mapping tips for a noob?
How would I go about doing that? (or where)
Don't ask where to find illegal files. If you don't know how to get your hands on something, you shouldn't be asking for it in the first place.
Yellow cards and locks will flow freely when the rules are broken.
Rather than downloading decompiled maps, which, as Hober pointed out, is illegal, you should instead download Vmex. Then you can decompile the maps yourself without breaking any laws.
Also, the SDK came with a sample map. Look at that for some tips.
Sorry, I had no idea those files were illegal, nor would I given a refresher in the forum rules. You might want to spell that out specifically.
The program you need is...
Search the internet for it. Once you found it, do not post the link here as that violates this forum's rules.
Also, ONLY USE DECOMPILED MAPS FOR REFERENCE! There's nothing against looking how someone did something, and the police won't chase you for copy-pasting a single piston or light entity or such. But copying large parts of others' maps is frowned upon and you should not do it. Copying large parts of Valve's maps is even illegal.
"Duct Tape is the answer."
ok, just one more question (for now):
What do area_portal's do? I keep seeing them, but can't understand what they're for!
Areaportals help with map performance, by blocking visibility to areas that don't need to be rendered at any one time.
They have two states, open and closed. When closed, anything behind them will not be drawn. When open, the geometry is visible again.
Even in their opened state, they can help with performance, as they only render geometry that can be seen from the areaportal when looked through.
With regards to Portal, they are usually used in doors. When the door is closed, and the areaportal is also closed, the area behind the door is no longer rendered by the game, which helps performance.
They must be used in such a way that they seal areas completely, or you will get areaportal leaks. By this, I mean that if you have 2 seperate rooms, and 2 corridors connecting them, each corridor must have an areaportal. If you just seal one corridor with an areaportal, it will leak.
For a better explaination, and some pretty pictures, check out this link.
Wow, never knew that.. come to think of it, there's a lot of stuff I don't know.
O.o
cake?
Another useful version (more useful in my opinion) are func_areaportalwindow's. They work very similarly to areaportals, and they do the same thing - stop the rendering of objects within area groups - but instead of working on an Open/Closed system, these ones work by a simple distance calculation and fade in and out when the player gets near them.
You can see this in work in HL2 in the buildings in the Canals, the Coast, and many areas in City 17. You'll notice that windows and doors seem to fade in and out from black as you approach or move away from them - that's areaportalwindows at work.
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Any mapping in Hammer consist out of 4 elements:
-Architecture: Build your map. Make it fun to play.
-Functionality: Make sure all entities work well together. If you press that button, the door must actually open.
-Atmosphere: Add detail. Give your map that feel, those details it needs so badly.
-Optimisation: This is the hardest part for many mappers. Get your map to work as optimal as possible. Get rid of everything unnecesarry. Repair the leaks. Fix the bugs and glitches. If the player can't see it, it shouldn't be there.
Note that there is no set order for these 4 elements. They cascade, and you should never, ever neglect any of them.
"Duct Tape is the answer."