Cutting holes in walls

B

Brussells

Guest
This is probably a daft question but I dont know the answer....

If i have built a block, hollowed it out (to say 16) but want to cut a square hole in it (for a window opening for example) how would I do that please? Hope that makes sense on what I am trying to achieve.

Thanks in advance
 
1. Select a block (a.k.a. a 'brush')
2. Use the Clipping tool
3. Select an angle at which to split the brush in two (check the angle in ALL 3 axes)
4. Click on the Clipping Tool icon to choose what part of your brush to leave behind (you can choose to keep one or the other side of the brush either side of the clipping line, or even both)
5. Press return/enter.

Use this process to give you the brushes you require.
 
...or make a 32-sided cylinder and carve wall with it.
 
test said:
...or make a 32-sided cylinder and carve wall with it.
Click to expand...

It's more effective if you use a torus to carve the wall, tbh.

EDIT: Actually, for the benefit of the learning process, this isn't true at all and may actually result in serious injury including major fractures, lacerations, and total level failure.
 
Thanks for the pointers - I've managed to do this, added steps leading to new rooms, compiled it....but now when I run it only loads the old map...new map (saved in exactly the same place/file) doesnt load! *scratches head - what happened there then??? :LOL:
 
I've hosed it!!!!

Trying to load up map and it errors then kills Hammer!

Says:
Out of memory loading solid

Then:
Error Loading file
C:\.......\mapsrc\train_station01.vmf, Line 9646 error 7

PLEASE HELP!!
 
Doesnt appear to be anyway I can get back into my map...guess that'll teach me to use alternating save points after each major piece of work! means I can roll-back if need be.....back to the drawing board!! Live and learn!
 
Good news is that i'm now back to where I was, with tweaks to the map and new ideas flooding in!! And i've been saving each stage under different file names to avoid the problem before! Next is to figure out how to make breakable glass :)
 
I think there are tutorials on this isnt there? On the wiki? But if you know how, or where the tutorial is, then that would be much appreciated.
 
Going back to cutting openings - When I use the clipping tool for some reason the cut is running across the WHOLE brush instead of just clipping (cutting) the section I want. Any clues what I'm doing wrong please? At the moment when I clip around the door it's clipping across the whole width and height of the wall! I dont this is right....makes texturing a pain for example!
 
ok - so it appears you have to have a certain amount of clipping it seems....but I've figured out what I was doing (other than being dumb that is!). Just out of interest is there a way to add one brush to another? ie take 2 to form 1 bigger brush?
 
Brussells said:
Going back to cutting openings - When I use the clipping tool for some reason the cut is running across the WHOLE brush instead of just clipping (cutting) the section I want. Any clues what I'm doing wrong please? At the moment when I clip around the door it's clipping across the whole width and height of the wall! I dont this is right....makes texturing a pain for example!
Click to expand...
Clipping will affect the WHOLE brush. If you need to clip a specific part, in some cases it might be a good idea to clip the larger brush into smaller sections before you clip the part you want.

Also, remember to select the brish you want to do the clipping on. You can select multiple brushes to clip.

---

To my knowledge there is no way to merge brushes together once split. You shouldn't really need to merge brushes though, unless you think you can make an object out of lesser faces (making the scene less expensive), in which case you could always make a new brush and clip it to fit the dimensions of the two other brushes, then delete the two old brushes leaving your new brush in place.
 
Also, anyone who uses carve forsakes any chance of ever having a beer with me.

-Angry Lawyer
 
Carve

Oh for crying out loud! The easiest way to make a hole in the wall is to make a solid, stick it into the wall till its at least flush with it... then hit carve! Delete the solid and... you have a hole. Guess I'm not drinking beers with you Mr Moderator:cheers:.... for this issue, to each his own.
 
Thanks for all the comeback on this thread. I've played about with clipping and carving and I have to say that the easiest way is carving! Hands down winner as far as I can see! Quoting Bellshaver - To each his own! Either way, maps coming on nicely.....

Does anyone know if there's a model for a toilet roll holder?? :)
 
Brussells, anyone with any Hammer experience will know that carving is a big no-no. It may be easier, but it cuts your shapes into horrible stupid shapes instead of neat lines. Most often it creates more brushes than you need, which means not only will your wall be more expensive, but it will also have more faces that need texturing, meaning if you decide to change the texture to something different at a later stage you'll have more faces to select. Trust us on this, carving is evil.

If you wan't to make holes in walls there are better ways of doing this than using the abysmal carve. To save your soul before you turn to the dark side, and for great justice, I have taken the time to link some tutorials on how to do this properly.

Broken Wall
Advanced Destruction

You'll notice that none of these kind souls even go near the word 'carve' in their tutorials. Carve isn't 100% evil, but it really should only be used to make very simple cuts in very simple objects, not for complex, multi-sided shapes. Most of the time, these simple cuts only take a little but longer to accomplish with the clipping tool, which in turn will give you more control. This is why experienced mappers prefer to use clip and vertex manipulation for most cuts they require.
 
See? Crispy has earned beer rights. The rest of you are now forsaken.

-Angry Lawyer
 
Clipping Vrs Carving

LOL Crispy, come now, give in to your feelings, come to the dark side....:borg:

Yes I will admit, for the more advanced leveling, carving becomes a pain, but this beginner asked for "the easiest way to make a hole in the wall". And carving is the easiest.

Brussels, carving isn't always bad, for example...

1.Carving a turkey
2.Carving a pumpkin
C.Carving a person you don't like...
5.Carving a simple hole in the wall when your looking for something to do real quick and not worried about the fine details yet...

Carve
 
Here's another tip: It's also okay to carve holes in your skybox. In fact, it usually makes it look better...
 
Thanks Crispy for the links. Looking through these I can see that clipping is the definate way to go for complex shaped holes. Whereas my original query was for making holes for windows. Therefore I would presume that this is the only time when carving isnt seen as a sin!? Making a simple square hole is in no way simpler :)

Thanks ever so much for all the pointers. I'll be sure to be firing over some more questions as the map progresses (coming along nicely so far).
 
You have made a wise choice.

No, seriously, I look forward to seeing the fruits of your labour.
 
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