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Jedi Academy turned 20 this year! We celebrated in a ton of different ways: mod contest, server event, podcast, etc. Thank you to all who have been a part of this game for the last two decades. Check out the anniversary content!

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This community is dedicated to the games Star Wars: Jedi Outcast (2002) and Jedi Academy (2003). We host over 3,000 mods created by passionate fans around the world, and thousands of threads of people showcasing their works in progress and asking for assistance. From mods to art to troubleshooting help, we probably have it. If we don't, request or contribute!

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This game turned 20 years old this year, and it is still one of the greatest Star Wars games of all time. If you're new or returning from a long hiatus, here are the basics of getting started with Star Wars Jedi Knight Jedi Academy in 2023.

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Mapping Efficiency: Mitre faces


MoonDog

Part I : Mitre

In Radiant terminology, to perform a mitre means to join two brushes at a point by beveling them. The advantages of which include less verts/tris/poly's what have you. In the long term this means better performance. This step is very commonly overlooked. For example, this is where two walls meet. While it could work this way, it's not efficient. Let's have a look at why.
 

 


3Lk2jvw.jpg



Compiling the walls in this manner, and loading up the map with developer 1 and enabling r_showtris shows us the inefficiency of this design choice.

 

 


KcZPHAW.jpg



Because we are using two faces of the brush unnecessarily, we have created 6 total triangles as defined by 8 vertices. In this very simple design, that doesn't mean much. If you add that up at the end of a larger, more complex design however, performance will take a hit. To save ourselves trouble, we will "mitre" the brushes together. Step one of the process. Select one of the two brushes. Extend the brush until it occupies the same space as the other brush.

 

 


cRoHx7r.jpg
Yksg2Ki.jpg




After you have done so, select both brushes at the same time. Enable the clipper (X) and select clip points at the joining corners. In Radiant you can hold control and then right click to quickly place clip points on the grid. (Except for 1.5.0)

 

 


Uosq7lD.jpg




Press Shift+Enter to split both brushes along the clip line. Select the two walls and hide them with (H). You'll be left with the two trash brushes we wish to delete. Select them and delete them.

 

 


Jcy0wQE.jpg




Unhide the walls with Shift+H. You'll notice that both walls have been beveled at the place where they join. This eliminates the use of a face unnecessarily. This means we have eliminated 2 vertices and two triangles.

 

 


MIRxZKL.jpg




Let's compile it and take a look! Remember, type /developer 1 in the console followed by /r_showtris 1. You'll notice that we've eliminated two triangles.

 

 


458ai9O.jpg




Finally, let's look at the two design choices side by side. You'll notice a significant difference.

 

 


8 Vetices, 6 Triangles = Bad
KcZPHAW.jpg

6 Vertices, 4 Triangles = Better
458ai9O.jpg




***
An alternate(and way better/faster) method to using the clipper is to use vertex manipulation mode(V), or edge manipulation mode(E). In most cases these are faster. If you are comfortable with these two methods, it will streamline your design process that much more. Be careful with your manipulations in this manner as it could trash a brush quite easily.

Here is a gif displaying use of Edge mode manipulation to achieve the same desired outcome.
 

 


yxEvMgW.gif



*********
Additional Examples:

 

 


ZsaM4XS.jpg

eMgcJEj.jpg
 

 


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