I tried several experiments last night with a few test maps to find out why some maps lag and some dont. HERE IS THE ANSWER!!
This is very very important. Possibly the most important hint on this site for making maps.
While making your map, hit the back button and start walking around inside of it. While you are in your map look in the upper right corner of your screen. There is a performance gauge. That gauge absolute must be green on your ENTIRE MAP! Dont just stand in the center and just look around because that wont work. You MUST physically walk your entire map. Look at everything. Look up, down, at cluttered parts. Look everywhere!! I found parts of maps that actually went into the red last night. Then I took that map online and sure enough. Lagged bad.
It is very important that you look and walk thru your entire map and watch that performance gauge the whole time.
THAT IS HOW YOU GET LAG FREE MAPS!!

Yep Camaroboy's right, But I kinda thought people already knew about the performance meter in the upper right hand corner of the editor. Oh well, yeah I usually make sure my maps dont go to far out of the green. Sometimes bouncing in the yellow is ok as long as it doesn't do it for a very long amount of time.

Later,
Steel

Most people know about the performance meter but they dont realize they have to walk the ENTIRE MAP. I have heard several guys say they just stood in the center and looked around. YOU MUST WALK YOUR ENTIRE MAP!. Very important.

Ah, I see said the blind man. Well I usually run the entire map atleast 5 to 6 times while constructing... Heck sometimes more than that due to the fact that it takes so long to make a map. Usually 15+ Hours

Later,
Steel

quote:

Originally posted by CAMAROBOY6901:
This is very very important. Possibly the most important hint on this site for making maps.
While making your map, hit the back button and start walking around inside of it. While you are in your map look in the upper right corner of your screen. There is a performance gauge. That gauge absolute must be green on your ENTIRE MAP!

You're joking, aren't you?

Don't tell me you've only discovered this now...hehehe...but you're right...

I've known this, and figured it out shortly after learning how to use the editor, by trial and error... ...I've actually had conversations with other mappers at this site in regards to the effect of the meter when you have too many objects in your view screen...

This is a very important factor in your created maps performance, and to walk the whole map gives you a perspective of how many items are in your visual sight...if you find, say, maybe 300 items in view, when you turn left or right, you'll see the movement gets choppy, and stutters...

The performance meter is very useful...

I have also known this since the beginning. I am posting this because I now see that everyone else does not know about this. Your sarcastic reply wasnt necessary at all. Im trying to help other members. Not everyone knows everything and I posted this for those that dont know about it.
I just made this so everyone WOULD WALK THEIR ENTIRE MAP.
You must not have read my entire first post.

Okay...it wasn't supposed to be taken that way...

It's just that the way the title of you're thread looked...you had discovered the meaning of life...

quote:

It's just that the way the title of you're thread looked...you had discovered the meaning of life...

LOL

Good...someone see the humour in my reply...

So, now I see you sticking your tongue out, and smiling...so we're all friends again...?

Okay, c'mon everyone...group hug...hehehe

I didnt have a problem with it. Just didnt want an extremely useful thread getting off topic and going to waste. As long as everyone at least reads the entire first post then the rest of this wont matter. Im just trying to help everyone realize how to use the Performance gauge so we can play less and less laggy games and I wont have to delete as many maps every night.
Its just like the thing in your pants. Its there and you have seen it, but it doesnt mean you know how to use it. lol

quote:

Originally posted by CAMAROBOY6901:
Its just like the thing in your pants. Its there and you have seen it, but it doesnt mean you know how to use it. lol

Whoa...Now, you're getting way off topic...

And, furthermore...speak for yourself...

I didnt know that you had to walk the ENTIRE map so thanks for the info, very usefull

I recently had a problem with a map i was really excited about getting some really bad performance ratings in cetain areas. Due to the construction of the map, i have a lot of brushes in a small area. However, I cut out as many as i could without completely redesigning the whole map. Are there any sugegstions for improving performance other than decreasing brush concentration? Does fog or time of day affect it? It seemed liek i had the worst issues at Sunset, but maybe that was my imagination :-P

While the information regarding the meter is handy when making a map it can not account for overloading of servers during game play. So even if you make a green metered map I have doubts that you can host 16 people lag free in any map of substance. IMHO the best thing you can do is to limit the number of people in a room or run a dedicated server for less laggy games. What would have made your original post even more helpful would have been to include ways to keep the meter from falling into the red;How can one mask the number of items in view at a given time, Is it complexity of objects or sheer number of objects. Answers to those types of questions may be in order.