784 lines
30 KiB
HTML
784 lines
30 KiB
HTML
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<title>Q3Radiant Editor Manual: Page 5.1</title>
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<link rel = "stylesheet" type = "text/css" href = "../styles/q3rad.css">
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</head>
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<body>
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<h1 class = "MsoTitle">Q3Radiant Editor Manual</h1>
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<hr>
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<h1><a name = "tools2">Tools 2: Working with Brushes</a></h1>
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<p>The geometry brushes are the basic building block of the Quake
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III Arena engine. These are the tools to make them work for
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you.
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<h2><a name = "geohand">Geometry Brush Handling Tools</a></h2>
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<div class = "subheading">Escape (ESC)</div>
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This is the all-purpose deselect key. Use it to back out of
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operations you don't want to complete or to stop working on a brush
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or group of brushes.
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<p><div class = "subheading">Create New Brush</div>
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<div class = "menu">(Click mouse button 1)
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<br>(Shortcut: none)</div>
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While mouse1 clicking over the main map window (or any open map
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window) drag the mouse pointer across the grid. A brush will be
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created that has the height of the current map grid size. If you
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have the "snap to grid" function set in your preferences, the brush
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will start and stop on gridlines. The texture will be either the
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default texture (if none has been selected) or the most recently
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used texture. For all these functions, you will first need to
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select a brush in either the Map or Camera windows.
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<p><div class = "subheading">Move Geometry Brush</div>
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<div class = "menu">(Click mouse button 1)</div>
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The Undo command will return the brush to its original size (if
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the brush is still selected). If the brush has been deselected, the
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resized version will remain and another brush will be created at
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full size.
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<ul><b>In the Map Window.</b> In the map window, select the
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brush. Click on the selected brush. With the mouse 1 button
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depressed move the brush around the map to the position you
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desire.
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<br><b>In the Z (height) Window.</b> In the map window, select the
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brush. Next, click on the selected brush in the Z window. With the
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mouse 1 button depressed move the brush around the map to the
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position you desire.
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<br><b>In the Camera Window.</b> Select a brush in the camera
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window (see <b><i>select single component</i></b> above).
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Mouse button 1 click on the brush and drag it in the desired
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direction. You may need to adjust your camera view to make dragging
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easier.</ul>
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<p><div class = "subheading">Stretching the Brush</div>
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<div class = "menu">(mouse1)</div>
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Think of this as stretching the brush. The Undo command will
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return the brush to its original size (if the brush is still
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selected). If the brush has been deselected, the resized version
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will remain and another brush will be created at full size.
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<ul><b>In the Map Window.</b> In the map window, click next to the
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selected brush on the side you want to pull. With the mouse 1
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button depressed pull in a direction away from the nearest edge.
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The brush will grow larger in that direction.
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<br><b>In the Z (height) Window.</b> Use this to make the
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brush taller. In the Map or Camera window, select the brush.
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Next, click above or below the selected brush in the Z window. With
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the mouse 1 button depressed pull away from the select brush. The
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brush will grow in that direction.
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<br><b>In the Camera Window.</b> Select a brush in the camera
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window (see <b><i>select single component</i></b> above).
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Mouse1 click near the edge of the selected brush. With the mouse 1
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button depressed pull in a direction away from the nearest edge.
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The brush will grow larger in that direction. You may need to
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adjust your camera view to make dragging easier.</ul>
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<p><div class = "subheading">Shrinking the Brush</div>
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<div class = "menu">(mouse1)</div>
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Think of this as crunching the brush smaller.
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<ul><b>In the Map Window:</b> In the map window, select the
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brush. Click next to the selected brush on the side you want
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to pull. With the mouse 1 button depressed pull in a direction
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toward the nearest edge. The brush will shrink in that
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direction.
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<br><b>In the Z (height) Window:</b> Use this to make the brush
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shorter. In the Map or Camera window, select the brush. Next,
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click above or below the selected brush in the Z window. With the
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mouse button 1 depressed, push towards the select brush. The brush
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will shrink in that direction.
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<br><b>In the Camera Window:</b> Select a brush in the camera window
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(see <b><i>select single component</i></b> above). Mouse1
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click near the edge of the selected brush. With the mouse 1 button
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depressed push in a direction towards the nearest edge. The brush
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will grow larger in that direction. You may need to adjust your
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camera view to make dragging easier.</ul>
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<p><div class = "subheading">Flip Brush</div>
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<div class = "menu">(Menu: Selection > Flip)</div>
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There are three separate actions here. They flip a brush
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along either X, Y, or Z-axes. A menu command and toolbar button
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controls each. The six flip and rotate toolbar commands are the
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second grouping (from the left) on the toolbar. The rotate
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command for the same axis is always next to the flip command.
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Flipping will not change the facing on non-model entities.
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<ul><b>Flip X</b> (Menu: Selection) (Toolbar: Leftmost button)
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<br>
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Flips brush along x-axis.
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<br>
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<b>Flip Y</b> (Menu: Selection) (Toolbar: left of center
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button)
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<br>
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Flips brush along y-axis.
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<br><b>Flip Z</b> (Menu: Selection) (Toolbar: second button from the
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right)
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<br>
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Flips brush along z-axis.</ul>
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<p><div class = "subheading">Rotate Brush</div>
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<div class = "menu">(Menu: Selection > Rotate)</div>
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There are three separate actions here. They rotate a brush
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in 90 degree increments around a brush's X, Y, or Z axes. Both a
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menu command and toolbar button controls each action. The six flip
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and rotate toolbar commands are the second grouping (from the left)
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on the toolbar. The flip command for the same axis is always next
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to the rotate command for the same axis. The rotation will not
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change the facing on non-model entities.
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<ul><strong>
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Rotate X</strong>
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<div class = "menu">(Menu: Selection > Rotate > Rotate X)</div>
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Rotates brush around the x-axis.
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<br><strong>
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Rotate Y</strong>
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<div class = "menu">(Menu: Selection > Rotate > Rotate Y)</div>
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Rotates brush around the y-axis.
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<br><strong>Rotate Z</strong>
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<div class = "menu">(Menu: Selection > Rotate > Rotate Y)</div>
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Rotates brush around the Z-axis.</ul>
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<p><div class = "subheading">Arbitrary Rotation</div>
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The Rotate commands accessed from the toolbar all rotate
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affected map components 90 degrees; no more, no less. Arbitrary
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Rotation allows the user to set angles individually for the X, Y,
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and/or Z-axes. Enter a number value for each axis you want to
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rotate. Value can be positive or negative. After the values are
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entered, select OK. This rotates the object and closes the pop-up
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window. If you don't like the rotation, you can use Undo, so long
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as the brush is still selected, and the brush will return to its
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un-manipulated facing.
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<p><div class = "subheading">Free Rotate in Map Window</div>
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<div class = "menu">(Shortcut: R)</div>
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Press the "R" key. The selected map component(s) turns lavender.
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The purple square at the center is the center of the selection and
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the axis around which it will rotate. Left Mouse clicking on or
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near the selected component (in the map or camera window) and
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dragging will cause it to rotate. If the user does a SHIFT + middle
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mouse button click on the 2D map window, the axis square will
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relocate to the coordinates of the click. Deselecting and
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reselecting the component returns the axis to its original
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center.
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<p><div class = "subheading">Drag</div>
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There are two "drag" functions that involve control points or
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"handles" on the brush.
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<ul><strong>Drag Edges</strong>
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<div class = "menu">(Menu: Selection > Drag Edges)
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<br>(Shortcut: CTRL + E)</div>
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This highlights the edges of a geometry brush, marking those
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edges with a blue "handle" box at the center of each side. Press
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again and the feature will toggle off. Pull on a handle to resize
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part of a brush. If <i>Snap-to-Grid</i> is active (Menu: Grid), the
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handle will snap to the nearest grid coordinate as it is pulled.
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Undo functions with this effect.
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<br><strong>Drag Vertices</strong>
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<div class = "menu">(Menu: Selection > Drag Vertices)
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<br>(Shortcut: CTRL + V)</div>
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This highlights the corner vertices of a geometry brush, marking
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those corners with a green "handle" box where the sides of each
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brush face connect. Press again and the feature will toggle off.
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Pull on a handle to resize part of a brush. If <i>Snap-to-Grid</i>
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is active (Menu: Grid), the handle will usually snap to the nearest
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grid coordinate as it is pulled. Undo does NOT function with this
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effect.</ul>
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<p><div class = "tip"><strong>Design Note:</strong> Drag Vertices is a balky tool at best. It
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works well if the user is manipulating a triangular brush face,
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raising or lowering corners of the triangle. Work with care, it is
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quite easy to pull a brush out of useable (or recoverable)
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shape.</div>
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<p><div class = "subheading">Scale</div>
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<div class = "menu">(Menu: Selection > Scale)</div>
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With Scale you can enlarge or reduce a brush, patch, or group of
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brushes and patches. You choose the axes to scale (X, Y, or Z) and
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the factor of the scale. The scaling factor can be different for
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each axis. Selecting this option brings up a tool window. The size
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of the brush or group of brushes is multiplied by the numbers in
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the boxes adjacent to the X, Y, or Z axes. Leave the value as 1 and
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no change occurs. If the value is a decimal less than one, the size
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of that axis shrinks. If the value is greater than 1, it grows. Hit
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OK to activate the scaling function with you chosen values. Undo
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functions with this effect.
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<p><div class = "subheading">CSG Operations</div>
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CSG stands for "Constructive Solid Geometry". The two
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functions here, <b><i>CSG Subtract</i></b> and <b><i>Make
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Hollow,</i></b> calculate the removing of sections from that
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geometry and breaking solid brushes (not curve patches) into
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smaller pieces. Although they are convenient to use for some
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operations, they often do things that the user may not care for.
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These "side effects" can include breaking brushes into inconvenient
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parts, cutting up adjacent brushes, and creating hard to find and
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remove micro brushes.
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<p><strong>Subtract</strong>
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<img src = "../Q3Rad_Manual_files/image022.png" width = 32 height = 30 align = "left" hspace = 2 vspace = 2><div class = "menu">(Menu: Selection > CSG > <u>S</u>ubtract)</div>
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When you select this, the selected brush or brushes subtract its
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volume from all the geometry that contacts it. The cutting brush is
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not removed. Undo does not fix this action.
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<p><div class = "tip"><strong>Design Note:</strong> Region off together the brushes that will be
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cut and the brushes which will be used for cutting. This keeps
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other brushes in the map from being affected by the action. It's
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also a good idea to save just before doing the action, so the user
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can "back up" to an earlier version.</div>
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<p><strong>Hollow</strong>
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<img src = "../Q3Rad_Manual_files/image024.png" width = 32 height = 30 align = "left" hspace = 2 vspace = 2><div class = "menu">(Menu: Selection > CSG > <u>H</u>ollow)</div>
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When the user selects this, the sides of the highlighted brush
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are turned into separate brushes. The thickness of these brushes is
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equal to the grid size. Undo functions with this action.
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<p><div class = "tip"><strong>Design Note:</strong> This works best with rectangular
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brushes. The edges of the created brushes overlap each
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other.</div>
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<p><strong>Merge</strong>
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<img src = "../Q3Rad_Manual_files/image026.png" width = 32 height = 30 align = "left" hspace = 2 vspace = 2><div class = "menu">(Menu: Selection > CSG > Merge)</div>
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When the user selects this, the highlighted brushes are turned
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into a single, convex brush. If the result of the merge would not
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create a convex brush, the following message appears in the editor
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console: " Cannot add a set of brushes with a concave hull."
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<p><b>Examples:</b> Example "<b>A</b>" shows two brushes can be
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merged together. Example "<b>B"</b> shows two brushes that cannot
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merge.
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<p align = "center"><img src = "../Q3Rad_Manual_files/image028.png" width = 383 height = 256 alt = "image028.png">
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<p><div class = "subheading">Clipper</div>
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<img src = "../Q3Rad_Manual_files/image030.png" width = 32 height = 30 align = "left" hspace = 2 vspace = 2><div class = "menu">(Menu: Selection > Clipper)
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<br>(X toggles the clipper tool on or off)</div>
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If you think of this tool as being near the same as the miter
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box that a carpenter uses to cut wood or moldings, then you are not
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far from the truth.
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<p><strong>Placing Clip Points</strong>
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<br>Clip points are placed in the map views by two methods:
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<div class = "menu">(Mouse button 1 after Clipper has been toggled on)
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<br>(CTRL + Mouse button 2 at any time)</div>
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<p>The figure below shows a square brush that has been "clipped"
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from the lower left (point 1) to the upper right (point 2). The
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editor creates a line between the first point and the second point.
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The piece to be kept when the brush is cut is always created in a
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clockwise direction from the line (assuming that the first point is
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the center of the "clock")
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<p>In a two-point clip (shown here), the cut occurs perpendicular
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(at a 90 degree angle) from the plane of the map view. Adding a
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third point, and adjusting its position in a different map view can
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change the angle of the cutting plane. This will take practice to
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master.
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<ul><strong>Toggle Clipper</strong>
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<div class = "menu">(Menu: Selection > Clipper > Toggle Clipper)
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<br>(X)</div>
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This toggles the Clipper function on and off. After completing a
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cut, the tool remains active and must be toggled off before another
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brush is selected.
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<br><strong>Clip Selection</strong>
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<div class = "menu">(Menu: Selection > Clipper > Clip Selection)
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<br>(SHIFT)</div>
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If the "clip selection" action is completed the red portion of
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the brush will be discarded and only the yellow will remain. The
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brush is unselected. Undo currently returns the original brush and
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keeps the clipped off piece.
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<br><strong>Split Selection</strong>
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<div class = "menu">(Menu: Selection > Clipper > Split Selection)
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<br>(SHIFT + CTRL)</div>
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If the "split selection" action is completed the red and yellow
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portions of the brush will remain, split into two triangular
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brushes. The brush is unselected.
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<br><strong>Flip Clip Orientation</strong>
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<div class = "menu">(Menu: Selection > Clipper > Flip Clip
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Orientation)</div>
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The yellow and red hi-lights toggle so what was red is now
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yellow and what was yellow is now red.</ul>
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<p><div class = "subheading">Make Detail</div>
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<div class = "menu">(Menu: Selection > Make Detail)
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<br>(Shortcut: CTRL + M)</div>
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In <i>Quake 2,</i> this was a surface flag. In <i>Quake III
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Arena,</i> it is used on the brush itself. Detail makes a brush
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non-structural. This means that it cannot be used to seal the hull
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of the map world. Don't use it for wall, floors, or ceilings. If it
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is used as a hull, the map will "leak" when compiled. But it can be
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used on things that jut out away from the walls (as long as there
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is a structural brush behind it).
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<p>Detail has two beneficial effects:
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<p>1. Detail brushes are less likely to cause additional cuts to
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occur in non-detail brushes that they touch ... thus reducing
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triangle counts. This can help reduce frame rate.
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<p>2. When the compiler does Vis, it breaks the world up into many
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small volumes. Any break in the surface of the box that forms a
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room creates additional volumes that must be. Detail brushes don't
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create these breaks. Therefore, using them speeds up compiling.
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<p><div class = "subheading">Make Structural</div>
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<div class = "menu">(Menu: Selection > Make Structural)
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<br>(Shortcut: none)</div>
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Structural is the Default State for brushes. Textures that are
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not manipulated by shader scripts to be transparent or non-solid)
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do not change this. Essentially, this is a <i>change-it-back</i>
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command for Make Detail. It removes the detail flag from the brush.
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This surface WILL block Vis when the map is compiled (so long as
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there isn't shader content that says otherwise).
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<p><div class = "subheading">Func_Group</div>
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<div class = "menu">(Entity Window > Func_Group > Enter)</div>
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Technically, this is a b_model (brush model) entity. However,
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it's a great way to manage and handle related groups of map
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components for ease of selection. To use, select the brushes
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and patches you want to group and then open the Entity window
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(press "N"). Click on the entity list sub-window and type in "F" to
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move to the top of the "funcs". Double-click on Func_Group and all
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the brushes and patches selected are bound together into a group.
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Select one and you select them all.
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<p><strong>Thumb through Components</strong>
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<br>(Shortcut: TAB)</div>
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When you have a Func_Group b_model entity selected, press the
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TAB key to "thumb" through the component pieces, hi-lighting them
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individually, one at a time. This allows you to work on part of a
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multi-piece group without having to work on all pieces
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<p><div class = "subheading">Find Brush</div>
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<div class = "menu">(Menu: Misc > Find Brush)</div>
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Find brush allows you to locate a brush in the map by its
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identifying number. As the map is built, the editor assigns
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identification numbers to each map component. For brushes (and
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patches) these include an Entity number and a brush number. For any
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brush that is not part of a brush model (b_model), the entity
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number is zero (0). Each b_model will have it's own number.
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<p>When the compiler outputs error messages in the console and
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junk.text file, an identification number will call out brushes with
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problems. Be prepared for them. Even when you do things right, you
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will get error messages.
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<p>Selecting Find brush pops up a dialogue window with two fields.
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The first field is the entity number. For most brushes, this will
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be zero. The second number is the brush's individual number.
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Selecting "OK," jumps the 2D map window(s) to the selected
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component and hi-lights it.
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<p><div class = "subheading">Brush scripts…</div>
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<div class = "menu">(Menu: Edit > Brush scripts…)
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<br>(Shortcut: none)</div>
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The command allows you to perform multiple step operations that
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manipulate a single brush. Currently, only two of the list scripts
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function.
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<p><table>
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<tr valign = "top">
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<td><b>BuildSpiral</b></td>
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<td width = "90%">This walks you through the steps of building a spiral staircase.
|
|
Select a brush, then click on the map to locate the spiral origin.
|
|
Click again to bring up a dialogue window that prompts you to enter
|
|
the number of steps, the angle of rotation, and the height of each
|
|
step.</td>
|
|
</tr>
|
|
<tr>
|
|
<td><b>
|
|
BuildStep</b></td>
|
|
<td width = "90%">This clones the selected brush and moves it +X 16 units and +Z 8
|
|
units.</td>
|
|
</tr>
|
|
</table>
|
|
|
|
<h2><u>B</u>rush Menu Commands</a></h2>
|
|
|
|
The Brush menu lets the mapmaker convert a selected brush into a
|
|
brush of a different shape. Most of the commands change the number
|
|
of sides that the brush possesses. It will also change the brush to
|
|
a single color. There are individual commands for three through
|
|
nine sides. The brush will be given the number of sides indicated
|
|
by the command (Plus top and bottom). The "top" facing is always
|
|
relative to the view in which it is created. The sides are always
|
|
at right angles to the view facing.
|
|
|
|
<p><div class = "subheading">Poly-Sided Brushes</div>
|
|
|
|
<table class = "menu">
|
|
<tr>
|
|
<td>3
|
|
sided</td>
|
|
<td>(Menu: Brush > 3
|
|
sided)</td>
|
|
<td>(Shortcut: CTRL + 3)</td>
|
|
</tr>
|
|
<tr>
|
|
<td>4
|
|
sided</td>
|
|
<td>(Menu: Brush > 4
|
|
sided)</td>
|
|
<td>(Shortcut: CTRL + 4)</td>
|
|
</tr>
|
|
<tr>
|
|
<td>5
|
|
sided</td>
|
|
<td>(Menu: Brush > 5
|
|
sided)</td>
|
|
<td>(Shortcut: CTRL + 5)</td>
|
|
</tr>
|
|
<tr>
|
|
<td>6
|
|
sided</td>
|
|
<td>(Menu: Brush > 6
|
|
sided)</td>
|
|
<td>(Shortcut: CTRL + 6)</td>
|
|
</tr>
|
|
<tr>
|
|
<td>7
|
|
sided</td>
|
|
<td>(Menu: Brush > 7
|
|
sided)</td>
|
|
<td>(Shortcut: CTRL + 7)</td>
|
|
</tr>
|
|
<tr>
|
|
<td>8
|
|
sided</td>
|
|
<td>(Menu: Brush > 8
|
|
sided)</td>
|
|
<td>(Shortcut: CTRL + 8)</td>
|
|
<tr>
|
|
<td>9
|
|
sided</td>
|
|
<td>(Menu: Brush > 9
|
|
sided)</td>
|
|
<td>(Shortcut: CTRL + 9)</td>
|
|
</tr>
|
|
</table>
|
|
|
|
<p><div class = "subheading">Arbitrary sided…</div>
|
|
|
|
<div class = "menu">(Menu: Brush > Arbitrary sided…)</div>
|
|
|
|
This command opens a dialogue window. You can enter a number of
|
|
sides in the field from 3 to 64. Select OK to execute the
|
|
command.
|
|
|
|
<p><div class = "subheading">Primitives</div>
|
|
|
|
<div class = "menu">(Menu: Brush > Primitives)</div>
|
|
|
|
Primitives are pre-made shapes other than squares or the
|
|
polygonal multisided boxes made by the "number" sided brush
|
|
commands.
|
|
|
|
<p><strong>Cone…</strong>
|
|
|
|
<div class = "menu">(Menu: Brush > Primitives > Cone…)</div>
|
|
|
|
This opens a pop-up dialogue window that lets you enter an
|
|
arbitrary number of sides. The height of the cone is equal to the Z
|
|
height of the brush. The cone is always made with its axis along
|
|
the Z-axis. At first, the radius of the base of the cone appears to
|
|
be unrelated, or at least unevenly related to the XY dimensions of
|
|
the brush from which it is transformed. However, if you make a four
|
|
sided brush, the point to point "diameter" of the resulting pyramid
|
|
is equal to the longest XY dimension of the brush. Starting the
|
|
same size brush as you used for the four-side cone, an eight-sided
|
|
cone fits neatly within the volume of the four-sided cone, four of
|
|
its sides congruent with the side planes of the four-sided cone. Do
|
|
the same for a 16 sided cone, and the same again for both a 32
|
|
sided cone. However, the number of sides seems to max out at
|
|
56.
|
|
|
|
<p><strong>Sphere…</strong>
|
|
|
|
<div class = "menu">(Menu: Brush>Primitives>Sphere…)</div>
|
|
|
|
This opens a pop-up dialogue window that lets you enter an
|
|
arbitrary number of sides. The maximum number of sides, which the
|
|
editor seems willing to handle is 32.The diameter of the sphere, is
|
|
roughly equal to the length of the longest XY side of the brush
|
|
from which it is transformed. Attempts to create spheres with more
|
|
faces than 32 may result in the brush disappearing and becoming
|
|
infinitely tall. Use Undo to back up from this or hit backspace to
|
|
discard the brush.
|
|
|
|
<p><strong>Torus…</strong>
|
|
|
|
<br>Non functioniong command. No donuts for you!
|
|
|
|
<h2><a name = "movebrush">Moving
|
|
Selected Brushes</a></h2>
|
|
|
|
<div class = "subheading">Moving the Brush</div>
|
|
|
|
These keys move the brush around the map in discrete map grid
|
|
increments.
|
|
|
|
<ul><strong>Move Selection Down</strong>
|
|
|
|
<div class = "menu">(Shortcut: Keypad MINUS)</div>
|
|
Each press moves the selected map component down along the
|
|
Z-axis by one grid position (at current grid setting). Not affected
|
|
by current 2D-map view.
|
|
|
|
<p><strong>Move Selection Up</strong>
|
|
|
|
<div class = "menu">(Shortcut: Keypad PLUS)</div>
|
|
Each press moves the selected map component up along the Z-axis
|
|
by one grid position (at current grid setting). Not affected by
|
|
current 2D-map view.</ul>
|
|
|
|
<p><div class = "subheading">Nudging the Brush</div>
|
|
|
|
These keys move the brush around the map in discrete map grid
|
|
increments. The movement is in terms of the selected window, not in
|
|
terms of XYZ coordinates.
|
|
|
|
<ul><strong>Nudge Down</strong>
|
|
|
|
<div class = "menu">(Shortcut: ALT + DOWN ARROW)</div>
|
|
|
|
Each press moves the selected map component "down" the map view
|
|
by one grid position (at the current grid setting). The movement is
|
|
relative to the selected map view, not XYZ coordinates.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<p><strong>Nudge Up</strong>
|
|
|
|
<div class = "menu">(Shortcut: ALT + UP ARROW)</div>
|
|
|
|
Each press moves the selected map component "up" the map view by
|
|
one grid position (at the current grid setting). The movement is
|
|
relative to the selected map view, not XYZ coordinates.
|
|
|
|
<p><strong>Nudge Left</strong>
|
|
|
|
<div class = "menu">(Shortcut: ALT + LEFT ARROW)</div>
|
|
|
|
Each press moves the selected map component "left" the map view
|
|
by one grid position (at the current grid setting). The movement is
|
|
relative to the selected map view, not XYZ coordinates.
|
|
|
|
<p><strong>Nudge Right</strong>
|
|
|
|
<div class = "menu">(Shortcut: ALT + RIGHT ARROW)</div>
|
|
|
|
Each press moves the selected map component "right" the map view
|
|
by one grid position (at the current grid setting). The movement is
|
|
relative to the selected map view, not XYZ coordinates.</ul>
|
|
|
|
<p><div class = "subheading">Snap Selection To Grid</div>
|
|
|
|
<div class = "menu">(Shortcut: CTRL + G)</div>
|
|
|
|
If you are using the map grid to keep brushes in alignment, this
|
|
is a great tool. Rotated brushes and brushes that have had their
|
|
vertices tweaked can have vertices that no longer lie on map grid
|
|
intersections. This snaps the vertices to align with the
|
|
grid. Be warned that snapping to large grids may be hazardous
|
|
to the health of your brush (Snap and it's gone! But that's what
|
|
UNDO is for).
|
|
|
|
<h2><a name = "brusheff">Efficient Brush Building
|
|
Techniques</a></h2>
|
|
|
|
<p><em>Developed from a Quake 3 World online posting by
|
|
Astrocreep</em>
|
|
|
|
<p>Compiling a map is a necessary evil. It takes time, it ties up
|
|
your processor, and in the early phases of map construction, comes
|
|
up with construction errors as often as not. Nothing you can do
|
|
about that … except the time thing. It is possible,
|
|
through more careful construction (or perhaps reconstruction) to
|
|
significantly reduce both map and bot compile times, and reduce map
|
|
and .bsp file sizes (the latter being important for downloads). The
|
|
following is based on reports written by Astrocreep that documents
|
|
his extensive work to streamline the compile on one of the id
|
|
sample maps.
|
|
|
|
<p><div class = "subheading">Brush Construction</div>
|
|
|
|
It cannot be overstressed. If you want shorter compile times and
|
|
small file sizes, efficient brush construction is "critical" in
|
|
building your map. There is one rule that stands above all:
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<b>DO NOT OVERLAP BRUSHES AT ANYTIME.</b>
|
|
|
|
<p>No matter what you have to do to build your map, do not overlap
|
|
brushes. Overlapping means that all or parts of two or more
|
|
brushes share the same physical space. If brushes overlap, you can
|
|
expect to add time to your compiling, and add size to your .map,
|
|
.bsp and, .aas file sizes.
|
|
|
|
<p>Efficient map construction means that all brushes butt up
|
|
against each other, but never intersect.
|
|
|
|
<p><div class = "subheading">Brush Counts</div>
|
|
|
|
The sample map to be reworked on had 1,100 brushes in it.
|
|
Without changing the layout or appearance of the map, Astrocreep
|
|
was able to remove 110, or 10% of the total brush count.
|
|
|
|
<p>Learn how to do more with a single brush than with multiple
|
|
brushes. Evaluate your map after you complete initial construction
|
|
phases on all or part of it. Pick a part of the map, look at
|
|
the layout and ask yourself if you could do that with fewer
|
|
brushes. In all likelihood, nine times out of 10, the answer will
|
|
be yes.
|
|
|
|
<p>If you make a structure out of three brushes (or whatever) and
|
|
have the same floor height and ceiling height (in some cases
|
|
heights can be different), look at it in the "top view". Can you
|
|
draw a line from each vertex and not cross out side of those three
|
|
brushes? If you can, then that grouping of three can become one
|
|
brush instead of three.
|
|
|
|
<p><b>Example</b>: here's how the engine might look at this.
|
|
|
|
<p>Using 3 square brushes, you have 18 faces (with a texture mapped
|
|
on each side) to be calculated. This doesn't take into
|
|
consideration the number of in-game triangle faces that those
|
|
brushes may generate. Even if two-thirds of those faces are not
|
|
being drawn, they are still being calculated by both the compile
|
|
process and the bot navigation compile process.
|
|
|
|
<p>As compared to:
|
|
|
|
<p>Using one brush (filling the same area), you have only 6 faces
|
|
to be calculated. Here, you are compiling only a third of the total
|
|
geometry. It should go faster.
|
|
|
|
|
|
<p>Efficient map construction means using fewer brushes to build
|
|
the world.
|
|
|
|
<p><div class = "subheading">
|
|
Caulking</div>
|
|
|
|
It is possible to even further reduce the number of brush faces
|
|
being calculated by applying a special non-drawing, but "solid"
|
|
texture called "caulk" (common/caulk) to surfaces that cannot be
|
|
seen in the game. When seen in the editor, this texture is a bright
|
|
garish pink. In the game, it does not draw at all. Apply caulk to
|
|
any brush face that either doesn't form the "shell" of the world or
|
|
can't be seen by a player during play. Doing this may not improve
|
|
your map's frame rate, but since your are telling the compiler that
|
|
as many as five of the six faces on a square brush don't have to be
|
|
calculated, it should have some significant effects on compile
|
|
times. As long as you do not have any brushes that "share" the same
|
|
space, caulking brushes should help reduce compile times. However,
|
|
if you use caulk on a brush that "shares" the space of another,
|
|
your compile time and all file sizes will actually increase.
|
|
|
|
|
|
<p>Astrocreep compiled the test level nearly 200 times, many of
|
|
those times were when he moved just a single brush, just to see
|
|
what would change. Caulking seems to help the <i>-light</i> phase
|
|
of compiling the most.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
Efficient map construction means caulking all unseen brush
|
|
faces.
|
|
|
|
<p><div class = "subheading">Miscellaneous Tips</div>
|
|
|
|
<b>Lights:</b> You can further improve compile times by careful
|
|
use of lights. Entity lights, especially LOTS of entity lights can
|
|
reduce compile time. If you need to reduce compiling time even more
|
|
look to this.
|
|
|
|
<p><b>Clip brushes:</b> Clip brushes that have more than two sides
|
|
not touching another brush appear to increase compile times.
|
|
|
|
<p><b>Hint brushes:</b> Use these only if you need to resolve a vis
|
|
problem. Using them can significantly add to compile times.
|
|
<p align = "center"><a href = "../ch04/pg4_1.htm">Back</a> | <a href = "../index.htm">Home</a> | <a href = "../ch06/pg6_1.htm">Next</a>
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