Is it possible to add the sky texture to a brush and make it so that anything behind the brush will be invisible and there will in fact be VIS blocking?

I have a square-like map with a lot of houses and 4 streets connected to each other. I wanna put a sky in the center so that the map will be smooth to play and so that only the sky texture can be seen instead of the houses that are in the other streets.

I hope this is clear and I really hope someone can help me :(

u can do that, s1 would see the sky texture, but if something behind the brush is rendered viewable then the sky brush would appear invisible yet solid.

Ok I'm doing a full vis compile ATM, but the problem with a fastvis compile is that I can still see houses through the sky, so it is not blocking the view from everything that's behind the sky.

I saw there was a similar thread about the same problem in this forum, but I still find that one inconclusive and was hoping in these modern days someone knows a way to fix this :)

if u want the houses behind the sky brush not to be seen then the sky brush must make the area "air tight" with no way to see behind it.

a screen shot may help u explain ur problem. if u put in in BMP format i wont reply ;) (jpeg)

Ok I attached a pic...

I want the highlighted brushes to have the sky texture. The problem is, that if I compile it and run the map in game, I can see brushes from houses through it. I've read somewhere that the sky texture will still show anything that is placed behind the texture and thus not VIS Blocking or view blocking. Is there any way to fix it? (hint brushes maybe?)

well, the sky brush should be right up against the houses, and u need another brush and it may work. (see attachment) (the grid is where ur brush should go, hopefully it works)

Oh I see... so the other, new brush should be a HINT brush then?

no, it should be a sky brush.

here is what i interperate, u want it so the houses around the corner cannot be seen (are not rendered) until u get to the corner.

am i right in thinking this?

if that big block is one piece it wont block vis properly, as it is visible from both areas. Make sure that each 'room' has its own overhead sky piece and sky walls, (make 2 skinny walls backs to back if u have to) and you wont need hint brushes

Attached new pic.

Ok let me try to explain this once more :):

Imagine me walking on the right, which is the blue colored street. When I look at the west (left), I should be seeing the houses that are in the street I'm walking in and behind it the sky (and nothing more than that).

This it not happening, because 'behind' the sky I can see the backs of the houses from the street that's on the left. This means that the sky is transparent-like instead of blocking the view from anything that is placed behind the sky brush.

In the same situation, if the highlighted brushes would have a normal texture, the played wouldn't be able to see through the wall and hlvis would not render anything that is behind the wall. This would propably decrease the r_speeds, because no unneccesary objects get rendered.

greenhorn: If I understand you correctly, do I need to split up the sky brushes for each 'part' of the map? Maybe you can give more feedback after reading this post and seeing the pic.

yes, exactly
dont be shy of using many skybrushes, they dont add in to your base patches or texture memory, or compile time.
what i call a room is a 'visibility area' if u will, but its also a physical room of sky blocks, each area having its own seperate walls and ceiling
at least thats assuming you want to see absolutely nothing through the sky, if you want to see right thru then do it the same but make a hole where you want to be able to see through

... your pic wouldnt load

To clarify what has already been said, because I found the explanations somewhat convoluted....a skybrush acts as a VIS blocker on compile, but does not block your line of sight in game. So if something beyond the skybrush is in a vis block that is being drawn, you will be able to see it through the sky brush.

Most situations can probably be fixed with proper vis blocking, following the tips of the other posters, while in other strange cases, you may simply have to alter your brushwork slightly to block line of sight in game.

I decided to leave the walls out and keep it open. It shouldn't make much difference in performance on the Source engine.

FASTVIS does not make things on the opposite side of sky brushes invisible, only FULL vis does.

Originally posted by Vigilante
...was hoping in these modern days someone knows a way to fix this :)

Are you making fun of my wood computer?