[Slyk]

Anyone done extensive testing or know the true facts about which method is best for keeping VIS size down? Depending on the map type/style I'm sure it varies. I am building a huge outdoor map and replacing LOD with brushes where possible helped a lot intially. BUT, the increased number of brushes now seems to be boosting the VIS by a ton.

Any ideas? Discussion? Old topic, new idiot post?

[[504th]Arens]

I havent done much research, but...

i'm just guessing that making your brushes detail should help bad for your fps, but hey, you wanted vis down? can't help you much more that that...

and anyways, if your map is huge, lod is probably the best... (im just thinking out loud here)

Arens.

[Balr14]

Detail terrain brushes will cut down significantly on vis data and won't impact performance, since it's unlikely terrain is blocking anything from view, anyhow. LOD terrain can be used effectively, but remember each LOD section is 256 faces. Keep it as smooth as possible ( to cut down on visible faces) and keep the size managable with lots of brushes around it to give it room to cull.

Keep in mind that since detail brushes are ignored by BSP, they don't exist when you get to QRAD. Consequently, detail brushes do not have the same shadow and light properties as structural brushes. They get residual light/shadow from neighboring brushes plus receive the same ambient lighting as all entities and brushes. This may or may not bother you, just so you know it's different.

If you require other mapping assistance, my home site is the Modding Theater. I only come here every few weeks and rarely post.

[Slyk]

Thanks for the input guys. I'll try making most of the terrain brushes detail first, then panic. My vis number went from like 1,360,000 to like 8,000,000 in a heartbeat....maybe some serious goof somewhere, who knows. My data size though, is less than 100,000. Go figure.