The Cordon Tool

(October 5, 2017)

If you're working on a small section of your map and trying to ready it for compile, constructing a skybox around big, gaping holes in the brushwork can be a rather annoying ordeal. In this situation, you might be tempted to create a giant tools/toolsskybox-textured box around your map and compile it that way. Don't—use the cordon tool.

The cordon tool is a toggleable function built into Worldcraft and derivatives of it that blocks off areas of your map that aren't within the boundaries you set. You can use the cordon tool to only compile a section you're working on, massively decreasing compile times. Here's what the buttons for the cordon tool look like in both Hammer and J.A.C.K., the cordon toggle being on the left and the button to edit its boundaries on the right.

Alternatively, the cordon tool can be used to compile a map without a skybox, as by default, cordon boundaries use the tools/toolsskybox texture.

To set the cordon boundaries, simply draw a box in one of the 2D views around the part of the map you'd like to cordon off. This is what you'll see in the editor with the cordon tool activated, and how it'll look in-game. All of the geometry and entities that disappear outside of the cordon boundaries are still in the map; don't worry about them being missing.

You can change the texture of the cordon boundaries for each individual game configuration in the editor settings.

If you're working in one specific area and doing lots of compiling, the cordon tool is ideal. Remember to put down an extra player start if your main one is outside the cordon area.