so, lets say i wanted to make a circular surface...

[LOOK, IT'S ADAM!!!]

for a tf2 map, like the inside/outside of a ridiculously large ICBM. would i have to make a massive prop in a 3d modeling program? would i have to make a terrain displacement? is there some other method i don't know about yet?

[bl4nk]

The best way to do it would probably by using displacements.

[LOOK, IT'S ADAM!!!]

and i would be able to do both floors and ceilings in this manner? i'm just starting out, so i'm not sure about the intricacies of the hammer editor.

[Yatta!]

It depends on exactly what you want. Is this a brush ring surrounding the missile, with the missile in a silo or something?

If you intend to walk on this surface, a brush might be better, making sure to func_detail the brush. If it's just for aesthetics, definitely go with a prop. It also depends on your strengths. For you specifically, a prop might be better. Do you know how to make a physics mesh?

If you want a brush, you have two options, depending on what effect you're going for:

1) Torus (a ring with a hollow middle, depending on the situation, feel free to give it a high number of sides)
2) Cylinder (circular non-hollow surface)

Most curved surfaces in TF2 are made using brushes, like toruses and cylinders. There are some exceptions, like hydro (many archways + the satellite dish are all displacements), but more or less, brushes are used.

If you don't know how to make toruses and cylinders, click the brush button on your left toolbar, then, on your right options (should be above the texture selection, iirc), you'll see something that says "block." That's the dropdown menu you want. From there, you can select other primitives to use.

Oh, and the reason why you want to make this brush a func_detail if you're not using displacements has to do with optimization. Failure to func_detail surfaces like cylinders and toruses like that can cause weird rendering areas, so the computer has difficulty determining what areas it should be rendering. Once again, there are exceptions to this rule, but as a starting mapper, just try to func_detail the cylinder/torus. Displacements do not need func_detailing. They're ignored when calculating what to render, when. Func_detail forces a brush to be ignored when calculating what to render, and when.

Also, don't func_detail a wall that makes up the exterior walls of the map. That'll cause leaks, which will prevent your map from compiling properly. If you have an exterior wall comprised of a torus, consider making a box to house the torus room and func_detailing the torus, or if you're handy with hinting/skipping, you can try to optimize using hint and skip textures. However, as a beginning mapper, I'd recommend a hollow cuboid flush with the exterior of the torus while func_detailing the torus.

[Axis Denied]

Make a hollow sphere and use carve a cylinder with it.*


To be serious - I'm not a fan of huge props.






*I'm kidding.

[NightFantom]

something that actually makes sense

all hail yatta!