Hint Brushes

Axion · Post by **Axion** » Mon Feb 09, 2004 4:06 am

Okay, I was reading thorugh the Manual VIS tutorial that shipped with the Spearhead SDK when I came across the following-

"Other tools exist, like hint brushes, that are better suited for optimizing framerate in indoor scenes."

So, how exactly are hint brushes used? Do they function like areaportals or are they a simplified version of VIS? I'm just curious to know the answer.

crunch · Post by **crunch** » Mon Feb 09, 2004 10:05 am

Actually, hint brushes perform a little bit like both.
In an indoor area, a hall with a 90 degree bend, for example, they function like an area portal in that when properly placed, they prevent the area beyond the hint from being drawn.
At the same time, they function like a vis_leafgroup because they will end portal chains in that same area.

Basically, they are used in situations when viewblocking in structural passages/rooms is needed, and yet no doors exist for the use of area portals.
But that is not the limit of their use.
Depending on skybox design in outdoor maps, they can be used to keep areas of the map from being drawn while in other areas.

There are a few tutorials out there about it, but I don't remember links off the top of my head.

Axion · Post by **Axion** » Thu Feb 19, 2004 6:54 pm

Another question-

How would I use hint brushes? Is it as simple as placing them inside interior areas and leaving them be, or is there more to it than that?
\

crunch · Post by **crunch** » Fri Feb 20, 2004 3:09 am

Basically, they would be inserted around corners, filling the space among structural brushes.

Like area portals, they will not work if the surrounding brushes are not structural.

Something like this:

Note: the smaller hint brush is not necessary. Also note that the ceiling is removed for view, and all brushes are structural.

No doors are necessary at either end of this passage for the hint to work.

Similarly, hint brushes can be used in large divided rooms much in the same way.

Axion · Post by **Axion** » Fri Feb 20, 2004 3:29 am

Sweet, thanks for the response!

omniscient · Post by **omniscient** » Fri Feb 20, 2004 3:52 am

why would u need hint, 1 cant see 2 anyway.

Axion · Post by **Axion** » Fri Feb 20, 2004 4:11 am

Because it increases the fps by not drawing what the player can't see.

omniscient · Post by **omniscient** » Fri Feb 20, 2004 4:14 am

ti deosnt draw what the player cant see. thats what vis is isnt it????

M&M · Post by **M&M** » Fri Feb 20, 2004 4:49 am

im confused

.i wanna learn more about hint brushes.i know what the can do and y they should be used.im more confused about the placement of them.y does it have 2 be triangular shaped?y is the smaller hint not needed?is there a tut about these?cause i havent seen any about hint brushes,just area portals and vis.

wacko · Post by **wacko** » Fri Feb 20, 2004 7:13 am

omniscient wrote:ti deosnt draw what the player cant see. thats what vis is isnt it????

VIS doesn't decided whether the player can see something, because in the VIS compile stage, there's no player

, but instead it devides the map into spaces ('leaves') and ingame those spaces are drawn which can be seen from ANY point of the space the player is in. If vis made just one space out of the hallway 1, and just one space out of hallway 2, the complete hallway 2 would be drawn when player is anywhere in hallway1, even if - from his position - he couldn't see anything of it. Those hint brushes devide e.g. hallway 1 in more than one - and somehow precalculatable - space, and so, hallway2 can't be seen from any point in the space in front of the triangle (and therefore won't be drawn).
Right?

M&M wrote:y does it have 2 be triangular shaped?

yeah, why??

M&M wrote:y is the smaller hint not needed?

because, if the whole hallway1 was just one leaf, there would nevertheless be no point in it from where hallway2 (space at the right of the big triangle) could be seen.

M&M wrote:is there a tut about these?

there was once something in the Monty Python's Flying Circus: "How not to be seen - Part One: The larch"... errrm, maybe this was something completely different

wacko · Post by **wacko** » Fri Feb 20, 2004 8:03 am

once again, about the triangular shape...
i think, you could also do rectangular hint brushes. which is wrong (see below)

If A, B and C lie on one straight line, leaf 1 and 2 won't see each other. But to know where C would have to be, you'll have to draw a triangle A-C-D and then, why should u replace it afterwards? Also, in the triangular space to the left of leaf 2 but still below line B-C, hallway 1 will be seen (because u entered a leaf where 1 can be seen) and this will be avoided by Crunch's triangle A-C-D...errrm, most of this is wrong,

so u'd better read crunch's explanation

M&M · Post by **M&M** » Fri Feb 20, 2004 8:05 am

there was once something in the Monty Python's Flying Circus: "How not to be seen - Part One: The larch"... errrm, maybe this was something completely different

ROFL .i found a tut after posting the earlier post,but its not made 4 mohaa ,quake3 engine though.however the author of this tut made a very good job in confusing all my brain cells.so if any1 can decrypt and translate the gibberish stuff he said (i cant make anything of it) id be much obliged.perhaps even some1 can turn it into a mohaa tut.
take a look at it here

wacko · Post by **wacko** » Fri Feb 20, 2004 8:18 am

try this one

M&M · Post by **M&M** » Fri Feb 20, 2004 8:20 am

yeah ,i know that one.but that doesnt explain hint brushes at all,it just says they are another means 2 an end ,instead of the one explained (which is detail)

wacko · Post by **wacko** » Fri Feb 20, 2004 8:26 am

M&M wrote:yeah ,i know that one.but that doesnt explain hint brushes at all,it just says they are another means 2 an end ,instead of the one explained (which is detail)

as soon as u understood that tut, hint brushes ought to be easy, u - as far as I understood things - just add additional leafs manually with them...