Displacements

DucatiBon

L2: Junior Member
Jan 28, 2009
71
0
How do you guys map displacements in an all or near all outdoor map?
Do you make bricks for the cliffs and flat land for the ground
and then once the entire layout is done THEN you convert to displacement?
Do you just use thin walls everywhere?

Basically iv started over on this map near 15 times now because I get something I like, Start mapping the rest of it and then displacements do not match up anymore, I get compile errors eventually because of that and also do you absolutely NEED a no draw under ever displacement, What if you don't, What does that cause

Also it seems like if you got everything you want and find something wrong with the layout LATER, its Impossible to go back and fix cuz if you change anything, the displacements will no longer sew together.

Also, How would you make your land gradually go down hill...obviously you cant rotate a displacement because it has to be a straight wall.
and if you just map your map completely flat at first, Then the end of the map is suppose to go down hill from the start, You cant do it unless you take your LOWER tool and lower the ENTIRE rest of the map, which 1. Would take forever, and 2. does not looks realistic.


Also (lol) Do you have to do anything to your map to get Detail Sprites to generate on your displacements because mine do not show on any of the blend textures

Iv seen displacement tutorials, I know HOW to do them, but When it comes to an entire map those tutorials do not give enough of an idea.
 
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samn

L4: Comfortable Member
Mar 28, 2008
158
47
Hi,
You asked some good questions, which should make for an informative thread to many who'll be reading.

Do you know about leaks? If a map is not completely sealed then you get leaks. This causes all sorts of problems to things like optimisation and lighting. Even the smallest hole to the 'void' will cause a leak. When you compile a map the compile log (the bunch of text you see that runs down the screen as you compile) will tell you if you have a leak.

But not all brushes seal the map and prevent leaks, such as
-Brush based entities (brushes which have been marked as entities, like func_detail)
-Displacements

So we put nodraw (it doesnt have to be nodraw, but nodraw gives almost no performance hit) brushes underneath and around the displacements when we need to seal the map.

Displacements don't have to be straight walls, they can go at all sorts of angles.

To avoid having to rehaul your displacements later simply make very undetailed bland terrain at first and use that until you've playtested to find the perfect layout. Then you can easily delete and reshape your layout without putting any hard work to waste.
 

samn

L4: Comfortable Member
Mar 28, 2008
158
47
Dustbowl has some good examples of displacements, in fact many on stage 2 cap 1 are rotated slightly. The decompiled version is around somewhere, perhaps you should take a look. :)

I agree with you, displacement tutorials don't tend to give an idea of the 'bigger picture', often focusing on small things like caves or cliffs. Perhaps some of the more experienced mappers here could give a displacement tutorial a go?
 

DucatiBon

L2: Junior Member
Jan 28, 2009
71
0
I also Had a question about detail sprites, that I added late
but also, For "Down hill" Would you like...take a Non displacement ground, and turn it at a 15 degrees angle and do your thing...and then Later turn it into a displacement
, because I'm pretty sure Because your rotated that non displacement, that once you turn everything into a displacement they wouldn't SEW because they No longer in a straight line they wouldn't work correctly.?

also when typing that I figured you could use the vertex tool and connect the rotated land to the flat land so that they do meet perfectly

Also since the bigger the displacement the bigger the triangles...do you make 1 square displacement and duplicate it all around to make several small flat ones?
 

DucatiBon

L2: Junior Member
Jan 28, 2009
71
0
Also Im thinking the easyest way to get a nodraw under it would Originally make blocks for your displacement, Hallow them out so you have several "faces" then displacement the outer 2 walls.......actually that may not work because when your drawing the geometry you would probaly be opening up a spot somewhere.. GAH IDK
 

ikem

L6: Sharp Member
Dec 8, 2008
268
34
ducatibon i will answer some questions in a bit after supper
 

DucatiBon

L2: Junior Member
Jan 28, 2009
71
0
bullshitu.jpg


YEA i don't see rotating a brush working. they NEVER sew
 

DucatiBon

L2: Junior Member
Jan 28, 2009
71
0
Yea but when you rotate at an angle, its not possible to get the other end of the point to perfectly end on a grid point
 

StoneFrog

L6: Sharp Member
May 28, 2008
395
81
I hear you. Displacements are easy to make, difficult to master. Being incapable of figuring out how you want your displacements to work out in the end has caused many a map concept o' mine to be dropped just from it seeming too daunting. :(

You may want to check out Youme's great tutorial here for an idea of how cliffs go together and just how to emulate that "natural" look. It's a start, at least. I'll see if I can dig up any ideas for ground and hills for you, too. :)

EDIT: As for your ramps, instead of rotating it, try vertex editing it so it fits nice and snug, and then clipping it up from the Top-Down view into smaller brushes. That should work, I think.
 

DucatiBon

L2: Junior Member
Jan 28, 2009
71
0
EDIT: As for your ramps, instead of rotating it, try vertex editing it so it fits nice and snug, and then clipping it up from the Top-Down view into smaller brushes. That should work, I think.[/QUOTE]

Wow that makes so much more sense than what I was doing....
lol thanks. then it would snap to the grid no matter what.
 

StoneFrog

L6: Sharp Member
May 28, 2008
395
81
You're welcome. :)

I find it annoying how Source hammer has support for decimals of a unit. It's just annoying and I don't know a single person who uses them. Always try to keep your stuff manageable with the grid snap, with some exceptions if you want (props and all).