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Author Topic: Jump map video tutorial  (Read 1463 times)
Rocketman
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Posts: 518
No tears now; only dreams
How to make a jump map in TF2: Part 1


Voice sounds a bit wonky as I had to reduce the background noise but hopefully it sounds okay :O Anyways here is the first part of my mapping tutorial. I'll be making 3 levels as a fully functional map.


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Rocketeer
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Posts: 331
the skybox is the limit
good tutorial + lady killer voice
   
Rocketeer
****

Posts: 424
good tutorial + lady killer voice


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Offline  duppy
Fly
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Posts: 99
I'm not sure if you mentioned this in your video (I skipped the first half), but here's a link to a great mapping resource pack (by Boojum Snark) that's really worth installing:

http://forums.tf2maps.net/showthread.php?t=4674

...by default I dont think you get the cool half red half blue engineer model for info_player_teamspawn entities ;)

Nice seeing Hammer tutorials specifically for jump maps though.  Keep 'em coming ;)
   
Offline  Exile
Rocketeer
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Posts: 399
Couldn't think of something clever to put
gud guide
big dick


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Rocketman
*****

Posts: 518
No tears now; only dreams
I'm not sure if you mentioned this in your video (I skipped the first half), but here's a link to a great mapping resource pack (by Boojum Snark) that's really worth installing:

http://forums.tf2maps.net/showthread.php?t=4674

...by default I dont think you get the cool half red half blue engineer model for info_player_teamspawn entities ;)

Nice seeing Hammer tutorials specifically for jump maps though.  Keep 'em coming ;)


ooo I forgot about that. I'll be sure to mention that in the next tutorial. And yea that model for the player teamspawn isn't the default.


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Rocketman
*****

Posts: 518
No tears now; only dreams
Part 2

How to make a jump in TF2: Part 2


tell me if I'm skipping over something vital :O
« Last Edit: March 04, 2013, 01:39:18 AM by Afterglow »


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Rocketeer
****

Posts: 331
the skybox is the limit
"No one likes getting to the midpoint of a jump map and then blowing yourself up and having to go back to the start." -Afterglow

Jamien?

edit: also huskystarcraft at the end
   
Rocketman
*****

Posts: 518
No tears now; only dreams
Part 3
How to make a jump map in TF2: Part 3


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Offline  duppy
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Posts: 99
Cool, never knew about that func_nogrenades brush entity...woulda been nice if it actually removed stickies though.  I thought maybe trigger_remove could work, but neh :(

Oh well, always good to see a new tutorial...hope you got at least few more in you ;)
   
Rocketman
*****

Posts: 518
No tears now; only dreams
How to make a jump map in TF2: Part 4


video quality should be rly good hopefully.


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Offline  duppy
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Posts: 99
Another great vid, and excellent vid quality (recorded at 960fps?...lol, kidding)!

Hate to be negative, but one thing that kinda bothered me is that you didn't use func_detail on that cylinder...actually everything on that jump except the walls, floors and ceiling could be func_detail because they really don't contribute to blocking visibility of anything.  Without func_detail, your map is gonna be chopped up into so many bsp leaves, it'll make compiles take longer and possibly slow down the game rendering a bit.

I'm also not too fond of how you merged the two overlapping rooms because of how it makes texturing more difficult as you mentioned in the video, but also because the extra clipping can end up in the game as extra polygons.

Anyway, I know the video wasn't about optimization and I'm just nit-picking, but really, I do appreciate these vids you made.  I hope the result is more jump maps, 'cause it's getting a bit stagnant :/
   
Rocketman
*****

Posts: 518
No tears now; only dreams
Yea i really don't want to get into explaining optimization like func_detailing lol. Duppy man, you should see some of the maps from ppl that have followed my tuts, they're far from optimized in every sense of the word. Explaining func_details is complicating things a lot.

Here's the thing in general that I've found after mapping for awhile now:

USUALLY, your map will run just fine without any optimization techniques, even if you have a complete disregard for nodrawing, overlapping blocks and whatnot. As long as it's nothing major like a leak or your entire map is in one area like jump_annex_v3, the map will run fine. Not func_detailing that cylinder or not creating so many cuts will have a negligible effect on in-game performance.

Gradually, I've valued "speedmapping" over being a clean mapper; the time saved is way worth it.

To address the issue of longer compile times, that's what the cordon tool is. As I mention in the vid, you're really only ever working on a tiny portion of your map at once. Compiling the full map or work in progress all at once should be a rare occurrence. Not to mention if you leave rad off, even if your map is pretty big, compile time will be less than 20 seconds or so. Fullbright lighting is good enough for testing. So really, your final compile should be the only thing that takes any significant amount of time.

The only real times you should strive to optimize your map is if you plan on it being so detailed that you need all the optimization techniques you can use to ensure smooth gameplay. Another argument for optimization is that not everyone has a decent computer, which is true, but it's something I personally overlook since it doesn't affect that many ppl thanks to TF2's customizable graphics cfgs and whatnot. These are not valve maps where every tf2 player is going to come into contact with them at some point so accommodation for ppl with crappy comps isnt as vital.

TL;DR Time spent optimizing = usually not worth it. Furthermore, optimization for such a simple level like in this tutorial is overkill. The level will run perfectly fine with or without it.

edit: though i do personally func_detail things just cuz it's as simple as ctrl+t. Not going to bring it up in the tutorial though, just cuz it's too complicated to explain fully and will inevitably be used incorrectly.
« Last Edit: March 26, 2013, 05:08:27 PM by Afterglow »


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Offline  QuBA
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Posts: 134
Just skipped through and noticed one thing, in that level all the faces (or most of them, just the ones i saw) you put nodraw on get ignored anyways, so you could just save yourself the work.
   
Offline  duppy
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Posts: 99
I agree, optimizing is usually not worth it, especially on jump maps that are usually small enclosed rooms connected by teleports.  I guess it's just part of my personality, being somewhat of a perfectionist.  I tend to over think things, focus on small details and optimization too early, which always bites me in the ass, 'cause I can never finish anything.  Oh well, I hope I didn't sound like too much of an ass for critiquing you on something your video wasn't even about anyway...if so, I apologize.
   
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