Edge extrusion looks like a nice method, then merge vertices with the same location.

http://youtu.be/IpQelCVPPZg?t=6m50s 

box modelling workflows are pretty good for mapping. 

for me meant working inside this sold block and generally meant carving out a lot of very boring shapes. There are some things in Unreal ED I would love to see for trenchbroom (2d shape builder yes please!!) but I find working with an open space is more creatively freeing than trying to carve out something interesting.
I made a lot of UT maps back in the day and it felt restrictive. 

that probuilder app looks awesome. 

http://www.celephais.net/board/view_thread.php?id=23978

Does any of you know where to get the tutorials that are mentioned in here? At most i can only find the one by Metlslime, after checking Quaddicted webarchive and other places

It would be nice too if we could revive that thread or make another similar ... 

http://web.archive.org/web/20050304015712/http://www.planetquake.com/polycount/cottages/rorshach/ 

How would you approach a huge, huge map, something like all original levels combined into one?

Is it possible? Does Q3BSP or BSP2 offer this? 

All original maps in 1 wouldn't actually be that big. 

... episode 1 maps joined together into a single map in normal bsp format, with the version of e1m6 that wasn't used too in there. If you use teleporters, i think it would be posssible to put the four together.

Ne_qep1 is its name, from the mod ne_dynamic, made by necros. 

Hi, i am experimenting with some hollow pipe bw,
and when it comes to light the scene, i get this:

http://www.quaketastic.com/files/screen_shots/hollow_odds.jpg

Tyrlight 0.14 with -soft 1 extra 4 set.
minlight value 10.

and thats one light only in this shot, value 300, delay 2.

Moving it around, and adding more light doesn�t change this significantly. Any clues anyone? 

can you take another screenshot with r_showtris 2? the face topology looks messed up. 

indeed, the faces are split in an unusual manner.

http://www.quaketastic.com/files/screen_shots/odd_tris.jpg

Though its on grid. TB screenshot:

http://www.quaketastic.com/files/screen_shots/ongrid.JPG 

i forgot to mention, i used an experimental build of txqbsp_xt, which has HL facesplitting algorithm implemented (and is incredibly fast).
Switching back to older version fixed it:) 

those faces are split ok. this is actually the way it usually ends up looking with any qbsp compiler. 

Except you don�t count my dumbness as one.

Those lighting oddities were caused by a abandoned .lit file with same filename.

Took me ages to figure that out(well, actually it was rebb who had that guess). Sorry for the disturbance, i go now standing in the corner for a while.

Sorry. 

 

 

Heh, I did this myself a couple of days ago, but caught it quick. Drag and drop from the build to project folder. 

sometimes it the simple things.
Man, i really got rebb to sweat on this, i can tell you!

Sorry rebb! 

Hi, can anyone point me in the direction of some literature that covers proper brushwork and bsp optimization?

In other words, I'm looking for ways to get the most (most being brushes, models, etc) out of bsp1.

I think max verts is around 65k, not sure about models and other things.

I'm thinking about converting a majority of the complex geometry into static meshes giving me more room for brushes. Is this a bad idea? What are the drawbacks?

Also, is there any way control how faces are split?

As I said, I just want to find the best way to maximize every little bit of space in bsp1, completely fill it to the brim in the most efficient, optimized way possible.

Any input would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks! 

I'm thinking about converting a majority of the complex geometry into static meshes giving me more room for brushes. Is this a bad idea? What are the drawbacks?
Sort of a bad idea. Static meshes in quake don't really blend in with the rest of the level the way they do in modern (or even semi modern) games. They also don't have any collision.
You can use .bsp files as models though. This is a better solution as you get proper collision and it will blend in with the map but the lighting will not match unless you light the bsp model in a way that matches the area in the map in which you're placing it. Also you can't rotate them without breaking collision (eg: if you rotate a bsp model, you loose collision)

Also, is there any way control how faces are split?
Nope. 

Ah, thanks necros, I was afraid that's how static meshes would behave.

I'm trying to avoid going bsp2 simply because I want maximum compatibility with the variety of ports that are currently used...

...however, having 120k+ verts in a single map would be pretty sweet...

After running around with r_wireframe 1 I noticed some faces are split in undesirable ways. I'm pretty sure many brushes could be reshaped in such a way that I get better splits... 

Merge textures on large faces; upscale the textures on bigger surfaces that are out of sight; separate intersecting geometry (ever so slightly) and/or turn things into brush models - both situation-dependent, may help or actually be counterproductive; use hacks to clone often-used detail brush entities; try -forcegoodtree with rebb's txqbsp mod; don't get carried away when making a map. 

also: faces larger than 240x240 will be split every 240 texels, on both axises. So a 256x256 face will be split into 4 faces. Keep that in mind, and add detail in places where the extra face is already going to exist. For example a 240-tall wall brush with a 16-tall trim brush above it will have the same number of faces as a 256-tall brush, but you can put a different texture on the trim and therefore get more detail for no additional faces. 

external bsps can help a lot depending on what kind of map you have.

check out my ne_ruins map for some examples of using external bsps.

http://mobile.sheridanc.on.ca/~jonescor/temp/spasm0003.jpg
upper area is external bsp, trim is func_wall
http://mobile.sheridanc.on.ca/~jonescor/temp/spasm0004.jpg

http://mobile.sheridanc.on.ca/~jonescor/temp/spasm0005.jpg
again, trim is func_wall and coffins are external bsp
http://mobile.sheridanc.on.ca/~jonescor/temp/spasm0006.jpg

Note that external bsps will not light up with guns and explosions but then no one (to my knowledge?) complained about the coffins not lighting up, so i reckon as long as you are careful where you do it, it's fine.