Last things to do before publishing.

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RubbishyUsername
167 Posts
Posted Aug 18, 2011
Does anybody have a reccomendation of things I need to make sure I have before I try to package and publish a high quality top-notch map? I want to start zipping it today and I want to know if there's something I don't want to leave out in terms of point entities and the like.

Also, what about optimization. My map is very small (only 3,001 KB (Damn the one!)), so I figured it wasn't really necessary. Should I still do it? How do I do it?

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The Irate Pirate
236 Posts
Posted Aug 18, 2011
Replied 27 minutes later
Have you built your cubemaps? Or used them for that matter.

And to optimise you use nodraw texture surfaces on faces that the player should be unable to see (within reason), try to use the odd areaportal to split up sections of the map if it is lowering your FPS especially if it involves paint, do not use them incorrectly however as it will leak your map, use hint brushes to divide visleafs (to make small sticking out walls be considered irrelevant by the game).

Make puzzle mechanics that are system demanding only activate when you enter the room and likewise switch off when you leave it (although this isn't important).

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RubbishyUsername
167 Posts
Posted Aug 18, 2011
Replied 9 minutes later
I don't have water or more than one room, or paint, and apparently compiling puts nodraws around the outside of the map that the player can't see. Am I exempt from further optimization.

My map features funnels and fizzlers. And boxes.

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Vordwann
767 Posts
Posted Aug 18, 2011
Replied 2 hours later
If you have any cube droppers you want a cubemap inside it, if it isn't the instanced one (the instanced cube droppers already have cubemaps, you just need to type buildcubemaps into the console)
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Rubrica
305 Posts
Posted Aug 18, 2011
Replied 7 minutes later
By the way, for the final release of a map, you should always go into Advanced Compile Settings and choose the 'Final' option.
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The Irate Pirate
236 Posts
Posted Aug 18, 2011
Replied 24 minutes later

Rubrica wrote:
By the way, for the final release of a map, you should always go into Advanced Compile Settings and choose the 'Final' option.

What does it do in comparison to a normal compile?

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HMW
806 Posts
Posted Aug 18, 2011
Replied 14 minutes later
A final compile includes some extra settings that make the lighting in your map look better. (However, it may take (much) longer to compile, depending on the size and design of your map.)

We have a very good article on this forum, that lists all important things you need to take care of before releasing a map:
http://forums.thinking.withportals.com/mapping-help/uploading-a-map-to-the-website-t4176.html

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RubbishyUsername
167 Posts
Posted Aug 18, 2011
Replied 1 hour later
Sorry, a bit late guys. I kinda released it earlier.

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