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Newb questions about DR


Springheel

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DR is so much more pleasant to work with than D3ed. I've finished going through Fidcal's A to Z guide, so now I'm starting to work on my own little map. I'll post newb questions here as they inevitably arise:

 

1. I'm probably missing something obvious, but where can I type in console commands like reloaddecl? I see a couple of those reload options in the main menu, but I'd like to be able to use others.

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1. I'm probably missing something obvious, but where can I type in console commands like reloaddecl? I see a couple of those reload options in the main menu, but I'd like to be able to use others.

DarkRadiant has no command console like the D3 game has.

 

There are reload shaders, models and skins, but everything else hasn't been coded yet. As I type there is no way to reload the entityDefs for DarkRadiant without restarting the editor.

 

What are you trying to do?

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I was specifically trying to reload images. I use it a lot when testing new models and skins, though it's of limited use for regular mapping.

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I was specifically trying to reload images. I use it a lot when testing new models and skins, though it's of limited use for regular mapping.

The Reload Shaders command in the File menu should do the trick. It reloads all material files as well as all images, but beware that you might need to switch to lighting mode to see the actual diffuse and normalmaps. DarkRadiant is just using the editor images for the non-lit camera view.

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Because until recently I was not using an editor for mapping, but for testing models and animations.

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Another newb question...what is the purpose of using caulk? I understand (abstractly) that it can be used to seal the void around patches, but when examining other maps I see a lot of brushes have been textured with caulk on sides the player won't see. Is caulk less of a performance hit than regular textures? Also, is caulk totally nonsolid in all cases other than for sealing the void?

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Another newb question...what is the purpose of using caulk? I understand (abstractly) that it can be used to seal the void around patches, but when examining other maps I see a lot of brushes have been textured with caulk on sides the player won't see. Is caulk less of a performance hit than regular textures? Also, is caulk totally nonsolid in all cases other than for sealing the void?

 

a caulk brush will behave as a normal solid surface for collision detection and utility flood filling, and should be used whenever you now the area isn't going to be visible, but it needs to be closed off for things to work right. Curves and models don't stop the utility flood filling, so you need to have solid brushes behind them. Setting the faces that won't ever be seen to caulk will save some rendering time and data space.

 

IE Use caulk whenever freaking possible, even on brushes that butt up against one another such as two walls. The surfaces touching should be caulked. I typically build maps in nothing but caulk then texture things I can see later. So if you were to build a room, you'd make a brush, texture it in caulk, then hit the "Make Room" button. Then texture the 4 faces that you can actually see.

I always assumed I'd taste like boot leather.

 

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So it's mostly a performance thing then? In my searches I've read that D3 automatically disregards textures that are on the outside of the map and therefore they don't need to be caulked; is that clearly established or is it just rumour?

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It only will save rendering if the surface is behind something like a patch. If the surface is butting up on another solid brush or facing the void it doesn't get rendered so there is no need to caulk these, just extra work that doesn't help.

 

I'm quite sure of this, and even to be sure I ran some tests a year ago with a huge test map where I tried having everything to the void caulked versus not caulked and there was no difference. When the map is compiled Doom 3 simply cuts out that junk anyway, so it makes no difference.

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I know the Hammer engine compiles faster if you use 'No Draw' (same as caulk for that engine) on any unseen faces.

So if DR has any advantage by using caulk it would also be in the compile process. Basically it's easier for the compile because once it sees caulk it is done, if there is a brick texture it has to figure out whether or not it's inside the world, if not it is removed.

 

In Hammer it can mean the difference between minutes and hours (seriously) of compile time.

Dark is the sway that mows like a harvest

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The engine will automatically skip any surfaces that are in "between" brushes or facing outside to the void. You don't need to caulk them. The compiler will optimise those surfaces away. Only use caulk when you need it, i.e. when sealing of leaks behind patches or something similar.

 

There is a very minor performance advantage when using caulk for faces that the player is unlikely to see, but my personal opinion is that this performance gain is so easily diminished by other large-scale effects like shadowcasting lights.

 

The rest is rumour and it's a die-hard rumour, obviously.

 

Some mappers still use caulk for outside faces, but that's serving more of an organisational purpose.

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I also have a newb question about DR:

Do I have to cover EVERY object (chair, bed, box, container etc...) with a cube which has the red "monster clip" texture on it?

 

Don't most of the models have a collision box on them, but any func_static that you create, needs a clip brush so AI know that it's there.

 

For example, I made pillars for my cathedral out of like 3 brushes and patches each, but made each pillar into one func_static. AI would just walk right into them like they weren't even there so I had to add a clip brush and AI interacted with them correctly.

I always assumed I'd taste like boot leather.

 

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thx for the answer, I was wondering a while ago why my AI keeps getting stuck in some objects ^_^

Next question: Can I create "areas" (like in DromEd) to make one part of the world in DR invisible/visible (because building large and complexe things can be very tricky once there are too many brushes)

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thx for the answer, I was wondering a while ago why my AI keeps getting stuck in some objects ^_^

Next question: Can I create "areas" (like in DromEd) to make one part of the world in DR invisible/visible (because building large and complexe things can be very tricky once there are too many brushes)

 

Yes, these are called "layers". You can turn layers on/off quickly :)

"The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man." -- George Bernard Shaw (1856 - 1950)

 

"Remember: If the game lets you do it, it's not cheating." -- Xarax

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Next question: Can I create "areas" (like in DromEd) to make one part of the world in DR invisible/visible (because building large and complexe things can be very tricky once there are too many brushes)

 

Use the layer editor, M by default. Select something and rmb>move to layer.

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Don't most of the models have a collision box on them, but any func_static that you create, needs a clip brush so AI know that it's there.

 

For example, I made pillars for my cathedral out of like 3 brushes and patches each, but made each pillar into one func_static. AI would just walk right into them like they weren't even there so I had to add a clip brush and AI interacted with them correctly.

 

I just noticed monster clip can be created automatically for a model. There is a checkbox under advanced in the choose model menu. Probably a recent addition.

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Yes, it will make a basic cube monster clip brush around the widest and largest part of the model right when you make the model. Keep in mind you will need to move both around if you move one, and since it's somewhat common to filter out clip brushes be sure you filter them back in before moving models that have them.

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thx for the answer, I was wondering a while ago why my AI keeps getting stuck in some objects ^_^

Next question: Can I create "areas" (like in DromEd) to make one part of the world in DR invisible/visible (because building large and complexe things can be very tricky once there are too many brushes)

In addition to Layers others have mentioned, you can also use Regions (View | Region; should be pretty self-explanatory) as a very quick means of hiding and revealing large areas, and above and beyond Layers, you can use Regions to selectively compile sections of the map (File | Save Region); very useful in saving compile time for very large maps, when you only want to test small changes frequently.

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