Okay Im at the point where I need to portal my map and It took me about 5 trys to build a section of portals that dont give any errors when I compile. My map has a ton of trees in it and I need to know if its okay if some of these trees arent completely in the portal. I just tested this out and didnt get any errors on compile and everything seemed okay when I ran through my map. I just wanted to make sure that this isnt gonna cause any problems. Also is there any standard size that a portal should be? Mine are quite large but small in comparison to the size of my map. There was something else I needed to ask but it seemed to have slipped my mind as I was writing this so if I remember ill come back and ask.


EDIT: Okay I remember now, I did a search for portals on these forums to see what info I could dig up and I saw Stryder say that you cant copy portals, you have to build each one seperate. What if you build the portal walls with common/caulk and then copy them, and then you texture each side with the portal textures? Would this be okay? Ive been building each one by hand it gets really boring.

If you are getting decent FPS (Frames per Second) there is actually no need to portal your map at all.

If your map is compiling without portal errors (ie portal has same cell on both sides) then I'd suggest that the trees don't cause a problem.....Portals are (roughly) there to break up the map into separate cells, in an attempt to stop the engine drawing what the player does not need to see. Therefore size is dependant on where you need portals to be (Areas where FPS drops)

Hope this garbled answer is useful in some way...

DC

Yea thanks it was helpfull, now i dont have to worry about that issue. My fps is horrible though and the tris count goes over 100,000 when facing certain directions. So I think I need alot of portals.

as a rule you should build your brush out of the material you are going to be using...in this case i would recommend building the portal brushes INDIVIDUALLY out of portal_nodraw then texturing one side with portal

one reason that you can't copy is that if you rotate a portal brush I have found that you get nothing but errors...

the other reason that I have found is that for some reason a portal brush that is replicated ends up with the same brush number, therefore giving you the portal has same cell on both sides error

if you are going to portal your map i would recommend doing it properly...it takes time...but from your reported play-specs - will be worth it in the end

one hint when portalling...hide models and detail...makes it easier to see

Interesting, Stryder, I haven't had the problems you cited. After rotating a brush I resize it and if there was a problem in the rotate you can the fix it. The only problem I have seen with rotating is rotating an entire house then later try to use the texture replace tool. It distorts the brushes in the rotated house if it is not on a multiple of 45 degrees.

As far as portals and models, portals can go through models with no i'll effects. The only thing that happens is if the engine can only see and draw the contents of one cell the model is in, it will draw the entire model but that's it.

Okay I read in the Portals tut that you have to cut your terrain meshes to the portal box. I have a ton of trees in my map and the tris count is really really high. Im going to re-portal my map because I dont think I did a very good job the first time because my tris count is still the same. When I make my portals and cut the terrain meshes to the right size is my player still going to draw all the trees that are inside the portals? If it does then im screwed and my map is gonna be unplayable. Also is there any 'standard' size to make portals brushes? (thickness of the brush I mean)

i hate to be the bearer of bad news - but yes...the engine will still draw any models that the player can see...including those in the line of sight in a different cell

this is where the warnings about excess models comes into play...

your map will more than likely have to be reworked, removing some of the models that are causing you problems

I do believe that structural brushes (those of a standard wall) that you create in codradiant cause a block in line of sight thus acting as a barrier for portals. What you cant see by using a wall to break up your map can make portals block models behind that structered brush only if 2 portals cannot see eachother. LOL makes no sense but look in the doc folder in your /tools in call of duty where radiant is and youll see a small diagram explaining this. Remember that models act like detailed brushes so portals ignore them when compiling. Same as terrian. Even if its a hill and line of sight is blocked and you use portals it will still draw the terrian. Try adding chalk under the terrian (where the hills are) to block line of sign and maybe that will help. Never tried this but it might work if your hills increase and decrease with enough angle to block line of sight from each portal cell. hmmm have to try this on one of my maps.....

a structural brush will block the line of sight...but the tris will still be drawn by the engine

properly portalled, the tris would not be draw by the engine when the line of sight into the cell prevents it...