Low fps in game (HELP!)

Ok ok.. i looked around... i know i have to optimize my map some how.. but what more can i do? i have made all the stairs... func_details... i have put no draws on all the ceilings......and compile times are set to normal.... i dont know what else i can do to increase game time fps..

its strange because when i run my map i get 50-100 fps in certain areas... (which is great for me) and i get 10-20 fps in other areas.. which i dont get... i mean it gets soo choppy!

Does anyone have any ideas on what to do?

if u need a screenshot of my map in order to help solve the problem let me know... again thanks in advance.. and sorry for the noobiness as always..

Post some pics of the areas u get lag in and I will see what I can do.

It could be that you are just seeing too much. If you want to
have large open areas, the detail in terms or architecture and models
has to be lower than in an indoor area if you want to maintain
fps. Also just check with wireframe mode that you aren't getting
too much overdraw.

remember, displacement surfaces, props, and func_anythings don't block vis. if you use these, the engine can 'see' right through them, and calculates everything behind them. use normal world brushes as visblockers either inside or behind them when you can.

also, if you have a leak, everything that you face towards in your map will be drawn, meaning when you look towards the middle of the map you will get lag, and when you're near the edge looking out from the map you'll get decent framerates.

there's more reasons that could cause it, so you'd really need to post some pics for anyone to make a better call.

ok... im getting very tired.. and frustrated.. ive put a huge amount of work into this map.. and its not working.... it wont even let me compile now!!

ive run through numerous things to try and get the fps up.. but nothing seems to work.. the last thing i tried was creating a wall next to where it starts to lag.. thinking that would help the problem.... i also put no draws on the celings..
im not sure how to find leaks other then by visually scanning an area.. i forget exactly how to do it the easy way.... =(

well when i go to compile heres what it says..

** Executing...
** Command: "c:\program files\steam\steamapps\subzero565@aol.com\sourcesdk\bin\vbsp.exe"
** Parameters: -game "c:\program files\steam\steamapps\subzero565@aol.com\counter-strike source\cstrike" "C:\Program Files\Steam\SteamApps\subzero565@aol.com\sourcesdk_content\cstrike\mapsrc\sl_test2"

Valve Software - vbsp.exe (Jan 19 2005)
1 threads
materialPath: c:\program files\steam\steamapps\subzero565@aol.com\counter-strike source\cstrike\materials
Loading C:\Program Files\Steam\SteamApps\subzero565@aol.com\sourcesdk_content\cstrike\mapsrc\sl_test2.vmf
Can't find surfaceprop concret for material DE_TIDES/TIDES_WALL_01, using default
Brush 128051, Side 1: duplicate plane
Brush 128051: FloatPlane: bad normal
Side 3
Texture: BRICK/BRICKFLOOR001A

** Executing...
** Command: "c:\program files\steam\steamapps\subzero565@aol.com\sourcesdk\bin\vvis.exe"
** Parameters: -game "c:\program files\steam\steamapps\subzero565@aol.com\counter-strike source\cstrike" "C:\Program Files\Steam\SteamApps\subzero565@aol.com\sourcesdk_content\cstrike\mapsrc\sl_test2"

Valve Software - vvis.exe (Dec 15 2004)
1 threads
reading c:\program files\steam\steamapps\subzero565@aol.com\sourcesdk_content\cstrike\mapsrc\sl_test2.bsp
Error opening c:\program files\steam\steamapps\subzero565@aol.com\sourcesdk_content\cstrike\mapsrc\sl_test2.bsp

** Executing...
** Command: "c:\program files\steam\steamapps\subzero565@aol.com\sourcesdk\bin\vrad.exe"
** Parameters: -game "c:\program files\steam\steamapps\subzero565@aol.com\counter-strike source\cstrike" "C:\Program Files\Steam\SteamApps\subzero565@aol.com\sourcesdk_content\cstrike\mapsrc\sl_test2"

Valve Software - vrad.exe (Jan 18 2005)
----- Radiosity Simulator ----
1 threads
[Reading texlights from 'lights.rad']
[1 texlights parsed from 'lights.rad']

Loading c:\program files\steam\steamapps\subzero565@aol.com\sourcesdk_content\cstrike\mapsrc\sl_test2.bsp
Error opening c:\program files\steam\steamapps\subzero565@aol.com\sourcesdk_content\cstrike\mapsrc\sl_test2.bsp

** Executing...
** Command: Copy File
** Parameters: "C:\Program Files\Steam\SteamApps\subzero565@aol.com\sourcesdk_content\cstrike\mapsrc\sl_test2.bsp" "c:\program files\steam\steamapps\subzero565@aol.com\counter-strike source\cstrike\maps\sl_test2.bsp"

The command failed. Windows reported the error:
"The system cannot find the file specified."


[size=13]Soo... anyone have any ideas as to whats going on? cause im about to uninstall life... ugh.... thanks in advance.. oh and i posted some screens of the map...
http://www.uditonline.com/web02/cwrightson/lab1.jpeg overview of map
http://www.uditonline.com/web02/cwrightson/lab3.jpg shows showbudget waay up
http://www.uditonline.com/web02/cwrightson/lab2.jpg same area no showbudget[/size]

the screens just show one area where the fps is low... its low at T spawn.. as well as other areas of the map.. always around 12-20 fps!! =(

[size=13][/size]

[size=13]Sub_Zero

[/size]

What you see on your screen is not an accurate portrayal of how complex
a scene the game is actually rendering. Try using mat_wireframe 1, 2 or
3 to see what is actually be rendered, and what could be causing your
problems.

As for the map not compiling, you have an error given to you that makes
it pretty easy to fix. Go to the brush number if tells you (Brush 128051, Side 1: duplicate plane)
by using "tools -> go to brush number" and check it in vertex
manipulation mode to ensure there are no faces on the same plane or
other errors. Fix that and you should compile fine :smile:

hmm slight problem.. when i did the wireframe option... i could see through every damn wall in the game?! wtf is the deal here? am i suppose to make my walls some sort of func? or do i leave them brushes.. which is what they are now....

heres a screenshot of 2 areas... i didnt bother taking anymore pics because its the same throughout the level.. no wonder i get lag when i look towards the center of the map... any idea and how to fix that ? =)

http://www.uditonline.com/web02/cwrightson/labwire1.jpg (area from the previous screenshot)

http://www.uditonline.com/web02/cwrightson/labwire2.jpg (T spawn)

when you use wireframe, it shows you everything that is currently being rendered. All those lines represent brushes/models that are being rendered by your computer. Of course, in reality you can't see them, but they're still taking up just as many resources as what you can see. What you want to do is try to minimize what's being rendered to as tight an area as possible. Try using both hint brushes and area portals to achieve that.

uhhh.. now im lost... how do i go about using hint brushes and area portals? (sorry for my noobness but i thought area portals where when people got teleported to certain areas....)

some plain english instructions would be great.. i dont quite understand all the verc stuff...

thanks!

Did you do a fast vis or full? If it's only fast then you render more in game.

Try this tutorial/explaination out for starters. It really explains a lot. Valve also has an example map on hint brushes. It's found in your Hammer menu.

http://collective.valve-erc.com/index.php?doc=1043477348-95410300

Here's another good one.... Area Portals

http://www.hl2world.com/wiki/index.php/Area_Portals

Don't worry. Practice and you'll get better. Just take it one solution at a time.

Is func_areaportal more for HL2 single player maps? it seems to me that
if you're making a CSS map or multiplayer map you wouldn't use those,
correct? in that case it would be better to use hint brushes, which
seem very helpful. This will be very useful to me in a few months.

yes.. im making a cs:source map.. 2 bombsites... i guess i will check out hint brushes tonight and tommorow..... i just hope i understand how to use them quickly.... thanks for all your help guys... i will keep u posted

I don't see from the top of your map, why vis won't break it up. There are problem points, where you first enter that big curved hallway... I can see that starting to draw the whole map.

If that colored background in the screenshot is because you have a big box around your level, then delete the big box, and prepare to do a zillion bsp complies and nudges until you close all the leaks. (this is what I suspect the problem is.) I see the "1 thread " notice in the log which tells me that you're not using a skybox, and the colored background with a sky texture on it, reinforces the suspicion. So, if it is, then select the box, make a new visgroup, and hide it, then recompile your map and fix the leaks.

Whether or not you have a box around it, try starting at one of the spawns, and putting in areaportals set to always-open in the hallways at the corners. Do a bsp, and fast vis. see if there are leaks in your walls between areas. Do one or two at a time, sectioning off areas of the map. You will get the message "areaportal...touching two areas", which means that you have leaks in your geometry.

At each "L" in the hallway, put a hint brush diagonally across, forming a letter "A", where the center of the hint brush touches the point of the hallway's bend, and each end of the brush touches the opposite wall.

Based upon what I see in your log, you have probably cloned brushes over the top of each other, or you have moved verticies such that you have some problem brushes. That's the first problem to solve. I do'nt know your map, so I can't help identify them. That brickxxxx texture in the error message: Pull up the texture browser, and hit "replace", check "mark found solids" then search for that texture. The brushes that are visibly marked are the ones you need to check for problems.

The statement from the log that reads "concret" may be that your vmf file is corrupted, or it might mean that the de_tides texture you brought over has a problem. I would search and replace all those textures with the same texture and see if that fixes the problem.

From the menu, select view>go to brush number, and search for 128051, and the other bad brush number. Delete the brushes and rebuild them. Don't try to fix them, it's more likely that you'll make the problem worse. They're just entries in the text file.

Hope this helps.

I have spent far too many hours on this problem myself. I'll take a look at it for you if you want. PM me a URL to download.

Is func_areaportal more for HL2 single player maps?

Not really, anywhere there is a door that can be opened or closed you
pretty much need an areaportal. Even if you have no doors, which
you probably wont as a multiplayer map, areaportals still cull vis
clusters to the portal. IE if you portalized your map perfectly,
then you could theoretically not run vis and you would draw the same
amount of polies. Your fps would probably be alot lower than if
you had run vis, and using a crapload of areaportals may be a tad
slower than without using them because I'd wager HL2 has alot more
overhead using portals than a true portal engine does. But the
idea reamins, that areaportals become a great way to control visibility
through small areas like windows, and maybe even larger areas too.

Almost anywhere you would use a hint brush, theoretically you could use
an areaportal, except that the extra splits due to the areaportal not
bein a face but being a volume are annoying. And also that would
probably verge on excessiveness.

Ok i stayed up till 4 AM.. well i am still up.. its now 4 AM.. anyways.. ive been working on this the entire night... i still havnt figured out how hint brushes or area portals work.... i thought it went like this... please dont laugh...

"say your walls are see through....so a hint brush is like putting up a wall that isnt see through..."

atleast thats what i thought they were... but after compiling a few dozen times.. im still back where i started.. i figured out they need to touch 2 brushes.... or something like that.. cause if they dont the map crashes and source explodes lol... anyways....

First let me say THANK YOU!! so much guys =) i really do that mean too..u guys could have just said haH what a noobie.. instead u helped me out a ton already... please bare with me as i struggle to finish this map... anyways.. heres where i am at now..

i fixed the issue with the map compiling...and i fixed the texture issue with the de_tides thing.. i also got rid of all the leaks...there were only 2.. and one appeared out of no where... anyways..

heres my last compile...

"""""
** Executing...
** Command: "c:\program files\steam\steamapps\subzero565@aol.com\sourcesdk\bin\vbsp.exe"
** Parameters: -game "c:\program files\steam\steamapps\subzero565@aol.com\counter-strike source\cstrike" "C:\Program Files\Steam\SteamApps\subzero565@aol.com\sourcesdk_content\cstrike\mapsrc\sl_test3"

Valve Software - vbsp.exe (Jan 19 2005)
1 threads
materialPath: c:\program files\steam\steamapps\subzero565@aol.com\counter-strike source\cstrike\materials
Loading C:\Program Files\Steam\SteamApps\subzero565@aol.com\sourcesdk_content\cstrike\mapsrc\sl_test3.vmf
fixing up env_cubemap materials on brush sides...
ProcessBlock_Thread: 0...1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10 (2)
**** leaked ****
Entity light (2102.00 -980.00 -148.62) leaked!

FindPortalSide: Couldn't find a good match for which brush to assign to a portal near (914.0, 2048.0, -232.2)
Leaf 0 contents: CONTENTS_SOLID
Leaf 1 contents:
viscontents (node 0 contents ^ node 1 contents): CONTENTS_SOLID
This means that none of the brushes in leaf 0 or 1 that touches the portal has CONTENTS_SOLID
Check for a huge brush enclosing the coordinates above that has contents CONTENTS_SOLID
Candidate brush IDs:

FindPortalSide: Couldn't find a good match for which brush to assign to a portal near (448.0, 2048.0, -232.2)
Leaf 0 contents: CONTENTS_SOLID
Leaf 1 contents:
viscontents (node 0 contents ^ node 1 contents): CONTENTS_SOLID
This means that none of the brushes in leaf 0 or 1 that touches the portal has CONTENTS_SOLID
Check for a huge brush enclosing the coordinates above that has contents CONTENTS_SOLID
Candidate brush IDs:

FindPortalSide: Couldn't find a good match for which brush to assign to a portal near (1018.0, 2048.0, -232.2)
Leaf 0 contents: CONTENTS_SOLID
Leaf 1 contents:
viscontents (node 0 contents ^ node 1 contents): CONTENTS_SOLID
This means that none of the brushes in leaf 0 or 1 that touches the portal has CONTENTS_SOLID
Check for a huge brush enclosing the coordinates above that has contents CONTENTS_SOLID
Candidate brush IDs:

FindPortalSide: Couldn't find a good match for which brush to assign to a portal near (972.0, 2048.0, -232.2)
Leaf 0 contents: CONTENTS_SOLID
Leaf 1 contents:
viscontents (node 0 contents ^ node 1 contents): CONTENTS_SOLID
This means that none of the brushes in leaf 0 or 1 that touches the portal has CONTENTS_SOLID
Check for a huge brush enclosing the coordinates above that has contents CONTENTS_SOLID
Candidate brush IDs:

FindPortalSide: Couldn't find a good match for which brush to assign to a portal near (512.0, 2048.0, -308.1)
Leaf 0 contents: CONTENTS_SOLID
Leaf 1 contents:
viscontents (node 0 contents ^ node 1 contents): CONTENTS_SOLID
This means that none of the brushes in leaf 0 or 1 that touches the portal has CONTENTS_SOLID
Check for a huge brush enclosing the coordinates above that has contents CONTENTS_SOLID
Candidate brush IDs:

FindPortalSide: Couldn't find a good match for which brush to assign to a portal near (908.1, 2048.0, -168.1)
Leaf 0 contents: CONTENTS_SOLID
Leaf 1 contents:
viscontents (node 0 contents ^ node 1 contents): CONTENTS_SOLID
This means that none of the brushes in leaf 0 or 1 that touches the portal has CONTENTS_SOLID
Check for a huge brush enclosing the coordinates above that has contents CONTENTS_SOLID
Candidate brush IDs:

FindPortalSide: Couldn't find a good match for which brush to assign to a portal near (448.0, 2048.0, -168.1)
Leaf 0 contents: CONTENTS_SOLID
Leaf 1 contents:
viscontents (node 0 contents ^ node 1 contents): CONTENTS_SOLID
This means that none of the brushes in leaf 0 or 1 that touches the portal has CONTENTS_SOLID
Check for a huge brush enclosing the coordinates above that has contents CONTENTS_SOLID
Candidate brush IDs:

FindPortalSide: Couldn't find a good match for which brush to assign to a portal near (924.1, 2048.0, -168.1)
Leaf 0 contents: CONTENTS_SOLID
Leaf 1 contents:
viscontents (node 0 contents ^ node 1 contents): CONTENTS_SOLID
This means that none of the brushes in leaf 0 or 1 that touches the portal has CONTENTS_SOLID
Check for a huge brush enclosing the coordinates above that has contents CONTENTS_SOLID
Candidate brush IDs:

*** Suppressing further FindPortalSide errors.... ***
Processing areas...
Brush 43077: areaportal brush doesn't touch two areas
done (0)
Building Faces...done (0)
Chop Details...done (0)
Find Visible Detail Sides...
Merged 28 detail faces...done (0)
Merging details...done (0)
FixTjuncs...
PruneNodes...
WriteBSP...
done (2)
Creating default cubemaps for env_cubemap using skybox sky_wasteland02...
Run buildcubemaps in the engine to get the correct cube maps.
Finding displacement neighbors...
Finding lightmap sample positions...
Displacement Alpha : 0...1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10
Building Physics collision data...
Degenerate Triangle
(1332.00, 762.00, -232.60), (1332.00, 769.00, -246.54), (1332.00, 769.00, -246.54)
Degenerate Triangle

Triangle .....etc...

Placing detail props : 0...1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...Material NATURE/BLENDGRASSGRAVEL001B uses unknown detail object type coastline_redgrass03!
Material NATURE/BLENDDIRTGRASS005A uses unknown detail object type coastline_grass01!
Material NATURE/BLENDDIRTGRASS005A uses unknown detail object type coastline_grass01!
Material NATURE/BLENDDIRTGRASS005A uses unknown detail object type coastline_grass01!
Material NATURE/BLENDDIRTGRASS005A uses unknown detail object type coastline_grass01!
Material NATURE/BLENDGRASSGRAVEL001B uses unknown detail object type coastline_redgrass03!
Material NATURE/BLENDGRASSGRAVEL001B uses unknown detail object type coastline_redgrass03!
Material NATURE/BLENDGRASSGRAVEL001B uses unknown detail object type coastline_redgrass03!
Material NATURE/BLENDGRASSGRAVEL001B uses unknown detail object type coastline_redgrass03!
10
Water found with no water_lod_control entity, creating a default one.
Writing C:\Program Files\Steam\SteamApps\subzero565@aol.com\sourcesdk_content\cstrike\mapsrc\sl_test3.bsp
58 seconds elapsed
Memory leak: mempool blocks left in memory: 48
Memory leak: mempool blocks left in memory: 8

** Executing...
** Command: "c:\program files\steam\steamapps\subzero565@aol.com\sourcesdk\bin\vvis.exe"
** Parameters: -game "c:\program files\steam\steamapps\subzero565@aol.com\counter-strike source\cstrike" "C:\Program Files\Steam\SteamApps\subzero565@aol.com\sourcesdk_content\cstrike\mapsrc\sl_test3"

Valve Software - vvis.exe (Dec 15 2004)
1 threads
reading c:\program files\steam\steamapps\subzero565@aol.com\sourcesdk_content\cstrike\mapsrc\sl_test3.bsp
reading c:\program files\steam\steamapps\subzero565@aol.com\sourcesdk_content\cstrike\mapsrc\sl_test3.prt
LoadPortals: couldn't read c:\program files\steam\steamapps\subzero565@aol.com\sourcesdk_content\cstrike\mapsrc\sl_test3.prt

** Executing...
** Command: "c:\program files\steam\steamapps\subzero565@aol.com\sourcesdk\bin\vrad.exe"
** Parameters: -game "c:\program files\steam\steamapps\subzero565@aol.com\counter-strike source\cstrike" "C:\Program Files\Steam\SteamApps\subzero565@aol.com\sourcesdk_content\cstrike\mapsrc\sl_test3"

Valve Software - vrad.exe (Jan 18 2005)
----- Radiosity Simulator ----
1 threads
[Reading texlights from 'lights.rad']
[1 texlights parsed from 'lights.rad']

Loading c:\program files\steam\steamapps\subzero565@aol.com\sourcesdk_content\cstrike\mapsrc\sl_test3.bsp
No vis information, direct lighting only.
7381 faces
9 degenerate faces
524111 square feet [75472000.00 square inches]
47 displacements
6525 square feet [939628.19 square inches]
106 direct lights
BuildFacelights: 0...1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10 (473)
Build Patch/Sample Hash Table(s).....Done<0.1091 sec>
FinalLightFace: 0...1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10 (6)
FinalLightFace Done
Ready to Finish
Computing detail prop lighting : 0...1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10
0 of 0 (0% of) surface lights went in leaf ambient cubes.
ComputePerLeafAmbientLighting: 0...1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10

[size=10]Object names Objects/Maxobjs Memory / Maxmem Fullness
------------ --------------- --------------- --------
models 28/1024 1344/49152 ( 2.7%)
brushes 861/8192 10332/98304 (10.5%)
brushsides 5789/65536 46312/524288 ( 8.8%)
planes 4662/65536 93240/1310720 ( 7.1%)
vertexes 11696/65536 140352/786432 (17.8%)
nodes 5120/65536 163840/2097152 ( 7.8%)
texinfos 1731/12288 124632/884736 (14.1%

<DIV class=quote>
<DIV class=quotetitle>? quoting $loth</DIV>
<DIV class=quotetext>Did you do a fast vis or full? If it's only fast then you render more in game.
</DIV></DIV>

there is plenty of vis blocking in this maps layout to help in most areas. i doubt all but most. the wireframe shots are just showing way to much info.

i concur with sloth.. what kind of a vis did you do?
sometimes the solution is just this simple.

[edit] you post another 2.2 meg image and i am gonna lose all sense of decency.. stop posting the damned monsters.. no body is so damned new to the internet that they make mistakes of this type. you have to know its wrong. :sad:

[edit2] i am having difficulty verifying the file size, but i know its forking huge so stop anyways.. read this

Why dont you at first forget about hint brushes for now. Your map
should be fine without them. Just go ahead and delete them
all. First concentrate of fixing the leak and all the other bsp
errors.

This may have been addressed, and if it has, then I apologize but when you see

**** leaked ****
Entity light (2102.00 -980.00 -148.62) leaked!

do you load a pointfile in your menu to see where it's leaking to? This is a very helpful tool. Also, ensure that you have no func_detail brushes touching the void as this does not block vis and will cause leaks. I agree with SaintGreg. Delete those hint brushes. You already have lots of twists and turns in your map. On your last pic, your hint brushes were outside of the playable area anyways.

I understand that you are still confused about how to place hint brushes. Make your brush (1) unit thick out of the toolsskip texture. Make the side that's going to touch the corner with the hint texture. Make your brush at a 45 degree angle (or close to that) and have it touch no more than (1) unit of the corner (in the playable area). It also needs to be (1) unit from the wall on each end and (1) unit from the floor and ceiling. And that's it. But that's for later I guess.

Another thing I noticed in your +showbudget pic is that your dynamic lighting was going through the roof. Do you by chance have a flashing light in your map? A light that flashes next to a model? If your dynamic lighting is spiking at a regular interval while standing still and you do have a light that's flashing up against a model, this could be the cause. If it's a random spike, then I don't know.

Also, if you have anything running on a func_tracktrain in your map, make sure that the object that's moving on the func_tracktrain isn't going through any solids such as walls. This will cause your networking (on +showbudget) to spike, causing jumpiness.

Anyways, I hope this helps you out. PM me if you want me to look at your .vmf. I may not be that experienced, but it couldn't hurt.

well i just woke up... i apologize for the large image sizes... its my own damn fault..i was tired lazy.. and i just wanted to post the screens for feedback asap... i will change them when i get the time.. too as for future screens i will try to fix them before posting...

ok down to work... i didnt see the leak message until now.... so thats curious... does it only show 1 leak at a time?..... however...my main question is this.... if i fix the leaks.. will the game stop rendering the entire map when i look towards the center? or will i still have to make some hint brushes?

Sub

Yes, it'll show one leak at a time. I would fix the leak via load pointfile, then do a no vis/rad compile to see if there's another leak to fix. As far as the player still being able to see the entire map via mat_wireframe, i'm not sure. I would just concentrate on the leaks then see for yourself.

Everyone else is telling you to be practical, and I'd agree, the problem is your leaks. On the other hand, I'll just keep on this topic for a bit in case you want to get something out of it.

- Are you sure that there not a box around the whole map? I read your post and I can't tell. If your map is largely under ground, that spawn on the left, I assume is the T spawn, and is the ONLY THING that has a box around it. If not, you are probably leaking into the space between your box and your tunnels, and then leaking into the void. This will force the entire thing to draw. (Of course, if not, then you're leaking in to the void alone, and that will force everything to draw.

• Yes, I'm saying make a brush, put the areaportal texture on it, and block off sections of your map a little at a time. I don't see other people use this technique, but I found it to be really important on a large complex map for finding small holes that let vis see from one area into another.

If you start at one end of your map, in the spawn, pretend that the map is filling with water from that point. You want to keep all the water in any area, and watch for leaks. Using areaportals allows you to put a cork in your hallways to dam the water, so that you can see leaks. I don't think it's as big a deal on your map, but it's a great technique for finding inter-area leaks in your map, instead of just leaks to the void. vbsp creates a pointfile for these inter-area leaks. It's very helpful.

• hint brushes. Well, your map shouldn't be difficult enough to need them, everyone else here is right. On the other hand, knowing how can't hurt, and on your map it's pretty easy to put them in place. If I look at your screenshot, there are green slashes at seven places on your map. I'll number them from 1-7 starting at the top right, then moving to the center three, then to the bottom three. drop brush 2 and 6 because they won't do any good. Brush 3 is right but make an X using another identical brush flipped horizontally, so that the corridor is X'd off. Brushes 4 5 and 7 are 90 degrees off. The inside corner of the hallway should touch the MIDDLE of the brush, and the way you've put them in, the brush juts out of the inside corner.

Anyway, this is mostly for posterity, because the problem is your leak, which is making the outsides of your map visible, which means that everything is being rendered.

-Cheers

thought i would let all u guys know whats up... currently i am going through my map and getting rid of all the leaks... seems there were a lot of them... however once im done with getting rid of the leaks will the map run smoothly? and not render the entire map when i look around in game?

thanks

Sub-Zero

Yes. When you have a leak, VVIS doesn't run. That means no visibility
information gets added to the map, which means that the whole map gets
rendered all the time while in the game.

but if the map will run smoothly after that depends on how well you have built it

well apparently i built a good map... i finally fixed all the damn leaks.. problem solved.. fps is good and steady....

Thanks a bunch guys for your help!

aye, i JUST had this problem, and fixed by applying NODRAW to EVERY non-visible face.... made a frikkin hell monkey of a difference. if you havnt done this, do it.

easy way: select everything in your map, then take the texture tool, then go unselect every face you see INSIDE the level. to everything else, make it NODRAW. (note: when everything is selected, and the texture tool is selected, it automatticaly un-selects every non-brush)

hard way: go all over the outside and inside of your map making individual faces NODRAW, even the ones you can never see, like the faces between two square brushes, connecting them. (not recomended, although before i though of the easy way, this is what i did....)

i reccomend this for everyone, it really improves the gameplay.

boromokot, that shouldn't make a bit of difference unless you have a
leak. I do that myself by using nodraw as a base texture, but I
do it because it helps me stay organized with my texturing.