I've had this problem before and I've fixed this problem before, but I can't remember how and the forum search has been disabled (again).
What I do remember is that it is caused by a brush of 0 thickness, but I have no idea how to track the brush down to delete it. I've tried bobtoolz brush cleanup, but that didn't help. Can anyone offer any advice?
I think I got this error once, when I had a func_train that consisted solely of an origin brush. Do you have any func_'s that are only made of origin shaders?
ERROR: SV_SetBrushModel: NULL
The map has some brush ents which are only one unit thick (paper thin). I'm not sure what the minimum thickness is supposed to be, but it apparently needs to be thicker than one unit.
You may also get this error when you have a brush model entity which does not have any valid brushes, i.e. a func_rotating with nothing but a common/origin brush. This could also be caused by a func_areaportal with a common/areaportal brush.
I don't have any entities like that. I've been removing entities lately, I can't risk adding any because of an error I keep getting.
The error came about when I did an auto-caulk on the entire level to improve the poor performance that the beta testers kept getting.
Weird... I tried brush cleanup again... and it fixed it!! Whoo...
Emon: Keep checking the Party Crasher chatroom, I wanted to ask you some stuff.
I'll be there tomorrow afternood (the 2nd). You're what, three, four hours ahead of EST?
OK, so that'll be early this evening. No problem.
I case I don't see you, I wanted to ask you a couple of things. I've compiled the level on full since the autocaulk and it doesn't run much better, so I'm going to need you to explain the use of distance culls with the fog cull. I'd also like you to look in the MAP I've sent you and tell me whether or not I've set the detail and structrual brushes up correctly.
Emon, I haven't been able to find you on any of the chatrooms... can you just run all this by me in this thread?
I'll be in there today. There's no way we can miss each other if I'm on all day.
Hey Emon... regarding what we were saying about detail brushes earlier.
I opened the level in Radiant today and found that for some really bizarre reason, most of my detail brushes had been turned into structrual brushes. I have absolutely no idea how or why this has happened but it's more than likely the cause for all those portals being drawn. Anyway, I've reset them all back to detail (took bloody ages) and I'll compile the level later. I've also applied the distance cull, hopefully the level will run much faster now.
Well, I just tested the level. And it runs even slower. I opened the map up again in Radiant and those same brushes have gone back to being structrual.... what the hell is going on?
I dunno dude, that's really ****ed up. :eek:
Send me your MAP file today, the one with all the detail brushes set how they should be, and I'll do a Q3Map2 compile with portals shown. Just the BSP phase, it'll only take a few minutes. If it works okay I'll do it overnight, full compile and see what happens.
Don't worry... sorted... I tracked this weird error to the autocaulk. Luckily I had a backup that I made before I autocaulked. So I basically copied that back, put all my area portals back, removed some of the stuff that I removed before and then I went over it making loads more detail brushes.
Also, I'm sure you said the command to show the triangles was "showtris"... I've been trying that, but it doesn't work. It worked when I tried it the other day.
I'm starting to wonder if this bleeding level is worth the effort. And I'm strongly considering dropping the entire thing and starting something new.
I'm using a relatively fresh install of GTKRadiant and after spending a few hours optimising the level, then a few more compiling, I go to test it. It runs a bit better now, but guess what? All the "trigger_once" entities have gone.... I forgot that when you first install GTKRadiaint, it assumes you are editing MP and it loads the MP entity list. So what have I got to do now? I have to (for the third time now) reload a backup of the level and spend hours deleting the bits I've already deleted twice and go around turning more brushes into structrual among other fixes....
I really can't be bothered with this f**king level anymore...
I opened my level several times (after Radiant had crashed) in my Attack on Yavin. All my waypoints, point_combats, trigger_once's, and other SP entities were tiny and green. I changed to SP (Which was already selected) and reloaded radiant. Still, it was like that. Three more times and it worked. You sometimes can't trust your computer to not change randomly.
Originally posted by AKPiggott
I'm starting to wonder if this bleeding level is worth the effort. And I'm strongly considering dropping the entire thing and starting something new.
Please don't. You've put in so much effort and the community is really looking forward to it. It looks AWESOME, all this is just debugging. Keep plugging away till you've got it.
Good luck!
Too many people are going to get fed up and eventually leave or loose interest if there isn't some decent singleplayer material coming out, please don't give up. I can help with the debugging too. It only took you a few minutes to send the MAP file last time...
Yes, please finish it. It'll be the best level out there, and you wouldn't believe how many people are waiting for it. It will set starndards for all levels that come after it. And what's a few more hours? Concider how many hours you must have already invested into it! I would be very happy if my maps had only a few hours of major work left to do...
I over-reacted a little bit... the level has really been trying my patience really, and having to fix the same problems over and over again to no avail hasn't helped either...
I would suggest posting some of the screenshots with r_showtris 1 that show the overdraw at the Q3Map2 support form... ydnar knows the best way to fix those things, even if you are using SoF2Map.
It took ages but I managed to get all the trigger_onces back into place.
Emon, I get this error during BSP. I put in the area portals just as you told me. Should I ignore it?
WARNING: areaportal brush #### doesn't touch two areas
Warnings are often safe to ignore, but it's also a safe bet that what I told you is slightly wrong.
Check out this tutorial:
http://fps.brainerd.net/Areaportals.htm)
Cheers... also, I'm in the chatroom right now...
WARNING: areaportal brush #### doesn't touch two areas
This is easy to get if you make a big room, then divide it to two rooms by just constructing a separate wall in the middle. So that the ceiling, side walls and floor are essentially the same. Not to mention the more obvious ways of getting that error... And remember that your door frames can be made of detail brushes if the areaportal spans also them, and not only exactly the door. Although I wouldn't bet my right hand for that, but it has worked for me so far.
One thing you have to look out for if you're getting this error is that the portal has to completely section off two areas. If you have a portal in a door, but there's a window next to the door, then it's not sectioned off since vis can...I guess the best way to explain it is "go around" the portal, but still get to the 2nd area. It might also occur if you have a long passage that connects the two areas, but that passage doesn't have a door/portal of its own.
OK... I've discovered that the area portals work in enclosed areas, but not at doors that lead from outside to indoors (where I need them the most). I believe that this is because the level is split into three open sections that are enclosed in a skybox. Whenever the skybox is visible, all the triangles for the outdoor areas are visible. How on Earth I am supposed to fix this is beyond me.
OK, here we are with some visual aids.
Here we have two of the outdoor areas, there is a clear path between them over the buildings:
http://akpiggott.360viewonline.com/bloodystupid1.jpg)
That means that when you are in one area, the triangles to the other are loaded:
http://akpiggott.360viewonline.com/bloodystupid2.jpg)
OK. I've determined that area portals do not work unless used with two structrually sealed rooms. I looked at kejim_post and found that doors leading from outside to indoors do not have area portals.
This doesn't explain though why I can see brushes with showtris on when they are behind structrual brushes.
Emon, I think I can get Q3Map2 to work. Are there any options with Q3Map2 that can help?
Well, Q3Map2 hasn't done anything on standard settings... in fact, it's worse....
The prospect of scrapping this level is now all the more tempting... I'm not willing to release a level with as many technical problems as this one.
Hmmm...what if you place a caulk brush on top of that big wall, to meet the skybox brush?
OR, even better, put a hint brush up there! cut it into a trapezoid such that the wide face is on top, meeting the skybox brush, and the narrow part lines up perfectly with that wall (those billboards will be inside it). This will make splits such that the game will only render one side plus the middle at the most. Hard to explain, maybe I'll draw you a picture...(or Emon can elaborate)
Ydnar is the real expert on areaportals and hints. AK, post on the Q3Map2 forum with your problem and pictures, he'll be able to help.
Could you split your skybox in two? They could both end on top of that wall; it seemed straight enough. Just leave some space between them. I guess the player won't be anyway able to climb up there. I have serious doubts that hint brushes would do any good in this situation. They have worked for me only in straight angle corridors, and even that only with luck.
Originally posted by Emon
Ydnar is the real expert on areaportals and hints. AK, post on the Q3Map2 forum with your problem and pictures, he'll be able to help.
Could you post for me? I can't remember my password....
Well....
I'm pleased to say that a lot of the performance issues have been resolved and that the level runs a lot better than it ever did before. I will put out an updated beta soon to see how it fares with my testers.
Woo hoo! AK, we have faith in you!
I'm getting SV:setbrushmodel:NULL now too.
I just added three hint brushes (which I still don't understand). I got the error so I deleted them. Didn't work. I checked my movers (only doors and statics). They all (except the doors, which don't need origins) have origin and visible, solid, brushes. I ran brush cleanup: "0 invalid/duplicated planes removed".
The error persists. I'm guessing it's an areaportal brush, but I didn't edit any before the error started. Still weird. I'm going to delete the possible offender and report back with the results.
GRRRRRRRRRRR. Still there. Why...why...why...why...why...why <pounds moniter screen>.
Wait, would a 1 unit thick fuinc_breakable do it? I've had one for three weeks, but it hasn't caused a problem until now. Not the first frustration. Oh well.
AKPiggot, that wasn't the first time you've threatened to drop the project. IT IS THE BEST MAP MADE SO FAR. DON'T DROP IT. PLEASE
Originally posted by master_thomas Wait, would a 1 unit thick fuinc_breakable do it? I've had one for three weeks, but it hasn't caused a problem until now. Not the first frustration. Oh well.[/B]
Try making it 2 units thick. :p
Okay, now I'm getting very frustrated. I deleted every func(new save name). Still didn't work. I checked the junk. Warning: Misc model with modelkey 0. I deleted every single model. Still doesn't work AHHHHHHH!
I'm not scrapping it now, the level runs fine.
To fix the error, go to plugins --> bobtoolz --> brush cleanup.
One time I got the SV_SetBrushModel: Null error when I accidently made my area portal a func_door.
Yeah, it seems to also occur on "illegal" entities.
Originally posted by AKPiggott
Weird... I tried brush cleanup again... and it fixed it!! Whoo...
Emon: Keep checking the Party Crasher chatroom, I wanted to ask you some stuff.
how do u do brush clean up and auto chaulk?
Originally posted by AKPiggott
Weird... I tried brush cleanup again... and it fixed it!! Whoo...
Emon: Keep checking the Party Crasher chatroom, I wanted to ask you some stuff.
how do u do brush clean up and auto chaulk? Thanks
Originally posted by AKPiggott
Weird... I tried brush cleanup again... and it fixed it!! Whoo...
Emon: Keep checking the Party Crasher chatroom, I wanted to ask you some stuff.
how do u do brush clean up and auto chaulk? Thanks
for your brush clean up ,, go to plugin\bob's tools\brush clean up