Wintermute wrote:3) Anyone still reading this ?
Yep, because you use real words, in real sentences, with punctuation, and that helps a lot!
Bullet wrote:u can extract em from other maps 2
Don't do that, map makers don't like having their maps decompiled, and they definitely don't like having their textures stolen! Unless they distribute them in a wad, of course.
PeaceBreaker wrote:i thought wadinclude made your map really laggy if you use too many custom
Nope
Too much texture memory usage makes maps laggy wherever they're held.
Wintermute wrote:2) When using custom textures, what's the general rule-of-thumb re: wadinclude or distributing the wad file ?
i.e. How many custom textures do you need before it becomes uneconomical to wadinclude them ? (I guess thats the determining factor)
How many custom textures (and of what size) are economical to use with either method ?
(assuming you stick to your custom textures and the standard 3 or 4 CS/HL/ZHLT WAD files).
Do whichever you prefer, but if I were you I'd definitely wadinclude them. Fewer files makes things simpler and it makes no real difference where they're held (as far as I know), and the overall package filesize won't change one bit. Plus if they're not your textures, you shouldn't distribute them
And if they were I'd rather keep them to myself or anyone who specifically asks for them
The number of wad files that you wadinclude makes no difference to anything, although using more than eight does throw up a ZHLT error, but I've never noticed any problems. What does matter is the size of these wad files. Now I'm not 100% sure on what I'm saying, but based on lots of painstaking fiddling about trying to fix problems with de_blockwar (blimey, that was a long time ago...) there is a hardcoded limit to the number of kb of wad files you can let ZHLT wadinclude, separate from the kb limit that I'll mention in a second. And interestingly it doesn't matter if some of the textures in the wad are unused - I don't understand why though, it's just what I remember discovering (so I might be wrong
). Anyway...
The compile log will say, in the CSG section, something like "Texture usage is at 2.28 mb (of 4.00 mb MAX)". That's the important limit, as it's directly proportional to the lag players'll experience. It includes every texture, wadincluded or otherwise, that's in use, but NOT every texture in every wad file that's referenced to. 4mb is the safe limit, although if you really need to go over slightly you can use -texdata xxx in the CSG line to alter the default of 4194304. But try to keep it as low as possible. The above 2.28mb is Officestorm 2 at the moment, and it'll certainly get higher but not much, especially since I'll be using model textures as well, which aren't measured here.
I really wouldn't use a texture over 256x256 in size, and use the smallest size you can (you might like to edit the ones you use to make them more suitable to your map, e.g. cutting a 256x256 texture down to 128x128 if it's not seen much and quality doesn't matter so much). Also try to stick to powers of 2 rather than having wierd and wonderful sizes - Wally accepts anything in multiples of 16, but when they're rendered in game the resolution is actually dropped down to the nearest power of 2, meaning a 192x192 texture will look no better than a 128x128 one! Although it
can be useful to use strange sizes for r_speed limitation reasons (but I personally don't bother). And make sure they're in 8 bit colour too.
It's amazing how much of the above I didn't know until before de_tain2
I was shocked to realise that de_slit was so much more laggy than it needed to be, because I was daft with texture sizes, so wanted to make at least one map properly
What I'd do is use Wally to browse the wads and copy the ones you want to use into your own wad file, which you then -wadinclude. This keeps things nice and tidy, and ZHLT doesn't mind where the textures are held, it only looks at their name rather than the wad of origin.
A few places you might like to try if you haven't already:
http://countermap.counter-strike.net/Te ... xtures.php
http://www.planethalflife.com/wadfather/
http://www.planethalflife.com/crinity/textmain.htm
http://blaz.cscentral.com/
A few raw textures:
http://homepage.mac.com/nealemvf/PhotoAlbum5.html
Also search for sites like this, there are loads.
And check the CS forums mapping forum for people releasing wads (horrible place, but it serves a purpose now and again!)
http://www.forumplanet.com/counterstrik ... p?fid=4965
And of course check the custom maps you have - if the wad's separate than you're probably alright using it as long as it's properly credited.
Wintermute wrote:Reason for asking...
Sput's as_officestorm2 news has kinda jolted me out of playing with terrain generators and different map ideas and try actually complete another map.
However this map will break all rules to known to man re: map-making and is likely to include large-ish outdoor areas, custom textures and some fairly complex polygons.
...and it's an as_ map as well (a style I love, but kinda scared of making).
So don't expect anything much.
...or soon
Fantastic
Keep us updated
I'm happy to say more on anything if it's any help
