Optimization: Am I doing it right?

willbanks

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Jul 6, 2015
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worMatty

Repacking Evangelist
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Jul 22, 2014
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No, you aren't. Hint brushes are usually used diagonally on corners to stop your player from seeing the stuff around them. For doorways and windows you should use areaportals.

Hint brushes don't need to be used on doorways normally because when VBSP creates visleaves, it does so using the world brushes in your map, so typically the doorway will already have a couple of portals. You can see what VBSP has done by loading the Portal file from the Map menu. The blue rectangles are called portals (known as numportals in the compile log). A collection of portals that make up a segment of space is called a visleaf.

I think all mappers have experienced the same frustration and abandonment when it comes to visibility optimisation. The tutorials make you think it should work simply. But there is always a new hurdle to overcome. I think struggling and learning how best to deal with these problems is the absolute best way to become competent at it.

Here are a couple of short video examples that I found useful to understand how hint brushes and visleaves work:

TopHattWaffle's video tutorials are great for people who just want an answer and don't want to have to wade through loads of documents.
 

willbanks

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Jul 6, 2015
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No, you aren't. Hint brushes are usually used diagonally on corners to stop your player from seeing the stuff around them. For doorways and windows you should use areaportals.

Hint brushes don't need to be used on doorways normally because when VBSP creates visleaves, it does so using the world brushes in your map, so typically the doorway will already have a couple of portals. You can see what VBSP has done by loading the Portal file from the Map menu. The blue rectangles are called portals (known as numportals in the compile log). A collection of portals that make up a segment of space is called a visleaf.

I think all mappers have experienced the same frustration and abandonment when it comes to visibility optimisation. The tutorials make you think it should work simply. But there is always a new hurdle to overcome. I think struggling and learning how best to deal with these problems is the absolute best way to become competent at it.

Here are a couple of short video examples that I found useful to understand how hint brushes and visleaves work:

TopHattWaffle's video tutorials are great for people who just want an answer and don't want to have to wade through loads of documents.

thanks a lot, but with area portals when i put them done, they wil lshow up when i run the map and act like a clip. i dont know how to fix this, and also, do i use area portals like a big block, or just make them fit inside a doorway? and once I do put down an area portal, is it just done? or do i need to get more technical with it?
 

Pocket

Half a Lambert is better than one.
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Nov 14, 2009
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That's because the areaportals are leaking. Basically an areaportal breaks up the entire map into "stuff that's on one side of it" and "stuff that's on the other side", and if it's possible to fly around from one side to the other without passing through another areaportal, then it leaks. So, for example, if you have a grid of two by two rooms and you only put a portal across one doorway. Or have a building with a door and some windows inside an outdoor space and you only put a portal across the door. Or place a free-standing portal somewhere in your map that's not meeting the edges of a door or window. And remember, just like with regular leaks, func_details and displacements don't count as solid matter for our purposes.
 

worMatty

Repacking Evangelist
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Jul 22, 2014
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thanks a lot, but with area portals when i put them done, they wil lshow up when i run the map and act like a clip. i dont know how to fix this, and also, do i use area portals like a big block, or just make them fit inside a doorway? and once I do put down an area portal, is it just done? or do i need to get more technical with it?

It sounds like you are just making a brush textured with the areaportal material. That's not enough. You need to tie it to an entity named func_areaportal. The video does show that.

Note: If you put an area portal inside an actual door, you name the door and put the name in the 'Name of linked door' field. That's all you have to do, the video shows more but it's unnecessary.
 

willbanks

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Jul 6, 2015
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It sounds like you are just making a brush textured with the areaportal material. That's not enough. You need to tie it to an entity named func_areaportal. The video does show that.

Note: If you put an area portal inside an actual door, you name the door and put the name in the 'Name of linked door' field. That's all you have to do, the video shows more but it's unnecessary.

thank you a lot, but so do i just make it a big box or do i put one area portal down in a door, then another down somewhere else?
 

willbanks

L1: Registered
Jul 6, 2015
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It sounds like you are just making a brush textured with the areaportal material. That's not enough. You need to tie it to an entity named func_areaportal. The video does show that.

Note: If you put an area portal inside an actual door, you name the door and put the name in the 'Name of linked door' field. That's all you have to do, the video shows more but it's unnecessary.

ok can you add me on skype? it would be so much easier and speed things up for me and answer questions, i think im getting the hang of it.

my skype is sargent_porky
 

Vincent

&#128296 Grandmaster Lizard Wizard Jedi &#128296
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Sep 5, 2009
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What Matty gave you is pretty old, watch these two videos in order.

Basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIy0Usc8zXU

Then when you feel ready move on to this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=swBfUW-Bsxs

I would really recommend watching all of his tutorials in the new series. You can start that here. One last thing, you'll have a better chance just adding someone on steam around here if you want one on one support. Jumping into the steams group chat is a good idea too for quick help.
 

worMatty

Repacking Evangelist
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Jul 22, 2014
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You put an areaportal in each of the doors and windows that make up your building/room. As steve says, you are virtually creating a map within a map, where sealing things is concerned. Like you must seal your map from the void by ensuring world brushes connect to patch up any hole that could cause a leak, the same is true of the areas separated by areaportals, except you must use the area portals to stop the gaps made by the doorways and windows, etc. In the video I linked, the author has put an area portal inside a door, and one covering the open roof of his little building.

If you would like quick answers to questions like this, the best thing to do is join the Steam chat room for the TF2 Mappers Steam group. There are many people who will jump on your question like hungry dogs.

EDIT: Thanks, Vince!