Is there a standard?

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ParanoidDrone

L3: Member
Feb 19, 2009
147
11
Simple question. Is there some sort of standard or preferred height of a room, or rise:run of staircases? IIRC, character models are ~128 in height, but 256 high walls and ledges just look massive.
 

Psy

The Imp Queen
aa
Apr 9, 2008
1,706
1,491
256 isn't that high in TF2. The minimum height that I use is 192.
 

grazr

Old Man Mutant Ninja Turtle
aa
Mar 4, 2008
5,441
3,814
Stairs usually rise at a 2:3 ratio, climb:distance.

Feel free to look at: http://forums.tf2maps.net/showthread.php?t=8827

As for height, 256 isn't really that tall (it just looks excessive at times), it's the height of the 2fort battlements i believe.

If you're stuck, the best bet is to check out "sourcesdk_content/tf/mapsrc" in your steam folder and look for the vmf files beginning with sdk_ which are the pre-compiled versions of select official maps made by Valve. You can reference the heights used easily from them.
 
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Stormcaller3801

L5: Dapper Member
Jul 5, 2009
249
28
At one point I tried to create brushes that matched some stairway models- they had steps that were 4 high and 8 deep, with an identical spacing between them and a 45º rise/run (basically lay down a step, go back 2, up 2, place another, back 2, up 2, place another, etc.), and it works without a hitch.

As for heights, I believe the character models run about 80-something, with 96 being my default as that allows head clearance and also is the minimum height to set up a teleporter. Most of my walls run about 128 to 192 high; that's enough to allow a Scout to double jump and not hit the ceiling. A Scout using a FAN and double-jumping will reach about 204, meaning 256 will give plenty of space in any rooms where you're expecting lots of fighting; if you want to allow sticky jumps and rocket jumps, you'll probably want to put the ceiling up around 768 to 1024 or higher.