Hammer Cordon Usage

Todo: Merge page better

Toggle Cordon State

This function will toggle the visibility and effect of a cordon area you have created with the Edit Cordon Bounds tool. When the Toggle Cordon State is activated, a thick red line will appear around that area. When you compile, only the inside of that red area will be compiled, and a box will be placed around the area to seal leaks. With the button deactivated, the cordon area will not be visible, and the compile will be unaffected by the cordon. See Edit Cordon Bounds for information on how to create and edit cordon areas.

Edit Cordon Bounds

This function allows you to "cordon off" an area in order to test compile a section of the map file. When the Toggle Cordon State is activated, a thick red line will appear around that area. When you compile, only the objects inside of that red area will be compiled, and a black box will be placed around the area to seal leaks.

This is extremely useful when you are working on a large level and want to look at changes made in only a small area. Rather than wait a considerable amount of time for the entire map to compile, you can selectively compile only a small area by using the cordon functions.

This function allows you to create new cordon boundaries, or edit existing ones. After enabling Edit Cordon Bounds, the editing handles of a cordon area will become active. Drag the boundary handles to a new area to change the size of the area. Select an different editing tool to deactivate Edit Cordon Bounds and make the changes to the cordon area.

To create a new cordon area:

1. Select the Edit Cordon Bounds button on the Map Operations Toolbar. The Toggle Cordon State button will also automatically activate.
2. Drag a selection box in one of the 2D views.
3. Resize the selection box as necessary, in any of the 2D views.
4. Select any other editing tool from the Map Tools Toolbar to finish creating the cordon area. The Toggle Cordon State button will remain active.

Tip:Make sure a player start point lies within the bounds of the cordoned area before you run a test compile, otherwise the game will place the player at the world origin when you load the map in the game engine.

To edit an existing cordon area:

1. Select the Edit Cordon Bounds button on the Map Operations Toolbar. The Toggle Cordon State button will also automatically activate.
2. Drag the handles of the selection box in any of the 2D views to change the size of the cordon area.
3. Click-drag in the center of the selection box to move the entire box at once.
4. Select any other editing tool from the Map Tools Toolbar to finish editing the cordon area. The Toggle Cordon State button will remain active.

Compiling

Compiling with cordon boundaries set will compile only the part of the map you have selected. Say you want to compile one room, or want to test out some lighting; you can compile that small area without compiling the rest of the map, and without waiting for a full or even fast vis compile of the whole map. You can also use cordons to eliminate areas when trying to find the location of a problem.

Use

To use cordon boundaries first load the map you want to compile. Then look on the tool bar for an icon representing a black and yellow box.

File:Cordon1.jpg

Of the two buttons shown circled in the image, click the Cordon Edit button (the hollowed out yellow and black square on the right). Then go to 2D views and draw the box around the part of the map you want to compile. The box is a cube shape, so you must use two different 2D views to alter the height, width, and depth of the cube to fit the section you wish to cordon.

Once the area you want compiled is boxed off, the Cordon Toggle button (fully colored in black and yellow) will become active.

Now compile, and if the cordon area small enough, it will take considerably less time then it did with the whole map.

Note:You must include a start point (an info_player_start or an info_player_deathmatch) inside your cordon boundary or else your map will not work.

File:Cordon2.jpg

Cordon boundaries selected.

File:Cordon3.jpg

Cordon boundaries activated.

Changing the cordon wall texture

File:Cordon4.gif

One downside of the cordon tool is the annoying black and purple texture that represents the cordon boundary in the 3D view. It can make you sick after moving around a lot. Fortunately, it can easily be changed to a different texture by changing the cordon material.

1. Go to Tools > Options... > Game Configurations tab.
2. Click Browse by Cordon texture field.
3. Double-click to select a different texture. The tools/toolsskybox texture works well, but you need to make sure you have a light_environment in the bounds for the skybox texture to work properly after compile.