blocking volumes

[wooper]

ok im back in here now --and im gonna give this lil engine a big old try this time--I WANT IT TO WORK.....

so--heres the question----it seesm the only way i can find to make bigger than normal leves--without a scarily high POLYCOUNT--is th use the FarPlaneClip function--but--this make large outside scenes choppy---
does this engine have the ability to have blocking volumes or empty volumes --like in the newer Unreal engine...
I have been making maps for unreal; for over 7 yrs now..and find that this lil engine is quite easy to use and very flexible---
Its great--lets GET it going and keep it going--and lets see if we can ACTUALLY make a game that looks good and is playable....WE CAN DO IT
LONG LIVE RF.....

Wooper

[Jay]

i don't really know you mean...you mean you place the portals that cull polys yourself?

There are 'hint' brushes that make the compiler procude extra portals. They are used inside walls.

[hike1]

I have been making maps for unreal; for over 7 yrs now..and find that this lil engine is quite easy to use and very flexible---

You expect that in a $500,000 engine though..|P

No, we don't have that, we have fog.

Search for 'frame rate'
http://terrymorgan.net/rffaq.zip

Demos at http://terrymorgan.net/download.htm

[wooper]

sorry==Hike1---ya misunderstood me---.

( 1 ) the lil engine that is sooo flexible is RF--(NOT UNREAL) its great --I just would like to make something that is playable and looks half decent..
tahst all I meant.
and

( 2 ) If you could get the unreal engine for only $500,000--that would be a bargain---ist was over a $1,500,000 now-----

so i was NOt making a comparison between the two-----only trying to find out how to make BETTER levels with RF-----i wanna give it a full and complete run--i think its great--and you guys do a super job of supporting it---thx

Wooper

[wooper]

well im not totally sure about this BUT it works-----
i found something in the documentation that mentions something called.. " HINT BRUSHES"
and if I understand how they work properly---they DO the the function of BLOCKING brushes and it really cut down on poly counts in bigger maps-----I just placed one inand whammo--got a cut back of about 25%.

so--so far soo great

lemme know what ya think ??

Wooper

[hike1]

A long time ago a guy with a name like 'Besers?' fooled around with them, posted a demo. I remember they didn't have a lot
of applications, mostly in a hallway telling the engine 'don't draw what's around the corner'. You can probably find a tutorial on the net somewhere.

[ZenBudha]

Also there is lightmap scale that greatly affects compile time and performance. Basically the lower you set the lightmap scale the more poly's are created.

Also I've never had a problem with the farclip plane. Just make sure you use fog and that the fog turns solid before the farclip plane kicks in.

So if your farclip distance is set to 4096 texels. Then your fog should become solid anywhere under 4096.

Also you can use no lightmapping and simply adjust the textures to affect lighting, and burn in shadows. This means more texture work but is much more effecient than lightmapping.

I have experimented with large outdoor terrains before with RF and had no problems keeping the framerate decent. However a city on the other hand is a whole different situation. Which is probably best solved by using actors as buildings.

As well another thing that seems to hurt framerates really bad is poly spikes. Thus it's rendering 12,000 polys and then you turn a corner and BOOM! It's rendering 30,000 polys which on any machine is gonna choke for a few seconds.

Really outdoor terrains need some form of occlussion culling if you want any decent detail and framerates. Otherwise you just have to find a way to fake the funk.

So from the players perspective he's in a city. However if he could fly he would realise he's being led down a snaking winding path with buildings, and models on each side of him that make him feel like he's in the this huge city.

Otherwise if it's an natural outdoors area just use fog, farclip, and LOD's and you should have no problems.