nodraw?

[Smoke]

what in the name of floppy monkeys does the nodraw thing do anyways?
i HAVE used it and im pretty competent at mapping so please dont dismiss this as a newb question.

 

[The Dark Elf]

nodraw does exactly what it says on the tin. It doesn't draw it. Use it on brush surfaces that you'll never see on a map (unless you noclip places) and it'll speed things up and not be calculating things it doesn't have to.

 

[Smoke]

aaahhh thanks for that,, hmm thats quite useful.

! are you the dark elf as in the moderator dark elf???

im con-f-used

 

[The Dark Elf]

aaahhh thanks for that,, hmm thats quite useful.

! are you the dark elf as in the moderator dark elf???

im con-f-used

ex-mod yeah. unless there's another TDE creeping around these forums when im asleep *cue spooky music*

oh, don't get nodraw confused with the invisible material neither, they both do different things. I don't think you need to use nodraw where two brushes are touching (on the brush faces that are hidden) as I think those are removed anyway. But I can't be entirely sure.

 

[Smoke]

ex-mod yeah. unless there's another TDE creeping around these forums when im asleep *cue spooky music*
QUOTE]

ex-mod?

 

[Chris D]

Yes, as in - he isn't a mod anymore.

 

[The Dark Elf]

Yes, as in - he isn't a mod anymore.

maybe i should put it in my sig? hehe. I thought people would have realised by now, its been like what, almost two months?

 

[CREMATOR666]

I think nodraw only reduces the VBSP process, but not the VVIS, so if you really wanted to speed things up, use func_detail and hint brushes instead

 

[The Dark Elf]

I think nodraw only reduces the VBSP process, but not the VVIS, so if you really wanted to speed things up, use func_detail and hint brushes instead

well in the engine, nodraw would make a surface invisible, nothing to calculate on it, to basically ignore it (its not ignored by vis calculations otherwise using it on brushes to block vis wouldn't work.. and IIRC that works fine)

func_detail stops smaller objects from cutting into other brushes, but it wont block vis (I think)

 

[Smoke]

maybe i should put it in my sig? hehe. I thought people would have realised by now, its been like what, almost two months?

mabye but its been almost EXACTLY two months since ive been on this site or any other hl2 related site.

i got rome total war see! :E

edit: dont get me wrong im a hl2 junkie all the way

 

[CREMATOR666]

well in the engine, nodraw would make a surface invisible, nothing to calculate on it, to basically ignore it (its not ignored by vis calculations otherwise using it on brushes to block vis wouldn't work.. and IIRC that works fine)

func_detail stops smaller objects from cutting into other brushes, but it wont block vis (I think)

It doesnt block vis, but make vis skips the calculation, to save vis time...as I've heard. Func_detail brushes still casts shadows and can be intersected with other brushes still, it's just excluded from vis calculation process. Still, use nodraw whenever the situation allows you to, it's a life saver for lower-spec machines

 

[The Dark Elf]

It doesnt block vis, but make vis skips the calculation, to save vis time...as I've heard. Func_detail brushes still casts shadows and can be intersected with other brushes still, it's just excluded from vis calculation process. Still, use nodraw whenever the situation allows you to, it's a life saver for lower-spec machines

yeah, but you do know what vis is for right? vis simply works out what you can and can't see. So if your skipping things in vis and go and use func_details on all kinds of brushes just to make the initial vis time quicker. Then your map is gonna crawl. If vis see's through something, the engine will too, hence the point of vis and why a map compiled without it is always jerky and slow instead of smooth and fast.

Course func_details will still be lit correctly and have shadows, cause thats what RAD does. Rad being for lighting.

You should only ever use func_detail brushes for small or small/complex details that wont be used to block more detail beyond, so you don't use it for walls, and you can't use it to seal a map. So sticking them on everything to speed things up, you might aswell just skip vis entirely

 

[CREMATOR666]

yeah, but you do know what vis is for right? vis simply works out what you can and can't see. So if your skipping things in vis and go and use func_details on all kinds of brushes just to make the initial vis time quicker. Then your map is gonna crawl. If vis see's through something, the engine will too, hence the point of vis and why a map compiled without it is always jerky and slow instead of smooth and fast.

Course func_details will still be lit correctly and have shadows, cause thats what RAD does. Rad being for lighting.

You should only ever use func_detail brushes for small or small/complex details that wont be used to block more detail beyond, so you don't use it for walls, and you can't use it to seal a map. So sticking them on everything to speed things up, you might aswell just skip vis entirely

Ummmmm.....okey...I'm just saying he should use func_detail whenever it suits him so (windows, panels, ledges, etc.) and that NODRAW is used to help reduce performances struggle. Oh, and of course I know what they're all for, I've been mapping since the first HL1!!!!

 

[The Dark Elf]

Ummmmm.....okey...I'm just saying he should use func_detail whenever it suits him so (windows, panels, ledges, etc.) and that NODRAW is used to help reduce performances struggle. Oh, and of course I know what they're all for, I've been mapping since the first HL1!!!!

well the way you were wording it made it sound like they both do the opposite things


Windows should be static props, or atleast the framework. the glass being a brush entity wouldn't cut other brushes anyway.

Nodraw on every surface the player never sees, they still exist and are solid, so like in a lot of HL2 maps have striders n such walking on them in the background where you can't see the ground. Cuts down on the number of surfaces being used for materials aswell, since there's probably a limit for that too.

 

[corkscru74]

It doesnt block vis, but make vis skips the calculation, to save vis time...as I've heard. Func_detail brushes still casts shadows and can be intersected with other brushes still, it's just excluded from vis calculation process. Still, use nodraw whenever the situation allows you to, it's a life saver for lower-spec machines

Say I've got a single room building (a small wooden shack) with a spotlight entity in - by adding a nodraw brush in the doorway would that stop the light from having to be calculated from outside....or is that what occluders are for?

Ooh my brain hurts!

 

[The Dark Elf]

Say I've got a single room building (a small wooden shack) with a spotlight entity in - by adding a nodraw brush in the doorway would that stop the light from having to be calculated from outside....or is that what occluders are for?

Ooh my brain hurts!

If you put the nodraw material on something, the brush remains solid, unless you make it an entity but then it wouldn't block the light i think.

 

[Pi Mu Rho]

nodraw brushes still block light.