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| 1. Save Frequently, and Make Back-ups |
| Save your work frequently and make back-up copies of your maps after completing each section. That way when your working copy blows up (not "if"!), you won't have lost too much work. I can't stress this enough! Save yourself some heartache! (not that I always follow my own advice) |
| 2. Vertex Manipulation is Hazardous |
| The rules of vertex manipulation are not always intuitive, and you may not see the errors you create until you compile. It is an essential part of mapping, however, so you need to master it. Before you begin, see Rule 1 and read my article About Invalid Brushes, or the excellent Vertex Manipulation: Basics, Tricks and Common Errors tutorial over at Counter-Map . Use "Check for Problems" (under "Map" on the menu bar) often, and compile frequently. |
| 3. Carving is REALLY Hazardous |
| Many experienced mappers will tell you not to use it at all. The problem is that it can create unexpected brush splits and invalid brushes - sometimes involving brushes that were not part of the carve operation. My experience, however, has been that carving simple shapes into other simple shapes is usually pretty safe. For more information, read the Properly Using Carve and Hollow in WorldCraft article over at Counter-Map, or the Carving to avoid errors article over at The Forge, or Carving Responsibly over at the VERC Collective. |
| 4. Rotating Complex Objects is also Hazardous |
| Simple cubes are generally safe no matter how you rotate them. For other brushes rotating in 90 degree increments is safe, and 45 degree increments is pretty safe. Other angles are less so, and rotating the same object in more than one plane is inviting disaster. But 90 degree angles are boring, so you're going to do it anyway, aren't you?. The safe thing is to try it in a separate test map first. At the very least, use "Check for Problems" , and test the compile afterwards. You're not listening to me, are you? |
| 5. Beware of Prefabs |
| Well, beware of those that other folks have created anyway. Be especially wary of those where the creator's description starts with "this is my first prefab . . ." Many are wonderful time-savers, but some are flawed and can introduce difficult to correct errors into your level - especially if you need to rotate or flip them. Others are so poly intensive that they'll send your r_speeds through the roof. Test in a separate map first . By the way, my prefabs are absolutely safe - honest! (I think . . .) |
| 6. Check Your R-speeds Early and Often |
| R_speeds are much easier to fix as you go. If you wait until your level is almost done, you'll have a huge mess that will be impossible to fix. For information about how to reduce your r-speeds read Polygon Reduction Methods over at the VERC Collective, or A Guide to better Framerates at EditHalfLife. Then if you want to get into advanced stuff, you might want to have a look at the Hint Brush Tutorial over at Counter-Map. Of course, my Test Chamber may also offer some insight. |
| 7. Acceptable R_speeds | ||
Acceptable
r-speeds can be calculated according to this formula:
This will allow your map to run on most PCs, even older ones. Too complex? How about this:
Okay, now it is true that newer PCs can easily handle r-speeds up to double what I'm telling you here, and you could decide to create your maps strictly for those newer PCs. If you do, please, PLEASE put some mention of this in the map description and readme so people with lousy PCs don't waste their time and wish bad karma on you. |
| 8. Small Textures and Texture Scale |
| Textures
of small size do not effect either WPOLY
or FPS. Texture scales set to less than 1.00 do effect WPOLY, and really effect FPS adversely. The exception being where the reduced scale texture is still large enough to cover the entire brush face without tiling. |
| Got some good "Rules for the Novice Mapper" to suggest? Let me know! email Firebinder . I'm definitely looking for more good ideas to add here. |
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