Miter those Joints

Miter those joints, decrease those polys, increase the frame rates.
Sounds simple but it is overlooked in many maps.
Mitering is a simple way to decrease the number of polys where two brushes meet at an internal corner.
A miter joint is formed by angling (beveling) the faces where the two brushes meet

Here is a simple example of a non-mitered brush.
In this pic there is a 90 degree corner. Notice the highlighted brush has two faces that are being drawn although only one of them is needed.
To solve this we are going to miter the corner where the two brushes meet.



Now there are many ways to change a brush. You could edge edit it (E key) and drag the control points. (Note: this would work in this example but in a more complex brush it wouldn't)
You could vertex edit the brush (V) key and drag the vertex points. Again this would work in this example but would be almost impossible to do in a more complex brush.
And you could also clip the brush (X) key (Note: this is what I use the most. Learn to love the clip tool.
To cut this brush select the brush then hit X key to activate the clipper. Left click on one corner, then left click where you want the cut to end.
Now hit crtl and enter until the part you want removed turns red and then hit enter again. Cool huh?
Link to clipper tutorial for more clipping tricks.

Now that your joint is mitered, we have done our part to lower r-speeds and increase those frame rates.
I bet you can think of many more joints that could be mitered. If not, you will.
Load up your map with the cheats on in the console (i.e., \devmap yourmapname).
Then in the console type \r_showtris 1. (Note: same thing but a value of 0 turns off.)
This is a big help in finding brushes that could be clipped (mitered). After a while you will know before you load the map.



Short cut keys that come in handy for this.

X KEY = turns on the clipping tool
ctrl+enter with clipping tool on already on = to change what part of the brush is clipped.
shift +enter with clipping tool already on = keep both brushes that are formed by the clip.
shift left click = to select multiple brushes