Things to do while you compile

[Immortal-D]

My contest entry is roughly as big as Dustbowl, even though 90% of the first stage doesn't exist yet (the second and third stages are fine, long story). So I'm compiling away, and even with my beast of a machine (built myself, thank you very much), it still takes forever and a day. So I'm curious, what do you all do while waiting for a semi-final compile of your map?

1. Make and eat a sammich
2. Lie in sun w/ dog
3. Bother the admins w/ stupid questions
4. Check favorite online comics
5. Try to play other games and fail, b/c compiling eats up most of my dual-core cpu

[Youme]

6. Fap
7. Read up on the latest internet memes to make sure you know what people are talking about when they say I'M CHARGIN MA LAZOR
8. Post a developer blog but realise you can't get the latest screenshots of your map because you haven't compiled the damn thing yet
9. Talk aimlessly on Vent about how much of a bitch hammer is when it doesn't compile properly
10. Watch a film
11. Practice solving the rubik's cube (which btw, I can do)
12. Theorise about the next map you will make
13. Open the garage door (remotely) and watch the terrified chickens in your garden with glee
14. Complain loudly about how slow the PC gets when its compiling so that others nearby get annoyed
15. Make stupid threads like this
16. Search desperatly for information about the release date of the next bitching update for TF2
17. Try and work out why valve used 1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10 instead of a sensible percentage scale
18. Send text messages to those half way around the world before remembering its midnight for them
19. Fiddle with the endl;ess junk on your desk
20. Tidy your messy desk

*note I only do some of these as my compile times are usually too short for some of the longer tasks

[Immortal-D]

*note I only do some of these as my compile times are usually too short for some of the longer tasks

Ditto. But when it comes time to compile a release-ready thing, that's when it pays to have some backup activities.

[Hawk]

During the quick compiles I either watch TV for a bit or play some kind of game on my DS. Sometimes I draw. The quick compiles usually last from 7 to 15 minutes.

For the final-quality compiles, I usually just set those up to go overnight. They take around 6 hours.

[Spike]

Masturbate

[Youme]

They take around 6 hours.

your doing it wrong

:P

[ZargonX]

I go play Rock Band.

[taotd]

My latest beta of cp_normandy took close to 15 minutes to compile, so I played "Cortana" on Halo 3, Legendary.

I'm not sure why I hate myself so much.

[apocguy]

1. I walk to the kitchen and drink some water from the faucet.
2. Walk back to computer to see that VIS is only at 1...
3. Repeat 1.
4. Take a leak.
5. Drink more water.
6. Check computer, VIS is at 4...
7. More water, more leaking.
8. VIS is at 6...
9. Take another leak, I guesstimate that this compile will help me lose 5lbs.
10. Check scale. Was 185lbs. last week, now 175lbs.
11. VIS at 9...
12. VIS done... Damn time for RAD.
13. Stare at lava lamp.
14. Compile finished, but I am sleeping.

[Youme]

Your compiles shouldn't be finding leaks, you're mapping wrong.

[apocguy]

Your compiles shouldn't be finding leaks, you're mapping wrong.

When I said leak I meant urinate.

[Youme]

When I said leak I meant urinate.

http://img222.imageshack.us/img222/3775/picard1dp1.jpg

[apocguy]

http://img222.imageshack.us/img222/3775/picard1dp1.jpg

Yea that seems to be the common reaction to most things I say :glare:

[Earl]

I usually compile with the -low flag, so my instances of minesweeper or freecell don't get too laggy. :)

[TheDarkerSideofYourShadow]

Well, right now I'm learning to juggle. However, sometimes I actually do the school work that I'm supposed to have been working on.

[JTG]

1: Use restroom
2: Watch Monty Python
3: See where my cat's gone to
4: Get some food
5: Stare into space
6: Read some Lovecraft
7: Periodically walk back into room to see where compile is, cuss, walk back out

[Hawk]

your doing it wrong

:P


Wait, based on how long it's taking? What could I be doing wrong, when fast compiles go so quickly?

[Spike]

I've seen +80 hours compiling for Goldsource (not me)

[Immortal-D]

1: Use restroom
2: Watch Monty Python
3: See where my cat's gone to
4: Get some food
5: Stare into space
6: Read some Lovecraft
7: Periodically walk back into room to see where compile is, cuss, walk back out

Cthulhu for the win!

[Dox]

1. Read up at TF2maps.net
2. chat in the chatroom
3. read webcomics
4. read news (Cnet, slashdot, wired, and if im bored, Fark)
5. check my RSS feeds (I use google reader)

Usually my compiles dont go over 3 minutes unless its a release compile so I dont have time for much else.

[flam5]

So is a 45minute to 1 hour compile time normal? I just got rid of all of my leaks and my god was I not ready for that (this is my first map since 1998 or so when I made a map or two for Quake/quakeworld in Worldcraft, so I don't know if this compile time is normal or can be reduced).

Vis is supposed to be turned to "Normal" when compiling, right? I'm not sure what these options do and how they effect the end product of the compile. Is there a way to avert this for minor changes (ie: changing some textures and adding some more detail ) and viewing the map without waiting an hour (I guess I could make an intentional leak, no?) ?

Thanks :)

[Koei]

An hour is pretty long. Did you use func_detail brushes? If you haven't: you should.

[Youme]

Generally you should run only the options you need to.
Say you're experimenting with some entity setup, the only thing you are changing is those entities and how they react, so you dont care about lighting...so turn it off (VRAD to 'no') and as most entities are not effected by visleaves(some are though) so turn VVIS to 'no'. Cut your compile time to a few seconds to a few minutes.
Say you just want to get a 'general feel' of how your map looks, you dont want to see it polished to a shine and you probably arent worried about a minor fps drop, so turn VVIS and RAD to fast.
Now you've finished all the tweaks to your map and want to publish it somewhere. NOW you want to run propper VVIS and RAD (both on normal)

Never ever publish a map without propper VVIS and VRAD compiles, unless you have a very damn good reason not to

Edit: 45 mins to an hour is fine, unless your computer is super good, then 45 mins is probably bad. cp_bloodstained takes 1 hour 20 minutes with VVIS on 'normal', VRAD on '-final' and running HDR.
With just normal and normal it takes about 15-25 minutes.

[rt3407v06p909]

...
Usually my compiles dont go over 3 minutes unless its a release compile so I dont have time for much else.

Same. For me, once I hit that 3 minute mark, it's time to move on to a new map. :p

[flam5]

An hour is pretty long. Did you use func_detail brushes? If you haven't: you should.
You mean attach func_detail entity to every brush I placed in the map? Just from what I briefly read at the valve site just now, it will decrease the VVIS compile if used on brushes that are just used for detail work, not general map layout (walls, floors, etc.), so I would attach func_detail to brushes that don't block the line of site. Did I get that correct?

Generally you should run only the options you need to.
Say you're experimenting with some entity setup, the only thing you are changing is those entities and how they react, so you dont care about lighting...so turn it off (VRAD to 'no') and as most entities are not effected by visleaves(some are though) so turn VVIS to 'no'. Cut your compile time to a few seconds to a few minutes.
Say you just want to get a 'general feel' of how your map looks, you dont want to see it polished to a shine and you probably arent worried about a minor fps drop, so turn VVIS and RAD to fast.
Now you've finished all the tweaks to your map and want to publish it somewhere. NOW you want to run propper VVIS and RAD (both on normal)

Never ever publish a map without propper VVIS and VRAD compiles, unless you have a very damn good reason not to

Edit: 45 mins to an hour is fine, unless your computer is super good, then 45 mins is probably bad. cp_bloodstained takes 1 hour 20 minutes with VVIS on 'normal', VRAD on '-final' and running HDR.
With just normal and normal it takes about 15-25 minutes.
What is "super good" considered? I have a Core2Duo machine (E4500, 2.2 GHZ )with 2 GB ram and an 8600GT.

The majority of the compile time was spent in "PortalFlow". It *is* a rather large map (5 CPs, attack/defend scheme), so I wasn't sure if the compile time was just a result of the large map or not. When I put an intentional leak in it, the compile time reduces to just 3-5 minutes.

[Immortal-D]

The reason that compiling goes so quickly w/ leaks is b/c Hammer skips most of the compile process upon finding one. Provided that your map is even semi-optimized, even a dual-core rig could take up to 40min. for a large and/or detailed map. You are correct in your thinking about func_details. They should be used on all weird shapes like arches and cylinders, plus small brushes that don't block vis.

For what it's worth, the vvis portion is terrible compared to Deathmatch. I've had to func_detail pretty much everything that's not a wall, whether it's large enough to block vis or not, simply b/c Hammer chops up my map like sushi. So it's not just you:P A good way to check; run a fast compile w/ a few entities and all brushwork. Then go to map-load portalfile. This will show you every single leaf in the game. From there you can kinda figure out what the biggest problems are.

[flam5]

Very good information Immortal, thanks so much! :)

[ryodoan]

http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/compiling.png (http://xkcd.com/303/)

[Spike]

I play tetris

[necro]

not sure if they recently added this flag to the compile tools, but -low is great when you want to keep using your computer while its compiling