Render hidden VisGroups?

DrummerB

52 Posts

Posted May 06, 2011

Is there a way to render disabled VisGroups, when I compile the game? I have some VisGroups that I disable when I edit the map, so I have a better overview, but then I have to enable them every time I compile the map and disable them when I'm done testing. Thanks.

msleeper

4,136 Posts

Admin

#29600

Posted May 06, 2011

Replied 23 minutes later

No, that's the entire point of visgroups. Just make sure all of them that you want enabled are enabled when you go to compile.

Hober

1,180 Posts

#29602

Posted May 06, 2011

Replied 42 minutes later

tehsleeper wrote:
ust make sure all of them that you want enabled are enabled when you go to compile.

But, what about build automation? Oh the humanity.

My first thought is to write a makefile.

And this, ladies and gentlemen, is why I'm not a mapper.

msleeper

4,136 Posts

Admin

#29604

Posted May 06, 2011

Replied 38 minutes later

There's no real right and wrong way to use visgroups. Generally I think most people build a map in "sections" with each area in it's own visgroup. That way you can quickly use the Cordon tool around a specific room/puzzle, enable the visgroup for that specific room/puzzle, and go through the development process quickly.

If you are doing a "final build" of your map then you can go to "show all groups" in the Edit or View menu (I think, been a while since I fired Hammer) or just checkmark all of your custom visgroups.

Mevious

205 Posts

#29616

Posted May 06, 2011

Replied 1 hour later

I could have sworn there was a vbsp argument to compile hidden groups, but when I searched for it just now I couldn't find anything. I have a little program that I wrote to enable/disable certain groups before compiling. You can place it at the beginning of your compile process, and I can send it to you if you'd like.

DrummerB

52 Posts

#29620

Posted May 06, 2011

Replied 18 minutes later

My problem is, that I have big "invisible" covers around a puzzle, so that objects don't fall out of it. The player can't walk to those covers, so that's no problem. But I can't edit the puzzle properly with the covers being infront of it. I have to disable them. And when I compile I always forget to enable them.

Mevious wrote:
I could have sworn there was a vbsp argument to compile hidden groups, but when I searched for it just now I couldn't find anything. I have a little program that I wrote to enable/disable certain groups before compiling. You can place it at the beginning of your compile process, and I can send it to you if you'd like.

I searched for an argument too, but couldn't find anything. I'd very appreciate it, if you could send me the script, thanks!

msleeper

4,136 Posts

Admin

#29622

Posted May 06, 2011

Replied 2 minutes later

Uh, you shouldn't put a giant hollow box around your map. That is bad for about a thousand reasons.

DrummerB

52 Posts

#29636

Posted May 06, 2011

Replied 1 hour later

I'm not sure why?
It's not around the map. Only around the puzzle. The player is outside of it and can control things inside it using buttons and put portals into it. He can't walk up to the invisible walls.

msleeper

4,136 Posts

Admin

#29637

Posted May 06, 2011

Replied 3 minutes later

Maybe you aren't doing what I'm talking about, which is a good thing. If you read the most amazing Source optimization guide on the internet then what a lot of novice mappers will do is create a giant hollow box around their entire map to seal any leaks (since a lot of novice mappers don't know what a leak is and how to prevent or fix them).

The actual part of the article is under "Notices", but I strongly recommend reading the entire document in it's entirety. Great read and very informative.

EDIT
I will say that some of it is a little irrelevant or outdated, specifically stuff about dynamic lighting. The document was writen for the original Source 1.0, pre-Episode 1 and the engine has made some advancements since then.

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