Level Design Decals staying pitch black.

[Sgt.NightFire]

So, i got this strange problem, after building my light it seems i only am left with some decals staying pitch black, i tried removing lights near them or adding lights, checking its properties and comparing them to the ones that work. Nothing seems to work. I checked my light color in my main light, its not set to black!

Anyone know how to fix this?

Example of a decal looking pitch black:

[url]https://www.dropbox.com/s/064ewyiizp6qr20/Schermafdruk%202014-08-19%2004.04.16.png[/URL]

 

[BOH-rekrut]

- it should be good if u Change the map Name to TE-Donner so the engine knows which gametype u use
- check in View-->worldproperties-->lightmass-->environment Color should be not black




if u want send me the map and i will check everything for u ....

 

[Sgt.NightFire]

Thanks, will add the TE in front of the map, i checked the world properties and the color is not set to black, and the decals are not in a big hurry to be changed, they are decoration and first want to finish all the buildings so i can get a workable version we can test on our server. Add me to your steam if you want: http://steamcommunity.com/id/sgtnightfire/

 

[Twrecks]

Rebuild the lighting.
Also, make sure you are using decal materials, not all materials can be used as decals.
And of course, you have a lightmass importance volume...

 

[nymets1104]

Im having similar black decals in certain spots only. They are the stock decals such as damaged walls. Some display correctly after a Production lighting build while others are nearly solid black. If i add a point light near the decal, it is not quite as black, but still very dark. Did you do anything special to fix this on Donner?

 

[Sgt.NightFire]

I didn't manage to fix it actually, after a couple of times of building light sometimes they work, sometimes they don't, more light also seems to change it and in it's properties turning on dynamic light can also sometimes work.

 

[nymets1104]

Not a solution to this, but I noticed a pattern.

-Decals appearing as black, partially black, or very poorly lit when applied to the outside faces of BSP shapes.

-The BSP shape has an interior where a point or spot light is present.

-Changing the lighting settings of the Decal does nothing to resolve the issue

-Rebuilding light at all levels , preview -> Production produces same results.

-Placing a point or spot light shining on the Decal also fails to change the problem.

-Removing or scaling down the range of the interior light will either improve the color or solve it completely.

-Static Meshes are unaffected by this problem.

So to summarize, the issues seems to be the BSP faces with lights behind them interfering with the lighting of the decal.

This caused me great grief with my last map as I REALLY wanted damage marks on my buildings, but had to remove many since they were appearing black. If you use less lighting indoors or static meshes for buildings (I suck with 3D modeling) then this should not be a problem.

 

[Beskar Mando]

It also is the same with terrain, if you were to put for example a crater decal actor on a piece of terrain, it will be pitch black until the lighting is built/re-built.