mapmaker Posted May 1, 2002 Share Posted May 1, 2002 What is a hint brush? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mapmaker Posted May 1, 2002 Author Share Posted May 1, 2002 *bump* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yrean Posted May 1, 2002 Share Posted May 1, 2002 a brush that hints that it might actually do something its supposed too???? lol sorry no clue but i couldnt resist. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mapmaker Posted May 1, 2002 Author Share Posted May 1, 2002 A hint brush is supposed to keep an the renderer from drawing polygons or something, at different times. But I have no idea how to make a hint brush or how to actually utilize them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaviJade Posted May 1, 2002 Share Posted May 1, 2002 Well to make a hint brush I think you would just use the HINT texture under systems... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mapmaker Posted May 1, 2002 Author Share Posted May 1, 2002 Ok, I just need to how in what way to use the texture now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mapmaker Posted May 1, 2002 Author Share Posted May 1, 2002 *bump* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
camp3r Posted May 1, 2002 Share Posted May 1, 2002 this is a complicated question. you'd be best served to find a tutorial with pictures to show you what it does. i know what it does but without images i don't know how to explain it to you. simple answer : the hint brush tricks the engine into drawing something or not drawing something from a certain pov in your map. you probably will not need to use it. I've made probably 25 released maps for quake games and i've never had to use the hint. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vorax Posted May 1, 2002 Share Posted May 1, 2002 Originally posted by camp3r this is a complicated question. you'd be best served to find a tutorial with pictures to show you what it does. i know what it does but without images i don't know how to explain it to you. simple answer : the hint brush tricks the engine into drawing something or not drawing something from a certain pov in your map. you probably will not need to use it. I've made probably 25 released maps for quake games and i've never had to use the hint. Good suggestion ^^^^ Tutorials, understanding the compiler process and experimentation are the only way to understand the mystical hint brush. Once you do, they are very useful, but if you don't know how to use them, you will probably just cause longer compile times. - Vorax Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B0rG Posted May 1, 2002 Share Posted May 1, 2002 Hint brushes are very useful in certain situations, and especially helpfull if you consider how they can help you as you create the layout of a map. I won't try to describe what they do, other than saying they can rwally help in certain situations. It's a very good idea to learn how it works. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
[LoRD]RaoulHooD Posted May 1, 2002 Share Posted May 1, 2002 Would a hint brush in a doorway stop light from spilling through into the next room? I know the map is lit with doors open, so this would help me big time! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twoshadows Posted May 1, 2002 Share Posted May 1, 2002 I'll give this a shot - the q3engine creates a BSP - the bsp is created by compiling Binary space into square "portals" ( can't remember the size of them, but they are divisible by 64 ). A hint brush forces the bsp to consider any brush withint the hint brush ( read: boxed insode of the hint ) to be it's own portal - thus creating more portals and increasing vis time....but, it's WORTH IT. Where this helps is VIS. If a single brush within a portal is visible by the player, then EVERY brush IN the portal will be drawn! But, if you break up the problem portals with hint brushes properly, then only the brushes that can be seen in the portal will be drawn. This is the SHORT version of how this works. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
[LoRD]RaoulHooD Posted May 1, 2002 Share Posted May 1, 2002 So, for example ig you have 2 rooms seperated by a door, could you make 2 hint brush boxes that contain each room? And would this decrease render times and speed up the fps?... I really have no idea if this is even close to what these do.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
[LoRD]RaoulHooD Posted May 1, 2002 Share Posted May 1, 2002 .... or would what I described be area_portal? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twoshadows Posted May 2, 2002 Share Posted May 2, 2002 Let me rephrase a part of what I said there - "A hint brush forces the bsp to consider any brush withint the hint brush ( read: boxed inside of the hint ) to be it's own portal " What I meant to say was the engine considers a hint brush to be it's own portal, and any brushes contained within the hint brush is a part of that portal. Here's the best example I can give about the use of hint brushes: Lets say you have a map that is a battle field and in that battle field are a lot of trenches that players can use to move around the battle field undetected. What I would do is use hint brushes IN the trenches and ABOVE the trenches. This way, the polygons that make up the trenches will not be drawn until you reach the point where you can SEE the polys that are covered in the hint brush....thus, speeding up FPS by decreasing your r_speeds. Same goes for the hint brushes on the areas ABOVE the trenches...if you were IN the trench, you can't see the polygons that are above you ( BUT the engine draws them anyway because you CAN see the portals that said polygons reside in ), so cover them in hint brushes so the engine will NOT draw them until you jump OUT of the trench Make sense? It takes a while to grasp the concept, but hint brushes are there for a reason....use them wisely my son. You also should ALWAYS remember to use r_showtris 1 in game when testing your maps - that's the best way to actualy SEE what the engine is drawing and can help you find the spots that NEED to be covered in hint brushes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nanime Posted May 2, 2002 Share Posted May 2, 2002 Sounds an awful lot like blinders on a horse. You can only see what is allowed, even though it's there, and it won't come into view until you look directly at it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
[LoRD]RaoulHooD Posted May 2, 2002 Share Posted May 2, 2002 Thank you... both those analogies make sense... I think I have it figured out now... hopefully... I'm going to go try some hint brushes now... 'cause my r speeds are incredibly high... and my music skips it is so bad........ lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mapmaker Posted May 2, 2002 Author Share Posted May 2, 2002 If there a penalty for using hint brushes indiscriminately? I don't know how to use them exactly, but I have an idea of it, so could I just plop hint brushes in places I'd think they would be useful, or would that cause problems? Or if I were to put hint brushes all over the place, hehe (my map's r_speeds are at 20000 in some places). *edit* What's your map's r_speeds at Rauol? I'm just curious *edit* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
[LoRD]RaoulHooD Posted May 2, 2002 Share Posted May 2, 2002 lol, they're not quite as high as yours, but I have a few rotating brushes in the centre of my map ,and any time you look anywhere in the direction of them (even through walls) they go up to about 15000-18000.... plus my video card is kind of crappy...lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twoshadows Posted May 2, 2002 Share Posted May 2, 2002 Video cards have nothing to do with r_speeds RaoulHooD. But the reason your r_speeds go up when ever you look in the direction of the rotating brushes( even through walls ) is because a func_rotating is considered an entity and entities are ALWAYS drawn. In otherwords, you can not vis block it. And Nanime, take my short description for what it is... a short description. I don't have the time or patience to give a longer answer.....especialy when I found this stuff out 3 years ago by searching for the answer instead of asking for it. Call me a type A personality. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vorax Posted May 2, 2002 Share Posted May 2, 2002 Originally posted by twoshadows But the reason your r_speeds go up when ever you look in the direction of the rotating brushes( even through walls ) is because a func_rotating is considered an entity and entities are ALWAYS drawn. In otherwords, you can not vis block it. Not true. You can block entities, including rotating brushes. As long as they are in portal that isn't drawn, they aren't drawn. Same as anything else. The reason his rotating thing is seen through the walls is because the portal it is in is seen. Hint brushes might help him, if the architecture will support it. - Vorax Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
[LoRD]RaoulHooD Posted May 2, 2002 Share Posted May 2, 2002 I tried to cover the rotating brushes with hint brushes, but it didn't seem to make any difference... I'm not sure if they should completely cover them, be inside them, or half and half... I think I might just take them out altogether, they're not a necessity, I just thought it would be cool to get hit by a couple of fan blades on the way to a falling death. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twoshadows Posted May 3, 2002 Share Posted May 3, 2002 Vorax- I think you may be wrong about that - use r_showtris 1 on any q3 map and watch entities ( rocket launchers, ammo, health packs ) show up EVERYWHERE - even in portals all the way on the other side of the map. That's why going entity crazy will always bring up r_speeds. I've seen it myself...but who knows, maybe they changed that in the engine for JO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nanime Posted May 3, 2002 Share Posted May 3, 2002 *sigh* I was trying to see if the understanding I got of it was correct. And considering your response as well as others, I'm sorry to have intruded. I thought these message boards were for questions. I've tried to be nice, pleasant, and polite to you guys. Every compliment I've made about the experienced mappers being awesome has been heartfelt. I asked questions in a place where I thought people would be glad to share answers, and for the most part, you guys are ... but I'm tired of the comments and irritation directed at new people when they ask a question you guys don't want to be bothered with. And as far as not being a patient man... I haven't met many yet. Nor am I a patient woman. When the tutorials I went to in the beginning didn't give me the answers I needed, I came here. Every software has something different about it, which is why I'd hoped that small questions might not be such a burden. I was wrong. Enjoy the forum gentlemen. I won't bother you again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twoshadows Posted May 3, 2002 Share Posted May 3, 2002 Nanime - I think you took my comment the wrong way. I was making a statemtent that the answers are out there - if you look for them. Unfortunately, this forum as with most forums, has more questions than it does answers. but - I've done my part ....and while at work no less... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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