Line Of Sight

US-cobra-V · October 2003

i know what it is. but what does it have to do with mapping? something i need to look out for?

watch_me_die · October 2003

The longer your line of sight, the more you will be able to see - so if you have a very long corridor, the r_speeds may be very high. Vis-blockers are things used to block LOS such as a bent passage or wall you must go around and these are the key ingredients for keeping your r_speeds low <img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif'>

You also need to think about game balance - in areas with long line of sight, marines will dominate because of their ranged weaponry.

cyNickal · October 2003

When you design levels you have to be careful of the amount you allow the player to see.
Too big a room or too long a corridor can lead to high polygon rates.

In the image you can see a long corridor and a short corridor, connect by a T junction.
The player can see all the way along the long corridor, but can only see a little bit of the short short corridor.
From where the player is stood, only a small amount of the small corridor is drawn by the engine because the player does not need to see all of this yet.

As the player gets closer, more of the short corridor is drawn increasing polygon rates.

By keeping your corridors shorter and your rooms not so big, you can avoid high polygon rates and keep your fps higher.

*EDIT*
Dang, beaten to it <img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/asrifle.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='asrifle.gif'> <img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/nerd.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='nerd.gif'>
<img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif'>

uffo · October 2003

umm... Doesn't it the engine count the red area as well?

amckern · October 2003

crates in cs maps, (dust) are there becuase they block vis, and also act as cover.

Though adding a small detail object - maybe a pice of machinery from gen hive, in the middle of the room, can also block vis

amckern

uffo · October 2003

</span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (amckern @ Oct 15 2003, 11:54 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> crates in cs maps, (dust) are there becuase they block vis, and also act as cover.

Though adding a small detail object - maybe a pice of machinery from gen hive, in the middle of the room, can also block vis

amckern  </td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'> 
they block line of sight. not VIS <img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/wink.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='wink.gif'>

cyNickal · October 2003

</span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (uffo @ Oct 15 2003, 11:53 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'>umm... Doesn't it the engine count the red area as well?</td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'>
Not at first <img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/wink.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='wink.gif'>
When the player is far away only a small portion is drawn by the engine.

The reason is the player does not yet need to see all of the short corridor from such a long distance. (mostly rhe entrance)

As the player moves toward the short corridor, more of the uncalculated area (the red stuff) is then actually calculated by the engine and drawn in preperation for the players LOS.

When I get time I'll give you a 'physical' example <img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/nerd.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='nerd.gif'>

**EDIT**
Yeah, crates are ok for blocking LOS but not usually vis <img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/sad.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='sad.gif'>

US-cobra-V · October 2003

what do you call a long hallway? my longest hallway is 1728 units long.
biggest hive is 1920*960

can i cap the line of site or does it automaticly do it?

cyNickal · October 2003

How long is a piece of string? <img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tounge.gif'>
Its really up to you when you decide how "long" a corridor can be.

You can alter your Max_Viewable_Distance in your map properties in WorldCraft | Valve Hammer:
Map > Map Properties > Max Viewable Distance

**EDIT**
By default this is set to 4096 Units distance
You can, I suppose, make it as long or short as you like <img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif'>
Just keep in mind that anything after 4096 Units is not drawn by the Half Life Engine.

Line Of Sight

Comments