Compile time

Is it just me or has anyone else noticed that the compile time seems shorter for HL2/Source than HL1? I feel the difference is quite significant. To generate a BSP with similar file size, Hammer 4 takes significantly less time.

When I mapped for HL1, it wasn't unusual to take an hour to compile a map. But now it takes just minutes (and the map I'm working on currently is at least twice as large and has more brushes than all of my previous maps). I even run Firefox, HL2, and notepad at the same time when I compile, but nothing slows Hammer down.

my maps take about 20 seconds when i dont run RAD or VIS. When i run them they go longer than 12 hours. It's not my computer, either. I have dual P4 3.06 and 1GB ram on my compile machine.

For me compile time seem much much longer. I have about 1/4 of my
map done and currently vis takes about 15 minutes. With my hl
maps vis never took more than 10 minutes, although this is probably
skewed because i never made very complex HL maps. But also with
source maps can be so much more detailed. Rad doesnt seem to take
that long for source for me but that might be my map.

I've not done anything large or particularly complex in source, but
considering Echo takes around 30 seconds for a full compile in its
current form I reckon that it seems fairly quick. I think long compile
times can be attributed to unoptimised maps - I think if you put some
time into using func_details where appropriate and use hint brushes
effectively, you could probably cut down those multiple hour compile
times significantly.

my maps take about 20 seconds when i dont run RAD or VIS. When i
run them they go longer than 12 hours. It's not my computer, either. I
have dual P4 3.06 and 1GB ram on my compile machine.

You've got something setup apocolyptically wrong then. Either that or
you have a million overlapped brushes and the most brutal map
optimization known to man...even then that'd be a stretch.

my maps take about 20 seconds when i dont run RAD or VIS. When i
run them they go longer than 12 hours. It's not my computer, either. I
have dual P4 3.06 and 1GB ram on my compile machine.

You've got something setup apocolyptically wrong then. Either that or
you have a million overlapped brushes and the most brutal map
optimization known to man...even then that'd be a stretch.

Not so. It seems VIS chokes on any sort of map that's even sort
of open. I imagine if you're making a map with lots of boxy rooms
VIS would run fine, but maps with a lot of volume go slooooow.
Like days and days of compiling slow.

When I think about it 20 seconds for bsp alone seems pretty long. So he must have one huge map going.

I think with the new SDK release hammer compiling is faster than from the first release.

Unless you have the ill practice of boxing in the entire map with the
largest possible cube it still does not make sense. 12 hours is a loong
time. Even for the largest possible volume with the old engine my map
took 45 mins with a much lesser computer.

Well its certainly possible to push compile times in HL1 much higher
than that Gorb - my flatshaded island map ran for over 24 hours on VIS
before I pulled the plug on it and accepted only a fast compile (it
wasn't gonna make much different in a map like that anyway!). I've not
attempted anything of the sort in source so I can't really comment on
how it works with compiling open areas, but since displacement surfaces
aren't taken into account for vis calculations, I would think it would
be fairly quick. Make sure you keep the brushwork underlying the
displacement surfaces extremely simple and neat, and use hint brushes
to surround detailed areas that will cause lots of leaf splitting (eg.
a small detailed building surrounded by terrain).

It's much faster than 3.5. For my 6.9meg map Hammer 4.0 is taking about 5mins. In Hammer 3.5 it was taking me around 1hr 20mins for 5 megs. This is on full compile with all 3 sections on normal.

Heh when it comes to compile/build times and in-editor lighting, I guess UnrealEd still kicks Hammer's sorry ass. Too bad I'm too lazy to finish learning it :x

I'm just about done rebuilding my 'old' machine, a 2700+ with 1GB 3200 ram. If compile times get long, I might just use that as my 'compile' machine to keep this one's resources free.

Has anyo one noticed hammer lagging since the last update. I updated this morning and when I try going into my map it lags :sad:

[edit] it even does when I create a new map and there is nothing in it :sad:

To me rad seems somewhat faster, but vis seems slower. I always have a long wait thru portal flow. Does anybody know what portal flow does? Is that new to source or did I just overlook it in hl1?

My map actually IS a very open map with displacement overlapping. Also i have lots of brushes as i have old houses with holes in them. All that will work for this map is a BIG-ass skybox around it. any suggestions?

My map actually IS a very open map with displacement
overlapping. Also i have lots of brushes as i have old houses with
holes in them. All that will work for this map is a BIG-ass skybox
around it. any suggestions?

Uh, give yourself a week before the contest ends to do a final compile on the map?