PortalFlow Really Slow

[MetalPiranha]

Hey gang!

I've just added a cylindrical post with a sphere on top of it into my map. It all looks well and good... but as soon as I compile the map - Disaster Strikes!

The Portal flow:

1...2...3...4... goes really really slowly. In fact i could probably wait half an hour for it to do its job. Why is this - and how could i solve it?

Perhaps I need more than 512k RAM... :dozey:

 

[Varsity]

Because cylinders don't exist: what you made is lots of smaller polygons that all need to be accounted for seperately. The solution is to select them all and click 'move to entity'. The defualt ent is func_detail, and the one you want. Hit apply and you're done.

 

[MetalPiranha]

Cheers - Its faster but still takes about 2 minutes :S

EDIT: I lied! I accidentally forgot to delete another duplicate brush that was there before.

Cheers dude!

 

[Dr.breen]

I got the same problem......Portal flow really slow.....joe...

"Select them all and click 'move to entity'"......



select all what? Thats a little vague

 

[Raeven0]

Everything that isn't blocking a leak or doesn't provide a very important VIS break should be a func_detail.

 

[RedKetchup]

Optimize, optimize and did i mention optimize?

func_detail > as Raeven said, func_detail everything that isnt used to block vis and/or seal the map.

aeraportal > easy start, aeraportal all doors/windows.

hint brush > well, thats a tuffy part, experience with them and see how they help.

Optimizing isnt simple, but makes the whole difference in compiling and it will make the fps goes up too

 

[Drewbert]

wow a whole 30 minutes??

ive had portal flows go for over 12 hours and still not be done.

 

[Dr.breen]

it's strange.....My maps only took 1 - 3 miutes to compile.....and now all of a sudden (with minimal additions) shows this portal flow shit.

And my other maps which are huge compared to this one doesn't even show portal flow in the compile log...

most frustrating

 

[Dr.breen]

Agyh! why the **** does it do this? my other maps don't even mention ****ing portal flow!

Anyone know the reason its doing it? Because its not because of the 'faces' because My other maps are twice as big in every sense and don't mention portal flow!!!

Plus it's not a case of waiting longer for it to load compile, becaseu it stops before getting to 10 and freezes and stops responding and your computer slows down and and and and

FUAAA!! AAGHA!


/throws monitor out of window

/crys


Its was going so well!

 

[pur3r4ge]

I've found this guide to be most informative:

http://www.student.kun.nl/rvanhoorn/Optimization.htm

It gives a great explanation of everything that you can do to optimize.

 

[Ti133700N]

I'm pretty sure it didn't stop compiling. One wrong brush can make a big difference. Did you use the vertex tool? Did you use carve? Have you put any special textures (like hint)? Did you add entities? Models?

 

[Dr.breen]

wrong brush? How can I change it back (or check what brush I have?)

I exported a complex building into my map from HL2.....Thats pretty much when It started doing this thing.....I've long since deleted the said building but am still getting the huge fatal(computer freezes) compile time.

I would post my compile log but I haven't finished a compile for a while

 

[Ti133700N]

ok so the whole computer freeze when you compile... You can try copy paste all the visible brushes into another clean new map.

 

[Dr.breen]

yeah, I was thinking of trying that.....cool, thanks Ti13etc



edit: yep, that fixed it

 

[Ti133700N]

Good news, so it was a bad brush. Don't forget to save on different file name this way if something goes wrong, you can always start from the last file. Trust me it will happen many times...

 

[PMonkey]

... my other maps don't even mention ****ing portal flow!

...My other maps are twice as big in every sense and don't mention portal flow!!!...

If you have a 'leak' in your map then the compiler skips the 'portal flow', that can easily over half your compile times. You might want to check the other maps?

Optimize, optimize and did i mention optimize?

func_detail > as Raeven said, func_detail everything that isnt used to block vis and/or seal the map.

aeraportal > easy start, aeraportal all doors/windows.

hint brush > well, thats a tuffy part, experience with them and see how they help.

Optimizing isnt simple, but makes the whole difference in compiling and it will make the fps goes up too

"aeraportal" what does it do? I've never even hurd of it, let alone used it!
(as for 'hint', i have no idea how the hell to use them, could do with a tut)

 

[WAR_Nuker]

does a skybox brush count in stopping a leak?

 

[Ti133700N]

Yes, as long as it's a brush, not an entity.

 

[Dr.breen]

If you have a 'leak' in your map then the compiler skips the 'portal flow', that can easily over half your compile times. You might want to check the other maps?

If having leaks makes my maps allows me to compile in a couple of minutes.... I don't care....If portal flow is something you want (what does it do besides make you wait?) then why is it such a painful process?

/Puts on a 'I love leaks' badge

 

[Ti133700N]

If vis is not calculated, it means that everything will be rendered no matter where you are, so : very bad fps. Second, if vis is not calculated, rad won't be calculated and rad is for lights so: your map will be full bright). Finally, some stuff like water might not work correctly.

Leaks are very bad.

 

[Dr.breen]

The weird thing is, I got it when I was about half way through making my map....so the skybox hadn't been touched....so where are the leaks coming from?


PS. How do you enable AI? it says disabled on the screen.

 

[Ti133700N]

Maybe you turned a brush into an entity that was sealing your map, maybe you vertex manipulated a brush, maybe you used the carve tool. All this can cause leaks.

 

[WaterMelon34]

Hey, that rhymes.

 

[PMonkey]

if you use the displacment tool on one of the surfaces on the edge of your map, that sort of turms that brush into an entity, causing a leak. Trust me/us, leaks are bad!

 

[Limpet]

The pointfile is your friend.