Understanding Geometry

[Kozak]

I used to map with other editors and hammer is quite different. You can only make pre determent blocks wich later can be manipulated.

Did the person who made this first do a simple block and some other blocks alligned to the edges and then stretched them out with the vertex manipulator? Surely there must be a simplier way of doing this.

 

[Geronimous]

As far as I know Hammer, yes - you only can manipulate brushes afterwards... that is the reason most maps are still very blocky from first-time mappers...

 

[Ti133700N]

And that's why advanced mappers use models instead, they'r cheap, good looking but require you to model and texture it in a separate 3D package (unless you use those included in Source's games).

 

[Dead-Inside]

Also, most "advanced" mappers replace the models when they 'break', along with the creation of small splinter model parts, to create the effect that the wall broke with no engine effect loss, hopefully anyway.

 

[Kozak]

But moddeled walls can't be good for the engine ( that was said in the sdk) and when you only do the broken wall in 3dsmax for example you would get a nasty seam between models and brushes.

 

[Ravioli]

question:

With Vertex tool, you can make all those things. But my blocks only have 8 edges, how do i add more edges so i can create more "cracks" in the walls?

 

[Kozak]

Yeah that's why you need more cube of the same size and then stretch the cracks etc and connect them together (correct me if I'm wrong).

 

[Geronimous]

But moddeled walls can't be good for the engine ( that was said in the sdk) and when you only do the broken wall in 3dsmax for example you would get a nasty seam between models and brushes.

If you browse through the model browser of Hammer you can see alot of the broken walls from HL2 are models... also windows and doors are often models in Valve's own maps. Models with the same complexity as brushes are cheaper in Source.

 

[Dead-Inside]

The only drawback is that they don't block visability. You can fake this, though, if you really need to. So a model wall in itself isn't something to worry about. Just replace the whole wall section with a model, and then another model for when it's "cracked". You can probably use an areaportal that's initially closed and open it when the wall pops.

Edit; You can find information on both brush vs model and areaportals here - http://www.valve-erc.com/srcsdk/Levels/performance_and_visibility.html

 

[Raeven0]

Yeah that's why you need more cube of the same size and then stretch the cracks etc and connect them together (correct me if I'm wrong).

Yep, you're right. It's impossible to create a single block with a piece cut out of it, but you can make two blocks with a hole between them.

 

[Mess]

The brushwork in that screenie has been created solely through the clipping tool. To make it look better, they could use the vertex tool to add angles to the broken edges, instead of having them all flat.

 

[Dead-Inside]

A hole like that with brushes kills the Source engine. It's not to recommend, func_detail or not doesn't really matter. It's a lof of strain on the engine to render.

@Reaven0, why would you just use two blocks? Is it more efficient than single brushes (With one end shaped for the hole)? I'm curious here.

 

[Ravioli]

@Reaven0, why would you just use two blocks? Is it more efficient than single brushes (With one end shaped for the hole)? I'm curious here.

Because 1 block only have 8 edges, and thats not enought to make a Good Looking Crack in the wall. With 2 brushes, you have 16 edges to mess around with, and can make a perfect Crack in the wall by connecting some edges.