Ooh! This is very helpful, (I have a lot of curves) but 1 thing, I thought "Func detail" makes them so you can walk through them. Am I just mistaken?This basically means you have a lot of visleaves. You probably have some complicated geometry (like stairs, angular shapes, anything significantly more complicated than a block) which splits up the map and causes extra calculations. You can fix this by making complex geometry (which doesn't seal the map from the void) func_detail entities.
See this tutorial for help on optimization, which done properly can reduce your compile time to a fraction of what it is now and increase ingame performance: http://optimization.interlopers.net/index.php?chapter=intro
Well, I did that, but the thing right after baseportal flow takes a ridicuously long time to compile (fifteen minutes). What else can I do?Yes your wrong, func_details act just like normal brushes (except for a little bug i think), that means their totally solid. The only thing they do is tell the compiler to ignore them when making the visibility calculation, so there is less brushes to calculate.
Well, I did that, but the thing right after baseportal flow takes a ridicuously long time to compile (fifteen minutes). What else can I do?
My specs: 1.7 ghz quad core procecsor.Unfortunately, this is normal (well the length of time depends on your CPU and RAM). When i compiled a map for a friend a while ago (his comp was rubbish), the vis part of the compile took me 15mins (and my hammer appeared to be not responding) but i left it on, went to the shops and when i came home it had finished.
Basically, the vis part is one of the most important parts, as it determines what is visiable. My compile times as slightly quicker cause i use areaportal brushes w/func_areaportal applied to them, hint/skip brushes to divide visleaves ect.
But, the timeframe of 15mins for me only applies to BIG maps, small maps take around 2 to 3 mins, and test maps like small maps i make to test something out with 1 or 2 rooms take seconds to compile (maybe a minute with HDR enabled)
Maybe if you listed your comp spec we may be able to tell you if your comp is up to the task of compiling.
hmm 1.7ghz quad core?
Whats the CPU model? because your CPU seems to be underclocking (i dont think there is a quad core processor with a stock clock of 1.7ghz)