waterindices nearly full

Aug 19, 2008
1,011
1,158
"waterindices 64011/65536 128022/131072 (97.7%) VERY FULL!"

thats the log i receive once my map is compiled

digging through forums, i couldn´t find a sufficient answer what exactly i can do to decrease that number

the amount of water didn´t change since i started mapping, but the number grows with the size of the map

plz share your wisdom
 

Armadillo of Doom

Group Founder, Lover of Pie
aa
Oct 25, 2007
949
1,228
I was having the exact same problem, and still am. Though it doesn't seem to impact performance, it is rather annoying. The only variable I found is that when compiling w/out func_detail, waterindices drops to 20%. I would say don't fret about it. I have a suspicion that it's just a bug, and not an actual reflection of the water's draw on resources.
 

Earl

L6: Sharp Member
Dec 21, 2007
284
38
Waterindices have nothing to do with water.

It's hard to say what exactly causes them, but they are related to intersections of func_details.

Some situations that will cause waterindices, (from my past experimentation):

Overlapping brushes that have coplanar faces. (creates a shimmering effect-- probably where the "water" in the name comes from).

Rotating a func_detail that was made on grid.

Having 2 func_detail faces brushes meet at a non-right angle.
 
Aug 19, 2008
1,011
1,158
i rotated a lot of my brushes and made them func_detail, does that mean i have to do them again, w/o rotating?
if yes, will it do the trick moving them to world, and them converting them back to func_detail?

thx so far, asking here is more effective than google, by far
 

MrAlBobo

L13: Stunning Member
Feb 20, 2008
1,059
219
what ive heard is that waterindices for the most part have to do with "evening out" the areas where world geometry meets func_details
not really much you can do about it...other then making some models for your details, or simply being less detailed...

bear in mind this is mostly me repeating something I remember from a few months ago...so...I can't vouch for it being completely right

EDIT: found it ;)
Waterindices are used when detail brushes touch structural brushes to smooth out their joining. They're related to T-junctions, as when you go over 100% you'll have too many T-junctions to fix up and it won't compile. Castle has about 99.6% waterindices, and I've gone over a lot :(
 
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Altaco

L420: High Member
Jul 3, 2008
484
120
No, they probably just used a bsp chunk that was once used for something water-related for func_detail stuff and didn't rename it.
 

Earl

L6: Sharp Member
Dec 21, 2007
284
38
i rotated a lot of my brushes and made them func_detail, does that mean i have to do them again, w/o rotating?
if yes, will it do the trick moving them to world, and them converting them back to func_detail?

thx so far, asking here is more effective than google, by far


I'm betting rotating some func_details is whats causing your waterindices. If you need to rotate something to an arbitrary angle, make it a prop. Converting it to world and back wont help, its just a function of geometry.


I am also thinking of writing an article about waterindices, based on my experiments. I've noticed that there is almost no information on the internet about them.
 
Aug 19, 2008
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went over my map a bit, but the only thing that made a big 6% difference was a nice structure made of func_detail, none of them were intersecting, or crossing in an arbitrary angle

i´ll try out if it makes a differece if i select a group of brushes and make them all together func_detail or every single one for itself a seperate func_detail

edit: no change doing that :|

update: converted some detail to func_lod, which proves quite effective

atm i´m down to 83% waterindices, which gives me some wiggle-room, but still not enough
 
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Armadillo of Doom

Group Founder, Lover of Pie
aa
Oct 25, 2007
949
1,228
Thanks for the info MrAlBobo :) That would certainly explain a lot in my map, lol. Unfortunately, I can't even use the func_lod. Most of my detail brushes are part of the main geometry, and need to be visible from a distance. Right now I'm in the process of taking the big items and turning them back into normal brushes, then seeing how much the visibility/performance gets hit.
 
Aug 19, 2008
1,011
1,158
thanks to func_lod, i got my waterindices down to 50% without any effort, e.g. turning all the former func_detail inside rooms into lods, or anything around a corner into lods and selecting the distance so, that you see everything important, once you took that corner

each day sth new to learn :D