Things to do while you compile

[flam5]

So is a 45minute to 1 hour compile time normal? I just got rid of all of my leaks and my god was I not ready for that (this is my first map since 1998 or so when I made a map or two for Quake/quakeworld in Worldcraft, so I don't know if this compile time is normal or can be reduced).

Vis is supposed to be turned to "Normal" when compiling, right? I'm not sure what these options do and how they effect the end product of the compile. Is there a way to avert this for minor changes (ie: changing some textures and adding some more detail ) and viewing the map without waiting an hour (I guess I could make an intentional leak, no?) ?

Thanks

 

[Koei]

An hour is pretty long. Did you use func_detail brushes? If you haven't: you should.

 

[YM]

Generally you should run only the options you need to.
Say you're experimenting with some entity setup, the only thing you are changing is those entities and how they react, so you dont care about lighting...so turn it off (VRAD to 'no') and as most entities are not effected by visleaves(some are though) so turn VVIS to 'no'. Cut your compile time to a few seconds to a few minutes.
Say you just want to get a 'general feel' of how your map looks, you dont want to see it polished to a shine and you probably arent worried about a minor fps drop, so turn VVIS and RAD to fast.
Now you've finished all the tweaks to your map and want to publish it somewhere. NOW you want to run propper VVIS and RAD (both on normal)

Never ever publish a map without propper VVIS and VRAD compiles, unless you have a very damn good reason not to

Edit: 45 mins to an hour is fine, unless your computer is super good, then 45 mins is probably bad. cp_bloodstained takes 1 hour 20 minutes with VVIS on 'normal', VRAD on '-final' and running HDR.
With just normal and normal it takes about 15-25 minutes.

 

[rt3407v06p909]

...
Usually my compiles dont go over 3 minutes unless its a release compile so I dont have time for much else.

Same. For me, once I hit that 3 minute mark, it's time to move on to a new map.

 

[flam5]

An hour is pretty long. Did you use func_detail brushes? If you haven't: you should.

You mean attach func_detail entity to every brush I placed in the map? Just from what I briefly read at the valve site just now, it will decrease the VVIS compile if used on brushes that are just used for detail work, not general map layout (walls, floors, etc.), so I would attach func_detail to brushes that don't block the line of site. Did I get that correct?

Generally you should run only the options you need to.
Say you're experimenting with some entity setup, the only thing you are changing is those entities and how they react, so you dont care about lighting...so turn it off (VRAD to 'no') and as most entities are not effected by visleaves(some are though) so turn VVIS to 'no'. Cut your compile time to a few seconds to a few minutes.
Say you just want to get a 'general feel' of how your map looks, you dont want to see it polished to a shine and you probably arent worried about a minor fps drop, so turn VVIS and RAD to fast.
Now you've finished all the tweaks to your map and want to publish it somewhere. NOW you want to run propper VVIS and RAD (both on normal)

Never ever publish a map without propper VVIS and VRAD compiles, unless you have a very damn good reason not to

Edit: 45 mins to an hour is fine, unless your computer is super good, then 45 mins is probably bad. cp_bloodstained takes 1 hour 20 minutes with VVIS on 'normal', VRAD on '-final' and running HDR.
With just normal and normal it takes about 15-25 minutes.

What is "super good" considered? I have a Core2Duo machine (E4500, 2.2 GHZ )with 2 GB ram and an 8600GT.

The majority of the compile time was spent in "PortalFlow". It *is* a rather large map (5 CPs, attack/defend scheme), so I wasn't sure if the compile time was just a result of the large map or not. When I put an intentional leak in it, the compile time reduces to just 3-5 minutes.

 

[Armadillo of Doom]

The reason that compiling goes so quickly w/ leaks is b/c Hammer skips most of the compile process upon finding one. Provided that your map is even semi-optimized, even a dual-core rig could take up to 40min. for a large and/or detailed map. You are correct in your thinking about func_details. They should be used on all weird shapes like arches and cylinders, plus small brushes that don't block vis.

For what it's worth, the vvis portion is terrible compared to Deathmatch. I've had to func_detail pretty much everything that's not a wall, whether it's large enough to block vis or not, simply b/c Hammer chops up my map like sushi. So it's not just you A good way to check; run a fast compile w/ a few entities and all brushwork. Then go to map-load portalfile. This will show you every single leaf in the game. From there you can kinda figure out what the biggest problems are.

 

[flam5]

Very good information Immortal, thanks so much!

 

[ryodoan]

 

[Spike]

I play tetris

 

[necro]

not sure if they recently added this flag to the compile tools, but -low is great when you want to keep using your computer while its compiling