Very simple questions

dk0tp

L1: Registered
Jan 12, 2009
2
0
Hi all

I'm new to mapping and I've read through some of the articles on the Valve software Developer Wiki and following that tutorial I've made a simple map.

However, I still have some questions (Some of them I'm not sure how to ask, so I'm not sure what to search for)

I want to make a 'rooftop map', where the fighting takes place on the rooftops of some skyscrapers, but I'm not sure how to make it so that when somebody falls off, they die not from the fall damage but from falling a certain amount of height.

In the Respawn Area tut, it says: 'Its material should be tools/toolstrigger', but I can't find how to change the material?!?

When I create a brush with the block tool, its texture is the previous texture of whatever I selected which is not transparent, so how do I make it so that it looks like this? http://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/Image:RespawnArea-func_respawnroom.jpg

Also, what do I use to stop demomen from sticky jumping outside the map? Do I really have to create a REALLY high block to prevent him from flying away or is there some sort of tool to create invisible walls?

And when I make a rectangular block and I want to cut through it to make it look like an upside down square-like U (I want to make a doorway) do I have to make 3 rectangles and piece the together?

Thanks in advance for answering my questions. :p

And, a brush is made using the block tool... right?
 
Last edited:
Jan 31, 2008
555
1,482
dk0tp said:
I want to make a 'rooftop map', where the fighting takes place on the rooftops of some skyscrapers, but I'm not sure how to make it so that when somebody falls off, they die not from the fall damage but from falling a certain amount of height.

Make a trigger_hurt brush entity in the area you want the player to die in and texture it in the trigger texture

dk0tp said:
In the Respawn Area tut, it says: 'Its material should be tools/toolstrigger', but I can't find how to change the material?!?

Select the brush with the selection tool and click the texture application tool. Now press browse and write "trigger" in the "Filter" field. Then select the orange texture.

dk0tp said:
When I create a brush with the block tool, its texture is the previous texture of whatever I selected which is not transparent, so how do I make it so that it looks like this? http://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/Image:RespawnArea-func_respawnroom.jpg

Same as above, use the texture application tool :)

dk0tp said:
Also, what do I use to stop demomen from sticky jumping outside the map? Do I really have to create a REALLY high block to prevent him from flying away or is there some sort of tool to create invisible walls?

There are a few invisible walls you can make. The type you want to create here is probably some playerclip brushes. make a brush as the invisible wall and texture it in the playerclip texture.

dk0tp said:
And when I make a rectangular block and I want to cut through it to make it look like an upside down square-like U (I want to make a doorway) do I have to make 3 rectangles and piece the together?

The easiest way of doing that is make a brush that covers the whole exit. Then you use the clip tool to make two vertical lines at the edge of the brush. Then select the middle of the brush and change size so it's the top border of the frame.

dk0tp said:
And, a brush is made using the block tool... right?

Yup
 

Pink_Panther

L3: Member
Dec 14, 2008
129
45
Hi all

I'm new to mapping and I've read through some of the articles on the Valve software Developer Wiki and following that tutorial I've made a simple map.

Also, what do I use to stop demomen from sticky jumping outside the map? Do I really have to create a REALLY high block to prevent him from flying away or is there some sort of tool to create invisible walls?

And when I make a rectangular block and I want to cut through it to make it look like an upside down square-like U (I want to make a doorway) do I have to make 3 rectangles and piece the together?

We were all new at one point, so we all understand the learning curve your facing here. Valve didnt make it easy and their wiki site doesnt help unless you already know how to map.

As for the demo men, you dont have to make the clip brush to keep them from flying through the sky brush. Keep the height of a sky brush at 64 or less (havent tried making it larger than that) and they wont get on the sky texture and walk around. This was a problem with HL1 where people would swim in the sky, but the new engine seems to have fixed it.

If you really dont think people have a reason to demo jump around, you may want to consider lowering your upper sky brush down. Gives the map less volume when compiling.

Im not sure about HL2, but in HL1 you cannot have a brush that had one edge dip into the brush. The outer corners had to be outside the area of the brush...

parden the ascii art...

good:

-----
\ .....\
..-----

bad:
---------
\.......__\
.\__/

(the periods are just there because the forum compresses the extra spaces into one.)

That little dip would cause errors in the VBSP. It would also cause the area to fill in visually, with an upredicable arangement of how it would fill in while in game.

I have seen an error in the HL2 engine if you modify a brush by moving the corner points around and end up with a non-flat plane. It will try and flatten it, but again, its pretty unpredicatable if it will do it in a way thats visable to the players.

So...when i make a door opening, I make your 3 brush version you mentioned. Its a long time habit. Generally, it works out to my benifit because my walls from one section to another will vary height anyways.

Hope this doesnt confuse you too much. I can make a demo vmf for you if you want one that would help explain this better.

Phil
 
Jan 31, 2008
555
1,482
Pink_Panther; said:
As for the demo men, you dont have to make the clip brush to keep them from flying through the sky brush. Keep the height of a sky brush at 64 or less (havent tried making it larger than that) and they wont get on the sky texture and walk around. This was a problem with HL1 where people would swim in the sky, but the new engine seems to have fixed it.

If you really dont think people have a reason to demo jump around, you may want to consider lowering your upper sky brush down. Gives the map less volume when compiling.

I think you're confusing him.
The skybox brush can be at any size; and making it 64 units thick won't change the fact that there might be a hole for the demoman to get up on the brush.
Lowering the overall skybox roof might not always be a good idea; since demos and soldiers want to be able to use rocketjumping and stickyjumping without hitting their heads in the skybox.

I believe the best method is just to have playerclip brushes above all rooftops and make them stretch all the way up to the skybox ceiling.

And your ascii art is the same in the source engine, but that's when you're using vertex manipulation, not clipping :)
 

Pink_Panther

L3: Member
Dec 14, 2008
129
45
And your ascii art is the same in the source engine, but that's when you're using vertex manipulation, not clipping

Correct. I generally do most my mapping through the vertex manip tool, especially door opennings. Every time I use any of the other tools, clip/hollow/etc, it aways does a poor job and causes more problems than just doing it with the vertex tool (aka, the hard way).

For the most part, doing the doors is easiest/fastest by just making 3 brushes. One for each wall next to the doorway, and one for above. Leave the rectangular and it will work pretty well for you. Most the tricks for moving vertexes are from HL1 editting requirements that dont matter as much anymore.

I read over my post again and it was pretty confusing. I really shouldn't post after working a 12 hour night shift. Sorry bout that.