Question about VIS Blockers

[Ice_Berge_00]

I understand they're for fps control on maps but I'm not too familar with them. How do you use and where do you place them? Anyone care to take a crack at a simple explanation?

[mookie]

Everything I know about it I know from here:

http://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/Co...mes#Areaportals

 

Haven't experimented with them much, but I assume they're mainly used in doorways that separate large areas.

[Norguard]

...uggh. Simple... ...simple...

 

Okay, Ice... ...simple.

 

*AHEM*

 

Okay, when you're in, say CT spawn in Italy, looking up at the apartment, the Source engine is drawing everything you see at that time. ...I think that's pretty obvious... ...but it's also drawing stuff that you can't see. From where you're standing, looking at the apartments, it's also drawing into the apartments, all the way to the little doorway with the stairs.

 

The practical reason for this is so that you can never see a part of the map that isn't drawn yet. All right, we've got that covered - now, basically it will draw any two rooms that are connected, because it's drawing all of the room that you're in, and it's also going to draw all of any room that you can see into.

 

...so the solution is to limit what you have line of sight to. Again, looking at Italy, from the CT spawn, thinking about the left side, you can practically go in a straight line, all the way to the entrance to the wine cellar... BUT, if you were able to see that far, there'd be too much on the screen... ...so there's a tiny, tiny little hallway/turn there, to block your view. No line of sight means that it doesn't get drawn, meaning that your FPS can have a breather.

 

...it really just boils down to laying out your map well. Try to have a right angle or better in between rooms. ...actually, getting 180 degrees out of all of your hallways is even better still.

 

There are way more advanced tutorials... ...like using hint brushes. Oh boy... But the moral of the story is, don't leave things sitting where they might be in LoS, and never ever use an entity or a model to block line of sight, because they don't work. Not doors, nor windows, nor trains nor trees.

 

Oh, and Mookie, avoid using area portals until you're totally comfortable with VIS blocking... ...using them improperly can actually break your map.

Edited January 16, 2006 by Norguard