Hi folks,

I'm a total nub, but I'm able to create a map, with a player, and a portal gun, and it doesn't look too bad (used two textures for the walls).

But when I "run map" with Hammer it plays in a very low resolution. How do I run the map at the resolution I play the actual game in?

Or.

How do I get the map I just made to be of the proper format so I can stick it in my extras folder and play it like any other custom map I've downloaded?

Either will do fine, I'm curious to see how the map looks and plays at higher resolutions.

Or am I just not completing the map making process it self which would create the file needed for the Portal?

Thanks and sorry if this has been covered I did do some poking around but couldn't find either answer.

It shouldn't switch to lower resolution, but don't let Hammer launch Portal with your map anyway. Tick the "Don't run the game after compiling" box in the compiling window. When the map is compiled, launch Portal and bring up the console (the ~-key). Type "map <the name of the map>" and enter.

why is using hammer to launch portal and your map for you a bad idea?

Thanks,

So at that point it's been converted to a file that portal uses. I see.

Thanks again.

Nameless wrote:
why is using hammer to launch portal and your map for you a bad idea?

It isn't for me, works every time. disfigured, once you launch Portal with Hammer can you go into the options and change the resolution? If you can, when you do this the next time you launch the map with Hammer does Portal forget the previous resolution you had it on? If so the problem might be similar to a problem I have where TF2 resets the resolution and graphics options all to their default settings every time I launch which is very annoying.

Fusion wrote:
It isn't for me, works every time. disfigured, once you launch Portal with Hammer can you go into the options and change the resolution? If you can, when you do this the next time you launch the map with Hammer does Portal forget the previous resolution you had it on? If so the problem might be similar to a problem I have where TF2 resets the resolution and graphics options all to their default settings every time I launch which is very annoying.

Portal is unaffected by opening maps with Hammer. I don't have to change anything "back" in the game.

They open the maps in different resolutions.

Should I reapply my resolutions and settings ingame and see if that changes things for Hammer?

Well I'm starting easy, but doing things organized and "straight".

I couldn't figure out how to put up a light fixture that didn't look crappy. I know there's a way but I settled on some glass block, and changed the light to a green hue to match. Put in a "pit" with a glass block floor and some dim lighting.

Thanks for the help a few screens for you pros to criticize

It's a tad dark but that could be just my desktop setting. It's shaped like an "I" with two equal side "alleys". The start of the "I" is small, but the final chamber at the end is big.

No offense intended, but I think your lighting method looks rather ugly.

I much prefer the blue "edge strip" lighting, combined with the light from observation rooms, like the lighting that is used in the official maps.

There are plenty of posts on the forum and wiki that detail the methods used in Portal for lighting.

Of course, I understand if you just want it to be different, to add some uniqueness to your map. If this is the case, ignore my post.

i kinda agree to it being ugly. now don't get me wrong its actually pretty cool... in moderation. i see how that could look cool if you had just a few bars of it as like some sort of fancy light. or office light or something... but an ENTIRE CEILING of it? toooo much!

About 4 hours into my mapping career I'll take it as constructive criticism.

It was out of lack of knowledge how to do it any other way. .

I think the the green hue to the lights makes it worse, it looked much more "normal" when I used white light.

But I'll do some more reading of tutorials, and have another crack at it.

Right now I'm just trying to get comfortable with creating a decent, symmetrical, airtight, and well running "chamber".