The power of func_detail

[Ace]

I just wantwed to make this post, cause there always seem to people asking how to increase fps and decrease compile times.
I just have an example of good an bad using only func_detail

Before:

After:

After func_detail-ing all of the 'details' the number of numportals went down from 6217 to 178.
Thats over a 34x time decrease, imagine the gains.
Main improvement is the compile time as this is exponential (or similar). The later was a matter of second whereas the first would be at least 20hrs (I did not leave it fully only enough to work out the number of portals).
This was a single room (with approx 600 brushes), so just imagine the gains over a whole map!

 

[dookiebot]

Don't be too proud of this technilogical terror you've constructed. The ability to reduced numportals is insignificant next to the power of the force.


Seriously though- good illustration.

 

[Spacemonkeynz]

Don't be too proud of this technilogical terror you've constructed. The ability to reduced numportals is insignificant next to the power of the force.

Haha, thats awesome.

func_details are awesome, I used them lots, great for putting extra detail into maps.

Nice thread, it explains the concept well.

 

[grazr]

You'll want walls to seperate your map up though. You don't want to render the entire map all at once. Save func_details to details only. I hear people discussing how that theoretically making an entire map func_detail (or even as a prop) would mean one big fps/compile gain. But it doesn't work like that.

A good demonstration of what is to be gained by considerate use of the func_detail entity though.

 

[Lord Ned]

Open any of valves maps, turn off displacements, tool textures, and func_details.

You cannot figure out anything in the map anymore, because so much is detailed and displaced, etc.

 

[Charlie =[RHIT]=]

If you're hiding everything with tool textures, you might be hiding every brush that has a nodraw face on it.