Did you ever find any updated batch compile tools?
VBCT works with Orangebox and EP1 games. L4D/2 don't appear to have any tools yet, just use a regular batch file if your compiles are taking forever.
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RabidMonkey
The couch is a prop_physics? It would appear the NPCs are colliding with it; don't disable collisions or use bbox collisions, just disable motion and use NPC clips around the couch as necessary.
I think this error only shows up in devmode though so you can take it or leave it. Expensive collision situations or errors (which this error also pinpoints) can cause performance problems, but this doesn't seem like a factor.
I think this error only shows up in devmode though so you can take it or leave it. Expensive collision situations or errors (which this error also pinpoints) can cause performance problems, but this doesn't seem like a factor.
Is this issue only in TF2?
Since recent updates the game has been having random performance problems like this even on high-end computers. If you are running with multi-core rendering enabled, turn it off.
Since recent updates the game has been having random performance problems like this even on high-end computers. If you are running with multi-core rendering enabled, turn it off.
Is the NPC spawning well above the displacement and not inside of it? Can you create NPC clip brushes around it's route or beneath it's end point so that it doesn't fall through?
Same goes for the sequences; make sure your new ones aren't clipping into any geometry and that the move to position property is set to walk and not instantaneous.
Same goes for the sequences; make sure your new ones aren't clipping into any geometry and that the move to position property is set to walk and not instantaneous.
Aside from creating a reference model to use, it's not possible (short of modifying Hammer)
I have a question..Is there a vac system on it? Because if not then have a look at this;Aside from switching to firstperson (which is flagged as a cheat AFAIK), they forgot to mark certain console vars as cheats too - notably, the ones that control how many health packs, hornet rockets, grenades, etc that you can carry
I'm pretty sure the game is VAC secured; it's also like L4D2 in that it seems to restrict sv_cheats to local listen servers only. In any event, toggling cheats on/off at will in a multiplayer game shouldn't get you VAC-banned by any means.
You can adjust priority on the compile tasks (vvis/vrad) through right-clicking on them in the task manager.
I strongly advise compiling maps outside of Hammer; it's a memory hog and seems to cause system instability for me the longer I leave it open. You can do this with a Windows batch file and it takes about 2 seconds to write. Here is the code (external link because it doesn't fit in the forum's formatting)
http://pastebin.com/ZwRgvwQv
All you have to do is fill in the paths specific to your needs, cutpate everything into notepad, and save as a file with a .bat extension. You also have to compile the map from within Hammer to start, but only with VBSP, to generate the .bsp file itself; which should take no longer than a minute or two.
The advantages of this method are that you will experience faster compile times and you should get a real-time update of how your compile is progressing. The only disadvantages I have found so far are that...you have to deal with Windows batch files
I strongly advise compiling maps outside of Hammer; it's a memory hog and seems to cause system instability for me the longer I leave it open. You can do this with a Windows batch file and it takes about 2 seconds to write. Here is the code (external link because it doesn't fit in the forum's formatting)
http://pastebin.com/ZwRgvwQv
All you have to do is fill in the paths specific to your needs, cutpate everything into notepad, and save as a file with a .bat extension. You also have to compile the map from within Hammer to start, but only with VBSP, to generate the .bsp file itself; which should take no longer than a minute or two.
The advantages of this method are that you will experience faster compile times and you should get a real-time update of how your compile is progressing. The only disadvantages I have found so far are that...you have to deal with Windows batch files
What size is the texture map? Looks like you could squeeze it into a rectangular map (512x1024, 1024x2048) instead of a square one to conserve texture memory, especially because it has several material layers.
Restarting Steam should get rid of any connection lock errors...usually this happens if you kill a compile tool (vvis, vbsp) with task manager while it's still working.
Start the crow as asleep and send it a Wake input when you want it to start flying, provided that you've set it's 'Target path_corner' keyvalue. Note that this will start the crow hidden/frozen and it appears when you wake it up so make sure it starts in an area the player can't see.
You can have script events fired from the first path_corner by adding OnPass outputs to the path_corner.
You can have script events fired from the first path_corner by adding OnPass outputs to the path_corner.
buildcubemaps can't accept an int value like that; but since it's writing files directly into the BSP you're always better off reloading the map after building them (later Source games should do this for you).
You should also avoid using model textures on world brushes because they are vertex-lit and not lightmapped; most of the default model textures have models as part of their filename in the texture browser.
You should also avoid using model textures on world brushes because they are vertex-lit and not lightmapped; most of the default model textures have models as part of their filename in the texture browser.
You can relay health and ammo values out of the player with a logic_playerproxy; you could have a setup that relays the value of the playerproxy for health to a game_text as the health changes or have a timer that checks current health every second or so. I don't know how you would display a value like this without having tons of game_texts for each health value, unless you can give the game_text an InValue which the playerproxy sends out - a simpler solution would be to have thresholds that choose a game_text from one of five states (20% health, 40% health, etc), perhaps.
What is the exact entity setup you are using? You mention using a logic_timer which could be part of the problem as it's designed to fire outputs repeatedly at specific (or random) intervals.
Make sure your ambient_generic has 'start silent' and 'is NOT looped' ticked in the flags tab, and remove any properties from the SourceEntityName field if you entered anything in there (its buggy)
Make sure your ambient_generic has 'start silent' and 'is NOT looped' ticked in the flags tab, and remove any properties from the SourceEntityName field if you entered anything in there (its buggy)
I'm in the normal range; right about at the intersection of 1.7m and 60kg on the graph..
You have two potential options. You can split the model into two separate meshes with different materials applied to them, as Strider said. They shouldn't be compiled separately - select both meshes when exporting and it will combine them into a single file which you then compile with studiomdl.
Alternatively if your model is rigged somehow (or if you want to rig it) you can use $jointsurfaceprop to apply material properties to a particular bone and anything associated with it. (so you would need two bones; one that controls the wood parts and one for metal.)
Also you need to remove the $surfaceprop command from your QC; a QC-defined surfaceprop will always override a material's surfaceprop. I'm not even sure if a model will inherit it's materials' surface properties so you might be better off just creating a model that is only one material type.
Alternatively if your model is rigged somehow (or if you want to rig it) you can use $jointsurfaceprop to apply material properties to a particular bone and anything associated with it. (so you would need two bones; one that controls the wood parts and one for metal.)
Also you need to remove the $surfaceprop command from your QC; a QC-defined surfaceprop will always override a material's surfaceprop. I'm not even sure if a model will inherit it's materials' surface properties so you might be better off just creating a model that is only one material type.
In the future when someone wants to gift you a game, try and get online at the same time...if you're both signed into Steam Friends and a game is gifted, it should pop up a dialog box to accept the gift right away. Did this successfully with the L4D2 and Borderlands 4-packs without problems.
Got it through the upgrade option since I purchased a new rig in August. W7 is a great improvement over Vista Ultimate for me; running on a 64-bit system, there were plenty of issues and crashes in Hammer on Vista which seem to be fixed now that I'm running on 7 (I can open the flags tab without Hammer crashing, hooray)
Car dealers aren't that bad; they'll let you test drive their cars too and take them to a mechanic for inspection unless they're a really scummy dealership at which point you don't want to buy a car from them anyway.
That's a pretty funny scam though...I can see how the Ebay protection would sound a bit legit (since Ebay actually does run a buyer protection program, but it's for people purchasing cars through Ebay, not personal transactions...)
That's a pretty funny scam though...I can see how the Ebay protection would sound a bit legit (since Ebay actually does run a buyer protection program, but it's for people purchasing cars through Ebay, not personal transactions...)
Piece of advice; If you have wicked ass screenshots of some maps you have created for the source engine in your portfolio, its just going to be tossed in the pile. producers want something not done before, something that pops out at them, like a game character that only has 500 Polygons (tri's) but looks to have 2000 because of the proper use of texture maps..well, yes and no...level design and character/environment art are two different fields. The demand for people who can model in a 3D suite is probably higher though, because there are more studios who publish for consoles, phones, etc - platforms where a level editing tool isn't standard and environment art and level design are done in 3D packages instead. I imagine the need for level designers will always be there, if only as a technical role (to design and plan levels on paper and prototype them, which is basically what a career level designer does anyway).
You're right, though, it's easier to be completely creative with blank canvases in an image editor and a 3D suite at your fingertips - sometimes I enjoy modeling and texture painting more than level design because you're not restricted to the limitations of the engine or the content provided to you with the game. If you're more interested in that stuff, I would suggest learning it over level design, since as engines get more complex and can handle more detail the gap between level designer and environment artist will become bridged; and some levels are created entirely in 3D suites already, anyway!
spends 15 minutes rolling on the floor laughingHeh, thanks I guess?
You, not professional? That's not what my desktop says.
I'm telling you, any good game company will probably flood you with offers soon after BM is released.
I was just trying to get across the point that it's only my personal advice. Also, there isn't a release date yet, we're shooting for 2009 but it's going to be a tight deadline.
Make sure there is some sort of delay (even a slight one, .01s) between when the monstermaker spawns the NPC and when the multimanager is fired, otherwise activating the SS will probably do nothing.
If this is even possible in HL1, as I have become accustomed to Source I can't quite remember if you can set delays. You might need to have a separate relay or something to start the script with a delay.
If this is even possible in HL1, as I have become accustomed to Source I can't quite remember if you can set delays. You might need to have a separate relay or something to start the script with a delay.
Cool, maybe with a few successful public releases under my belt, I might apply for one of these jobs some dayThe best way to get shipped titles under your belt is to find an entry-level job via an exceptional portfolio. If you are interested in working in the game industry, learn and practice with the tools and start making work, it's the best way to land a job.
This is how I understand it anyway, I am in no position to offer professional advice, but this is what I have learned from various friends and contacts in the industry.
I dont know how you guys can argue that L4D2 doesn't have enough gameplay to warrant a purchase; if anything I think L4D2 is what L4D should have been and if you like the first one you will probably like the second too. I agree that the formula for L4D got old pretty quickly, but the L4D2 gameplay mechanics seem a little more refined and deeper than just running from saferoom to saferoom and triggering a special event (with cinematic physics) once.
Mind you this is just judging from my experience with the demo...but still, if the two levels provided are any indication of the other 4 campaigns, it's going to be a blast, and totally worth it.
Plus you get the content authoring tools. There are TONS of add-on campaigns out there already for L4D, and you know people will make some for L4D2 as well. The ability to play any of the 1000's of custom campaigns significantly adds to the replay value of the game.
Mind you this is just judging from my experience with the demo...but still, if the two levels provided are any indication of the other 4 campaigns, it's going to be a blast, and totally worth it.
Plus you get the content authoring tools. There are TONS of add-on campaigns out there already for L4D, and you know people will make some for L4D2 as well. The ability to play any of the 1000's of custom campaigns significantly adds to the replay value of the game.
It's an interesting game but I don't like the direction the developers took with it. They asked large SimCity communities for their suggestions and opinions, and then took some elements that should have been part of the game (rail, bus, subway networks for example) and took them OUT of the singleplayer solo game, and made it so you have to play part of the online game to take advantage of them! It's like asking a dedicated fanbase for things that they want and then deliberately taking them out and making them pay a monthly fee just to use them.
I bought the regular edition of the game out of curiosity but I think I will end up going back to SimCity 4 after a short time.
I bought the regular edition of the game out of curiosity but I think I will end up going back to SimCity 4 after a short time.
From what I understand through discussions with Source programmers VGUI is somewhat of a pain in the butt. I would recommend using game logic and entities to perform what you are describing in terms of a vending machine. It would probably save you time and achieve the same result (unless a VGUI screen is extremely important for some reason)
My guess would be that it's from trying to make a Portal map in an EP1 engine configuration? Set the engine version to Orange Box and select the automatic Portal configuration and see what happens.
Combine a brush with a texture light with sprites...
Make sure you aren't using any models textures as they are vertex-lit and not lightmap-lit like world surfaces need to be; also make sure that if a texture is reflective that you have cubemaps placed in the map and that they are built before you test out the map; otherwise reflective surfaces and models will reflect their surroundings incorrectly.
director_debug maybe? I haven't really played around with the AI director console commands, but I did find a list of L4D cvars; you might be able to find something in here;
http://www.scribd.com/doc/8016681/l4d-Cvar-List
http://www.scribd.com/doc/8016681/l4d-Cvar-List
It's an unofficial FGD someone created to use before the official SDK update is released. If anyone wants it I can mirror it; it was a pain in the ass to find.
Cool, I'll have to check this out for my texture art...I usually use CrazyBump to do all my normal mapping but I'll have to play around with some self-shadowed normal maps...
Make sure it is named gamestartup1.mp3...
Also, as the VDC states, it needs to be in 44100Hz to play properly in the game.
Also, as the VDC states, it needs to be in 44100Hz to play properly in the game.
Did you try searching for 'startup' on the Valve Developer Wiki?
They don't necessarily emit light per se, the problem is that they are model/GUI textures, not intended for world surfaces, and they are using lighting methods defined in the VMT which are unsuitable for a compiled source engine map.
The solution is to not use textures that have /models, /vgui, /sprites, etc, in their pathnames. If you really need a world texure of Alyx's face, you can extract the appropriate VMT file from the HL2/Ep2 GCF to your game directory, open it in notepad, and change the header in the file from "VertexLitGeneric" to "LightmappedGeneric"; that will tell it to use world-based lightmapping methods instead of being vertex lit which is only suitable for model geometry.
The solution is to not use textures that have /models, /vgui, /sprites, etc, in their pathnames. If you really need a world texure of Alyx's face, you can extract the appropriate VMT file from the HL2/Ep2 GCF to your game directory, open it in notepad, and change the header in the file from "VertexLitGeneric" to "LightmappedGeneric"; that will tell it to use world-based lightmapping methods instead of being vertex lit which is only suitable for model geometry.
I'm a little unsure of what your question is...are you trying to get the game to determine when 'capturepointred' is activated? Assuming the capture point is an integral part of the game mode, I would assume it needs to be recognized in the LUA script for the game mode itself. You could also use an in-game counter, branch, or case entity to determine whether the entity has been activated or not, and to do certain things when it is activated or deactivated, and the case/branch entity is triggered.
Aside from the radiosity portion of the compile, which can eat a lot of time, especially for HDR-compatible maps, Source does a pretty good job of compiling your maps quickly...provided they are optimized well enough.
To answer your question, no, I don't think any of the source batch compiling programs work all too well, at least at the moment. I would recommend writing your own batch files, and using them to compile externally from Hammer - it won't cause issues with the tools during your compile, allows for more memory to be allocated to the compile process, and the commandline prompt won't freeze up like Hammer's status window, allowing you to see the progress of the compile.
The one downside I have experienced with batch compiles, which is a pretty minor issue overall, is that you have to run your BSP portion of the compile in Hammer...otherwise the materials don't get mounted properly and you run into a host of weird issues. The good thing is that the BSP process only takes a few seconds, if that, so it's a small price to pay for faster compile times.
To answer your question, no, I don't think any of the source batch compiling programs work all too well, at least at the moment. I would recommend writing your own batch files, and using them to compile externally from Hammer - it won't cause issues with the tools during your compile, allows for more memory to be allocated to the compile process, and the commandline prompt won't freeze up like Hammer's status window, allowing you to see the progress of the compile.
The one downside I have experienced with batch compiles, which is a pretty minor issue overall, is that you have to run your BSP portion of the compile in Hammer...otherwise the materials don't get mounted properly and you run into a host of weird issues. The good thing is that the BSP process only takes a few seconds, if that, so it's a small price to pay for faster compile times.
One option would be to set a specific value on a counter or other logic entity which is checked when the button is pressed to determine the position of the movelinear and to move it accordingly. Another option I might suggest is to forego the movelinear and go with a func_door with a reset time faster than the button - when the button is pressed, the func_door is toggled open, and then moves back to its original position after, say, 1 second. If you set a 2 second delay on the button then the func_door will be ready to 'fire' again the next time the button is pressed.
That's just with brush entities, of course...something like this could easily be done with an animated, dynamic prop and set animations.
That's just with brush entities, of course...something like this could easily be done with an animated, dynamic prop and set animations.
I've played on and off ever since the game came out, practically...I think I still have my last batch of LoD characters on Bnet; if anyone else wants to play some online together sometime let me know...
It's odd that nothing is showing up in the device manager, since it should show whatever you have inside your PC, regardless of whether it is actually working or not - possibly a problem with the PCI slot or the motherboard? Do you have another PCI slot to try the modem in? If so, you might try moving it to another one.
If that fails, I would remove the drivers and the hardware, and then reinstall the newer drivers you downloaded and the hardware again. I've had problems with a wireless modem that managed to resolve themself after removing the hardware and drivers and installing the newer drivers from the manufacturer.
If that fails, I would remove the drivers and the hardware, and then reinstall the newer drivers you downloaded and the hardware again. I've had problems with a wireless modem that managed to resolve themself after removing the hardware and drivers and installing the newer drivers from the manufacturer.
I'd love to complete my map for you guys, but I'm not on exactly the best footing with DaveL or the rest of the team, I'm pretty sure. I've dropped you a PM on the ND boards with a few more details...
Some of the limitations, especially based on brushes, are detailed in this article on the Source BSP format.
I would recommend that whatever you purchase, you build yourself; it's easy to learn about if you don't already know how, and you'll save a lot of money that as well. I built a pretty decent rig about a year ago for $1300 USD which is on-par (and mostly better) than most pre-built PCs, and it's about a thousand bucks cheaper, too.
hi
Wii ;P
Have you tried executing studiomdl through a commandline? Follow these steps, quotes and all;
Start -> Run -> cmd ->
then type
cd "C:Program FilesSteamSteamApps(username)sourcesdkbinep1bin"
and then
studiomdl "C:wherever your model and qc files aremodelname.qc"If you're using the VGUI model browser then it should have a tab with ticked boxes for the types of prop entities you can use that prop on. (If it's ticked static, you use it on a static prop entity for instance.)
As for the CSS content, you can extract it with a utility called GCFScape from the CSS GCF. Be sure to retain the same directory structure within the models folder, and extract the props folders to steamapps/your username/half-life 2/hl2/models. Do the same with their materials, as well, again retaining the same directory structure. Note however that redistributing that content to anyone who doesn't own CSS Is a violation of the EULA, or so Valve says, although I'm sure it happens quite a bit...
As for the CSS content, you can extract it with a utility called GCFScape from the CSS GCF. Be sure to retain the same directory structure within the models folder, and extract the props folders to steamapps/your username/half-life 2/hl2/models. Do the same with their materials, as well, again retaining the same directory structure. Note however that redistributing that content to anyone who doesn't own CSS Is a violation of the EULA, or so Valve says, although I'm sure it happens quite a bit...
Start the SDK launcher with the parameter 'engine -ep1' (without the ',s obviously.)
EFI has nothing to do with engine power; it's, as mentioned, just a better way of delivering fuel to the engine. It's also better for vehicles in places like Colorado that are always freezing as balls during the winter, like right now.
Have you tried working with a func_button instead of a func_door perchance? Also, you should be covering the func_button in nodraw and placing it in front of the prop - the button prop dynamic does nothing more than animate and appear to be being pressed; the game logic is handled in the button entity.
You are correct, for Half-Life a default texture memory size of 8mb was set due to the specifications of the equipment at the time. Obviously this is extremely outdated by today's standards, so you should be able to raise your texture memory without any problems.