I have been getting long compile times on my map for a while now. I put it down to a combination of some dodgy brushes (mostly overlapping) and the fact that the map was still sealed in by a huge box skybox, which was obviously bad.

I decided it was time to sort it all out before it got too difficult to do so, so I spent an arduous day going over some older brush work and completely re doing my skybox, sealing the map in properly as in the official maps (which I decompiled to see how it was done).

Several leaks and nasty errors later it began to compile. However, as convinced as I was that this would solve my compile time problem, it took the exact same amount of time, almost to the second, to compile, despite the properly sealed skybox.

Help :(

(And by the way, this is on Normal / Fast / Fast ... I'm almost loathed to admit the time for fear of being mocked but it took about 38 minutes)

you kinda mentioned it, but just incase, all brushes that overlap, convert them to func_detail. do that actually for all brushes that do not block vis. also, when compiling, select the "fast" (or something like that) box beside vis and rad to speed things up a little

Well dijon in its current state takes 40 minutes with these settings. I just don't know how far along you are with your map, but yeah func_detailing every little piece that can be will go a long way.

Read a lot on optimization

Yeah optomisation is deffinately your problem there, most people will find they have long compile times due to the nature of their brushwork. It's just a fact of life.

Cheers for the replies. Furyo - dijon takes 40 minutes on fast vis and rad? If so then I don't have such a problem, it's just that I've heard people on here saying their maps take 40mins->hour on Normal and it looks like mine's going to take a lot longer.

You need to realize that dijon is almost at release stage. If your map just has the brushwork done, then 40 minutes sucks. If it's as detailed as dod_anzio, then I say good job. truth is I haven't seen the map, so 40 minutes just doesn't give us much of a clue.

If the map is small, 40 minutes is a problem. If it's twice as big as dod_charlie then I say congrats. It's a matter of scale.

What you can do is send me the vmf if you so wish, and I'll tell you straight up if there's a problem or not. But for now we lack an element of comparison.

With that said, if you don't know what we mean when we say "optimization", then I guess you already have your answer, and have a lot of work ahead of you.

furyo
is your 40 mins on full/full/full
or full/fast/fast

btw otF yetihw
smallhill on full/fast/fast
about 7 mins, but i have played around alot, the skybox was the worst thing. i need to do some more though

Yes it is quite large and detailed and there's lots of complicated brush work in certain areas.

Here's a recent overview:



(The top left area is very unfinished)

and there's a few images here that are quite recent but probably lacking a bit of detail, I shall update soon:

http://www.dayofdefeat.net/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=59073&perpage=15&pagenumber=2

hi
don't forget to use hint, skip and no draw brushes, they can seriously shorten compile times.
also there's a top optimisation tutorial here (http://www.student.kun.nl/rvanhoorn/Optimization.htm#chapter1)
btw good looking map :)

40 mins on normal/fast/fast
90 mins on normal/full/full/HDR
That's with a PIV 2.4, 768 MB DDR to do the job. I haven't had it compiled on an average comp yet, so I don't know how long it would take on anything but my piece of crap.

Also I might be completely wrong, but hints will actually INCREASE compile times, seen as there are more leaf calculations. Their upside is the increase of FPS in game, if used right, but they can have an advert effect.

Thanks cheese :D

But I already have, I make every brush nodraw then texture the viewable sides and I've added some hint brushes (though probably not very well, having trouble getting to grips with them).

And yes I read that they will increase compile times, but in the end of the day it's the FPS that matters. And yes I am still getting poor FPS at certain areas so I probably haven't done them right. I'm going to go over decompiled official maps again and try and work them out.

(And don't worry Furyo you're not alone, I'm on a Athlon 2800 2.1ghz)

Originally posted by Furyo
40 mins on normal/fast/fast
90 mins on normal/full/full/HDR
That's with a PIV 2.4, 768 MB DDR to do the job. I haven't had it compiled on an average comp yet, so I don't know how long it would take on anything but my piece of crap.

Also I might be completely wrong, but hints will actually INCREASE compile times, seen as there are more leaf calculations. Their upside is the increase of FPS in game, if used right, but they can have an advert effect.
wow how
i can get a full/fast/fast in 7 mins but full/full/full takes days
i left it for like days last time.
anyone willing to compile a full/full/full to test for me :)

also any one used batch compiling since the beta yet
as i think its broke :(

Sure enough I attempted compiling on Normal/Normal/Normal while I watched some stuff I'd taped, 3 hours ish later and it's done BasePortalVis but is stuck on about 1.....2... on PortalFlow. Does this give any more indication as to my problem?

dogsector takes 2:54hrs to compile, 1:50 if i leave out the water. that's with rad and vis both set to fast, and everything that should be set to func_detail. i still need to optomise it though, and tighten up the skybox, which might explain why it takes so long.

strangely, before i bought another 512mb ram, it compiled in 40 minutes. after, before i even changed anything, it took about 1:30hrs.

The amount of time to compile is not relative to map performance in most cases. It's related to many factors, not the least of which is your PC specs. There's no arbitrary time signifying good or bad. It is what it is. A complex map takes longer, a poorly designed map takes longer than a "tight" map....those about the only conclusive statements you can make. Anvil takes about an hour (all normal settings) on my P4 3.2 box (2GB ram) w/hdr enabled...on a lesser box it would take much longer. If I change to fast vis and rad it's about 25 min.

Compile times are just that...compile times.