Level Design Darkened surface textures after rebuild problem

[=GG= Mr Moe]

I have been creating some buildings, with windows, doorways etc... and setting the textures on those surfaces etc. I do a rebuild, save and everything is fine and continue working from there. I rebuild/save new files often. But there always comes to a point where when I do a rebuild and then most (not all) of those surfaces on the building are black; they do not pick up any light at all in the 3d window.

OK, something I did wrong I imagine, I am new to the tools... BSP errors maybe? So I go back to an earlier good version and load it up, I do a quick rebuild and that good version which I absolutely did no editing to now has the same problem!!! I try a few other versions, same problem. AAAAHHHHH! Now I am wondering what I did wrong to affect good saved versions of the file.

Now, here is what seems strange. Start up the computer the following day, and load up some of those good file versions that have "gone bad" and what??? Now they are perfectly fine again. I rebuild and rebuild, and there appears to be no problem. Even some of the versions which I had saved with the darkened surface textures I load up, rebuild, and now they seem fine.

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Question: Is this just some quirk of the SDK? Do I occasionally have to shut it down (and possibly the computer) and restart the application? Could it be my video drivers (I use the latest NVIDIA beta)? Could it just be some BSP errors (I always use snap to grid and always do a complete rebuild before I save a new file version)? Could it be the little man inside my head screwing with me?

Any tips to avoid some of this frustration would be appreciated. I know it is a learning experience, but to loose hours trying to figure these things out when I should be raking leaves or something

 

[Lt_Kettch]

Just don't use BSP

I assume it is a BSP bug which you only can avoid if you only make the simplest shapes out of BSP --> boxes.

 

[=GG= Mr Moe]

Well, I am adding back volumes into the map and cutting into them for windows and doors etc. Being an SDK noob, how else should I create a building

But does that answer the question, why I sometimes have the problem with the same exact files, and other times not?

 

[=GG= Mr Moe]

So its the little man in my head?

 

[Lt_Kettch]

Not really, the SDK can be unpredictable.

Btw are you making full rebuilds or only geometry? Because if you delete volumes out the lighting gets messed up, no idea if that is causing your probs

 

[=GG= Mr Moe]

Hmmm, after trial and error, it seems that I have this problem when ever I start up the game to have a quick run thru of the map in practice, then go back to the SDK. Then the lighting is messed up if I do a rebuild. Even on older good saved files. Restarting the SDK application sometimes helps (not always), but restarting the computer seems to do the trick everytime (so far).

Maybe something leftover in my pagefile from running the game does this to the SDK? Hopefully that is all it is

 

[UncleDrax]

If you have (generally HUGE) shadows on your map that you don't know where come from, then chances are you found the Star Destory (it's in orbit.. casting a HUGE shadow.. .. I can't remmeber who started calling it that... Guppy maybe?)..

Anyway.. if that's the case.. it's a BSP problem. And BSP problems are probably one of the more difficult things to describe to someone that isn't used to it as much. So if you're getting star destoryer shadows, lemme know and we'll see what you can do. Usually you have to hunt/peck in the BSP Cuts mode.. trace the cuts that correspond with your strange shadow.. that will usually find you the brush that's offending. Then you have to fix that brush.. could be as simple as Order->To Last, or as much as redoing the entire brush.

I disagree with Kettch's opinion of 'just don't use BSP'.. you shouldn't avoid BSP like the plague, but you should know when to use it, and use it appropriately. You should definitely NOT use BSP for complex shapes (not since we have Static Meshes now anyway.. i could tell you some stories about making details like doorknobs with BSP in UT99 that would make your head aspode..).. however you definitely can make shapes more interesting then just boxes.