VBSP
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VBSP is the tool that compiles a raw VMF file into the Binary Space Partition format. It is generally followed by VVIS and VRAD.
VBSP will:
- Convert brushes to polygons
- Generate visleaves
- Generate detail props
- Swallow most internal entities into the world
- Replace specular materials with patched versions that link to the nearest cubemap
- Report leaks as .lin files
- Embed the entity block
- Merge groups of static props sharing the same material (only in
)
While the resulting BSP file can be played directly it has no visibility control (poor performance) and no lighting.
Bug: In non-Left 4 Dead engine branch games, .mdl files that have the IDST1 header will fail to load for VBSP, see VRAD's bugs.Launch options
Syntax
<vbsp.exe path> [options] <VMF File>
For example:
"Half-Life 2\bin\vbsp.exe" -onlyents sdk_trainstation_01
This will re-embed the entity block without affecting the world.
Common options
Note: -onlyents and -keepstalezip will mark the map as stale by embedding the file stale.txt into the BSP. Loading stale maps in the engine will cause a "This map is not final!!" warning message in the console.
-v-verbose- Turn on verbose output (also shows more command-line options). Use without any other parameters.
-onlyents- Only import the entities from the VMF. Brushes and internal entities are not modified. Conserves existing lighting data.
-onlyprops- Only update static and detail props (i.e. the internal entities). Does not generate a .prt file, making VVIS fail!
-glview- Writes glview data to the VMF's directory.
-tmpoutwill cause the files will be written to\tmpinstead. -nodetail- Removes func_detail brushes. The geometry left over is what affects visibility.
-nowater- Get rid of water brushes.
-low- Run as an idle-priority process.
-vproject<directory>- Override the VPROJECT environment variable.
-game<directory>- Specify the folder of the
gameinfo.txtfile. -insert_search_path<directory>- Includes an extra base directory for mounting additional content (like Gameinfo.txt entries). Useful if you want to separate some assets from the mod for whatever reason.
-embed<directory>- Embed the contents of <directory> in the packfile.
Confirm:Which game introduced/removed this option, if any at all? Not present in any current games. -instancepath<directory>(only in
)- Overrides InstancePath key in gameinfo.
Advanced options
-autoviscluster #(in all games since)- Todo:Used on dz_sirocco, found in
scripts/mapautocompile.txt. -novconfig- Don't bring up graphical UI on vproject errors.
-threads- Control the number of threads vbsp uses (defaults to the # of processors (times 2 for Hypertreading/SMT CPU's) on your machine).
-verboseentities- If -v is on, this disables verbose output for submodels.
-noweld- Don't join face vertexes together.
-nocsg- Don't chop out intersecting brush areas.
-noshare- Emit unique face edges instead of sharing them.
-notjunc- Don't fixup any t-junctions.
-allowdetailcracks- Don't fixup t-junctions on
func_detail. -nodrawtriggers- Compiles all triggers as if they were using Nodraw texture, only affects triggers using a texture with %CompileTrigger.
-noopt- By default, vbsp removes the 'outer shell' of the map, which are all the faces you can't see because you can never get outside the map. -noopt disables this behavior.
-noprune- Don't prune neighboring solid nodes.
-nomerge- Don't merge together chopped faces on nodes.
-nomergewater- Don't merge together chopped faces on water.
-nosubdiv- Don't subdivide faces for lightmapping.
-micro<float>- vbsp will warn when brushes are output with a volume less than this number (default: 1.0).
-fulldetail- Mark all detail geometry as normal geometry (so all detail geometry will affect visibility).
-alldetail(only in
)- Convert all structural brushes to detail brushes, except func_brush entities whose names begin with structure_.
-leaktest- Stop processing the map if a leak is detected. Whether or not this flag is set, a leak file will be written out at <vmf filename>.lin, and it can be imported into
Hammer. -bumpall- Force all surfaces to be bump mapped.
-snapaxial- Snap axial planes to integer coordinates.
-block # #- Control the grid size mins that vbsp chops the level on. Bug: Causes VBSP to fail completely.
-blocks # # # #- Enter the mins and maxs for the grid size vbsp uses.
-blocksize<int>(in all games since)- Control the size of each grid square that vbsp chops the level on. Default is 1024.
-dumpstaticprops- Dump static props to staticprop*.txt.
-dumpcollide- Write files with collision info.
-forceskyvis- Enable vis calculations in 3D Skybox leaves.
-luxelscale<float>- Scale all lightmaps by this amount (default: 1.0).
-lightifmissing- Force lightmaps to be generated for all surfaces even if they don't need lightmaps.
-localphysx- Todo:Currently unknown.
-keepstalezip- Keep the BSP's zip files intact but regenerate everything else.
-visgranularity # # #(in all games since)- Force visibility splits # of units along X, Y, Z.
-replacematerials- Substitute materials according to materialsub.txt in content\maps.
-FullMinidumps- Write large minidumps on crash.
-novirtualmesh- Fix Physics entities fall through displacements at cost of bigger bsp size.
-allowdynamicpropsasstatic(only in
)- Allow all models with the 'static' flag in the model viewer to be used on prop_static, even when their propdata doesn't contain 'allowstatic'.
Static Prop Combine
(in all games since )
-StaticPropCombine- Merges static props together according to the rules defined in
scripts/hammer/spcombinerules/spcombinerules.txt. This lowers the number of draw calls, increasing performance. It can also be used to lower the number of static props present in a map. See Static Prop Combine. -StaticPropCombine_AutoCombine- Automatically generate static prop combine rules for props that VBSP deems should be combined. Note: This does not write to
spcombinerules.txt.
-StaticPropCombine_ConsiderVis- Instead of using the distance limit, combine all props in the group that share visclusters.
-StaticPropCombine_SuggestRules- Lists models sharing the same material that should be added to
spcombinerules.txt. -StaticPropCombine_MinInstances<int>- Set the minimum number of props in a combine group required to create a combined prop.
Tip: Valve had this set to 3 for the new Dust 2.
-StaticPropCombine_PrintCombineRules- Confirm:Prints the combine rules? Hasn't been working for me.
-StaticPropCombine_ColorInstances- Confirm:Does this color the instances?
-KeepSources- Don't delete the autogenerated QCs and unpacked model files after finishing.
-CombineIgnore_FastReflection- Combine props, even if they have differing Render in Fast Reflections settings.
-CombineIgnore_Normals- Combine props, even if they have differing Ignore Normals settings.
-CombineIgnore_NoShadow- Combine props, even if they have differing Disable Shadows settings.
-CombineIgnore_NoVertexLighting- Combine props, even if they have differing Disable Vertex lighting settings.
-CombineIgnore_NoFlashlight- Combine props, even if they have differing Disable flashlight settings.
-CombineIgnore_NoSelfShadowing- Combine props, even if they have differing Disable Self-Shadowing settings.
-CombineIgnore_DisableShadowDepth- Combine props, even if they have differing Disable ShadowDepth settings.
Nonfunctional Options
-linuxdata- Force it to write physics data for linux multiplayer servers. (It will automatically write this data if it finds certain entities like info_player_terrorist, info_player_deathmatch, info_player_teamspawn, info_player_axis, or info_player_coop.)
-nolinuxdata- Force it to not write physics data for linux multiplayer servers, even if there are multiplayer entities in the map.
-virtualdispphysics- Use virtual (not precomputed) displacement collision models
-xbox- Enable mandatory Xbox 1 optimisation.
Console output
Todo:Add descriptions for other VBSP outputs (WriteBSP, PruneNodes, ProcessBlock_Thread, etc).
VBSP prints various information about the compile process to the console. Note that output from older versions of the tool can be different.
Patching WVT material: material path to patched WVT material- The map contains WorldVertexTransition materials that are being used on non-displacement faces. VBSP patches these materials to use a different material shader (such as LightmappedGeneric) so that they properly render on these map faces.
FixTjuncs...- T-junctions are created when func_detail brushes touch world geometry. To avoid visual cracks or seams, VBSP fixes up these T-junctions.
Placing detail props : 0...1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10- Detail props are being placed in the map.
See also
   Official Source SDK tools | |
|---|---|
| Map editors | Hammer |
| Map compilers | vbsp • vmpi • vrad • vvis |
| Map tools | bspzip • glview • VBSP2 • vbspinfo |
| Model compilers | Studiomdl |
| Model tools | Dmxconvert • Dmxedit •  HLFaceposer •  HLMV • Itemtest • Modelbrowser • QC_Eyes |
| Texture tools |  Height2Normal • height2ssbump • makevmt • mksheet • Pfm2tgas • Shadercompile • Splitskybox •  Vtex • VTF2TGA • xwad |
| Sound tools | VSoundEdit |
| Engine tools | ActBusy Script Editor • Commentary Editor • Foundry • Material Editor • Particle Editor •  Source Filmmaker |
| Other | Captioncompiler • Demoinfo • Elementviewer • Motionmapper • Sfmgen • VConfig • Vfont • Vfont_decompiler • VICE • vpk |
