Troubleshooting forums + Basic compiling question

Does anyone have any good recomendations on where I can go for troubleshooting when using hammer?

For example, right now, for some reason, when I choose to compile my maps using "Run Map" with everything set to normal, default hl2dm game configuration, with even the simplest of basic maps, hl2 crashes on me. Whereas when I start the game normally and play the map through creating a new server, the map runs fine. It's compiled and everything, but for some reason the "Launch map when compiled" (or whatever the option is called) function doesn't work.

 

http://www.interlopers.net/errors/

 

i dont run map when compile is done. that way i can close down hammer and put the resources into the game. i dont mind spending that extra 2 seconds to open the game up normally

 

Yeah, I find it easier so you can alt+tab out of empires and not have hammer crash on you.

 

I'll bug interlopers about troubleshooting from now on, and not waste valuable empires time. Thanks for the answers!


HA HA! "Bug..." "Interlopers..." "alien physiology..." it's a pun! Ha H- nevermind.


Just you wait... I may only know how to make big boxes now, but I WILL make the most rockin' cool map this mod has ever seen. Honest, I will.

 

Holy crap, using hammer is freaking confusing.

 

hah well together we can use our noob powers and make the awesomestest map evar!!

In that I mean im still trying to figger out how to model props for maps XD

 

I used this tutorial for placing the simplest of entities, such as prop models. If this doesn't help, I'm out of ideas.
http://forum.interlopers.net/viewtopic.php?t=1776

Also, this tutorial is helping me figure out how to "sculpt" objects out of the simple brushes:
http://www.snarkpit.net/editing.php?page=tutorials&game=HL2&id=157

That's about where I am right now. One thing is for sure... my Empires skills are taking a serious hit right now, because learning mapping is going to take a looooooong time.

Edit: had issue, now solved. nevermind. Dizzyone, pm me if you want me to try and figure something out with you. Then I'll pm someone who knows what they're doing, probably Hellion, and pm you and pretend that I figured out the problem myself and be all brilliant and shit.

Edit Edit: I made a circle in a wall! Hooray! And now... displacement!

 

i think it might crash if you dont have the "empires" game set up right in hammer , maybe the game files folder for the quick launch... the empires wiki with maping tells pitty good to set it all up.. and the hammer wiki explains basic stuff , should be all you need if you have maping experience... i know it might not say much but my map emp_slaughtered was the 1st try sence hl1.... ehh it took 1 1/2 months to get the handle on all this new stuff tho...

 

For now, I'm practicing mapping with HL2 Death Match, 'cause it seems pretty simple like that. When I've mastered the basics of that, I'll try other stuff. It still crashes when I auto-run after compiling, but I say screw that, I'll just load up a server with Steam like usual.

 

oh i thought you were loading empires... well still if you dont have the game files set up for the executable ///er spellcheck/// then it might crash i would think... also a BIG tip i want to tell you before you get a whole map done , like i did for a q4 map i did ... make sure every face on brushes that you dont see has the "nodraw" texture .. if you dont it will draw it even when its not suppose to be seen and will kill your fps /render time / cpu useage

 

i don't even know what the nodraw texture IS... i've sealed off the map with a basic brush and floor texture and the walls and the ceilings are 2d "skybox" tool textures.

I'll find out what nodraw is in time. This could take awhile, don't hold your breath.

Edit: Awesome. Thanks!

 

here i will show you , its very important //
basic texturing... select the apply texture button after you have selected the brushes you want to texturize...or shift-a if you get the hang of it ..then go in and click on the faces that you want to texturize... ctrl-click works here just like in windows to highlight multi-faces.



for example here we have the letter 'c' there are "2" faces inside of the 'c' that will not be displayed EVER in the game but if you leave them textured then it will really jack up the fps/compile time/ all that stuff even the 2 faces here might not be that noticeable but after you do a complete level it would really add up.. so take those faces and then apply the no draw texture wich is just a yellow texture in the tools section that tells the engine not to use that face in the game.

for the life of me i dont know why but in the pictures the icon for the shift-a or texture apply icon is not showing but its that grey one, also to jump to the texture in the filter area you can type in nodraw or tools

also a really needed tip is once you have a texture sized and lined up where you want it , and another face needs that same information and same texture then control-rightclick on faces you want to copy to ...

 

Should I take the time and effort to nodraw EVERY brush face not visible to the player? For example, when I choose to make a block=> then make a "primitives" => then make an arch => should I choose to apply nodraw to every section inside the arch that isn't player visible?

Also, I take it I should nodraw the outside of the skyboxes, too.

 

I don't think its necessary to do outside the skyboxes, beacuse as far as I know, vvis or vbsp or summat does it for you. (correct me if I'm wrong)

 

The Buttery Lobster: let me put it this way, you might want to select the entire thing then put the nodraw on it all, then only texture the faces that you plan on seeing / see.... in other words yes.. on the skybox i think the skybox texture itself nodraws + paralax or however its called the sky texture.

bod/ yea pritty much

btw i did a entire map for q4 WITH OUT puting the nodraw on, textured the ENTIRE map and then spent a week going inside every F***ING block applying a nodraw or in q4 world Caulk.

 

so i should pretty much use the nodraw texture as a base for ALL BRUSHES ALL THE TIME and then, once the basic structure of the map is in place, apply textures to the superficial surfaces. They really should have told me that in those "Your first map" tutorials. Bleah. Again, thanks for the help.


I really don't think I'm going to be able to help the community project in time.

The only way to make structures and then save them and then paste them in other maps is http://developer.valvesoftware.com/...your_map_into_a_prop_static_with_XSI_Mod_Tool
"Converting brush structures in your map into a prop static with XSI Mod Tool"

correct? Because I'd like to map out things piecemeal, i.e. little brenodi bases or checkpoints etc, and paste them in maps later. Is this the only way to do it?

 

thats what i did on the gardtowers / bridge section of my slaughtered map... i would say you could do it with the whole map , but if you do it after you complete a section you can actually see what your working on hehe ... esp when you have a lot going on... now displacements are differnt they are just a plane so you only have that one face to deal with... i take it sence your doing a dm map that its just a brush based map ...

about the pasting brushes.. eh i messed up on a section or so i thought while doing slaughtered and i just copy/pasted the entire map [or sections/individual work too] into a blank file and saved over it ... i dont know why you would want to make props with hammer , thats like carving away at a boulder with a plastic spoon... but hey it would work i guess but the end result would not be optimised for much ... if your are just making a simple like rock surface you want to copy and paste or just save for later use. i would make it into a prefab

 

I'm learning the basics on dm maps, and trying to recreate the style of outdoor map found in empires or some other outdoor game using hl2dm. When I get those basics, I'll figure out empires.

 

the outside of empires is not a normal brush, its a displacement ... goto a normal brush you dont care about and select one of the faces / or more that you wish to use displacement on... then shift-a / texture apply and goto the displacement tab... create a displace and set the options on detail wise... tweek around with the paint geom things ,,, holding the cursor over the lil green thing will make it do diff stuff

a basic stock empires map has a displace floor and walls that are cut out in the shape of the map then a displace was applyed to add the rocky look... or like my map and duststorm just a displace floor with a lot of displaces sew'd together then the detail was painted in...