Problems setting up hammer

Solved: Solution nuke the Source SDK and reinstall it.

Tried the quick version from the wiki; found it was broken(since steam release presumably). Manually put in every path. Hammer now starts without complaint.

Tried building a teeny tiny test map just to see that it compiles(just a hollow box with a light source in it); vbsp complained about missing textures and missing skybox textures then shat itself.

Tried verifying all the relevant caches. Tried fiddling with the paths for an hour or so. Tried searching the web and empires forums a couple of times but that didn't get me anywhere.

Here's my GameConfig.txt:

Code:

"Configs"
{
	"Games"
	{
		"Empires 2.2x"
		{
			"GameDir"		"c:\Program\steam\steamapps\<my username>\empires\empires"
			"hammer"
			{
				"GameData0"		"c:\Program\steam\steamapps\<my username>\empires\empires\empires.fgd"
				"TextureFormat"		"5"
				"MapFormat"		"4"
				"DefaultTextureScale"	"0.320000"
				"DefaultLightmapScale"	"32"
				"GameExe"		"C:\Program\Steam\steamapps\<my username>\source sdk base 2007\hl2.exe"
				"DefaultSolidEntity"	"func_detail"
				"DefaultPointEntity"	"emp_info_map_overview"
				"BSP"			"c:\Program\steam\steamapps\<my username>\sourcesdk\bin\source2007\bin\vbsp.exe"
				"Vis"			"c:\Program\steam\steamapps\<my username>\sourcesdk\bin\source2007\bin\vvis.exe"
				"Light"			"c:\Program\steam\steamapps\<my username>\sourcesdk\bin\source2007\bin\vrad.exe"
				"GameExeDir"		"c:\Program\steam\steamapps\<my username>\source sdk base 2007"
				"MapDir"		"c:\Program\steam\steamapps\<my username>\empires\empires\mapsrc"
				"BSPDir"		"c:\Program\steam\steamapps\<my username>\empires\empires\maps"
				"CordonTexture"		"common/tools/toolsskybox"
				"MaterialExcludeCount"	"0"
			}
		}
	}
	"SDKVersion"		"3"
}

If you have it working; let me see yours.

Error:

Code:

** Executing...
** Command: "c:\Program\steam\steamapps\<joink>\sourcesdk\bin\source2007\bin\vbsp.exe"
** Parameters: -game "c:\Program\steam\steamapps\<joink>\empires\empires" "c:\program files\steam\steamapps\<joink>\empires\empires\mapsrc\testmap"

Valve Software - vbsp.exe (May 19 2009)
4 threads
materialPath: c:\Program\steam\steamapps\<joink>\empires\empires\materials
Loading c:\program files\steam\steamapps\<joink>\empires\empires\mapsrc\testmap.vmf
material "metal/metalfloor003a" not found.
Material not found!: METAL/METALFLOOR003A
fixing up env_cubemap materials on brush sides...
ProcessBlock_Thread: 0...1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10 (0)
ProcessBlock_Thread: 0...1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10 (0)
Processing areas...done (0)
Building Faces...done (0)
FixTjuncs...
PruneNodes...
WriteBSP...
done (0)
writing c:\program files\steam\steamapps\<joink>\empires\empires\mapsrc\testmap.prt...Building visibility clusters...
done (0)
material "skybox/empsky_day3rt" not found.
Can't load skybox file skybox/empsky_day3 to build the default cubemap!
Can't load skybox file skybox/empsky_day3 to build the default cubemap!
Finding displacement neighbors...
Finding lightmap sample positions...
Displacement Alpha : 0...1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10
Building Physics collision data...

At this point it just crashes. I'm suspecting issues with pathing, somehow, somewhere.

 

you need to edit the GameConfig.txt in:

D:\Steam\steamapps\<username>\sourcesdk\bin\source2007\bin

and place that in there:

Code:

"Configs"
{
	"Games"
	{
		"Empires"
		{
			"GameDir"		"d:\steam\steamapps\[COLOR="Red"]<username>[/COLOR]\empires\empires"
			"hammer"
			{
				"GameData0"		"d:\steam\steamapps\[COLOR="Red"]<username>[/COLOR]\empires\empires\empires.fgd"
				"TextureFormat"		"5"
				"MapFormat"		"4"
				"DefaultTextureScale"		"0.320000"
				"DefaultLightmapScale"		"32"
				"GameExe"		"d:\steam\steamapps\[COLOR="Red"]<username>[/COLOR]\source sdk base 2007\hl2.exe"
				"DefaultSolidEntity"		"func_detail"
				"DefaultPointEntity"		"emp_info_map_overview"
				"BSP"		"d:\steam\steamapps\[COLOR="Red"]<username>[/COLOR]\sourcesdk\bin\source2007\bin\vbsp.exe"
				"Vis"		"d:\steam\steamapps\[COLOR="Red"]<username>[/COLOR]\sourcesdk\bin\source2007\bin\vvis.exe"
				"Light"		"d:\steam\steamapps\[COLOR="Red"]<username>[/COLOR]\sourcesdk\bin\source2007\bin\vrad.exe"
				"GameExeDir"		"d:\steam\steamapps\[COLOR="Red"]<username>[/COLOR]\empires" [COLOR="Red"]<====[/COLOR]
				"MapDir"		"d:\steam\steamapps\[COLOR="Red"]<username>[/COLOR]\empires\empires\mapsrc"
				"BSPDir"		"d:\steam\steamapps\[COLOR="Red"]<username>[/COLOR]\empires\empires\maps"
				"CordonTexture"		"common\tools\toolsskybox"
				"MaterialExcludeCount"		"0"
			}
		}
	}
	"SDKVersion"		"3"
}

i didnt really compair yours and mine
so if it doesnt work you got the paths right and another error
looked a little closer and marked the error

REMEMBER TO CHANGE TO YOUR DRIVE!!!

 

Nope, still crashes and burns I'm afraid.

 

post your new gameconfig content, where it is and with what options your start hammer in sdk

on the other hand i can only help you stting upp the paths
for more mapping related errors you will have to wit till a mapper comes on

i think i found another error:
you wrote "C:\Program\..." instead of "C:\Program Files\..."

 

Code:

"Configs"
{
	"Games"
	{
		"Empires"
		{
			"GameDir"		"c:\Program\steam\steamapps\<joink>\empires\empires"
			"hammer"
			{
				"GameData0"		"c:\Program\steam\steamapps\<joink>\empires\empires\empires.fgd"
				"TextureFormat"		"5"
				"MapFormat"		"4"
				"DefaultTextureScale"		"0.320000"
				"DefaultLightmapScale"		"32"
				"GameExe"		"C:\Program\Steam\steamapps\<joink>\source sdk base 2007\hl2.exe"
				"DefaultSolidEntity"		"func_detail"
				"DefaultPointEntity"		"emp_info_map_overview"
				"BSP"		"c:\Program\steam\steamapps\<joink>\sourcesdk\bin\source2007\bin\vbsp.exe"
				"Vis"		"c:\Program\steam\steamapps\<joink>\sourcesdk\bin\source2007\bin\vvis.exe"
				"Light"		"c:\Program\steam\steamapps\<joink>\sourcesdk\bin\source2007\bin\vrad.exe"
				"GameExeDir"		"c:\Program\steam\steamapps\<joink>\empires"
				"MapDir"		"c:\Program\steam\steamapps\<joink>\empires\empires\mapsrc"
				"BSPDir"		"c:\Program\steam\steamapps\<joink>\empires\empires\maps"
				"CordonTexture"		"common/tools/toolsskybox"
				"MaterialExcludeCount"		"0"
			}
		}
	}
	"SDKVersion"		"3"
}

C:\Program Files\Steam\steamapps\<joink>\sourcesdk\bin\source2007\bin\GameConfig.txt

Command line args for hammer are autogenerated. I'm starting it from the Source SDK launcher with Engine version: Source Engine 2007, Current Game: Empires.

Command line args for VBSP are default: -game $gamedir $path\$file

The map I'm trying to compile consists of a single, hollow cube with a single texture on it and a single light in it. There are absolutely no leaks, no offgrid vertices, no overlapping brushes, no concave or degenerate brushes, no leaf portal saw into leaf, no exceeded map limits.

I'm from Sweden, C:\program is the correct path. For compatibility with badly written programs, windows automatically aliases "C:\program files" back to the correct path in localized versions of windows(if I type "C:\program files\some folder" in explorer it takes me to "C:\program\some folder").

It should make no difference, but I tried both when fiddling around. I also tried all 4 plausible combinations of gameexedir("C:\Program\Steam\steamapps\<joink>\source sdk base 2007\" or "c:\Program\steam\steamapps\<joink>\empires") and gameexe("C:\Program\Steam\steamapps\<joink>\source sdk base 2007\hl2.exe" or "c:\Program\steam\steamapps\<joink>\empires\hl2.exe"). In total there are 8 combinations and I restarted steam before trying each one.

I'm going to try deleting the source sdk and reinstalling it now.

 

hmm k
atleast the paths are correct now
but i cant help you any further as im not using hammer
you will probably have to wait for a mapper to show up

 

Reinstalling sdk did the trick... but didn't I just ask steam to verify the integrity of the tool cache?

VBSP still moans a bit about textures, but I'm not sure there's anything I can or need to do about that as the textures are clearly reachable ingame and clearly visible when I apply them to surfaces in hammer. I can just build the cube maps ingame and everything should be fine... I think.

Thanks for your help.

 

Make sure to use the vrad in the empires_base gcf, it's in empires/sdktools/bin. Parallax textures won't be lit properly if you don't do this.

 

That's OK, I don't like parallax maps; the aliasing looks like ass on shader model 3.0 hardware(for instance, my radeon x1900).

 

You don't really have much choice, any textures that have the parallax shader (they aren't tagged) will be fullbright if not compiled with the correct version of vrad.

 

Nice. As far as I'm concerned, that's not a bug, that's a feature.

It's sort of like the circus option for the old hlrad that fills unlit luxels with random colours so you can spot them more easily. If I accidentally include any materials that use the parallax shader I will spot them on my next iteration and I can just bang together a custom .vmt that doesn't use the parallax map.

 

Can any mappers link what their GameConfig.txt looks like after Steam release? The one mentioned in the wiki has not been upgraded yet.

 

Here's mine, for the current Steam version:

Code:

                "Empires"
		{
			"GameDir"		"c:\program files\steam\steamapps\youraccountname\empires\empires"
			"hammer"
			{
				"GameData0"		"c:\program files\steam\steamapps\youraccountname\sourcesdk\bin\source2007\bin\empires.fgd"
				"TextureFormat"		"5"
				"MapFormat"		"4"
				"DefaultTextureScale"		"0.250000"
				"DefaultLightmapScale"		"16"
				"GameExe"		"c:\program files\steam\steamapps\youraccountname\Source SDK Base 2007\hl2.exe"
				"DefaultSolidEntity"		"func_detail"
				"DefaultPointEntity"		"ai_speechfilter"
				"BSP"		"c:\program files\steam\steamapps\youraccountname\sourcesdk\bin\source2007\bin\vbsp_empires.exe"
				"Vis"		"c:\program files\steam\steamapps\youraccountname\sourcesdk\bin\source2007\bin\vvis.exe"
				"Light"		"c:\program files\steam\steamapps\youraccountname\sourcesdk\bin\source2007\bin\vrad.exe"
				"GameExeDir"		"c:\program files\steam\steamapps\youraccountname\Source SDK Base 2007"
				"MapDir"		"c:\program files\steam\steamapps\youraccountname\empires\sourcesdk_content\empires\mapsrc"
				"BSPDir"		"c:\program files\steam\steamapps\youraccountname\empires\empires\maps"
				"CordonTexture"		"tools\toolsskybox"
				"MaterialExcludeCount"		"0"
			}
		}

I copied the fgd to the source2007 bin, so it will be different for your setup if you use the one in the empires directory.
The version of VBSP i'm using is the one i extracted from empires_base.gcf, at empires/sdktools/bin.
I renamed so that the SDK wouldn't overwrite it every time i booted it up, so just make sure to rename it and drop it into the source2007 bin directory and you shouldn't have problems with parallax textures.

 

I heard the new SDK will be rolling out after Portal 2 gets released, but don't quote me on that.

 

I guess we'll just have to wait and find out. I think the whole SDK will be updated, not just another version of hammer for the Portal 2 engine.

 

I still don't get why Microsoft did that.

 

then you probably do not get what the difference is between 64 and 32 ether? it makes sense somewhat if you do