Need Help Diagnosing New Map Crash

I'm making a new HL2dm map and am having an issue on the current compile. I saved up to 10 previous versions, but every one of them crash after they are compiled at random times. Ironically, the last saved version didn't crash this morning when a friend and I playtested it, although a recompile of that same version resulted in a crashing map.

Checking the map for errors only results in unused keyvalues for various entities, no player start, and bad I/O connections for a suitcharger. Which are well known and non-crashing/affecting errors.

There is a "1 degenerate face" message in the compile text I don't understand. Otherwise, it's a very basic map, which is partly why I'm baffled as to why its crashing.

In-game screenshots:
http://screenshot.xfire.com/screenshot/ ... 842e25.png
http://screenshot.xfire.com/screenshot/ ... 2cc619.png


Here is the .vmf file if anyone wants to look:
http://files.filefront.com/save55vmf/;1 ... einfo.html
Here is the .bsp file if you want to give it a play through and hope it doesn't crash:
http://files.filefront.com/Is+Crashing+ ... einfo.html


And here is the compile text:


Thanks for any help and feedback.



Valve Software - vbsp.exe (Dec 11 2006)
2 threads
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)
Chop Details...done (0)
Find Visible Detail Sides...
Merged 314 detail faces...done (0)
Merging details...done (0)
FixTjuncs...
PruneNodes...
WriteBSP...
done (0)
Creating default cubemaps for env_cubemap using skybox materials:
skybox/sky_day01_05*.vmt
Run buildcubemaps in the engine to get the correct cube maps.

No such variable "$hdrbasetexture" for material "skybox/sky_day01_05rt"
Can't load skybox file skybox/sky_day01_05 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...
done (0) (210871 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 1921 texinfos to 746
Reduced 238 texdatas to 158 (12069 bytes to 8110)
2 seconds elapsed

Valve Software - vvis.exe (Nov 8 2007)
2 threads
268 portalclusters
837 numportals
BasePortalVis: 0...1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10 (0)
PortalFlow: 0...1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10 (22)
Optimized: 63 visible clusters (0.00%)
Total clusters visible: 56489
Average clusters visible: 210
Building PAS...
Average clusters audible: 256
visdatasize:20019 compressed from 21440
22 seconds elapsed


Valve Software - vrad.exe SSE (Nov 8 2007)
----- Radiosity Simulator ----
2 threads
[Reading texlights from 'lights.rad']
[45 texlights parsed from 'lights.rad']

Loading
1905 faces
1 degenerate faces
219111 square feet [31552036.00 square inches]
0 displacements
0 square feet [0.00 square inches]
1904 patches before subdivision
28776 patches after subdivision
28 direct lights
BuildFacelights: 0...1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10 (56)
BuildVisLeafs: 0...1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10 (19)
transfers 8176666, max 918
transfer lists: 62.4 megs
GatherLight: 0...1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10 (0)
Bounce #1 added RGB(220594, 252475, 247844)
GatherLight: 0...1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10 (1)
Bounce #2 added RGB(43695, 49423, 45971)
GatherLight: 0...1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10 (0)
Bounce #3 added RGB(10447, 11641, 10324)
GatherLight: 0...1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10 (1)
Bounce #4 added RGB(2641, 2883, 2433)
GatherLight: 0...1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10 (0)
Bounce #5 added RGB(697, 739, 590)
GatherLight: 0...1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10 (1)
Bounce #6 added RGB(189, 193, 145)
GatherLight: 0...1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10 (0)
Bounce #7 added RGB(53, 51, 36)
GatherLight: 0...1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10 (1)
Bounce #8 added RGB(15, 14, 9)
GatherLight: 0...1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10 (0)
Bounce #9 added RGB(5, 4, 2)
GatherLight: 0...1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10 (1)
Bounce #10 added RGB(1, 1, 1)
GatherLight: 0...1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10 (0)
Bounce #11 added RGB(0, 0, 0)
Build Patch/Sample Hash Table(s).....Done<0.0177 sec>
FinalLightFace: 0...1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10 (1)
FinalLightFace Done
0 of 0 (0% of) surface lights went in leaf ambient cubes.
ComputePerLeafAmbientLighting: 0...1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10
Ready to Finish

Object names Objects/Maxobjs Memory / Maxmem Fullness
------------ --------------- --------------- --------
models 25/1024 1200/49152 ( 2.4%)
brushes 644/8192 7728/98304 ( 7.9%)
brushsides 4834/65536 38672/524288 ( 7.4%)
planes 2698/65536 53960/1310720 ( 4.1%)
vertexes 3110/65536 37320/786432 ( 4.7%)
nodes 714/65536 22848/2097152 ( 1.1%)
texinfos 746/12288 53712/884736 ( 6.1%)
texdata 158/2048 5056/65536 ( 7.7%)
dispinfos 0/0 0/0 ( 0.0%)
disp_verts 0/0 0/0 ( 0.0%)
disp_tris 0/0 0/0 ( 0.0%)
disp_lmsamples 0/0 0/0 ( 0.0%)
faces 1905/65536 106680/3670016 ( 2.9%)
hdr faces 0/65536 0/3670016 ( 0.0%)
origfaces 1428/65536 79968/3670016 ( 2.2%)
leaves 740/65536 23680/2097152 ( 1.1%)
leaffaces 2307/65536 4614/131072 ( 3.5%)
leafbrushes 1131/65536 2262/131072 ( 1.7%)
areas 3/256 24/2048 ( 1.2%)
surfedges 14442/512000 57768/2048000 ( 2.8%)
edges 8328/256000 33312/1024000 ( 3.3%)
LDR worldlights 28/8192 2464/720896 ( 0.3%)
HDR worldlights 0/8192 0/720896 ( 0.0%)
waterstrips 212/32768 2120/327680 ( 0.6%)
waterverts 0/65536 0/786432 ( 0.0%)
waterindices 3306/65536 6612/131072 ( 5.0%)
cubemapsamples 64/1024 1024/16384 ( 6.3%)
overlays 0/512 0/180224 ( 0.0%)
LDR lightdata [variable] 1870872/0 ( 0.0%)
HDR lightdata [variable] 0/0 ( 0.0%)
visdata [variable] 20019/16777216 ( 0.1%)
entdata [variable] 59560/393216 (15.1%)
LDR leaf ambient 740/65536 17760/1572864 ( 1.1%)
HDR leaf ambient 0/65536 0/1572864 ( 0.0%)
occluders 0/0 0/0 ( 0.0%)
occluder polygons 0/0 0/0 ( 0.0%)
occluder vert ind 0/0 0/0 ( 0.0%)
detail props [variable] 1/12 ( 8.3%)
static props [variable] 1/1666 ( 0.1%)
pakfile [variable] 716484/0 ( 0.0%)

Level flags = 0

Win32 Specific Data:
physics [variable] 210871/4194304 ( 5.0%)
==== Total Win32 BSP file data space used: 3436592 bytes ====

Total triangle count: 5058

1 minute, 21 seconds elapsed

** Executing...
** Command: Copy File
** Parameters: "C:\Program

See, tw1tch, this is your first post. Therefore, you get no help. Sorry man. It's just how things go. Maybe if you copy and paste this into another thread, you'll get some help.

badinfluence wrote:See, tw1tch, this is your first post. Therefore, you get no help. Sorry man. It's just how things go. Maybe if you copy and paste this into another thread, you'll get some help.

Technically it's my second post. My first account, which I only ever made one post on, didn't make it through a site update as I no longer was able to log in. Although that first post consisted entirely of a single link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SlCRfTmBSGs
And I already made a thread elsewhere lol:
http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/s ... p?t=748904

Seriously though, any help is greatly appreciated.


Please note also, the map is in a pre-alpha stage, there is still much to do. I'm going to be removing a set of teleports and changing some destinations, tweaking weapon layouts, making a few sections not so boring, adjusting the lighting, etc.

Try using the cordon tool to isolate the area with the problem. A degenerate face is usually a face with no area which could be from applying a transparent texture to it or from careless vertex manipulation.

have you hosted this online to play it and it crashes?
coz in general all maps crash mt computer when i play them locally, esp if i start using teh ggun god knows why just steam i guess.

I ran a compile, fixed all errors and had 2 bashes at playing locally, 1 crashed and 1 lasted for ages .

If you want i can host it on my server and test if it crashes the server but it will have to be tomorrow as i'm working tonight.

PS func_detail the rest of those irregular brushes, i dont think they are the cause but ive found having overly complex brush work that is not f_d'd can cause crashes..

* degenerate faces doesn't cause crashes.
* use cordon and see if the map still crash when compiling smaller areas at a time
* look for overly complex brushwork. Hammer doesn't like it but won't complain cuz its "cool".
* look for terribly long / large brushes of any sort. sometimes choping those to smaller bits goes a lot way.
* ...- are you working with Snap To Grid?
* ...- do you have a lot of sprites, brushbased entities like dustmostes.etc...

ill look at the vmf when i get home if u still need help

val

Thanks for the feedback so far.

I have only hosted this on a listen server so far, running XP. I made some of the smaller brushes func_detail, but I haven't got around to optimizing yet. I also haven't applied any nodraw yet. I'll do some more optimizing.

I gave the cordon tool one shot, both half of the maps crashed. It was rather late so I had to sleep. I'll go back today and do some more cutting still and keep testing. I tried to keep the map brushwork very simple, so its mainly just squares and triangles. It's all set to snap to grid. There are a total of 8 env_sprites. I removed a set of teleports on the newer save which had the total at 12 env_sprites. Otherwise there a few func_door, trigger_teleport, and a trigger_hurt.

I do have a number of exceptionally long brushes, spanning the bottom and sides. I'll break those up and try to switch out some env_sprites for simple lights. I also found an erronous shaped brush I copied over from my other map dm_thumper. I'm rebuilding that.

I'll post back with an update.

give link to current vmf as is

I'll upload it now, you can hit me up on Xfire: tw1tch01 or on Steam friends: Tw1tch.

For Steam you may have to search friends of friends because there are alot of Tw1tch's.



Also, its not visible from the screens, but the middle teleport is underwater, which teleports you to a fully underwater section where you can get an RPG and 200 suit. I'm hoping the water doesn't conflict with the teleports and env_sprites. I'll have to make a deletion and compile.

New .vmf link:
http://files.filefront.com/save55vmf/;1 ... einfo.html



EDIT: I did a compile with removing every teleport, the ball generator, and the outside water section. Crashed after a few minutes of play.

Also did a compile where I removed every entity except one info_player_start. Crashed after 30 seconds. Oddly enough there was only brushes and one info_player_start in the map.

I did a couple more tests. One compile with every entity removed, and another with everything removed except the outside box. Both crashed rather quickly.

I'm leaning towards there something being corrupt with the .vmf itself or the map not liking windows environment.

http://www.eyeclan.net/backup/save55a.rar

compile full. run cubemaps. there.

[EYE] Valar wrote:http://www.eyeclan.net/backup/save55a.rar

compile full. run cubemaps. there.

Sorry I'm confused. It's a fixed version? You found an error?

Tyvm for checking it out too.

EDIT: I compiled, ran cubemaps on save55a. Crashed pretty quick.

Maybe somethings wrong with my Hammer.

I had another buddy do a compile and he said he played for over 5 minutes without a crash.

/confused

yep. this vmf is good now. i'm not crashing at all.
i would... Varify local files of both SDK and DM
then....Defrag SDK and DM
then....defrag your pc
see now if the map crashes. if it does - reinstall DM and Hammer

this cannot be anything but a local issue.

val

Thank you very much Valar!

I'll give it a shot and see how it goes.

I defragged my hdd, defragged the game cache, and verified the integrity of the game cache for source sdk. Did a fresh compile, built the cubemaps, and played it for 20 minutes without a crash!

Thanks everyone for helping me narrow down the issue. Its greatly appreciated.

<3

Stupid question but you do know that the simple act of jumping and changing weapons causes crashes on listen servers dont you? This has nothing to do with the map but if you have never used a listen server you may think it is the map.

Fearsome* wrote:Stupid question but you do know that the simple act of jumping and changing weapons causes crashes on listen servers dont you? This has nothing to do with the map but if you have never used a listen server you may think it is the map.

That damn bug gets me every time, and my srcds doesn't work right so when we LAN over here it's always a listen server.

Try it on a dedicated server twitch see if it doesn't happen.

Fearsome* wrote:Stupid question but you do know that the simple act of jumping and changing weapons causes crashes on listen servers dont you? This has nothing to do with the map but if you have never used a listen server you may think it is the map.

Thanks for the heads up. Never heard of that until now. I haven't played listen servers much.

But I think that probably explains it, because I was noticing the crashing was happening at places all over the map. Come to think of it, it would usually crash as I would turn and jump and probably changing weapons.

Ghost Dog_TSGK wrote:

Fearsome* wrote:Stupid question but you do know that the simple act of jumping and changing weapons causes crashes on listen servers dont you? This has nothing to do with the map but if you have never used a listen server you may think it is the map.

That damn bug gets me every time, and my srcds doesn't work right so when we LAN over here it's always a listen server.

Try it on a dedicated server twitch see if it doesn't happen.

Haven't had a chance to get it up on a dedicated server yet. Although I have had about 5 other people do compiles without any problems occuring.

Fearsome* wrote:Stupid question but you do know that the simple act of jumping and changing weapons causes crashes on listen servers dont you? This has nothing to do with the map but if you have never used a listen server you may think it is the map.

Well, I did some testing. Everytime I would jump and change weapons I would crash. Glad to know its not the map either. Thanks again for the heads up.