It's dark, cold, I feel like shit, but I have to write this. Bear with me.
Some things just don't scale. When you attempt something impossible, be prepared for unforeseen consequences.
I've actually attempted something far less possible before: the CTF_Columns. It's a life's work of mine, not yet released. ( And it actually compiled fine. Barely fit the limits though.
Anyway, I've attempted a much simpler map in the same style, the CTF_WaterWay featured here. The tunnels are hard to make. Geometry in Hammer is masochism. Water is disgusting and slow. Hammer is buggy as dog's mattress. And what's the worst of all: HLVIS. I was prepared for this (at least I thought so), as I've assembled a home supercomputer many years ago. 2 CPU, 32 cores, it was a machine unheard of at the time. Proved very capable too. Cracked even my over-engineered maps like nuts. Compiled XDM code in seconds. But this time... this time... I waited. I waited. And I waited.
6 hours, 34 minutes, 56 seconds elapsed
----- END hlvis -----
Remember that hlvis percentage progress slows down exponentially. So, when it says 90%, you should know that it'll take roughly the same amount of time to finish as it took to get here.
Anyway, I've set alarm clock to check the process at 4 AM, confirmed it was complete, and shut the machine down. And the next day I was severely disappoint.
HLVIS, I am disappoint. Also, Hammer. The stupid unusable path tool. I hate you, Hammer. I am truly disappoint. Oh, how disappoint am I. The disappoint is me.
So funny this article, and, so very recognizable! Back in end 2000 I compiled my HL2 maps, but they started to get so big and complicated that I had to send them at each end of the day to a friend in another country, just to get them compiled so I could test them. Simply because my computer couldn't do it anymore, the compiling. And that while I had a quite good computer. Old times, fun times. Although, the compiling, not so much. Now I have a power beast of a computer, and, compiling is just something that is done under 15 minutes, at the most.
Old times, fun times, thanks for your article, made me remember those old days!
Leon
>Also, Hammer. The stupid unusable path tool.
Of course it is stupid and unusable. Use J.A.C.K. Path Tool instead. =)
But it haz Stem addiction. :(