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How do you make door portals

Posted: Tue Jul 29, 2003 4:52 pm
by Breaker
???????????? door portals????????????????


:?: :?: :?: :?: :?: :?: :?: :?: :?: :?: :?: :?: :?: :?: :?: :?: :?: :?:

Posted: Tue Jul 29, 2003 5:31 pm
by jv_map
Maybe you mean areaportal? :roll: :?:

Or maybe take the time to phrase an entire sentence :)

Posted: Tue Jul 29, 2003 5:37 pm
by Breaker
whateva i want to make it so that only the room your in is drawn

Posted: Tue Jul 29, 2003 5:52 pm
by Serph
wha???? so confused only the room your in is draw?

Posted: Tue Jul 29, 2003 6:11 pm
by Bjarne BZR
I think he is refering to the portals you put inside doors... areaportals right? Never used them, but if anyone has a good explanation or a nice link on how to do it ( and more important, how it works ) I'd like to see that as well. Seen som explanation on it but they never made any sense to me... :cry:

Posted: Tue Jul 29, 2003 7:38 pm
by Breaker
thats exactly what i mean i just type too fast.

Posted: Tue Jul 29, 2003 7:51 pm
by jv_map
Oh ok I know how they work, now I hope you'll soon know too ;).

An areaportal brush (i.e. a brush with the common/areaportal texture on all sides) can be placed in a door to make an uh areaportal :). This is a portal between two areas. An area is a group of 'independent' vis_leafnodes, or in more tangible words, a seperate area in your map. In this case I mean with 'seperate' and 'independent' that from any location in the area it is impossible to see any other area, except 'through' areaportalled doors. If you manage to split up your map in this kind of areas you should be able to get a large fps gain by placing areaportal brushes in the doors between different areas. If you do it well, when all doors are closed only the brushes and entities in the area you're currently in will be drawn. This is the only way to make doors 'structural' for the compiler. Keep in mind though that areaportals should make for a full enclosure with structural brushes. If the compiler manages to calculate even one small line of sight from one area to another without passing an areaportal, it won't work :(

Well I hope this makes at least any sence. I know I'm not great at explaining things in an understandable way :oops:

Posted: Wed Jul 30, 2003 12:50 am
by Serph
ok if you had a group of area portals would you have to define it with a target name or something, or does the compiler automatically reconize this,

so if i had a room with 2 windows and 1 door and a vent, and had those all covered with area portals making sure my walls and everything is structural, do I have to give them all a name for the one room, or just leave it..

Posted: Wed Jul 30, 2003 6:25 am
by jv_map
Oh one thing I forgot. Areaportals can only be placed in doors (and possibly a few other entities). So if you have a window from one area to another you can't place an areaportal there :(.

The compiler will automatically make those areas. You don't need to set a targetname. Actually you can't, since areaportals are not entities.

I think the Quake 3 engine has a limit to the number of areaportals that can be made, but I'm not sure.

This is what the shader manual says about areaportals:
3.13.2 areaportal (content)

A brush marked with this keyword functions as an area portal, a break in the Q3MAP tree. It is typically placed on a brush inside a door entity (but is not a part of that entity). The intent is to block the game from processing surface triangles located behind it when the door is closed. The brush must touch all the structural brushes surrounding the areaportal.

Design Note: Areas that are connected by more than one structural pathway are not very condusive to the use of areaportals. I.e. 2 rooms connected by 2 hallways. The areas will not be separated because successful separation requires that 1 areaportal completely block any 2 given areas.
I however do not think the design note is correct :?

Posted: Wed Jul 30, 2003 1:16 pm
by Bjarne BZR
OK, in door but not in windows... How about in doors that have windows in them ( Like I have in Vemork factory ) :D

Just kidding... If it worked it would act as a badly placed targeted vis_leafgroup i gues... iding stuff you should be able to see.

Serously: It will work like a targeted vis_leafgroup that is disabled when the door is open then? Correct?

Posted: Wed Jul 30, 2003 2:13 pm
by jv_map
Bjarne BZR wrote:Serously: It will work like a targeted vis_leafgroup that is disabled when the door is open then? Correct?
Yeah that's pretty much like it. Although unlike vis_leafgroups you need to make good use of structural brushes otherwise areaportals won't help / work.

Posted: Wed Jul 30, 2003 4:15 pm
by Casquebleu
If it can help :

http://perso.wanadoo.fr/amigos/tuto-moh/tuto-area.htm

This is in french but there are some screenshot that explain how it works !!!

.map file can be found here Here !!!

8-)

www.caskami.fr.st

Posted: Wed Jul 30, 2003 4:35 pm
by Serph
yea i relized it wouldnt work when i was going to bed last night thinking about it,

Posted: Thu Jul 31, 2003 3:29 am
by williewisp
jv_map wrote:Oh one thing I forgot. Areaportals can only be placed in doors (and possibly a few other entities). So if you have a window from one area to another you can't place an areaportal there
does that mean that if there is a window that is c thru, in the building ther is no point using the areaportal?

also

Q2
I was wondering what the difference is between these portals in the common textures
1. Area portal
2. Portal
3. Sky portal

and 1more

Q3


Also when you?re using it in a map, I?ll use an example.

1 house in a map wit
2 doors & 4 windows(func_window used)
When using the portal do I just put it covering the door?s, to make an enclosure?
or Do I have to put it anywhere else?

(or am i lost? :? )