I've been trying to optimize my map for a week or so now, and I realized I have a bunch of questions I can't seem to find the answers to. If someone can help, I'd appreciate it.
1) Every performance tutorial I've read promotes adding hints at corners. I understand why this can help performance, but I checked a few of the decompiled Valve maps and I didn't see any corner hints at all (2fort in particular). Are corner hints the kind of thing you add if it helps FPS, otherwise skip them? Or is 2fort just designed in a way that it doesn't need them?
2) Static props don't seem to cut new visleafs. When you have large props do you just add hints around them?
3) I read that mitreing corners can improve performance by reducing visleafs, but I don't see many maps doing that. Is mitreing a common/recommended practice?
4) I made a func_detail that is a shipping container open at both ends. From some angles, entire brushes of the func_detail disappear, or blink in and out. How can I fix this?
5) After clipping a brush into two brushes, should I NODRAW the 2 faces along the edge of the cut? Or does the engine know not to draw those?
6) I've been trying to eliminate as many faces/solids to improve performance. In one area I went from 5200 faces to 3200 faces with a few small changes. I've sort of been playing whack-a-mole by selecting a bunch of geometry, pasting it into a new map, and then checking Map --> Show Information to get solid/face counts. Is there a way to get geometry counts for a selection of brushes? Or some other approach I should use?
I have to admit, optimization has been the most interesting part of making a map. Notice I said interesting, not "fun." But I mean it in a good way!
1) Every performance tutorial I've read promotes adding hints at corners. I understand why this can help performance, but I checked a few of the decompiled Valve maps and I didn't see any corner hints at all (2fort in particular). Are corner hints the kind of thing you add if it helps FPS, otherwise skip them? Or is 2fort just designed in a way that it doesn't need them?
2) Static props don't seem to cut new visleafs. When you have large props do you just add hints around them?
3) I read that mitreing corners can improve performance by reducing visleafs, but I don't see many maps doing that. Is mitreing a common/recommended practice?
4) I made a func_detail that is a shipping container open at both ends. From some angles, entire brushes of the func_detail disappear, or blink in and out. How can I fix this?
5) After clipping a brush into two brushes, should I NODRAW the 2 faces along the edge of the cut? Or does the engine know not to draw those?
6) I've been trying to eliminate as many faces/solids to improve performance. In one area I went from 5200 faces to 3200 faces with a few small changes. I've sort of been playing whack-a-mole by selecting a bunch of geometry, pasting it into a new map, and then checking Map --> Show Information to get solid/face counts. Is there a way to get geometry counts for a selection of brushes? Or some other approach I should use?
I have to admit, optimization has been the most interesting part of making a map. Notice I said interesting, not "fun." But I mean it in a good way!
