Texture Limit

Asterisk

<div class="IPBDescription">A few Questions</div> alright.

What exactly is it?

what is the reason for the 4 meg limit?

how do i check how close i am to my limit?

is it for all maps or just official?

what happens if i go over?

how would you suggest i keep my texture usage low?

Moconnor

Its because some people run half-life on software mode(i think...its some mode anyway) and it only supports up to 4mb,thats why there is a limit.
Yes its for official maps although you can go over it i strongly advise against it.

I found out that in hammer if you goto MAP>SHOW INFORMATION then 8.90mb is the actual 4mb limit, dunno why its like that? well thats how you check,

The new ns2.wad contains loads of textures that you can use in multiple ways so that really helps keep the limit low,just use your imagination to see what you come up with

Hope this helped

moconnor

Asterisk

i thought they droped software mode in 2.0.

prsearle

Straight from the mapping forum FAQ:<!--QuoteBegin--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->Why is there a 4 MB texture limit?
The textures used by the map are only one part of the memory requirement for video boards. In addition to map resources the video card must handle models and sprites with enough memory left over to buffer the screen. A 640x480 screen buffer at 16 bit takes over 1MB of memory... 1024x768 at 32 bit color requires 6MB. The limit exists so that people using older cards with less memory can still play the game, and is not related to software support.<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->

As well as "Map -> Show Information", the compile tools also display texture memory usage if you run them with the "-chart" option. You don't have to stay under the limit if you don't mind your map never becoming official, but if you do go over it then some people will have problems playing it.

In addition to Moconnor100's suggestions, you should also go over the "outside" of your map occasionally. Even though the faces are removed during the compile, the textures are still referenced in the final BSP, so if a texture isn't used anywhere but the outside of the map it will still count towards the limit.

esuna

However, if the texture limit is standing in the way, and you have no desire to submit your map officially, you can raise the texture limit by using -texdata with hlbsp.exe.

Also, as to the texture limit, it's also a default limit in the compile tools, but as mentioned above it can be raised.

Finally, i believe during the hlbsp process, ZHLT outputs the actual texture memory usage in the compile log, take a look through and you should find what it actually is.