So I am working on my first map. yay me. :D So, I have all of these polygons, and I can see them from the outside, but if I zoom and and rotate around inside, they are invisible. Should I flip all of the poly's, or should I make poly's for both the outside and the inside?

Post a pic.

You are using a version of max that does that, i am sure there is a way to only show the correct side, but i dunno how.
3ds max 8 does not do this, it will only show the side that the normal is facing.

i think this might help him see which faces might be flipped...
convert to editable poly then click on the border tool and select your whole map,that should show any bad faces.
also picture?

If i understand correct.
The object does not matter, i think it is just an awkward visual thing.
Like if you make a box then convert to poly then select all 6 polys.
It looks like you have all 6 polys selected from outside and from inside.
The polys look doublesided, and it can be a little confusing.
I think if you do not have any polys selected then it looks normal.

could it also be just the angle he's looking at them polys making them look wrong?
i remember working at something a while ago and dependant on the angle it would look like some polys were flipped.

Alright here are two pics:

I'm using Gmax.

Here's the view looking inside from one angle:



Here's the view, shifted left




Notice how in the first picture, the wall is invisible, but in the second, it is clearly visible. By the way, I took this with a digital camera. :P

backface cull.
choose editable poly or mesh (any will do).
click on edit,then object properties,in the window that opens click in the box beside backface cull
now re-test it and let us know if that fixes it.

If the purple thing is to be a tunnel, then flip the faces inwards. The visable side is the surface.

Oh ok, I unchecked backface cull and now the poly's show up no matter how I look at it. So will it render both sides in-game?

Halo renders one side unless you specify 2-sided in the shader.

And there's also the % character you add to the name of the material in max. Objects with this material applied will have double sided triangles.
Projectiles pass thrue double sided surfaces.
iirc

So in modeling, you only have to worry about one side, so it's ok if you it's invisible from one angle, but visible from another angle (like above). But when you set up your shader_environments, you specify that all of the faces will be two-sided and rendered twice right?

No, leave all the faces one sided. Those need to be flipped though. The faces should face inwards. And leave backface cull OFF, otherwise you won't be able to see your map when you zoom out because the backfaces will obscure your view.

OH right because in-game, when we look a cliff from inside bloodgulch:



But from the outside of the map:



You can't even see the cliff, it's invisible from outside.
Edited by Xoronatus on May 21, 2011 at 11:54 AM

Because the "normal" faces away from you.
You should not be able to see it.
Everything physical in this world is 3d, the planes/faces in max are not 3d.
If you need a reverse side,you would have to use faces/planes for that, then you would have to also make a top and sides.
Edited by Maniac1000 on May 21, 2011 at 02:02 PM

Ok so in this picture, I have a face contained in the white box. Imagine this face is a wall, and the spartan is inside the map.

Here is a view from inside the map, we can see the face. If I were playing as that spartan, I would be able to see that face, and there would be no map exporting errors right? (assuming I had my frame, and I closed off my map by attaching it to a giant flipped box).

Xoronatus

That is correct.

Ok cool. So I don't have to worry about anything, it will compile and look fine in-game right?

Yes.

Alright, now that I've got that question answered I can maybe go make the next Mona Lisa of Halo. :D