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L4D: Overlays vs Decals

August 19, 2009
Category: Left 4 Dead Mapping

Overlays vs Decals. Which one to use? When? What are the strengths and benefits of each?

Using and applying overlays and decals in L4D hammer.

L4D Mapping: Overlays vs Decals - Video Tutorial

Main notable differences between Overlays and Decals in Hammer are:

Both decals and overlays can be used on brushes.

Overlays can be used on displacement, decals cannot.

Overlays can be rotated, resized and sheared. Decals cannot.

Decals are almost identical to overlays, just not as flexible.

Overlays automatically conform to the surface they are placed on.

In texture browser, filter decals. Both info decals and info overlays can use decals textures.

90% of Valve's L4D maps were rendered using overlays over decals.

Comments are Closed. Please Join & Discuss this post in the World of Level Design Forums Comments Le_nain 30 Aug 2009, 07:21 Hi! First of all, I really like your tutos, they're really well explained and useful. Just wanna say that I used decals on displacements, and it works fine! It actually doesn't show up very well in hammer (some times not at all :/), but once the map is compiled, I can see it at the proper place. CrowbarSka 22 Aug 2009, 15:19 @schubidu: No not really. Except that maybe they don't get that weird black-out effect, but that's only in Hammer. schubidu 21 Aug 2009, 10:39 One question: Are there any advantages using decals, except of smaller memory? And thank you Alex for the videos. I hope you´ll continue. [sorry if my english isn´t very well. Be free to correct me;) ] CrowbarSka 21 Aug 2009, 01:27 I think it should also be noted that overlays have a slightly higher memory cost, even if it is is only a small difference. keithgarry 20 Aug 2009, 20:45 Hey Alex, I was wondering if we could get some more tutorials on modeling(with texturing), and importing to hammer. Thanks Weiseguy 20 Aug 2009, 19:56 Well, you told me to check this video out for rotating fan blades, but I don't see anywhere a func being used :D Scott 20 Aug 2009, 19:37 Awesome, you continue to do an amazing job of reading my burning questions straight out of my mind. Thanks again Powered by Scriptsmill Comments Script