Extending some engine limits

[Arkshine]

It would be a good opportunity to slightly increase some max values.

Proposed limits are based on http://code.google.com/p/sing-engine/.
Relevant limits and value would be :

• MAX_MODELS 1024 (default: 512)
• MAX_SOUNDS 1024 (default: 512)
• MAX_BEAMS 256 (default: 64)
• MAX_TEMPENTS 1024 (default 500)
• MAX_MAP_MODELS 512 (default: 256)
• MAX_MAP_LEAFS 16384 (default: 8192)

I think it's fair values. Of course higher values are welcomed (like Sing) but as it is it would be already really useful and awesome.

It will contribute to make everyone happy : the mappers would be able to do better maps (larger/more detailed/etc..), the coders will have more room to do custom stuffs, the admins will see their servers crashing less often, and the players will see their gaming experience improving.

Thanks for considering those changes, which are, I think, quite reasonable and realizable.

[dystopm]

One of the best requests that must be done, +1

[zapy85]

+1 on Arkshine
And an extension of chat messages would be nice as well!

[911r0ck]

Dont forget Motd character limit !!!
Please increase it from 1536 to at least double ! or 4000

[cTmoNe]

It would be a big favor if you enlarge this limit.

[tehORiON]

This would be a welcome change, would prefer however limits more along the lines of those in the sing-engine, if possible.

[Sence]

Yea this would be awesome! +1

[ghost]

I totally agree

[tschumann]

Just on this, it would be helpful too if the engine didn't crash if it can't precache a model when developer mode is enabled.
If an ERROR sprite or model was displayed instead that would be nice.

[ghost]

If an ERROR sprite or model was displayed instead that would be nice.

Good suggestion

[DanTheMan1]

This would be great, also an increased MAX_EDICTS for all GoldSource games, not just hl1.

[tehORiON]

@alfred-valve Any update on whether or not this change is realizable?

[crustypig]

im curious as to whether these increases are possible within the scope of the current updates - it would be a great boost for the modding community

[tehORiON]

Think alfred will get to this eventually, but right now there are many bugs that need to be addressed first.

[KiaArmani]

@alfred-valve Any updates / news about this?
I'm currently writing a bigger mod, but the precache limit is making many problems.

[KiaArmani]

https://www.change.org/en-CA/petitions/valve-corporation-extending-limits-of-the-goldsrc-engine

[jeremymerriam]

Hi Valve and valve gaming community. We are currently working on a new Half-life gaming mod (half-life: Control) and our mod is looking to push the very limits with mapping and the way the map interacts with players. Currently, I am at 98% the clipnode max, and very close to maxing out other specs, so it would be greatly appreciated to see these limits being boosted.

Thanks,

Jeremy

[heylol]

FFS VALVE WORKERS THE LEAST YOU CAN DO IS RESPOND

[joropito]

I guess this is out of scope of these updates so try to not bother posting over and over again

[alfred-valve]

We have no plans on doing the major reworking required by this bug at this time, but we will keep tracking it in case future plans make this something we can address.

[KiaArmani]

Alright, thanks for your response.

[heylol]

@alfred-valve Just saying its not a bug.. we're asking for increasment of precache limit. And its not like a define constant variable you guys can change ?

[ThomasJaeger]

I'm trying to solve the

"PF_precache_model_I: Model 'models/[pickyourmodel]' failed to precache because the item count is over the 512 limit."

precache error specifically. This only occurs on the server side.

[twisterniq]

I'm trying to solve the

"PF_precache_model_I: Model 'models/[pickyourmodel]' failed to precache because the item count is over the 512 limit."

precache error specifically. This only occurs on the server side.

If you increase it, client just will have bugs with that models/sprites... IIRC, he just will not be able to see new models. At the moment, we can use Ultimate Unprecacher to unprecache unused models/sprites...

[ThomasJaeger]

Thanks for the Unprecacher but that seems very hacky and won't really guarantee a clean solution. Looking at the source code, I see the following for example:

#define MAX_MAP_MODELS 400

in file \halflife\utils\common\bspfile.h which is used in several places. I have never compiled the goldsource. Where is the client source code? Is it even available? Or am I just missing it somewhere?

[ThomasJaeger]

I just realized that the client can't be part of the repo because the steampipe is distributing the clients by Valve. So, even I could compile the client it won't help since players will get the clients always from Steam.

[RauliTop]

I just realized that the client can't be part of the repo because the steampipe is distributing the clients by Valve. So, even I could compile the client it won't help since players will get the clients always from Steam.

Of course, that's why Valve is the only who can achieve it.

[uniarch]

So? Dear Developers, I have only 2 questions for you. Is it possible to extend the limits? If the first is true: Will you extend them in the future? I just want clear answers from the real workers. Thanks!

1. Yes, but doing so will break compatibility with older clients, such as No-Steam/cracked clients. That's a big decision to make.
2. This issue is a candidate for a future release so it's pretty likely.

The network protocol will need a major revision to support higher limits since even the current limit can't be fully utilized. See #2534 for that.

no-steam - no-support. also they always adapt to changes, so don't care about it much

[y2keeth]

yes please do this

[TheArtemMaps]

for god sake valve pls do this i begging y'all

[ENTPRESTIGIOUS]

for god sake valve pls do this i begging y'all

highly doubt it will ever happen if it didn't even happen before.

[buracat]

what is stopping you from doing this?

[Maxi605]

what is stopping you from doing this?

Who exactly are you addressing?
People can't do anything about this, the changes need to come from Valve itself.

[zapy85]

what is stopping you from doing this?

Who exactly are you addressing? People can't do anything about this, the changes need to come from Valve itself.

Most likely against Valve.

what is stopping you from doing this?

The mere fact that Gold Source is from 1998, not that many engineers left at Valve that have the knowledge how that engine is put together and would likely need some massive time to get custom to it.
Many other things will presumably stop working as well that needs updated for this to work.
@alfred-valve you have any comments? its quite dead from Valve in form of new games over all, is there more steam platform development and management today than producing new games?
@mikela-valve maybe have some news, i see that its on a to-do list since 2020 :o

[snarks567]

A decade of nothing, sad.

[deathreaperz]

I've been trying to add a new weapon, but all the weapon animation, sounds, muzzleflashes and zoom ability won't work. Is these engine limits causing those errors?

[Maxi605]

@shawns-valve this is mostly (if not entirely) done with the 25th anniversary update. Should be closed and if you see fit, implement new values recommended if not done already.

[tschumann]

Which limits haven't been increased?

…

On Sun, 1 Sept 2024 at 14:44, Maxi ***@***.***> wrote: @shawns-valve <https://github.com/shawns-valve> this is mostly (if not entirely) done with the 25th anniversary update. Should be closed and if you see fit, implement new values recommended if not done already. — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#12 (comment)>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AA34IYTWKBKD4SZCL6MJTW3ZUKLTHAVCNFSM4ADOVB3KU5DIOJSWCZC7NNSXTN2JONZXKZKDN5WW2ZLOOQ5TEMZSGMYTMNJSG44Q> . You are receiving this because you commented.Message ID: ***@***.***>

[marigi64]

I'm fairly sure the beam limit hasn't increased since #3087 is still an issue.

[zapy85]

Replying to #12 (comment)

Increased maximum limit of dynamic sound channels from 8 → 32.
Increased maximum limit of sentences in the sentences.txt file from 1536 → 2048.
Increased maximum number of entities (MAX_EDICTS) from 900 → 1200.
Increased MAX_PACKET_ENTITIES increased from 256 → 1024.
Increased MAX_GLTEXTURES from 4800 → 10000.
Increased software renderer geometry limits: max spans 3000 → 6000, max surfaces 2000 → 4000, and max edges 7200 → 14400.
Cycler and func_button entities can now be the entity target for scripted_sentence entities, and are allowed to speak in multiplayer.
Incorporated func_vehicle entity support from Counter-Strike, for mod-makers to use. Full SDK update will come later, but level designers can use it now.

Albeit not a programmer i have followed this for long and completely missed the 25th aniv...
https://www.half-life.com/en/halflife25/ scroll to the end for all the updates, its big.