CSGO Map Compiling/Beginner Questions

Quote from Michael Greenwood

So what is the best way to get people together for a layout test play? I have my map complete with filler textures and the majority of props are in place (as filler brushes for the most part).

I can probably get 5 people of my own, but how do I go about it when I want a full 10?

Thanks!

Right here at Mapcore!

Quote from NihiL

Thanks @Single for typing that out. I wasn't aware of that decal material property, good to know what the cause of this is!

That's ok!

Quote from NihiL

About the vvis issue: thanks for making such a long post! I was unfortunately already aware of the way bsp/vis works and how func_details are used haha so that was, while very nicely written and hopefully helpful to others, not exactly news to me I have already func_detailed absolutely everything that isn't 'big' and blocks line of sight, every stair, arch, small trim/outline brush etc.

Oh dear, how embarrassing. I wasn't sure how much of your world had been func_detail-d, and I didn't want to make any assumptions, so I kinda just went all out. Sorry I wrote out so much...

Quote from Michael Greenwood

Single Your long post on Visleaves was not in vain and helped me greatly. Thanks a lot!

... but I'm glad that it at least helped somebody! Not a problem Michael, genuinely glad to be of service.

Quote from Squad

Just wondering why you didn't func_detail the actual balcony and the solids underneath the stairs. If it was just to show where the brushes are cutting the world, then that is fine off course, but I think it should be made clear that ideally they should be func_detailed as well

That being said, nice post overall!

The short, simple answer is: because this is a greybox, and I don't care.

I agree, the little 'landing' on the stairs could be func_detailed, as well as the balcony on the right, as well as a very large number of other brushes in the world. Since I put this greybox together for testing a layout, I only really used my basic vvis optimisation instinct (STAIRS = FUNC_DETAIL). An optimisation pass on the map would definitely include the balcony and the landing.

It depends, some people can get on fine not making any custom models while others need it because it can't be covered with brushes

Quote from Michael Greenwood

But how much of a map's detailing is done with prop_details, and how much with just using brushes?

And how to I add something like a road texture to the ground? Is it actually adding brushes in such a way that you just do it as a normal adding the texture to the face? What about something like a curving dirt path on grass with displacements?

Detail brushes versus props is hard to say I think. Ultimately, props can just do things (easier) that you couldn't do with detail brushes alone so if you do have props, use them. If not, use detail brushes.

If it's a 'clean' road, you can use detail brushes, arch tool for curve templates and normal textures or decals. For a curving dirt path on displacements you should use alpha blend painting (look up tutorials for that if you don't know what it is, I made one just recently on my channel but I don't want to advertise).

Hope this helps!

Meanwhile I'm sitting down and putting in hint/skip brushes in spice and learning a LOT more about optimization and the visibility engine, leafs and portals. It's already helped a lot so thanks for pointing me in the right direction, everybody. I'm still not sure what causes the automatic vvis process to speed up so dramatically on my end but who knows. At least I now know how to fix it and I've learned very important things for how to avoid getting into that situation again with future maps. Maybe you just need to dive in to the deep end of the pool with an almost finished map that suddenly doesn't run well at all anymore to really make you sit down and learn all about these things.

Quote from Michael Greenwood

There seems to be LOTS of discussion about optimization, textures, brushes and aesthetics, but much less about layout. No matter how good a map looks, if the layout is crap - it won't be any fun to play.

I've been learning and building a lot recently and have had way more concerns with how I lay it all out for gameplay - rather than my eventual theme. What are the best ways of getting feedback and suggestions on map layout, specifically regarding stuff like important choke points and bomb sites?

I just have filler textures at the moment, is that enough to request playtesting? Or where do I go from here?

I'd answer that giving feedback is a good way to get feedback, at least it should. It's like if you want people to talk to you or smile at you, you just have to talk or smile to them. I'd like to help you next week!

Playtest are good for that too.

submit it, and as long as it works it is enough. Of course it is better if the layout is worked on enough: obvious things should be removed so that feedback is concerning your layout more than obvious things.

@Michael Greenwood

You should find an answer to most your questions there

@Michael Greenwood maybe I misunderstood what you were after then. There's a section there regarding layout, specifically Ben's Bible on Multiplayer Level Design that I thought would help.

You don't have to be present for the playtest, but it is helpful and appreciated. When you can hear what people are saying, you can hear how they say it, text can only convey so much meaning. We use a feedback plugin that captures everything typed, as well as a demo (which you can use on some websites to create a heat map) and make the files publicly accessible. A separate file is stored from text specifically prefaced with "!fb" or "!feedback" so you can get right down to what you can see people have said without sifting through the entire chat log.