SF's Hammer Tutorials - Optimization 2: Hint & Skip

[@Silwerfish]

@mrnicosable The difference is actually quite large. The areaportal texture is an *entity* in the game that can be controlled using inputs/outputs to open or close it. An areaportal does not show any entities that you can't see through the areaportal. Areaportals also take some performance, so you need to make sure it's worth it. Hint is only used to chop up the level in leafs to determine what will be rendered depending on where the camera is. This method is also pretty much free to use.

[@Silwerfish]

@Sktannagade Proper use of hint/skip will make your map less demanding (more optimized). It's an optimization technique. It won't change the gameplay in your map at all.

[@Silwerfish]

@Bekey2nd @turb030031993 Great to hear guys, this was the hardest tutorial to make so far so I wasn't sure it was fully understandable, thanks for the feedback. :)

[@Silwerfish]

@Mariuspersem Yeah, area portal-like thingies you put in windows to stop them from rendering when you're too far away.

[@Silwerfish]

@SleeperJ I think you can use hint on more than one side if you so wish. Area portals are better than hint in some situations.

[@Silwerfish]

It matters yes. Think of it like you're placing a piece of paper in the level, and the side (or sides) of a brush that has the hint texture on it, is that piece of paper. Doesn't matter which way it's facing, but it needs to be in the right place.

[@Silwerfish]

@ViperStarFilms That's weird, I haven't run into that problem before... I can imagine this might happen if there's a leak in your level, have you made sure your level is not leaked?

[@Silwerfish]

@Mariuspersem There's a lot of things to cover when it comes to optimizing. I'm thinking about doing tutorials about occluders, fog, area portals and those area portal-like ones you can put in windows. Anything not on that list you think I should cover when it comes to optimizing?

[@Silwerfish]

@raphu604 You can use the debugging tools to maybe find out why that is. Also, I did this tutorial in Half-Life 2 since it for some reason didn't work for me in Ep2.

[@Silwerfish]

@HUMANCONDlTION Are you sure you have compiled the map before loading the portal file? The portal file is generated when compiling so it can't find it if you haven't compiled it.

[@SleeperJ]

hi, i was wondering what if you apply the hint texture to 2 sides instead of one does it make a difference? or does it just not make the brush inactive? and would it be better to use area portals instead of the hint and skip or is it situational? lol sorry for all the questions but thanks for takin the time to read it all lol

[@ViperStarFilms]

Hey Silwerfish, great tutorial! But I have a problem. When I press load portal file it doesn't load it, I've ran the map seceral times but when I browse for the .prt file it's not there. This hasn't happened to me in all my maps, so I don't know how to fix it. Pease help me as i'd prefer to see it in the editor before looking at it ingame- Thanks!

[@Silwerfish]

@jckreilly I'll add it to the request list, thanks!

[@Silwerfish]

@transformer5622 Yeah there is in Ep2 engine, use an entity called func_viscluster.

[@chap1400]

@hatrer when hammer fails to create a .prt file its because u have a leak in the map. goto Map > Load pointfile and hammer will draw a red line to where ur leak is. When all the leaks are filled, the area portals will compile and a portal file will be created. Hope that helps!

[@smhht]

Redundant now as this vid is so old, but I believe the compiler splits leaves up every 1024 units (both x and y, not z), which will be why 'random' partitions appear automatically, and as high as the skybox (z plane). It's used to break larger areas up. I don't know whether Source compiler has an option to control this, but other BSP-based engines like id Tech 3 (or, should I say, q3map compiler), you can specify a '-blocksize' to either turn this feature off by setting it to 0 if you don't need it (which can greatly decrease compile times), as well as decrease or increase to your preferred value, to make culling more or less aggressive. By default q3map sets it to 1024 I believe, at least with the versions I've used, and I think Source does the same.

[@hatrer]

I'm having a problem with a "mall" map I'm doing. It has no portals or "leafs" so it lags majorly. I render with all settings on "normal" but hammer wont generate portal file :o

[@MacKenzieShirk]

Does it matter what side the hint texture is on?

[@raphu604]

I'm making a map right now, but somehow the hints don't work, they don't hide anything.. why is that?

[@mrnicosable]

Sry but i don't understand the difference betwen this and the areaportal texture. Can you help me?

[@Sktannagade]

What does hint`? What difference does it do to your map?

[@Mariuspersem]

@Silwerfish well, I though those black textures in windows

[@Silwerfish]

@hatrer That has happened to me as well! I have no idea what causes it, sorry! Just make 100% sure there are no leaks or other errors in your map and if there are no errors, try asking on some forums. I don't know how to solve that anyhow, sorry!

[@Neolantis]

are you still doing tutorials?

[@Silwerfish]

No.

[@Neolantis]

ah too bad, you did a great job... I am looking for some good ones to start building...found a bunch, but looking for one channel that has it all. thanks again

[@VeraxonHD]

Can anyone help me my compile doesn't create a portalfile and also my hint and skip things don't work. I have followed the tutorial to the T. Basically I am trying to make a zombie escape map for my server and I have an elevator. When the elevator is at the top I don't want to render the courtyard area. Thanks :)

[@Silwerfish]

@fvn13 It was my pleasure. I AM extremely Swedish. ;)

[@daniel10166]

thanks man, very handy to know

[@mrnicosable]

@Silwerfish Ok, I understand, thx!

[@jenzzuffer]

great tutorial

[@developmentsource6855]

thanks for the tutorials

[@R1zeeK]

Nice one!

[@Silwerfish]

@Geckoinc2 Mission accomplished.. B)

[@ViperStarFilms]

@Silwerfish No actually, good idea thanks.

[@MrJackiesUtube]

How's your day TODAY? 2 Years later.

[@Silwerfish]

Hmm, that's too bad. With this tutorial (like with most of my tutorials) I wanted to go through the subject as fast and clearly as I could. It's much harder to describe how this stuff works in text than it is in a video, so I'm not even going to attempt. If you keep searching for information on this subject and keep thinking about it I'm sure you'll be able to understand it soon and come up with the best solution you can for your level. :)

[@fvn13]

Thank you very much! You sound extremly swedish!

[@Mariuspersem]

make an Super-advanced Optimization, this was too easy for me xD

[@aprats2]

thanks! Thanks! thanks! Thanks!thanks! Thanks!thanks! Thanks!thanks! Thanks!thanks! Thanks!thanks! Thanks!thanks! Thanks!thanks! Thanks!

[@ALIENwoods]

THis is a good tutorial video, about optimalization, i guess it's better than 3klikkphilips' :)

[@Geckoinc2]

I am having an awsome day

[@Lennxrd]

I guess things were awsome 14 years ago 👍