I'm sure this has come up before and has a simple explanation - hopefully a fix?
A map I've been working on is nearly complete. The map was originally generated from SWAMP - so it an edit of a duplicate map.
I did another phase of editing which was mostly removing unwanted trees and bushes from another area of the map.
But now, when I test in editor or in the finalised map, I see black voids in certain areas. no light. No texture. Just black and different sizes. Is it something to do with the lightmaps?
xhc wrote:
u removed some stuff but lightmaps still in folder of map , u have to re-create new for actual terrain
Thanks for your reply xhc.
I found the Lightmaps panel (from looking in the Ptero help file) but cannot figure out how to regenerate the lightmaps.
The 'Regenerate' button does not seem to create anything new in the ldt folder.
martyr wrote:
...
But now, when I test in editor or in the finalised map, I see black voids in certain areas. no light. No texture. Just black and different sizes. Is it something to do with the lightmaps?
Hi,
First of all, press F7 to see if it's a lightmaps' problem... If the black spots disappear... It is! I'm pretty sure the lightmaps of your terrain are corrupted in fact.
Next, select your terrain only and open your lightmaps panel > LMs > Compute selected... In the window that will popup, keep the default settings and start the calculation for a first result. You will have to play with the values for different results (size, density, details,...) but be careful because if you go "too far" with them, strange results may appear, like...black spots or even invisible polygones on your terrain!
Notes:
- Never "Compute all" (it creates too much troubles).
- If you don't like the result, press "Delete selected" or restart the calculation directly with other values.
First of all, press F7 to see if it's a lightmaps' problem... If the black spots disappear... It is! I'm pretty sure the lightmaps of your terrain are corrupted in fact.
Next, select your terrain only and open your lightmaps panel > LMs > Compute selected... In the window that will popup, keep the default settings and start the calculation for a first result. You will have to play with the values for different results (size, density, details,...) but be careful because if you go "too far" with them, strange results may appear, like...black spots or even invisible polygons on your terrain!
Notes:
- Never "Compute all" (it creates too much troubles).
- If you don't like the result, press "Delete selected" or restart the calculation directly with other values.
Intruder
Hey man
Thanks for your reply
You were right - pressing F7 removed the black areas. I followed your instructions but got an error after I clicked Compute selected...
I can't really give you the solution because I don't know the map you're editing but I can already tell this:
- If the black spots disappeared after to have pressed F7 (on/off), it's probably because a lighmap has already been calculated. But were those black spots present on the map before the edit? It seems that the original map is a "dark mission" one, right? It may explain their presence from the start...
- Normaly, when the Editor finds such errors (Face as Line), another popup window tells you you can skip those errors and compute the other lighmaps anyway > click on "yes"... Usually it will work and you won't notice something wrong BUT... Sometimes and depending of the number (and kind) of those errors, the editor will never be able to calculate the lightmaps and you will probably have to "kill" the Editor in your tasks manager! Unfortunately, in that case, it won't be possible to calculate the lightmaps for your objects or...terrain!
- From my own experiment I know that some or the original maps from Pterodon have those kind of errors and it probably explains why those maps have their "lightmaps" replaced by a "shadow texture" simulating the lightmaps the Editor can't calculate. Is it the case with your map? Maybe... NVABase, RadioRelay and NuiPek are already 3 maps to have the problem...
- The other solution would be to re-create a copy of your map, with another name, to try to have back an original ldt folder (rename the buggy ldt folder before the new copy)... But be sure you haven't modified your terrain in size for example or the imported ldt folder won't match the terrain > visual bugs.
- Or, if you can spot where/what is the terrain file (in your ldt folder), you can try to import the original file (and only) with Total Commander.
Intruder wrote:
- If the black spots disappeared after to have pressed F7 (on/off), it's probably because a lightmap has already been calculated. But were those black spots present on the map before the edit? It seems that the original map is a "dark mission" one, right? It may explain their presence from the start...
No, the black areas were not there before the last bunch of edits. The problem did happen once before after I did a bunch of edits and because it was early in the process of mapping, I simply reloaded an earlier SCO and did the edits again. I save my SCO versions a lot so today I have actually reverted back to an earlier SCO and have started to slowly redo those edits. Good news: everything ok so far!
I will continue like this and hope it all works out ok. The map is nearly finished!
Intruder wrote:
- Normally, when the Editor finds such errors (Face as Line), another popup window tells you you can skip those errors and compute the other lightmaps anyway > click on "yes"... Usually it will work and you won't notice something wrong BUT... Sometimes and depending of the number (and kind) of those errors, the editor will never be able to calculate the lightmaps and you will probably have to "kill" the Editor in your tasks manager! Unfortunately, in that case, it won't be possible to calculate the lightmaps for your objects or...terrain!
Interesting. When trying to solve this during the last few days, I never saw the second dialogue window (after the error dialog). So I tried the same process on another test map and it had no errors and I did see the second dialog. So at least I know what you are talking about now.
Intruder wrote:
- The other solution would be to re-create a copy of your map, with another name, to try to have back an original ldt folder (rename the buggy ldt folder before the new copy)... But be sure you haven't modified your terrain in size for example or the imported ldt folder won't match the terrain > visual bugs.
- Or, if you can spot where/what is the terrain file (in your ldt folder), you can try to import the original file (and only) with Total Commander.
I did try this on your recommendation. However, the LDTs in the new duplicate made no difference. Sadly, the corruption got beat me! At least I made lots of backup SCOs
Thanks so much for your support and ideas!
A little update about the subject and for all after my latest "researches"...
I accidently loaded an old ".sco save" file from a map and noticed it directly... But after the loading of my latest and more recent .sco file, I knew I had to check something first and... bingo! Some lightmaps were missing!!!
So, my guess is that the latest .sco file created is recording the latest lightmaps files created, to be loaded from the lightmaps folder. But if an older .sco file is loaded and won't find the latest lightmaps files created, those will be simply deleted from the lightmaps folder by the editor!
Now, if an older .sco file still finds the latest lightmaps files created, they will be loaded but they may be buggy (with black spots for example) if they have been edited between those 2 different .sco files!
Don't forget that a lightmap is like a "custom texture with coords" created and applied on a specific surface by the editor at a "moment x"...
So, to resume my thought:
If the last "texture lightmap coords plane file" from the latest .sco file (at the moment "x" ) is loaded with the "texture lightmap coords plane file" from an older .sco file (at the moment "y" ), the texture will still be present but buggy if the plane has been edited in the meantime! The "texture lightmap" won't match the "plane coords" anymore! > bug!!!
Using saved and old .sco files can save a map's work but use those saves wisely...
I hope you "got it" because it's complicate to explain all that with words only! lol
You explained very well dude. Thanks for sharing this knowledge. It's amazing how often a discovery is made by accident
Intruder wrote:
So, my guess is that the latest .sco file created is recording the latest lightmaps files created, to be loaded from the lightmaps folder. But if an older .sco file is loaded and won't find the latest lightmaps files created, those will be simply deleted from the lightmaps folder by the editor!
Now, if an older .sco file still finds the latest lightmaps files created, they will be loaded but they may be buggy (with black spots for example) if they have been edited between those 2 different .sco files!
Don't forget that a lightmap is like a "custom texture with coords" created and applied on a specific surface by the editor at a "moment x"...
OMG it's like a child who can't find a toy and so breaks all the toys.
Intruder wrote:
Using saved and old .sco files can save a map's work but use those saves wisely...
So, my guess is that the latest .sco file created is recording the latest lightmaps files created, to be loaded from the lightmaps folder. But if an older .sco file is loaded and won't find the latest lightmaps files created, those will be simply deleted from the lightmaps folder by the editor!
Now, if an older .sco file still finds the latest lightmaps files created, they will be loaded but they may be buggy (with black spots for example) if they have been edited between those 2 different .sco files!
Don't forget that a lightmap is like a "custom texture with coords" created and applied on a specific surface by the editor at a "moment x"...
OMG it's like a child who can't find a toy and so breaks all the toys.
Hmmm, it's a way to see it... Or, let's say it's like a good parent who's cleaning the mess left in the room by its child! lol
martyr wrote:
Intruder wrote:
Using saved and old .sco files can save a map's work but use those saves wisely...
Indeed!!!
Great work man!
I think we should only consider those .sco files as "actual" backups, with expiring dates on them... The older they will be, the more "poisonous and toxic" they should be!!!
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