Zero Area Child Patch - Developers

Zero Area Child Patch

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Hey, I've been trying to compile a map lately, but I keep getting "zero area child patch" errors whenever I try. In case you don't know what it is: [QUOTE] zero area child patch is 1 face that doesn't have an area, what i mean is that for some reaosn it considers the face just a line. this is because you vertex eidited out one of them (why you merge always), or it can't define teh grid co-ordinates (why you don't let them poke out). these can happen any time and can be a pain to find [/QUOTE] Somehow I vetex edited out a face. I'm not really sure how, since I always make sure to merge, but it still happened. Unfortunately, this causes my light entities to fail, and the map goes to fullbright. Regardless of how it happened, does anyone have any ideas of actually finding one of these? I tried doing a cordon compile to narrow down where it is, but for some reason it seems to still compile the whole map and spits out the zero area error anyways. I'm fairly confused on this, and nothing I've read has been any help as to actually finding where this error occured. Any ideas?

Does it give you the brush number that the error originates from?

Map --> Check for Problems then look for Invalid Solid Structure Maybe?

[QUOTE=CoolCorky;21333773]Does it give you the brush number that the error originates from?[/QUOTE] Unfortunately, no. It just gets to vrad, spits out the errors, builds face lights, gets to BuildVisLeafs, gets partway through, and just ends. No error. I'll get a compile log here in a minute. A normal compile may help, but it's a fairly large map, and for some reason the cordon compile doesn't work. Will try the check for problems when this finishes, although I'm not sure that it'll help.

I've never known a Zero Area Child Patch to kill light entities, infact, I've compiled with a few in the past and never had any issues, are you sure it's the Area Child which is causing the problem? And yeah, post your log.

[QUOTE=Livewire123;21333948]I've never known a Zero Area Child Patch to kill light entities, infact, I've compiled with a few in the past and never had any issues, are you sure it's the Area Child which is causing the problem? And yeah, post your log.[/QUOTE] There were a couple more errors, but they were listed on interlopers as insignificant. There were also mentions from other people on google who had had their lightmaps fail after a zero area. [code] ** Executing... ** Command: "c:\program files (x86)\steam\steamapps\xmorcamx\sourcesdk\bin\orangebox\bin\vbsp.exe" ** Parameters: -game "c:\program files (x86)\steam\steamapps\xmorcamx\half-life 2 episode two\ep2" "C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\SteamApps\xmorcamx\half-life 2 episode two\ep2\maps\GC2_BuildMap_PA1" Valve Software - vbsp.exe (May 19 2009) 8 threads materialPath: c:\program files (x86)\steam\steamapps\xmorcamx\half-life 2 episode two\ep2\materials Loading C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\SteamApps\xmorcamx\half-life 2 episode two\ep2\maps\GC2_BuildMap_PA1.vmf Patching WVT material: maps/gc2_buildmap_pa1/nature/blenddirtgrass001a_wvt_patch Patching WVT material: maps/gc2_buildmap_pa1/nature/blendrockdirt008c_wvt_patch fixing up env_cubemap materials on brush sides... ProcessBlock_Thread: 0...1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10 (1) ProcessBlock_Thread: 0...1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10 (1) Processing areas...done (0) Building Faces...done (1) Chop Details...done (0) Find Visible Detail Sides... Merged 618 detail faces...done (0) Merging details...done (0) FixTjuncs... PruneNodes... WriteBSP... done (0) writing C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\SteamApps\xmorcamx\half-life 2 episode two\ep2\maps\GC2_BuildMap_PA1.prt...Building visibility clusters... done (0) Creating default LDR cubemaps for env_cubemap using skybox materials: skybox/sky_day02_05*.vmt ! Run buildcubemaps in the engine to get the correct cube maps. Creating default HDR cubemaps for env_cubemap using skybox materials: skybox/sky_day02_05*.vmt ! Run buildcubemaps in the engine to get the correct cube maps. Finding displacement neighbors... Found a displacement edge abutting multiple other edges. Finding lightmap sample positions... Displacement Alpha : 0...1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10 Building Physics collision data... done (0) (562522 bytes) Placing detail props : 0...1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...Material NATURE/BLENDSANDROCK004C uses unknown detail object type canal_reeds! Material NATURE/BLENDSANDROCK004C uses unknown detail object type canal_reeds! 10 Water found with no water_lod_control entity, creating a default one. Compacting texture/material tables... Reduced 1701 texinfos to 889 Reduced 37 texdatas to 30 (1096 bytes to 729) Writing C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\SteamApps\xmorcamx\half-life 2 episode two\ep2\maps\GC2_BuildMap_PA1.bsp 7 seconds elapsed ** Executing... ** Command: "c:\program files (x86)\steam\steamapps\xmorcamx\sourcesdk\bin\orangebox\bin\vvis.exe" ** Parameters: -game "c:\program files (x86)\steam\steamapps\xmorcamx\half-life 2 episode two\ep2" -fast "C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\SteamApps\xmorcamx\half-life 2 episode two\ep2\maps\GC2_BuildMap_PA1" Valve Software - vvis.exe (May 19 2009) fastvis = true 8 threads reading c:\program files (x86)\steam\steamapps\xmorcamx\half-life 2 episode two\ep2\maps\GC2_BuildMap_PA1.bsp reading c:\program files (x86)\steam\steamapps\xmorcamx\half-life 2 episode two\ep2\maps\GC2_BuildMap_PA1.prt 4839 portalclusters 14027 numportals BasePortalVis: 0...1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10 (7) Optimized: 223724 visible clusters (0.00%) Total clusters visible: 22748624 Average clusters visible: 4701 Building PAS... Average clusters audible: 4835 visdatasize:5883815 compressed from 5884224 writing c:\program files (x86)\steam\steamapps\xmorcamx\half-life 2 episode two\ep2\maps\GC2_BuildMap_PA1.bsp 13 seconds elapsed ** Executing... ** Command: "c:\program files (x86)\steam\steamapps\xmorcamx\sourcesdk\bin\orangebox\bin\vrad.exe" ** Parameters: -game "c:\program files (x86)\steam\steamapps\xmorcamx\half-life 2 episode two\ep2" -noextra "C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\SteamApps\xmorcamx\half-life 2 episode two\ep2\maps\GC2_BuildMap_PA1" Valve Software - vrad.exe SSE (May 19 2009) Valve Radiosity Simulator 8 threads [Reading texlights from 'lights.rad'] [48 texlights parsed from 'lights.rad'] Loading c:\program files (x86)\steam\steamapps\xmorcamx\half-life 2 episode two\ep2\maps\GC2_BuildMap_PA1.bsp Setting up ray-trace acceleration structure... Done (2.46 seconds) 15229 faces 3 degenerate faces 42462432 square feet [6114590208.00 square inches] 118 Displacements 8192940 Square Feet [1179783424.00 Square Inches] 15226 patches before subdivision zero area child patch zero area child patch 442406 patches after subdivision sun extent from map=0.173648 51 direct lights BuildFacelights: 0...1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10 (33) BuildVisLeafs: 0...1...2...3...4...5...6. ** Executing... ** Command: Copy File ** Parameters: "C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\SteamApps\xmorcamx\half-life 2 episode two\ep2\maps\GC2_BuildMap_PA1.bsp" "c:\program files (x86)\steam\steamapps\xmorcamx\half-life 2 episode two\ep2\maps\GC2_BuildMap_PA1.bsp" [/code] The other error was "Found a displacement edge abutting multiple other edges", although I couldn't really find anything solid on that either.

Change the "NATURE/BLENDSANDROCK004C" texture to something else and see if it compiles, I seriously doubt it's the Zero Area's which are causing your problem. Change it to anything, a dev texture or something, because if it then compiles your know your problem was the detail object. [editline]11:46PM[/editline] [QUOTE=Morcam;21334022]The other error was "Found a displacement edge abutting multiple other edges", although I couldn't really find anything solid on that either.[/QUOTE] [QUOTE=Interlopers] [B]found a displacement edge abutting multiple other edges[/B] [B]Description:[/B] A displacement is touching more than one other displacements at the same point along one of its edges; in other words: at some point, three displacements are touching each other along an entire edge. [b]This may cause lighting errors[/b], as vrad doesn't know which displacements need to have their light smoothed out, if you know what i mean. I guess it can also be a wanted situation, in which cause this 'error' can be ignored. [B]Solution:[/B] The usual cause i can think of is the accidental non-deletion of displacements along the sides of brushes. Eg, if you have two brushes next to each other, and their tops displaced, and you accidentally also displaced the vertical brushsides between these two, you get a T-shaped intersection of three.[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=Livewire123;21334113]Stuff from Interlopers[/QUOTE] Gah, the description in the error checker was messed up. Thanks for this, though, I'll certainly try this next. Actually, I suppose the next logical step would be for me to ask how to find a displacement edge abutting multiple other edges? :P Wait, I think I found it. I'll post a screenshot of the broken form if this fixes it. [URL=http://img121.imageshack.us/i/abuttingdisplacements.png/][IMG]http://img121.imageshack.us/img121/2269/abuttingdisplacements.png[/IMG][/URL] And there you have it. It was actually something I intended to do to make everything line up. Not a good choice, apparently. I'm really lucky I haven't detailed this area yet, or it would have been a curved edge, impossible to find. Five second fix, though. Thanks for all the help! [editline]07:53PM[/editline] Actually, I posted that when I saw VRAD get to 9... Apparently, that's as far as it could get. The only remaining error is the zero area child patch. [code] ** Executing... ** Command: "c:\program files (x86)\steam\steamapps\xmorcamx\sourcesdk\bin\orangebox\bin\vbsp.exe" ** Parameters: -game "c:\program files (x86)\steam\steamapps\xmorcamx\half-life 2 episode two\ep2" "C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\SteamApps\xmorcamx\half-life 2 episode two\ep2\maps\GC2_BuildMap_PA1" Valve Software - vbsp.exe (May 19 2009) 8 threads materialPath: c:\program files (x86)\steam\steamapps\xmorcamx\half-life 2 episode two\ep2\materials Loading C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\SteamApps\xmorcamx\half-life 2 episode two\ep2\maps\GC2_BuildMap_PA1.vmf Patching WVT material: maps/gc2_buildmap_pa1/nature/blenddirtgrass001a_wvt_patch Patching WVT material: maps/gc2_buildmap_pa1/nature/blendrockdirt008c_wvt_patch fixing up env_cubemap materials on brush sides... ProcessBlock_Thread: 0...1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10 (1) ProcessBlock_Thread: 0...1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10 (1) Processing areas...done (0) Building Faces...done (1) Chop Details...done (0) Find Visible Detail Sides... Merged 620 detail faces...done (0) Merging details...done (0) FixTjuncs... PruneNodes... WriteBSP... done (0) writing C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\SteamApps\xmorcamx\half-life 2 episode two\ep2\maps\GC2_BuildMap_PA1.prt...Building visibility clusters... done (0) Creating default LDR cubemaps for env_cubemap using skybox materials: skybox/sky_day02_05*.vmt ! Run buildcubemaps in the engine to get the correct cube maps. Creating default HDR cubemaps for env_cubemap using skybox materials: skybox/sky_day02_05*.vmt ! Run buildcubemaps in the engine to get the correct cube maps. Finding displacement neighbors... Finding lightmap sample positions... Displacement Alpha : 0...1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10 Building Physics collision data... done (0) (525298 bytes) Placing detail props : 0...1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10 Water found with no water_lod_control entity, creating a default one. Compacting texture/material tables... Reduced 1613 texinfos to 826 Reduced 36 texdatas to 29 (1071 bytes to 704) Writing C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\SteamApps\xmorcamx\half-life 2 episode two\ep2\maps\GC2_BuildMap_PA1.bsp 7 seconds elapsed ** Executing... ** Command: "c:\program files (x86)\steam\steamapps\xmorcamx\sourcesdk\bin\orangebox\bin\vvis.exe" ** Parameters: -game "c:\program files (x86)\steam\steamapps\xmorcamx\half-life 2 episode two\ep2" -fast "C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\SteamApps\xmorcamx\half-life 2 episode two\ep2\maps\GC2_BuildMap_PA1" Valve Software - vvis.exe (May 19 2009) fastvis = true 8 threads reading c:\program files (x86)\steam\steamapps\xmorcamx\half-life 2 episode two\ep2\maps\GC2_BuildMap_PA1.bsp reading c:\program files (x86)\steam\steamapps\xmorcamx\half-life 2 episode two\ep2\maps\GC2_BuildMap_PA1.prt 2863 portalclusters 9346 numportals BasePortalVis: 0...1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10 (64) Optimized: 201474 visible clusters (0.00%) Total clusters visible: 7761303 Average clusters visible: 2710 Building PAS... Average clusters audible: 2859 visdatasize:2061593 compressed from 2061360 writing c:\program files (x86)\steam\steamapps\xmorcamx\half-life 2 episode two\ep2\maps\GC2_BuildMap_PA1.bsp 1 minute, 6 seconds elapsed ** Executing... ** Command: "c:\program files (x86)\steam\steamapps\xmorcamx\sourcesdk\bin\orangebox\bin\vrad.exe" ** Parameters: -game "c:\program files (x86)\steam\steamapps\xmorcamx\half-life 2 episode two\ep2" -noextra "C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\SteamApps\xmorcamx\half-life 2 episode two\ep2\maps\GC2_BuildMap_PA1" Valve Software - vrad.exe SSE (May 19 2009) Valve Radiosity Simulator 8 threads [Reading texlights from 'lights.rad'] [48 texlights parsed from 'lights.rad'] Loading c:\program files (x86)\steam\steamapps\xmorcamx\half-life 2 episode two\ep2\maps\GC2_BuildMap_PA1.bsp Setting up ray-trace acceleration structure... Done (2.38 seconds) 14538 faces 3 degenerate faces 42386194 square feet [6103611904.00 square inches] 114 Displacements 8159496 Square Feet [1174967424.00 Square Inches] 14535 patches before subdivision zero area child patch zero area child patch 430539 patches after subdivision sun extent from map=0.173648 51 direct lights BuildFacelights: 0...1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10 (32) BuildVisLeafs: 0...1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9... ** Executing... ** Command: Copy File ** Parameters: "C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\SteamApps\xmorcamx\half-life 2 episode two\ep2\maps\GC2_BuildMap_PA1.bsp" "c:\program files (x86)\steam\steamapps\xmorcamx\half-life 2 episode two\ep2\maps\GC2_BuildMap_PA1.bsp" [/code]

Optimize your lightmaps by raising them on faces that wont have expensive shadows, and lower them on the ones that have expensive shadows. I.e. Gm_flatgrass has a lightmap scale of 512 on the grass, and there is no shadow on the grass.

check your brush work, you can find where it is using the cordon-half method. Just try a fast compile on half the map to see if it still errors, if not, its in the other half. rinse and repeat until you get a small enough area where you can just start deleting items until you find it. Of course, do this in a back-up copy of the map.

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