Mapping Questions Megathread V6 - Developers

I have question. I complied my map and I got error Error loading studio model"prop name". And when I looked in hammer if that prop was wrong type. And prop was prop_static.And I looked in menu for props then prop_static was ticked. How do fix this if prop is right type?

[QUOTE=Obrijajac;52811754]I have question. I complied my map and I got error Error loading studio model"prop name". And when I looked in hammer if that prop was wrong type. And prop was prop_static.And I looked in menu for props then prop_static was ticked. How do fix this if prop is right type?[/QUOTE] The model viewer lies and says it's a static prop when it's not. The solution is to decompile the model and recompile it [URL="https://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/$staticprop"]$staticprop[/URL] in the qc. I recommend [URL="https://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/Crowbar"]Crowbar[/URL] if you don't already know how to do that.

[img]https://i.imgur.com/4WTzz9L.jpg[/img] This is odd

What game is the model from, it might be a newer file version than your current game supports [editline]24th October 2017[/editline] Aditionally, if a model has the prop_data variable set, it wont be possible to use it as static even if it has staticprop

Garrys mod and hl2ep2

[QUOTE=Borris_Squad;52811684]Odd question, I think it's a stupid question. But I'm optimizing my RP Maps. And I was wondaring if its possible to make it not draw props spawned in game unless you are in the area? Trying to get these maps at stupidly high frame rates, using many techniques but props hinder FPS on my maps quite badly! [editline]23rd October 2017[/editline] Currently it takes 736 props to bring all areas down to 22 FPS. And It takes about 456 props to bring it down to 60 in all areas.[/QUOTE] It should already do that. I think the real issue is it's networking those props even when you're not in the area.

Is there a way to pack a thumbnail image into a map .bsp in a way that it will actually display in the Garry's Mod map selection menu?

I think its just a "gm_mapname.jpg" in the maps folder along with the BSP You can just pack it loose with the maps archive, not sure if files embedded in BSPs keep folder structure and can be read from like that

[QUOTE=Stiffy360;52817471]It should already do that. I think the real issue is it's networking those props even when you're not in the area.[/QUOTE] Oh. Okay. Thanks!

[QUOTE=VaSTinY;52819909]I think its just a "gm_mapname.jpg" in the maps folder along with the BSP You can just pack it loose with the maps archive, not sure if files embedded in BSPs keep folder structure and can be read from like that[/QUOTE] It's supposed to go into a folder inside the maps folder called 'thumb' i dont know if i read the question right so ignore me if i did sorry xoxo

The overlays on the windows do not appear ingame, but they do in Hammer. The overlay on that sign on the left however works perfectly fine. Does anyone know a solution to this problem? [IMG]https://i.imgur.com/e5cgfsk.png[/IMG]

Seems like your window is a func_breakable, overlays cannot be applied to brush entities. Try a decal instead.

[QUOTE=HGrunt;52823148]Seems like your window is a func_breakable, overlays cannot be applied to brush entities. Try a decal instead.[/QUOTE] Still didn't work, thanks anyways. Maybe I should just make it a texture for the whole window or find another way around.

not sure if it's bad practice, but you could try creating a func_brush with the "decal" texture applied to a single face and all the others with nodraw, and then offset it by a tiny bit above the window surface When the window is supposed to break, simply fire the output OnKill > func_brush "fake decal" > Kill

[QUOTE=Marbledemon;52826471]not sure if it's bad practice, but you could try creating a func_brush with the "decal" texture applied to a single face and all the others with nodraw, and then offset it by a tiny bit above the window surface When the window is supposed to break, simply fire the output OnKill > func_brush "fake decal" > Kill[/QUOTE] Also i suggest to set it to nonsolid to make sure there arent any unwanted collision around the window

Thanks for the help, I'll try this with some smaller detaills on some other windows later on. But for now I'll stick to the texture for the whole window, as it allows more detaill than a decal does.

[QUOTE=M0RRIS;52830064]Thanks for the help, I'll try this with some smaller detaills on some other windows later on. But for now I'll stick to the texture for the whole window, as it allows more detaill than a decal does.[/QUOTE] That can heavily increase file size which might not be a good thing.

Probably not a thing, but is there a program to export brushwork to a 2D image? I guess alternatively I could just do a UV projection in Blender after converting the geometry in Propper or soomething, but it would be nice to skip that step.

[QUOTE=laserpanda;52832413]Probably not a thing, but is there a program to export brushwork to a 2D image? I guess alternatively I could just do a UV projection in Blender after converting the geometry in Propper or soomething, but it would be nice to skip that step.[/QUOTE] Define "2D image" Source has an option (cl_overview I think) that allows you to take top-down images of the map.

[QUOTE=Stiffy360;52834837]Define "2D image" Source has an option (cl_overview I think) that allows you to take top-down images of the map.[/QUOTE] I'd basically like to export the vmf from a top or side view at a scale of one hammer unit per pixel.

Not possible unless you screenshot the 2d views and recalculate the size using the grid

Why blocks and entities don't snap to grid? I have Snap to Grid option set + grid size's 8. Previously it works , but it doesn't at this moment.

Shift-w toggles snapping to grid

Worked. Thanks..

Guys, i'm not sure if it's a known problem for you, but I've a huge problem with overlays. Let me explain with detail. Say you have a map with 200+ overlays, you assign all faces correctly, everything is working perfectly. [B]Until you paste something and all face IDs are changed[/B]. 200+ overlays are now with different face associations and don't show up anymore, forcing you to manually set every face for every overlay. Is there any way to prevent or overcome this ? are there any tools that can fix up overlays by detecting which face it's hitting by origin ? Jesus... I just lost again my overlays and it's pissing me off.

[QUOTE=nicolasx21;52852671]Guys, i'm not sure if it's a known problem for you, but I've a huge problem with overlays. Let me explain with detail. Say you have a map with 200+ overlays, you assign all faces correctly, everything is working perfectly. [B]Until you paste something and all face IDs are changed[/B]. 200+ overlays are now with different face associations and don't show up anymore, forcing you to manually set every face for every overlay. Is there any way to prevent or overcome this ? are there any tools that can fix up overlays by detecting which face it's hitting by origin ? Jesus... I just lost again my overlays and it's pissing me off.[/QUOTE] Pretty sure face IDs only change when the object gets a face added/removed, and when it's removed/created, new brushes shouldn't effect old face IDs at all.

[QUOTE=glitchvid;52857882]Pretty sure face IDs only change when the object gets a face added/removed, and when it's removed/created, new brushes shouldn't effect old face IDs at all.[/QUOTE] I'm using Ep2 version of hammer, and it does that. All old face IDs are changed for some strange reason, I lost all overlay faces when i paste or clip brushes, not everytime tho, it happens randomly.

So my friend is having quite the odd issue with his Hammer. Any time he places an overlay on [i]any[/i] face, his map shits itself upon compile and refuses to update anything past the point of when he added the overlay. If he saves his map in a different VMF, it refuses to start the game saying "File not found". The compile error he's getting is along the lines of "Overlay touching too many faces (128 out of max 64)". This happens even if the overlay is placed on a normal sized brush, and is assigned to only that face. What the material is doesn't matter, it happens with all of them.

[QUOTE=Guy123;52867642]So my friend is having quite the odd issue with his Hammer. Any time he places an overlay on [i]any[/i] face, his map shits itself upon compile and refuses to update anything past the point of when he added the overlay. If he saves his map in a different VMF, it refuses to start the game saying "File not found". The compile error he's getting is along the lines of "Overlay touching too many faces (128 out of max 64)". This happens even if the overlay is placed on a normal sized brush, and is assigned to only that face. What the material is doesn't matter, it happens with all of them.[/QUOTE] If the lightmap is too dense, you'll get that error. Raise the lightmap scale or chop up the brush. Basically, if you have a dense lightmap, vbsp chops up the faces and reassigns the overlay to those faces, and if it's too dense, it's assigning to a large amount of faces. [t]https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/491276577392184453/DCFE5824131E1752FEDE8628D03A3B5C12CBFED7/[/t]

[QUOTE=Stiffy360;52867919]If the lightmap is too dense, you'll get that error. Raise the lightmap scale or chop up the brush. Basically, if you have a dense lightmap, vbsp chops up the faces and reassigns the overlay to those faces, and if it's too dense, it's assigning to a large amount of faces.[/QUOTE] Perfect, that's probably it. I should have thought about that. Thanks!