What's the deal with nodraw solids inside displacements?

MOCOLONI

MOCOLONI

L6: Sharp Member
Dec 16, 2014
373
89
Geometry such as rocks, cliffs, ground... every time I look into them in a map, there's a nodraw block inside. What makes me wonder is the fact that there are so many of them instead of just one to seal the map from below. It would be weird if it was to prevent players from somehow clipping through displacements since many official maps create huge walkable spaces with these blocks themselves (Gravel Pit, Barnblitz, Upward), rendering them pointless.
 
nᵗʰSonata

nᵗʰSonata

Takes way to long to make and update maps
aa
Jun 11, 2015
433
436
The reason is primarily optimization. The nodraw blocks exist to block visibility; disps themselves do not block vis, so without something inside to block vis, a lot more will be considered "visible" to the player when it shouldn't, leading to worse optimization. Plus, it's generally just good practice to do so (especially since, if you just have one to seal the map below like you said, if a mapper forgot to clip their map properly and people manage to get underneath it, proper nodraws underneath will prevent people from being able to exploit it as much)
 
Idolon

Idolon

they/them
aa
Feb 7, 2008
2,108
6,119
I don't know this for a fact, but I would guess that keeping visleafs smaller helps with VVIS compile times. Could be wrong around that though.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom