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Hypersanctum

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Storm Vale

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Temple

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Mapping Hints

Max Node Size

Using the "-maxnodesize" parameter in hlbsp can significantly lower r_speeds on some maps. I am not sure precisely how it works, but it seems to effect how your map is broken up and thus how it is VISed.

The default setting, ie what it is if you specify nothing, is 1024. I find that for maps with large, open area 4096 often works best (Temple). For maps with smaller areas, where you want less 'bleedover' between areas, -512 seems to work best (Stormvale). It is best to experiment with different values, though, to see which works best. This setting may effect different parts of the map differently, so see which is best overall, and/or lowers speeds where help is most needed.

Texture Sizing

Although any texture whose dimensions are divisible by 16 is usuable in Half-Life, you should always use textures whose dimensions are powers of 2. In other words, the sides of a texture should be 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, or 256. The reason? If a dimension is not a power of 2, Half-Life samples it down to the power of 2 below it, then blows it back up to fill up the space. This will make your textures appear blurry in-game. Click on the picture below for example:

As you can see, the area of each texture taken up by the sign is the same. But because I added some extra space to the second texture (the blue) to make its width 128 (not 96), it was not sampled down to 64 and blurred. Obviously the preferable thing to do is to make/use textures whose dimensions are powers of 2 to begin with though!


Making Night Maps Without Model Lighting Bugs

You've probably noticed this problem on some dark map like Inner City and 110thst- how player models are not properly lit on the map. The reason? When a map has no light_environment (even a 1 brightness setting is too much for a night map), the model lighting is carried over from the last map. I noticed this when testing Storm Vale because sometimes player models with purple after playing 5am!

How do you get around this? First, make little box away from the rest of the map- put a light_environment here. Now, in your hlrad settings add the parameter "-noskyfix". It used to be that you needed a separate light_environment for each (sealed) area of the map, and this parameter makes it that way again. Since there is a light_environment in the map now, model lighting will not be taken from the last map. However, since the light_environment will only effect the little box it is in, the rest of your map will still be dark and unlit by it.


Env_sound - Just Say No

First of all, you really should not use env_sound in a multiplayer map. They tend to get "stuck"; because they work by radius it is hard to get the transition between them right. Once a player has been effected by one, their sound will only change again when they encounter another env_sound- so you end up with bugs like in 5am where you get stuck with the echo effect because you missed the env_sound that was set to normal. What is worse, env_sounds can get stuck between maps. So if you were in the tunnel in 5am when the map changed, you may well be stuck with that echo effect on the next map.

This is why you a) should not use them in multiplayer maps and b) should put an env_sound set to 'normal/off' in the middle of your map, with a wide radius. That way, if the map before you used an env_sound, your map will turn the effect off for players!