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| Red Faction : [RED] Editing : Help with portal placement........... |
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| Assassin |
  Posted 10th Aug 2005 5:30am |
L4Y Member
Post 20 / 79
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Ive been sitting here for hours staring at my layout trying to figure out the best configuration for the portals. The map layout makes it hard to put portals in good spots without being able to see the parts of the map that are not loaded. Ive tried a few configurations. First portal set up, I would drop down to 40 FPS in one area. Second portal setup, I would drop down to 40 FPS in a new area but the area in the first set up that dropped down to 40 FPS was no longer effected by the FPS drop. It seems no matter how I have my set up, one area is going to run like crap. Ive posted a pic of my layout. As you can see, I have portals in one area ( near middle ) that are facing each other and that's a no go. Basically, any help, ideas, advice, anything to help me with my delima.
Beta testing is tomorrow afternoon and I know if I leave it the way it is, ppl could give feedback on areas of map lag or even notice the part of the map that's not loaded due to portal placements. Please any help is much appreciated  |
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Modified Aug 10th, 05:35am by Assassin |
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| mad_ferrit |
Posted 10th Aug 2005 10:05am |
L4Y Member
Post 749 / 1510
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Good to see you taking this part of the mapping seriously...
Portals can be a pain on some maps, not acting as they should, causing holes, level disapearing etc etc. But if used correctly they will greatly enhance performance.
From the looks of the screenie you have already portalled the map quite well, but I can see a couple of spots that I'd like to try slapping a portal in. maybe you already have and it created problems.. I dunno.
Don't be afraid to break the rule whereby you "can't place 2 portals facing eachother", this is not true... you can. Just check to see if you can see the skybox when you look through them both, you obviously don't want that!
I'd be looking to portal the map like this...
Which isn't far off what you have done.
But if any problems are encountered then it would obviously need a rethink....
See how ya get on. You can always save your current map and save it as a different name to retry them.
Good luck. |
 MY RF MAPS |
Modified Aug 10th, 10:06am by mad_ferrit |
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| Assassin |
Posted 10th Aug 2005 11:00am |
L4Y Member
Post 23 / 79
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Thanks mad for the reply. Your suggested set up was actually how I had it set up throughout the entire creation of making the map (after I got some advice on how to use a portal with out it creating holes). Portals at everydoor way. Problem was, you could see the sky box with each portal's line-of-site. Thanks mad for taking the time to think about this and to post your suggested set up. PORTALS  |
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| mad_ferrit |
Posted 10th Aug 2005 1:18pm |
L4Y Member
Post 751 / 1510
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DO you wanna e-mail me the map so I can check it out? It shouldn't be too hard to portal, in fact it is like a model example of an easily portalled level. Maybe I'm wrong, but it also kinda depends on how solidly your level is built as the whether the portals will work porperly.
E-mail it to twglee@gmail.com if you can't figure it out  |
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| Assassin |
Posted 10th Aug 2005 6:09pm |
L4Y Member
Post 24 / 79
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Well, I can try mad. Its about 7mbs zipped in size and Im 56k. Ive been trying to upload it to a webserver but I keep getting an error at around 900kbs  Im going to keep trying to upload it and IF it finally works, Ill send you the link in your l4y PM box. I sat here all night trying to figure out the portal puzzle. Anyways, thanks a million for taking the time to help me out and being willing to take a look at the .rfl. |
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Modified Aug 10th, 07:27pm by Assassin |
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| mad_ferrit |
Posted 10th Aug 2005 7:33pm |
L4Y Member
Post 755 / 1510
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Open your map and save it as DM_MFPortals Then texture everything in default textures, and delete all the lighting. It will bring the filesize down considerably.
I will then sort out the portals (if I can) and you can load them in as a group and they will appear in the right place on your previously saved map
Just keep a back-up (or 2, or 3 or 10!!!) of the map you're working on and do what I said aboive on another saved as something else. I can send you the portals as a *.rfg file that you can easily load in group mode. |
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| Assassin |
Posted 10th Aug 2005 9:47pm |
L4Y Member
Post 25 / 79
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Ya know, it didnt even cross my mind to take everything out and redo textures to rf defaults to shrink the files size... durr Im dumb! GREAT IDEA. Ok will do and then will send. |
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| Vidi44 |
Posted 10th Aug 2005 10:55pm |
L4Y Member
Post 80 / 668
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WinRAR it. Rar is a very good compression standard. It normally cuts the size down around 67-80%. Also, it is very common.
[commercial for WinAce]
Now, if you want a super-compressed file, you'll need a radical and new archive, WinAce. WinAce compresses down to around 80-95% compression. This means that the file will be only 1.4 mb instead of 7 MB. Far easier to manage (I plan to upload my maps in Ace, and let the users download Ace themselves, it is clearly the wave of the future!). Keep in mind that this is using my own tests. I used an AIDA32 report in my compression. Here's my report:
Original 1.25 MB
Zip: 135 KB
Rar: 116 KB
Ace: 115 KB
Rar and Ace are close, but keep in mind that this was a text file. On videos, there is a slightly larger difference (but only like 5% more compressed, so if you really want to get the most out of your compression, then go with Ace).
The good thing is that WinAce supports Rar, Zip, Ace, Jar, etc. It's pretty much the ultimate archiver that I know of. Just download the free "trial" (which never ends, so its more of a freeware with donations possible). It has a virus scanning utility to tie in with your AV program. It's available at www.winace.com
[/commercial for WinAce]
Anyway, just don't zip it. Zip is Microsoft's attempt at compression. It really just compresses around 50%, which is good, but often not good enough. WinRar or WinAce should provide you with the compression you'll need (which l4y people are noticing, as a lot of files are now being compressed in Rar).
Post back here whenever you release it, because if you don't, I'll probably miss it. |
"Don't go there. It's ugly, and it never stops being ugly."
"Naps are good" - Visual C++.NET for Dummies, page 1 |
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| Assassin |
Posted 11th Aug 2005 12:45am |
L4Y Member
Post 26 / 79
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Check your PM box mad. Sorry for the slow response. I was really determined to get the file uploaded to the webserver. OK, but Im not sure I can post a link to my map in the forum. That would be considerd spam Im guessing. Thanks for the info on the new compression software. Going to download right away. If you happen to find a good configuration my email is.. undercoverlexus@yahoo.com
If you do if you dont, definitly put your name in under special thanks in my description. |
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Modified Aug 11th, 04:42am by Assassin |
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| mad_ferrit |
Posted 11th Aug 2005 10:40am |
L4Y Member
Post 757 / 1510
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OK, I have managed to portal the map as posted in the screenie above
I have e-mailed you the portals as a *.rfg file (Red Faction Group File) rarred.
You need to extract the mf_portals_12.rfg into your C:\games\RedFaction\Red\groups folder.
Then open your textured map up in RED ed and delete all of your portals, but DO NOT build!!! ( I fear that if you press build you will crash RED because you have gone way over on RED's limits (750 odd brushes and 11,500 faces or so).
Now in Group Mode click the Load button and search in the above folder for the mf_portals_12.rfg and press Open and they will appear in the correct places in your map
Now you can Build and calculate your lights and go test. I found no skybox issues with these portals at all, but it could depend on where you have windows etc in the map. Let me know if you encounter any problems. |
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| Assassin |
Posted 11th Aug 2005 7:31pm |
L4Y Member
Post 31 / 79
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I tested your set up.
1. Extracted the mf_portals_12.rfg into C:\games\RedFaction\Red\groups.
2. I then opened up my textured map.
3. Deleted all my portals.
4. Loaded the mf_portals_12.rfg in group mode.
5. Hit build.
6. Calculated lighting.
7. Saved file, created packfile.
8. Tested.
I got the same results as before. It seems that all the portals on the outside of the map show the sky box. The portals in the middle of the map did not. I presented a picture to show some examples of what I mean. Yellow colored DOT is the player. Yellow colored arrow is the player's line of sight. Red colored box is the part of the map that is showing the sky box.
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| mad_ferrit |
Posted 11th Aug 2005 7:36pm |
L4Y Member
Post 758 / 1510
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Right OK, I'll check them out and see if I can solve it 
Edit: OK I just went back into the game and looked round and I seriously cannot see any problems. Can you post some screenies of what you see in-game? |
| MY RF MAPS |
Modified Aug 11th, 07:44pm by mad_ferrit |
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| Pack Hunter |
Posted 11th Aug 2005 8:01pm |
L4Y Member
Post 221 / 229
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Ferrit remember that every on ehas a different system setup and hardware, which could be causing his probelms, i can take a look when i get home just need the link.. and or a dl |
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| adambehrend |
Posted 11th Aug 2005 8:20pm |
L4Y Member
Post 26 / 97
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I think if you dont have a skybox.. you can get away with looking through 2 portals at once..  |
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| Assassin |
Posted 11th Aug 2005 9:06pm |
L4Y Member
Post 32 / 79
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Ok, here is what I see.
a few steps forward
Here is another example
a few steps forward
If nessasary, I will provide a link to a beta version of the map. |
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| mad_ferrit |
Posted 11th Aug 2005 9:28pm |
L4Y Member
Post 759 / 1510
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I don't see a problem with the first screenie but a big GRRRRRRRR to the others. Why would it work on my untextured version and not work for you?
Erm... don't know what to suggest... |
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