Can I believe my eyes?

Bud Calypso

L1: Registered
Jul 28, 2015
39
25
Hello,

I just started using hammer. Before I waste your time with detailed questions to problems I may have, I just want to understand one thing:

Does the outcome of my compiled file occur the same way on servers that may use it,
as it does on my screen when I test it?

For example: I haven't fully understood cubemaps yet.
But when I run my map I don't get checkered textures on the control point prop f.e. anyways. Do I still need to implement them to prevent the checkered textures anywhere else?

So, can I believe my eyes when testing my map on my offline server generally?
Is this the same result that everyone using it would get?

Sorry if this is a very noobish question, but atm I'm proud of making the map work at all.
And I'm well aware of not understanding the system/engine completely yet.

Thx in advance,
Bud
 
Last edited:

tyler

aa
Sep 11, 2013
5,102
4,621
You might have specularity disabled, or some kind of config that removes it. But yes, you need to compile cubemaps always. For early alpha maps you can get away with a single env_cubemap (unless you need more for water or something) and that way you aren't moving things around so much when you adjust your layout.

You'll also need to pack custom content (eg, any models or textures you download from this site) or they won't show up on servers. There's several programs to do this. I recommend VIDE.
 
Mar 23, 2013
1,013
347
for maps in testing phase, I like to compile the map in LDR-lighting only and place a single cubemap in the map without building cubemaps.
On this way, the map appears for everyone like you would have set mat_specular to 0.

When you want to have cubemaps they need to be build for LDR and HDR lighting (if compiled both) So they are visible for both HDR settings. Look it up on the valve developer wiki
 

Tumby

aa
May 12, 2013
1,084
1,192
Missing cubemaps appear different for everyone. For me it shows the "default cubemap" that is somewhere in the files. I even customized it to look nice. However, most people for some reason get black and purple checkerboard textures. Something I have noticed is that when I go into directX 8 mode, missing cubemaps suddenly become purple black checkerboards like for everyone else. It's just a very strange thing.
 

Bud Calypso

L1: Registered
Jul 28, 2015
39
25
Thanks for the quick answers. I will implement cubemaps and work on comprehend what I do there.. :)
Tbh I stopped working on it when I got stuck due to having problems with pakfile editors.
The developer wiki solution seemed so complicated to me as a beginner, that I wasn't sure if this is the common method being used. Add the error not being visible for me + my half way understanding of cubemaps at all = made me stop the research.

But besides that, I still need to understand this one thing:

What differentiates the outcome I see at my offline server to that users will experience if I share it?

server configurations?
game settings?
video settings?

What is it that I can't see while running map, but will appear if run on a live server (generally)?

You see, for me even using the console is more in depth than the last 7 years I played this game. :|

Bud
 

Pocket

Half a Lambert is better than one.
aa
Nov 14, 2009
4,694
2,579
Missing cubemaps appear different for everyone. For me it shows the "default cubemap" that is somewhere in the files. I even customized it to look nice. However, most people for some reason get black and purple checkerboard textures. Something I have noticed is that when I go into directX 8 mode, missing cubemaps suddenly become purple black checkerboards like for everyone else. It's just a very strange thing.

I do know that it's supposed to use the default cubemap if there are actually no cubemaps placed in the map, and the checkerboard/bright-white on props if there are some but they were not built. I can definitely believe that DirectX 8 behaves differently, because DirectX 8 + unfinished map is such a rare combination that even I wouldn't expect Valve to fix it.
 

tyler

aa
Sep 11, 2013
5,102
4,621
None of your server, video, or game configurations will carry over to the map. You should assume most servers run default configs (except maybe for crit/spread adjustments). The exception would be maps that use the point_servercommand to change server settings I guess, but that's now disabled by default. The point of those configurations (other than the server's) are that they are client side and therefore not affected by anyone else. If your settings could affect other people's games when they played your map, that would be a massive problem.

If you'd like to see your map as other players will see it, disable all your FPS configs (if you have any), open the console, type sv_pure 2 and then load your map. This makes TF2 only load default TF2 materials and anything added into the bsp itself, so if you've missed any packing or something it'll be apparent. None of your local content will appear unless you've packed it in. That includes any skins you might have on viewmodels or whatever (don't pack those).
 

Pocket

Half a Lambert is better than one.
aa
Nov 14, 2009
4,694
2,579
This is also good advice for testing how well a map will perform, unless your computer really is a toaster and you're using the FPS config because default settings slow it to a crawl.
 

DannyRand

L2: Junior Member
Jun 8, 2013
72
24
One thing I did is create a "pretty" config. I load that up when I want to see what my map actually looks like, since I typically play on potato settings.
 
Mar 23, 2013
1,013
347
One thing I did is create a "pretty" config. I load that up when I want to see what my map actually looks like, since I typically play on potato settings.

try to play on high texture resolution. People say TF2 runs worse with lower texture resolution for some reason.
 

Bud Calypso

L1: Registered
Jul 28, 2015
39
25
If you'd like to see your map as other players will see it, disable all your FPS configs (if you have any), open the console, type sv_pure 2 and then load your map. This makes TF2 only load default TF2 materials and anything added into the bsp itself, so if you've missed any packing or something it'll be apparent.

Thanks, this is what I wanted to understand properly. I will try that out.