Waterfalls, displacements, and optimization?

[Kreg]

Hello, I'm going to try and compact three things into this one topic for organization's sake.

*First of all I'm wondering if someone could provide me with the information on how to create a waterfall in hammer.

*Secondly, I was wondering if someone could provide me with a good explanation for making displacements. When I've used displacements thus far, I usually just create a few large brushes of the same scale that roughly covers the area I need terrain in. I was wondering if there was a better way of going about this.

*Last of all, I have no knowledge of proper map optimization. I've heard a little about Hint brushes and Area Portals, but I haven't been able to get solid grasp on either.

 

[Vel0city]

1: there's a waterfall model in TF2 (used in Sawmill). If that doesn't fit your area, you can always have a scrolling texture on either a brush or a displacement (fubar has an old but still relevant tutorial here).

2: you make displacements out of smaller brushes, not by making a huge brush with power 3 or 4. Freyja wrote some great articles on displacements, found here and here (for the 3D skybox).

3: I'll refer again to the optimization bible: http://optimization.interlopers.net/ . Also, TopHattWaffle has some great video tutorials on YouTube, here is a start.

 

[nickybakes]

*First of all I'm wondering if someone could provide me with the information on how to create a waterfall in hammer.

You can search "waterfall" in the model browser, and you'll be able to find a good waterfall prop, along with rocky/mountain wall props that go along with the waterfall.

*Secondly, I was wondering if someone could provide me with a good explanation for making displacements. When I've used displacements thus far, I usually just create a few large brushes of the same scale that roughly covers the area I need terrain in. I was wondering if there was a better way of going about this.

Here's a good tutorial: https://tf2maps.net/threads/guide-displacements-basic-construction-part-1.24966/

*Last of all, I have no knowledge of proper map optimization. I've heard a little about Hint brushes and Area Portals, but I haven't been able to get solid grasp on either.

This is a really good tutorial:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=swBfUW-Bsxs

 

[Kreg]

Thank guys, I'll be sure to go through all of this