 'extreme' long compile times if you either have large numbers of brushes/faces which are visible. Try using either Nemesis Batch Compiler(works very lovely, although you need to set it up, which can take quit long if you don't know where every file is) or try using Zoner's Compile tools. He rewrote qrad/qbsp/qvis/qcsg and holds on option you really need to have. It comes with a wadfile in which a 'null' is. This tells the compiler that the face which has this texture won't be rendered ingame a won't be needing any radiosity. If you use this correctly(with other help like:"dont build your map in a huge box") could reduce compile times. Do note that compile even with all kinds of tips and tweaks could still exceed your 'omg it takes longer then six hours'. I made a couple of maps that went to 10 hours...off-course with vis at full.
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- #13
Ok. Does full vis really make that much of a difference? I ran my map with is on fast and it only took like 15 mins. and it looked fine to me.
...yes it's makes a difference, hence ' full' and ' fast' vis...
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- #15
Somehow i managed to firgure that part out all by myself, but thanks. In game, does it look alot better if you run it on full instead of fast?
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- #16
Well its been a while since i posted in this topic, but sorry for teh double post anyways, if anyone cares :roll:
I'm pretty sure i understand this vis bit after looking at maps compiled at different settings. I find that i have alot of probelms i throw at youg uys that i could probably find out for myself if i just did a little research, so i apologize for that as well. Though i'm so lazy i'll probably still do it, and the only reason is i firgure might as well if i can just get a quick answer instead of hunting around in all the dead hl mapping forums and tutorials. :?
Anyways... i have a model whos animation does not play in-game. Hammer 3.5 has model support so i can see the animtion working in hammer, but in-game it doesnt. I've looked through the settings for the monster_furniture entity and i see nothing relavent but the animation value. set to anything but 0 the animation stops. The cycler and monster_generic entity dont even show up in game.
Any ideas?
I'm pretty sure i understand this vis bit after looking at maps compiled at different settings. I find that i have alot of probelms i throw at youg uys that i could probably find out for myself if i just did a little research, so i apologize for that as well. Though i'm so lazy i'll probably still do it, and the only reason is i firgure might as well if i can just get a quick answer instead of hunting around in all the dead hl mapping forums and tutorials. :?
Anyways... i have a model whos animation does not play in-game. Hammer 3.5 has model support so i can see the animtion working in hammer, but in-game it doesnt. I've looked through the settings for the monster_furniture entity and i see nothing relavent but the animation value. set to anything but 0 the animation stops. The cycler and monster_generic entity dont even show up in game.
Any ideas?
Raptor
New Adventurer
place a scripted_sequence, can be anywhere, preferably with the origin in the exact spot you want the monster_furniture to be (the little X when you select it in the 2d views), you'll probably need a model viewer to look at all the animations for the model you want, and most of the settings in the scripted_sequence should be pretty self-explanatory, preferably set the 'move to' (whatever it's called, been so long since i've used one), to instantaneous, or not at all, so it will either appear there when the map starts or it won't ever, and then set the idle animation to the animation name you want (has to be EXACT, but is not case sensitive), the same with the action animation (whatever it's called again), but this isn't really needed
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- #18
animations have names? as far as i can tell the value is just 0. if there is a name i dont see it in the smart edit. its just 0.
I still cant get it to work with the scripted sequence.
I still cant get it to work with the scripted sequence.
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- #19
You need to use HLMV and find out what '0' corresponds with.
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- #20
well, embarassingly enough, it does work, the animation just doesnt loop. My spawn point was far away, so that by the time i got there it appeared as if i had done nothing. Then i though, "well maybe its not looping" so i placed my spawn point near the and look at it and it played the animaiton once.
Now i have to figure out how to loop it, which i can probably find out for myself but feel free to help me out if you know
Now i have to figure out how to loop it, which i can probably find out for myself but feel free to help me out if you know
in the monster's qc file, (you hafeta decompile it and recompile, using a program such as milkshape), you hafeta put loop after the fx, and before the fps, (I THINK. Check other files to make sure).
As for compile times, It's ovious what the problem is- vis and rad are light calculations, and they need extreame ammounts of cpu time. If your computer has absolutely no memory, (below 256, 512 is really good), or you have a lot of light entities in a very large area, you will get larger compile times. A general rule of thumb I have is to have the least ammount of lights possible in my map. While lots of lights can give cool effects, they aren't really needed. An example, is my map for the upcoming release named Mines has 3 REALLY large area's for you to explore, (plains and such). You can almost see the entire plains from one spot. Anyways, my compile time for the entire map is only around 30 min! The reason, outside of 512 memory, is that there is one, MABY two light sources for each of these very large places, and I seperate them by long spaces of caves. There is no way the light information could reach either area.
If you need any more mapping help, feel free to private message me, or email me at [email protected].
As for compile times, It's ovious what the problem is- vis and rad are light calculations, and they need extreame ammounts of cpu time. If your computer has absolutely no memory, (below 256, 512 is really good), or you have a lot of light entities in a very large area, you will get larger compile times. A general rule of thumb I have is to have the least ammount of lights possible in my map. While lots of lights can give cool effects, they aren't really needed. An example, is my map for the upcoming release named Mines has 3 REALLY large area's for you to explore, (plains and such). You can almost see the entire plains from one spot. Anyways, my compile time for the entire map is only around 30 min! The reason, outside of 512 memory, is that there is one, MABY two light sources for each of these very large places, and I seperate them by long spaces of caves. There is no way the light information could reach either area.
If you need any more mapping help, feel free to private message me, or email me at [email protected].
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- #22
sweet thanx tons
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- #23
Yay more questions!!!
Ok first off, here's one for the mappers: I see from the in-game pics you use models, as far as i can tell, for trees. And from my experience with models, they look great, but you can walk right through em? Do u have a solution for this or do you guys not care?
Also, do all the npc's have quests in thier scripts or are there entities that make them respond to certain things and can u create messages they say to you and so on?
Ok first off, here's one for the mappers: I see from the in-game pics you use models, as far as i can tell, for trees. And from my experience with models, they look great, but you can walk right through em? Do u have a solution for this or do you guys not care?
Also, do all the npc's have quests in thier scripts or are there entities that make them respond to certain things and can u create messages they say to you and so on?
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- #24
I think most NPC's use their scripts but some, the mayor's guard in Edana for example, also needs entities (I decompiled the map) to open the door when you bribe him.
And about the model problem, block off the tree (or at least parts of it) with a CLIP brush
Just a brush covered on *all* sides with the CLIP texture.
And about the model problem, block off the tree (or at least parts of it) with a CLIP brush
Just a brush covered on *all* sides with the CLIP texture.
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- #25
I got some weird ass stuff when trying to put a brush over a model
Here is some screenies of it. They are like tiny angry faries swarming around it saying "we aint leaving untill you fix this." And they don't. This showed up in-game in steam with vis and rad on normal. :?
Pic1
Pic2
Also...
I have come to the realization that to try and make a challenge out of just fighting monsters has become a bit pointless, seeing as everyone is more or less pretty strong, or at least there is one really strong guy if your playing online that goes and kills everything and ruins it for everyone else. So, i need new ways to challange my players. The only map that has ever been a challage is helena (mostly because it crashes so easy
) becuase you have to keep other people from dying. So far all I've come up with is that (rescue mission) and puzzles. Can anyone else think of something else? I can't, and I'm a pretty creative person, so if you can I praise you.
Here is some screenies of it. They are like tiny angry faries swarming around it saying "we aint leaving untill you fix this." And they don't. This showed up in-game in steam with vis and rad on normal. :?
Pic1
Pic2
Also...
I have come to the realization that to try and make a challenge out of just fighting monsters has become a bit pointless, seeing as everyone is more or less pretty strong, or at least there is one really strong guy if your playing online that goes and kills everything and ruins it for everyone else. So, i need new ways to challange my players. The only map that has ever been a challage is helena (mostly because it crashes so easy
) becuase you have to keep other people from dying. So far all I've come up with is that (rescue mission) and puzzles. Can anyone else think of something else? I can't, and I'm a pretty creative person, so if you can I praise you.Similar threads
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