Platinum Arts Sandbox Free 3D Game Maker - User contributions [en]

Mapping Taboos

2010-05-17T19:26:26Z

Nick: /* = Material surfaces */ Fixed heading.

There are certain things one should adhere to when creating maps. By following the suggestions on this page, you'll save yourself from hours of frustration later.

== Entities ==

Be wary of where you place entities, as they should not be outside of the map at all.

If any are outside the map, a warning will show on map load, which will list the type, index and coordinates. Use variations of the following command to find them:

<code>
entselect [(= (entindex) <insert index here>)]
</code>

== Mapmodels ==

Mapmodels are objects in your game. You should use them in moderation; don't overdo it, because their rendering process is more expensive than that of terrain. This results in higher polygon-per-scene counts. If you must add a high number of mapmodels, keep the number over 300 or they will severely hinder performance.

== Particle hotspots ==

It's important to avoid the creation of persisting particle emitters from within a small area. If you use particle emitters, space them out rather than placing them close together.

== Sound swarms ==

Avoid the overlap of more than 5 sound sources/entities within the same area. This can hinder performance and also sound quite unpleasant.

== Excessive lighting ==

Try to limit light usage; use as few lights as possible, because this will increase your calclight times. Often it's possible to achieve the same effect as many lights with only a few.

Also, avoid placing groups of lights in the same area. If you have multiple lights grouped together it significantly increases lighting render time, and they can be annoying to rearrange in edit mode.

== Deformation glitches ==
[[image:geomglitch.png|thumb|right|An example of poor geometry deformation]]
Often, changing sloped cubes with a smaller grid size than before results in a glitch which reduces the cube into a bunch of sharp pieces. This can be annoying to repair because remipping or pushing the edges back won't work.

One workaround is to just stick to one grid size. If you press Shift+7 to turn on outline mode, you can check to make sure your grid size matches up with existing cubes.

== Bugged terrain cubes ==
If you push in faces circularly, the result is the creation of faces which are invisible and can be walked through.
[[image:cubeglitch.png|thumb|right|An example of a bugged cube; it can be walked through]]

== Inaccessible areas ==

Avoid making areas which are unreachable without using edit mode, such as empty underground caves with no entrance. This tends to be a waste of memory.

== Signatures ==

Some editors may choose to leave their "signature" on maps they make using shaped cubes or textures. This is not ideal; you should instead use <code>/maptitle "Your credits here"</code>. Alternatively, if you're publishing your game, you could store the credits in your readme file.

== Material surfaces ==
[[image:waterfalls.png|thumb|right|An example of someone using too many surfaces in a waterfall]]
If materials in a map are kept on more than one level, it requires a lot more computing power. To avoid this, try to keep every material on the map to only one or two levels. If every instance of a material is placed at the same height, no additional computing cost is incurred.

== Skybox occlusion ==
[[image:skyglitch.png|thumb|right|Hiding things behind skyboxes]]
Hiding things behind geometry mapped with the skybox texture is generally a bad idea. It can cause issues with several shaders such as water reflections, and reflect what's behind the skybox; at other times, the reflection or geometry can flicker.

Mapping Taboos

2010-05-17T19:24:30Z

Nick: finished general cleanup

There are certain things one should adhere to when creating maps. By following the suggestions on this page, you'll save yourself from hours of frustration later.

== Entities ==

Be wary of where you place entities, as they should not be outside of the map at all.

If any are outside the map, a warning will show on map load, which will list the type, index and coordinates. Use variations of the following command to find them:

<code>
entselect [(= (entindex) <insert index here>)]
</code>

== Mapmodels ==

Mapmodels are objects in your game. You should use them in moderation; don't overdo it, because their rendering process is more expensive than that of terrain. This results in higher polygon-per-scene counts. If you must add a high number of mapmodels, keep the number over 300 or they will severely hinder performance.

== Particle hotspots ==

It's important to avoid the creation of persisting particle emitters from within a small area. If you use particle emitters, space them out rather than placing them close together.

== Sound swarms ==

Avoid the overlap of more than 5 sound sources/entities within the same area. This can hinder performance and also sound quite unpleasant.

== Excessive lighting ==

Try to limit light usage; use as few lights as possible, because this will increase your calclight times. Often it's possible to achieve the same effect as many lights with only a few.

Also, avoid placing groups of lights in the same area. If you have multiple lights grouped together it significantly increases lighting render time, and they can be annoying to rearrange in edit mode.

== Deformation glitches ==
[[image:geomglitch.png|thumb|right|An example of poor geometry deformation]]
Often, changing sloped cubes with a smaller grid size than before results in a glitch which reduces the cube into a bunch of sharp pieces. This can be annoying to repair because remipping or pushing the edges back won't work.

One workaround is to just stick to one grid size. If you press Shift+7 to turn on outline mode, you can check to make sure your grid size matches up with existing cubes.

== Bugged terrain cubes ==
If you push in faces circularly, the result is the creation of faces which are invisible and can be walked through.
[[image:cubeglitch.png|thumb|right|An example of a bugged cube; it can be walked through]]

== Inaccessible areas ==

Avoid making areas which are unreachable without using edit mode, such as empty underground caves with no entrance. This tends to be a waste of memory.

== Signatures ==

Some editors may choose to leave their "signature" on maps they make using shaped cubes or textures. This is not ideal; you should instead use <code>/maptitle "Your credits here"</code>. Alternatively, if you're publishing your game, you could store the credits in your readme file.

== Material surfaces =
[[image:waterfalls.png|thumb|right|An example of someone using too many surfaces in a waterfall]]
If materials in a map are kept on more than one level, it requires a lot more computing power. To avoid this, try to keep every material on the map to only one or two levels. If every instance of a material is placed at the same height, no additional computing cost is incurred.

== Skybox occlusion ==
[[image:skyglitch.png|thumb|right|Hiding things behind skyboxes]]
Hiding things behind geometry mapped with the skybox texture is generally a bad idea. It can cause issues with several shaders such as water reflections, and reflect what's behind the skybox; at other times, the reflection or geometry can flicker.

Mapping Taboos

2010-05-12T21:59:34Z

Nick: more cleanup; I'll finish the rest another time

There are certain things one should adhere to when creating maps. By following the suggestions on this page, you'll save yourself from hours of frustration later.

== Entities ==

Be wary of where you place entities, as they should not be outside of the map at all.

If any are outside the map, a warning will show on map load, which will list the type, index and coordinates. Use variations of the following command to find them

<code>
entselect [(= (entindex) <insert index here>)]
</code>

== Mapmodels ==

Mapmodels are objects in your game. You should use them in moderation; don't overdo it, because their rendering process is more expensive than that of terrain. This results in higher polygon-per-scene counts. If you must add a high number of mapmodels, keep the number over 300 or they will severely hinder performance.

== Particle hotspots ==

It's important to avoid the creation of persisting particle emitters from within a small area. If you use particle emitters, space them out rather than placing them close together.

== Sound swarms ==

Avoid the overlap of more than 5 sound sources/entities within the same area. This can hinder performance and also sound quite unpleasant.

== Excessive lighting ==

Try to limit light usage; use as few lights as possible, because this will increase your calclight times. Often it's possible to achieve the same effect as many lights with only a few.

Also, avoid placing groups of lights in the same area. If you have multiple lights grouped together it significantly increases lighting render time, and they can be annoying to rearrange in edit mode.

=geometry=

==deformation glitch==
[[image:geomglitch.png|thumb|right|an example of poor geometry deformation]]
a glitch usually comes from using a grid of smaller size than what was used to slope the cube, this will literally cause it to fall into a lot of sharp pieces, and this is often annoying to repair, a remip will not remedy it, and neither will pushing the edge back, so try to stick to a single gridsize, if you need help there, use shift - 7 to turn on outline mode, and combine it with G - scrollwheel to match up grid sizes. This is mostly problematic if you enjoy using the heightfield tool

==bugged walkthrough cubes==
pushing a face in a circle will result in a face becoming see through and walk through, this may provide amusement as this can be used to lay traps, and make one doors, but use is not recommended.
[[image:cubeglitch.png|thumb|right|an example of a bugged cube, it can be walked through]]

==inaccessible areas==

avoid making areas people can never see or notice, unless they enter editmode, such as very small crevices on a dark side, and end of a cave, empty underground cubes that serve no purpose and several others.

==signatures==

some people like to leave signatures in the maps, usually in the form of a secret cube with the credits, either shaped from cubes or textured, or his/her initials done in noclip material, which is unnoticeable outside editmode.

please avoid that, and use /mapmsg "map message here" to store the credits, or make a readme, if you intend to publish it, stating all the authors

=material surfaces=

[[image:waterfalls.png|thumb|right|an example of someone using too many surfaces for his waterfall]]
at any given moment, if you walk through the level and see multiple surfaces of water or lava on different height levels, it'll require more computing power to render.

to avoid the extra cost, try to keep the materials to a single level, or two at most, or otherwise performance costs may become relatively expensive. if they are of the same height, no additional computing cost is incurred.

=occlusion, using skybox textured geometry=

[[image:skyglitch.png|thumb|right|an example of what happens when you hide things behind the sky]]

nothing should be hidden behind geometry mapped with the skybox texture, several shaders do not play well with these, like the water reflections, and will reflect what's behind the 'skybox', at other times the reflection might flicker a bit, and at others, the geometry will flicker, revealing what lies behind.

Mapping Taboos

2010-05-10T17:47:46Z

Nick: general cleanup

There are certain things one should adhere to when creating maps. By following the suggestions on this page, you'll save yourself from hours of frustration later.

== Entities ==

Be wary of where you place entities, as they should not be outside of the map at all.

If any are outside the map, a warning will show on map load, use the sparse information to locate the entity, By either flying around wildly, or generating an entfind command for finding purposes.

== Mapmodels ==

use mapmodels in moderation, don't overdo it, their rendering process is more expensive than that of geometry and is much harder to cull, resulting in higher per scene poly counts. if mapmodels are a necessity, try to avoid numbers greater than 300 LIKE THE PLAGUE, as high numbers can severely hinder performance.

==particle hotspots==

do not under any circumstance, make long lasting particles emit from a fixed point, from many particle entities and within a very small area, this can several hinder performance. use particles effectively, space them out, and don't over populate them in a small area.

==sound swarms==

try to not have more than 5 sound sources/entities overlap the same area. This can be slow, but it's mostly annoying from all the sound being outputted by the entities, it has the potential to sound unpleasant.

==Tanning Saloon (lights)==

try to limit light usage, and use as few as possible to achieve the same effect as using many, your calclight times will thank you for it, for example, placing several, or dozens, or hundreds of light entities on the same spot, is going to cease having any effect after about 2, while causing calclight to take significantly longer, it'll also be a pain in editmode when it's many light entities, since the markers would generate a LOT of particles.

=geometry=

==deformation glitch==
[[image:geomglitch.png|thumb|right|an example of poor geometry deformation]]
a glitch usually comes from using a grid of smaller size than what was used to slope the cube, this will literally cause it to fall into a lot of sharp pieces, and this is often annoying to repair, a remip will not remedy it, and neither will pushing the edge back, so try to stick to a single gridsize, if you need help there, use shift - 7 to turn on outline mode, and combine it with G - scrollwheel to match up grid sizes. This is mostly problematic if you enjoy using the heightfield tool

==bugged walkthrough cubes==
pushing a face in a circle will result in a face becoming see through and walk through, this may provide amusement as this can be used to lay traps, and make one doors, but use is not recommended.
[[image:cubeglitch.png|thumb|right|an example of a bugged cube, it can be walked through]]

==inaccessible areas==

avoid making areas people can never see or notice, unless they enter editmode, such as very small crevices on a dark side, and end of a cave, empty underground cubes that serve no purpose and several others.

==signatures==

some people like to leave signatures in the maps, usually in the form of a secret cube with the credits, either shaped from cubes or textured, or his/her initials done in noclip material, which is unnoticeable outside editmode.

please avoid that, and use /mapmsg "map message here" to store the credits, or make a readme, if you intend to publish it, stating all the authors

=material surfaces=

[[image:waterfalls.png|thumb|right|an example of someone using too many surfaces for his waterfall]]
at any given moment, if you walk through the level and see multiple surfaces of water or lava on different height levels, it'll require more computing power to render.

to avoid the extra cost, try to keep the materials to a single level, or two at most, or otherwise performance costs may become relatively expensive. if they are of the same height, no additional computing cost is incurred.

=occlusion, using skybox textured geometry=

[[image:skyglitch.png|thumb|right|an example of what happens when you hide things behind the sky]]

nothing should be hidden behind geometry mapped with the skybox texture, several shaders do not play well with these, like the water reflections, and will reflect what's behind the 'skybox', at other times the reflection might flicker a bit, and at others, the geometry will flicker, revealing what lies behind.