Error listing
Instructions
Use the buttons below to view errors in any category. You can make any errors visible by clicking on their title or their corresponding checkbox.
Error_checker.exe, the program you can use to automatically scan your log for errors, can be found here
You are encouraged to add your own errors you encounter, even if you don't know what they mean. Someone else might!
FYI: The search engine runs client-side, so you can save this page to your computer and it will remain its functionality.
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Post your compile log here to have it checked for errors. You may also search for any errors by entering a search query and uncheck 'this is a compile log' to search for non-compile errors.
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3d window is completely black
Description:
Nothing gets rendered in the 3d view, may be caused by a bug where no default camera is made in Hammer. Other causes are drivers or other interfering soft/hardware.
Solution:
First try to create a new camera view (click the camera button, then drag a line in one of your 2d views). Or, you can go to the Map menu, click Entity Report, then click Go To. That should fix it sometimes.
If that doesn't work, and you made sure you aren't just looking at black textures or into the void, you may need to restart Hammer. OpenGL is a real bitch if you switch between programs that aren't programmed exactly like they should. As as last resort, try updating your drivers, or reinstalling SourceSDK.
Last contribution: ziplock
3d window only shows lines
Description:
You have set the render mode to wireframe.
Solution:
You need to set the camera mode to 3d-textured. Simply press on the word 'camera' in the 3d window and select '3d textured'.
Last contribution: zombie@computer
can't open filesystemopendialog.dll
Description:
When this error is seen various file open dialogs (sound, models) make Hammer crash. The cause can be found in the absence of filesystemopendialog.dll
Solution:
You can recreate this file by:
- Play Half-Life 2, Half-Life 2: Deathmatch, or Counter-Strike: Source.
- Play the mod you're mapping/modding for (if you're mapping for a mod)
- Check the GameInfo.txt file. Some mods use a certain game to run, and may not be set up properly.
- In GameInfo.txt, when ToolsAppId is set to AppId, you may also experience this error. Try changing ToolsAppId.
See also:
HL2 WIKI about this error
Thanks to The Odd One for pointing this out
Last contribution: The Odd One
entity ( [entity-type] ) has bad I/O connections
Description:
This error means the specified entity has wrong outputs or inputs. Either it is targetting a non-existing entity, trying to tell another entity to do something it isn't programmed to be able to do or just using the wrong output.
Solution:
Go to the outputs tab of the entity and fix any values in RED.
See also:
Entity input/output system
Last contribution: Anonymous
invalid solid
Description:
One of your brushes is invalid. Just remember these three rules and you should be fine:
- no concave brushes (no hollow brushes, you should never be able to draw a straight line through the same brush twice)
- no twisted faces (each face should be completely flat)
- no multiple faces on the same plane
Solution: Fix the brush or delete it.
See also:
Reference: Invalid solids
Last contribution: Anonymous
models are black in (old) model-browser
Description:
You need to set the color depth in Windows to atleast 32 bits, for the models to appear correctly in the browser.
Solution:
Right-click anywhere on your desktop, select 'properties', go to the 'settings' tab and set the color quality to 32 bits. Outdated drivers may also be the cause.
Last contribution: zombie@computer
out of memory loading solids, error 7
Description:
Hammer does not have enough memory loading all the brushes in your mapfile. This can be caused by either a BIG, excessive, ENORMOUS HUGE map, or some error in the vmf structure of your mapfile which caused Hammer to go into a loop. Causes are using quotes or curly brackets (" or { } ) in entity names, values or outputs (mind: game_text), which will break your map's datastructure. Another big cause is Hammer saving invalid coordinates.
Solution:
you have three hopes:
- A backup file (mapname.vmx) should be in the same directory as your mapfile, rename it to vmf to open it)
- Hammer has autosaves (atleast if you have in enabled). You can try opening the autosaves, look under the Hammer options to find the autosave path
- A long day trying to try to repair your map with Notepad. You can try three things:
- If a line was reported, use Notepads goto line option to see if theres a problem on that line (end of file? weird characters?)
- Search the mapfile for '.#INF'. If found, do a search&replace where you replace all instances of '.#INF' with '.00'.
- Check if there are any {'s not closed with a }, or check for strange strings. Most often, adding one or more closing brackets ( } ) to the file fixes this error, but be prepared to have lost some, if not a lot of data on your map.
If you really can't figure it out, and you have spend a lot of time on your map already, you may also send me the map and I will take a look and see if i can fix it.So far I have been able to repair all maps people have sent me, so bring em on!
See also:
WIKI: vmf structure
vmf structure
Last contribution: Anonymous
texture axis perpendicular to face
Description:
This means a texture is aligned to its face at 90 degrees. This is because the "align"-settings for that face are setup wrong.
Solution:
Either use the problemchecker (alt+p) to fix the error, or do it yourself by selecting the face or brush, and then go to the texture-application tool and select 'align to face' or 'align to world'. if that doesn't work, your brush might be too broken (invalid) to repair and you'll have to repair/delete it manually.
See also:
Reference: What are invalid solids?
Last contribution: Anonymous
There is no player start.
Description:
Hammer always checks if there's an info_player_start in your map (it's the place the player will be spawned on start), even with mods that don't require an info_player_start (but eg info_player_terrorist).
Solution:
Either ignore the error or place an info_player_start somewhere in your level. Even if your mod requires an info_player_start, the map will still work, but the player will be spawned at the exact center of the map. Please note that if your map doesn't have any entities, it may leak, causing other problems.
Last contribution: Anonymous
WARNING: light_spot at [x] [y] [z] has inner/outer angle larger than 90 degrees!
Description:
Spotlights usually throw their light in a cone. you just can't make a cone thats larger than or equal to 2*90 degrees (this is a purely mathematical restriction). This isn't dangerous or anything, when your map is compiled the values will automatically be lowered to the maximun allowed. It is merely a warning.
Solution:
Go to the specified entity and lower its angle value. for larger angles you should use the normal light-entity, or multiple light_spots.
Last contribution: Anonymous
[number] solids were not loaded due to errors in the file
Description:
There were [number] brushes in your map invalid and removed. Hammer can't load invalid brushes, so it just deletes them instead.
Solution:
When you see this message, you are already too late. The invalid brushes have been removed, and there is no way for you to find out which ones it deleted, apart from flying through your level trying to find a hole or missing brush. It's most likely a vertex-manipulated brush, since they have the most chance of becoming invalid.
Since the brushes are already deleted, there is no need for finding invalid solids, they are already gone. Tip: Check for illegal brushes before you save your map, to make sure you don't end up with invalid solids in the mapfile.
See also:
Reference: What are invalid solids?
Last contribution: Anonymous
Compiling takes too long
Description:
As you create bigger maps, the compile process will take longer and longer. You can prevent a lot of this by optimizing your map. By telling the compile tools what to ignore and how to work, you can seriously decrease the time needed to build your map.
Solution:
Optimize your map. Use func_detail and hints to speed up the compile process. Alternatively, you can use visgroups or cordon tools to only compile a part of your level. This is great for checking only a part of your level. Lastly, you can set vvis.exe and vrad.exe to [-fast], so they do a worse job (not for final compiles!) but much faster than before.
See also:
Optimization tutorial
WIKI: Optimization
Controlling what to compile
Reference: Compiling theory
Last contribution: Anonymous
Error opening mapname.bsp
Description:
Half-life couldn't open your map. Did you recieve any errors in the compile process? Got your paths set up right? Maybe your map is empty?
Solution:
Scan your compile-log for other errors and fix those
See also:
Logfile-checker (see search above)
Last contribution: zombie@computer
The command failed. Windows reported the error: The system cannot find the file specified.
Description:
At the end of the compiling process the BSP file is copied from the directory your vmf file is in to the game/maps directory so it can be played. This error means it couldn't find the BSP to copy it.(the message Windows returns may vary on it's language)
The cause is usually some fatal error in vbsp.exe (the program that generates the bare bsp-file) so check for other errors in your log. The other cause is some invalid setup of directories, or bad mapnames, too long pathnames etc.
In which case you should also see the effects further upwards in the log (something like the other programs not being able to load your map). For mapnames, remember to avoid any strange characters, like brackets, dots, commas and spaces. try to build your mapname out of characters ( a-z ), numbers ( 0-9 ) and the underscore ( _ ) only. The exact cause is usally findable in the logfile.
Remember this error is not a cause of your map to not compile, it is merely a sign that your map didn't compile.
Solution:
Check your logfile for errors, check your directory setup or rename your map.
See also:
Logfile-checker (see search above)
Last contribution: Anonymous
**** leaked ****
Description:
You have a leak. A leak is a hole in your map that exposes any entity in your map to the void (the black space outside your map).
Solution:
Fix the leak.
See also:
Reference: Leaks
WIKI: leaks
This error will cause your map to fail compiling correctly
Last contribution: Anonymous
bmodel [number] has no head node (class '[entity-type]', targetname '[entity-name]')
Description:
A [entity-type] should be brush-based, but doesn't have a brush tied to it. This can happen for instance when you tie the brushes of this entity to another entity in "Ignore groups"-mode.
Solution:
Find your entity (use entity report in Hammer to filter for the entities class and/or name) and delete it or tie it to a brush.
See also:
WIKI: Entity report
The affected object may not work/appear properly
Last contribution: Anonymous
brush [brush-id] , side [brushside-id]: duplicate plane
Description:
This error means you have a brush with coplanar planes (a.k.a. an invalid brush). simply put, two sides of the same brush aren't allowed to be on the same plane.
Solution:
The fix is to repair the brush, by either merging the two brushsides or moving them so they aren't on the same plane anymore. You can find the brush using view->goto brush number ( [brush-id] ).
See also:
Reference: Invalid solids
The affected object may not work and/or cause general errors
Last contribution: Anonymous
Brush [brush-id] : bounds out of range
Description:
Your map is too big (you have brush(es) too near to the edge of the grid) or you have invalid brushes.
Solution:
Find the brush by going to view->go to brush number ( [brush-id] ). This may not always give you the offending brush though.
If the problem-checker in Hammer (alt+p) doesn't find any offending brush(es), and you can't see brushes near the edge of the grid, you should use the cordon tools or visgroups to find them.
See also:
reference: Finding the unfindable
Reference: Invalid solids
This error will cause your map to fail compiling completely
Last contribution: Anonymous
Brush [brush-id] : no visible sides on brush
Description:
One of your brushes has no visible sides. My best guess is that this is caused by an invalid brush. Rumors have it that this error is caused by mixing tool and non-tool textures.
Solution:
Try Hammer's problemchecker (alt+p) to find and fix it (or view-> go to brush number ( [brush-id] ), otherwise you'll have to find the brush yourself and use vertex manipulation or a good ole delete.
See also:
Reference: Finding the cause of errors
Reference: Invalid solids
The affected object may not work and/or cause general errors
Last contribution: Anonymous
Brush [brush-id]: areaportal brush doesn't touch two areas
Description:
One of your areaportals touches either too many, or to few areas. Possible causes are:
-areaportals touching/intersecting each other (this causes them to touch more than two areas)
-areaportals not sealing an area ( you can move from one side of the areaportal to the other side, without crossing world geometry or other areaportals). This is also regarded as a leak.
Solution:
The fix would be to move your areaportal(s) around so the above situations don't occur. You may need to read up on the usage of areaportals if you don't understand the problem. I suggest you find your areaportals using it's brushnumber (view->go to brush ( [brush-id] )
See also:
Areaportals
WIKI: Func_areaportal
The affected object may not work and/or cause general errors
Last contribution: Anonymous
Brush [brush-id]: FloatPlane: bad normal Side [brushside-id] Texture: [texture]
Description:
One of your brushes has a face with a bad normal (a 'normal' is a oriëntation of a texture on a face).
Solution:
First see if the problemchecker in Hammer (alt+p) can find and fix it. If it can't, find the brush and fix it manually (usually it's best to delete it and start all over) or select the brush and "align to face" it in the texture-tool. You can find the brush using view -> go to brush ( [brush-id] ). The specific brushside will have the [texture]-texture, though that may be multiple sides
See also:
Reference: Finding the location of errors
This error will cause your map to fail compiling completely
Last contribution: Anonymous
Brush [brush-id]: MAX_MAP_BRUSHSIDES
Description:
You have too many brushsides in your map. The mentioned brush is simply the first one that didn't fit in the buffer. See Max_map_brushsides
This error will cause your map to fail compiling completely
Last contribution: Anonymous
Brush [brush-id]: MAX_MAP_PLANES Side [brushside-id] Texture: Not a Parse error!
Description:
You have too many planes (a plane is a surface from which brushsides are cut) in your map. The mentioned brush is simply the first one that didn't fit in the buffer, it alone is not the cause of the error.
See Max_map_planes
This error will cause your map to fail compiling completely
Last contribution: Anonymous
Brush [brush-id]: nummapbrushes == MAX_MAP_BRUSHES Side [brushside-id] Texture: [texture]
Description:
You have too many brushes in your map (more than 8192) The given brush is just the first one to go over the limit, it's properties in this error are useless.
Solution:
Delete some brushes, turn some of them into models for area's high in detail. For singleplayer maps, you may decide to add a level transition and split the map into multiple levels. Multiplayer maps that reach this limit are probably too big for multiplayer anyway.
See also:
MAX_MAP_BRUSHES
This error will cause your map to fail compiling completely
Last contribution: Anonymous
brush [brush-id]: origin brushes not allowed in world
Description:
You have used the ORIGIN texture on a brush that isn't allowed to have the ORIGIN texture. ORIGIN is only allowed on parts of brushbased-entities, and only on brushes that have all sides with ORIGIN.
Solution:
Simply replace the offending ORIGIN textures.(there's a replace option in the texture browser menu). Find the brush using view-> go to brush ( [brush-id] ).
On a side note, if you turn on helpers (the diamond shaped button in the right, top bar) you can specify an origin without the use of origin-brushes. much easier and safer. The origin-brush is just there for compatibility with hl1 maps, you shouldn't use it for hl2 maps.
This error will cause your map to fail compiling completely
Last contribution: Anonymous
Brush [brush-id]: ParseDispInfoChunk: nummapdispinfo > MAX_MAP_DISPINFO Side [brushside-id] Texture [texture]
Description:
You have too many/too big displacements
Solution:
Destroy, or simplify, some of your displacements
See also:
MAX_MAP_DISPINFO
This error will cause your map to fail compiling completely
Last contribution: Anonymous
Brush [brush-id]: WARNING, microbrush
Description:
One of your brushes is smaller than the smallest allowable brush-size. This size (when it will be warned about) is specified in the compiler, but can be changed (it's an option for vbsp, [ -micro #] default is 1.0 cubic unit). I doubt this will cause problems in your map, but it's a sign that you have detailed brushwork that may be better simplified or turned into models.
Solution:
Find the brush using 'view->go to brush number ([brush-id)' in Hammer or ctr+shift+G in Hammer and enter the specified brush number. Either delete it, or enlarge it, whatever you desire. If you need small brushes, you may be better of with models instead.
See also:
WIKI: Vbsp
The affected object may not work/appear properly
Last contribution: Anonymous
Can't load skybox file [texture] to build the default cubemap!
Description:
You have entered a skybox texture which doesn't seem to be valid. Make sure you don't specify the last three letter (_UP, _DN, etc) of any skybox texture you use. You may also need to fix your vmt files if they are broken. It may also be caused by compiling a non-HDR skybox texture.
Solution:
Fix $hdrbasetexture errors first
WIKI: Skybox
The affected object may not work/appear properly
Last contribution: Anonymous
Degenerate Triangle
Description:
A degenerate triangle is a triangle with no area. for instance, when two of its points are at the same place or all three on one line. I believe this error only affects displacements, but i am not entirely sure. It also seems to be used in collision data (for the displacements?)
Solution:
Find the triangle (using the coordinates, each set represents a vertex) and see if you can fix it (e.g. by moving one of the vertices, or deleting it. For displacements, you may need to destroy the displacement and start all over if you can't seem to fix it. It wont harm you if you leave it, but make sure the area doesn't look weird because of it. (holes in the displacements, overly stretched textures)
See also:
Finding coordinates
Generally, this error may be ignored
Last contribution: Anonymous
Entity [entity-id]: func_areaportal can only be a single brush
Description:
Pretty obvious, an func_areaportal(window) can only consist of one brush per entity.
Solution:
Make multiple brushes multiple func_areaportal(window)s, or make different windows in a wall the same areaportal(window) (they can go through walls if needed).
This error will cause your map to fail compiling completely
Last contribution: Anonymous
Entity [entity-type] ([x] [y] [z]) leaked!
Description:
You have a leak. A leak is a hole in your map that exposes any entity in your map to the void (the black space outside your map).
Solution:
Fix the leak.
See also:
Reference: Leaks
WIKI: leaks
This error will cause your map to fail compiling correctly
Last contribution: Anonymous
Error loading studio model ""!
Description:
You have an model-based entity (prop_something) without a model specified.
Solution:
To fix, delete it or give it a model. It can be hard to find, and if you really cant find it, use this trick: open your map (.vmf) in wordpad, and search for the string:
"model" ""
replace it with something you never used in your map, eg.
"model" "somenameineverusedforanentity"
Save the file, and open it up in hammer again. using 'entity report' in Hammer, you can search for the string "somenameineverusedforanentity" and your entity comes up. Alternatively, you may delete the entire entity, by removing it entirely:
entity
{
"some stuff" "more stuff"
"model" ""
"origin" xx xx xx"
editor
{
"color" "220 30 220"
"visgroupid" "2"
"visgroupshown" "1"
}
}
would be what you can delete. after the last "}" the next entity will be specified. Remember to delete the entire entity, and only that one, or your map may get broken. As a precaution, you should always backup your map before editing it in a text editor.
The affected object may not work and/or cause general errors
Last contribution: Mr. Happy
Error loading studio model "[model]"!
Description:
You have used the wrong model with the wrong entity, or there is another reason the model couldn't be loaded, like an invalid location, errors in the file etc.
Solution:
Either change the model, or the entity (eg. like it says in the error, use a prop_physics, prop_dynamic or prop_physics_multiplayer) or whatever the compiler tells you you should use). Just as a thumb rule:
-anything that can be picked up is prop_dynamic or prop_physics(_multiplayer)
-anything thats completely static is prop_static (you may alsop recognise these with invisible backsides)
-anything with dynamic shapes (eg. bodies, matrasses) is prop_ragdoll.
There are exceptions offcourse, as allways. The GUI model browser shows you exactly what types of entity a model is suited for.
You can find the entity with the offending model using entity report. Enter for key 'model' and for value '[model]'.
See also:
WIKI: Prop types
The affected object may not work/appear properly
Last contribution: Anonymous
Error! entity sky_camera in solid volume!
Description:
Either you have placed your sky_camera in a brush, or your map has a leak.
Solution:
Use entity report to find the sky_camera and move it, or in case of a leak, fix the leak.
See also:
3d skybox tutorial
Reference: Leaks
WIKI: leaks
This error will cause your map to fail compiling completely
Last contribution: Anonymous
Error! prop_static using model "[model]", which must be used on a dynamic entity (i.e. prop_physics). Deleted.
Description:
You have used the wrong model with the wrong entity.
Solution:
Either change the model, or the entity (eg. like it says in the error, use a prop_physics, prop_dynamic or prop_physics_multiplayer or whatever the compiler tells you you should use). Just as a thumb rule:
-anything that can be picked up is prop_dynamic or prop_physics(_multiplayer)
-anything thats completely static is prop_static (you may alsop recognise these with invisible backsides)
-anything with dynamic shapes (eg. bodies, matrasses) is prop_ragdoll There are exceptions offcourse, as allways.
The GUI model browser lists all entity types compatible with a certain model
See also:
WIKI: Prop types
The affected object may not work/appear properly
Last contribution: Anonymous
Error! Too many detail props emitted on this map!
Description:
The amount of detail props (the grasses and such that automatically appear on displacements with certain textures) has exceeded the maximum number of allowable detail props.
Solution:
Either reduce the amount of textures/displacements which cause these props to appear, or edit the texture's vmt's to decrease the number of detail props those textures emit.
See also:
WIKI: Displacement grass
WIKI: Detail props
This error will cause your map to fail compiling completely
Last contribution: Anonymous
Error: displacement found on a(n) [entity-type] entity - not supported
Description:
You have tied a displacement to an entity. Displacements aren't supposed to be entities. (they don't need to be func_detail, vvis.exe ignores them anyway). Displacements can't move around. Period. Forget about parenting them.
Solution:
Find your displacement and de-entify it. The easiest method to find it in a big map is to select all displacements at once (select the "displacements" visgroup (in the visgroup-window to the right in Hammer), then press "mark") in the ignore group mode (button "IG"). Now tie all of the displacements to an entity, and "to world" them again right after that while they are still selected.
This error will cause your map to fail compiling completely
Last contribution: Anonymous
Error: material [texture] doesn't have a $bottommaterial
Description:
You've tried to use a water texture which should only be placed in the map automatically by the compiler, or the water-texture you did use has an invalid bottom-texture. Invalid materials usually end in _beneath or _bottom or _dx* .
Solution:
There will be a matching texture without those suffixes which you can use instead. Try another water texture.
The affected object may not work/appear properly
Last contribution: Anonymous
Face List Count >= OVERLAY_BSP_FACE_COUNT
Description:
One of your info_overlays is spanning more faces than the maximum of 64. This number is based on the faces after bsp cutting, so it might look allright in Hammer but doesn't work ingame.
Solution:
Check each overlay in your map, and make sure it doesn't cover more than 64 faces. Allthough easier said than done, you must try to find the overlay in Hammer (where you can only guess where your faces are cut) so its best to check big (stretched) overlays first, and also make sure you have no world brushes cutting each other up near these overlays (eg. near stairs, or when you use a small lightmap scale). The use of func_detail will stop that.
See also:
Reference: Finding the unfindable
This error will cause your map to fail compiling completely
Last contribution: Anonymous
Find Visible Detail Sides...Bad detail brush side
Description:
The cause for this error is using multiple (incompatible) tool-textures on the same brush, or so it seems.
Apart from HINT and SKIP there aren't much combination of tool-textures allowed on the same brush, so any other combination is a possible cause. Tool-textures are the 'tools/' textures you can find using the texture browser in Hammer, and that have a special meaning.
Solution:
You will need to find the brush(es) with these tool-textures and replace those textures. The easiest way to find the source of the error is to hide all visgroups except for the visgroups which are for tools textures and then just look around the map in 3d textured mode.
See also:
WIKI: Tool textures
This error will cause your map to fail compiling completely
Last contribution: Anonymous
FindPortalSide: Couldn't find a good match for which brush to assign to a portal near ([x], [y], [z])
Description:
This error is usually followed by something like this:
Leaf 0 contents:(may vary)
Leaf 1 contents: CONTENTS_SOLID (may vary, e.g. CONTENTS_WATER)
viscontents (node 0 contents ^ node 1 contents): CONTENTS_SOLID (ditto)
This means that none of the brushes in leaf 0 or 1 that touches the portal
has CONTENTS_SOLID
Check for a huge brush enclosing the coordinates above that has contents
CONTENTS_SOLID
Candidate brush IDs: [none or more brushnumbers]
Usually, this error is caused by a leak, so fix it if it is.
If it isn't, there is a (group of) brush(es) that is/are giving vbsp.exe a hard time to figure out your level.
Apparently it cannot determine the boundaries of a certain portal. Maybe there is a large brush covering the area, maybe the area is just to complicated for poor vbsp to figure out.
I don't know the details but usually turning entities to world brushes or vice-versa helps to fight the problem. Hell, just cutting a brush in two once helped me fight this problem.
Solution:
Find the given coordinates (or if a brush number is given search for the brush number) and see what you can do to to simplify the area (like turning brushes to func_detail). You should also check to see if the brushes are overlapping at any point.
See also:
Finding brushnumbers and coordinates
The affected object may not work and/or cause general errors
Last contribution: Smurfy
Found a displacement edge abutting multiple other edges
Description:
A displacement is touching more than one other displacements at the same point along one of its edges; in other words: at some point, three displacements are touching each other along an entire edge. This may cause lighting errors, as vrad doesn't know which displacements need to have their light smoothed out, if you know what i mean. I guess it can also be a wanted situation, in which cause this 'error' can be ignored.
Solution:
The usual cause i can think of is the accidental non-deletion of displacements along the sides of brushes. Eg, if you have two brushes next to each other, and their tops displaced, and you accidentally also displaced the vertical brushsides between these two, you get a T-shaped intersection of three.
image: purple: side that should've been destroyed, red: the edge.
This is no real error, but it could be the cause of lighting anomalies. There is no easy way to find the displacement either, the fastest way would be to go through your displacements one by one.
Generally, this error may be ignored
Last contribution: Anonymous
HashVec: point outside valid range
Description:
Your map is too big (you have brush(es) too near to the edge of the grid) or you have invalid brushes.
Solution:
If the problem-checker in Hammer (alt+p) doesn't find any offending brush(es), and you can't see brushes near the edge of the grid, you should use the cordon tools or visgroups to find them.
See also:
Reference: Finding the unfindable
Reference: Invalid solids
This error will cause your map to fail compiling completely
Last contribution: Anonymous
KeyValues Error: RecursiveLoadFromBuffer: got [char] in key in file [filename]
Description:
There seems to be a parsing error in [filename]. Fix it if you want the texture or other resource associated with this file to work correctly.
The affected object may not work and/or cause general errors
Last contribution: Anonymous
make_triangles:calc_triangle_representation: Cannot convert
Description:
Usually preceded by some coordinates, the best explanation I can give at the moment is that this is caused by certain models (a b0rked subpart). In particular the "/wasteland/InteriorFence002d.mdl"-model. I've also heard small panes of glass and some other (even self-made) models can cause this error to occur, as do some freaky regular brushes. This error can also be caused by bad displacements.
If it is displacements they may fail to collide with vehicles and physics objects on the triangles that are causing a problem. Parts of the displacement may still work others may not.
Solution:
You can look for ages to find the model causing the problem, after hiding all your models first and see if that is causing your problem. Once found, you can decide to reconstruct that model, there doesn't seem to be a real error in the model itself though. In other words, leave it be, it won't hurt you. Unless you bite first! It may be the case that the game will not load the map because of this error. It would present you with a pup-up with the beloved memory error.
The displacement problem as of right now has only 1 solution and it is to delete the displacement. If its a brush, find it with Cordon Tools and delete it.
The affected object may not work and/or cause general errors
Last contribution: jmplayer
Map has too many texinfos (has [number], can have at most 12288)
Description:
See MAX_MAP_TEXINFO
This error will cause your map to fail compiling completely
Last contribution: Anonymous
Material glass/glasswindowbreak070b is depending on itself through materialvar $crackmaterial!
Description:
You shouldn't use this texture, but this one: glass/glasswindowbreak070a. The b-texture is used after the glass is broken, so you should never put it into your map manually. Sometimes this error occours and you dont have this texture anywhere in your map. Probably being some strange bug, might as wel leave it, it seems to cause no harm.
Generally, this error may be ignored
Last contribution: zombie@computer
Material [texture] uses unknown detail object type [model]!
Description:
One of your textures is scripted to emit detail props (the grass thingies that appear on displacements), but the detail props specified are not defined in the mod's data files.
Solution:
Usually this error is caused by mindlessly porting textures from other mods, without porting the detail props file. The fix is to either get these detail props from that other mod, or fix the texture so it emits detail props that exist in the current mod.
See also:
WIKI: Displacement grass
WIKI: Detail_props
The affected object may not work/appear properly
Last contribution: Anonymous
MAX_MAP_MODELS
Description:
See MAX_MAP_MODELS
This error will cause your map to fail compiling completely
Last contribution: Anonymous
Memory leak: mempool blocks left in memory: [number]
Description:
These warnings can be completely ignored, they have nothing to do with your map (but with crappy programming by Valve!).
Solution:
Become a Valve programmer and fix the problem.
Generally, this error may be ignored
Last contribution: Anonymous
Multiple references for cubemap on texture [texture]!!!
Description:
You can specify for each cubemap which faces should be using it. However, each face can only have one cubemap attached to itself this way. If you want the face to use multiple cubemaps you shouldn't tie them statically to cubemaps this way, but split the face (into multiple brushes).
Solution:
I hope you can find out by the name of the texture which face vbsp is talking about, because that's the only reference you have. No nifty stuff will help you find the problem, you have to check each texture or cubemap individually to find it. Or just leave it, as far as i know it defaults to one of the two env_cubemaps anyway, so it wont harm you one bit if you leave it.
Generally, this error may be ignored
Last contribution: Anonymous
No such variable "$hdrbasetexture" for material "[texture]"
Description:
You have used a non-hdr skybox texture, while the compile tools expect a hdr skybox instead.
Solution:
Either make a HDR skybox, change your skybox to a HDR one or ignore this error. See below for a detailed fix.
See also:
WIKI: HDR skybox
How to fix this error
Last contribution: Anonymous
NODRAW on terrain surface!
Description:
You aren't allowed to have the "tools/nodraw" texture one a displacement.
Solution:
There are two possible causes, you accidently covered a displacement face in nodraw or you accidently made a hidden face a displacement. In order to fix it in either cases, uncheck the "auto" visgroup, then check only the "displacements" visgroup. Now, look round the map see if nodraw is anywhere you wanted a real texture. If found open the material browser and find and replace the nodraw texture with any other texture. If there's no vibisible displacement faces with nodraw you'll probably want to destroy them. Open the material browser, check "Only show used textures", select NoDraw and press "Mark". Open up the face edit sheet, and click "Destroy" on the displacement tab.
See also: Reference: Finding the unfindable
The affected object may not work/appear properly
Last contribution: Angry Beaver
numvertexes == MAX_MAP_VERTS
Description:
You have too many vertices in your map (point from which brushes are made). In other words, your map is too big or too detailed.
Solution:
Delete or simplify some of your brushes. Perhaps you can convert parts of your map into brushes, or in case of singleplayer maps, divide the map up into multiple parts with a level change?
See also:
MAX_MAP_VERTS
This error will cause your map to fail compiling completely
Last contribution: Anonymous
Occluder "[entity-name]" straddles multiple areas. This is invalid!
Description:
This error means you have a func_occluder (by the name of [entity-name]) that is touching an areaportal or is inside a brush that's touching two area's. ( An area is a part of your map closed off by a areaportals and world-brushes)
Solution:
Move or delete the occluder or areaportal(s).
The affected object may not work and/or cause general errors
Last contribution: Anonymous
Overlay at [x] [y] [z] has invalid render order ([number])
Description:
A render order determines which overlays are drawn on top over the others (or under). These render orders are simple numbers, ranging from 1-3. Other numbers are invalid, causing this error.
Solution:
If this error is accompanied by insanely huge numbers, it is most likely a badly placed info_overlay (atleast it was in my case). These entities don't like to be placed on the edge of a brush. If even that is not the case, try to open the map in a texteditor and look for the numbers. They may be caused by a b0rked map, or something along those lines. I recommend to atleast try to remove said overlay (view -> go to coordinates ( [x] [y] [z] ) and recreate it.
See also:
Finding the unfindable
This error will cause your map to fail compiling completely
Last contribution: Anonymous
Overlay touching too many faces (touching [number], max 64) Overlay [texture] at [x] [y] [z]
Description:
You have an overlay (info_overlay) entity that is touching too many brushes, or parts of a brush. The error message tells you also how much you have and allowed (touching [number], max 64)
Solution:
You can find the overlay using the coordinates. View -> go to coordinates( [x] [y] [z] ) You can delete, move or resize the overlay.
This error will cause your map to fail compiling completely
Last contribution: Anonymous
prop_physics at [x] [y] [z] uses model [model], which has no propdata which means it must be used on a prop_static. DELETED.
Description:
You have used (created yourself?) a model without the data compiled in it for it to become a non-static entity. These kind of models can only be used on prop_statics, unless you recompile them with the neccesairy data.
Solution:
Find them using the coordinates, or simply recompile the model with the appropriate data
See also:
Find coordinates in a map
Compiling models
The affected object may not work/appear properly
Last contribution: Anonymous
Static prop [model] outside the map ([x], [y], [z])
Description:
You have a prop_static outside the map, or you have a big leak.
Solution:
Delete the entity, or fix the leak.
See also:
Reference: Leaks
WIKI: leaks
This error will cause your map to fail compiling correctly
Last contribution: Anonymous
Too many portal verts
Description:
See MAX_MAP_PORTALVERTS
This error will cause your map to fail compiling completely
Last contribution: Anonymous
Too many t-junctions to fix up! ([number] prims, max [maximum] :: [x] indices, max [y])
Description:
(from Jeff Lane, Valve) "VBSP does cleanup of edges where func_detail geometry meets world geometry to avoid getting visual cracks. One of the ways it does is this by elminating t-junctions. It sounds like you may have hit a limit of the number of those cleanups in the level.
Solution:
If that is the case, you could fix the problem by reducing the number of func_detail brushes in the level, especially ones that touch non-detail geometry. It's probably a sign that you have too much complex brush geometry in the level, and would benefit from having some of it be model geometry instead."
The error message shows you that you have [number] primitives (max [maximum] causing all of this, resulting in [x] t-junctions (max [y])
See also:
WIKI: making models out of brushes with XSI
This error will cause your map to fail compiling completely
Last contribution: Anonymous
Trying to create a non-quad displacement!
Description:
Displacements can only have four sides, no more, no less.
Solution:
Find your displacement (you'll have to check each one in your level) and recreate it so it has four sides again. You may need to be creative with some vertex manipulation for some shapes you want to create with displacements.
See also:
Finding the unfindable
This error will cause your map to fail compiling completely
Last contribution: Anonymous
vbsp crashes upon building physics collision data
Description:
vbsp crashes upon building the physics collision data, windows may bring up the error pop-up.
Solution:
check to see if you have tiny and/or overlapping displacements most likely in a skybox. Replace them with func_detail or models.
This error will cause your map to fail compiling completely
Last contribution: Anonymous
WARNING: areaportal entity [entity-id] (brush [brush-id]) touches > 2 areas
Description:
One of your areaportals touches too many areas. The probably cause is one or more areaportals touching/intersecting each other or world brushes that seperate atleast two areas (this causes the areaportals to touch more than two areas).
Solution:
The fix would be to move your areaportal(s) around so the above situations don't occur. You may need to read up on the usage of areaportals if you do not understand the problem. I suggest you find your areaportals using it's brushnumber ( [brush-id] )
See also:
Areaportals
WIKI: Func_areaportal
The affected object may not work/appear properly
Last contribution: Anonymous
Warning: node with unbounded volume
Description:
Your map has a node with an infinite size. (a node is what a clipnode was in hl1, in other words a volume denoting where the player can get to and where not.)
Solution:
Unless you just did some vertex-manipulation or placed static props in a wall, or added a funky new displacement, you shouldn't hunt this error down, as it may take you ages to find, unless you get strange effects in your map. Just fix (simplify) the awkward gemetry if you find it. May also be the sign of an invalid brush, or simply vertices offgrid (unlikely?).
See also:
Reference: Finding the unfindable
Generally, this error may be ignored
Last contribution: Anonymous
Warning: node without a volume
Description:
Your map has a node without a volume. (a node is what a clipnode was in hl1, in other words a volume denoting where the player can get to and where not.)
Solution:
Unless you just did some vertex-manipulation or placed static props in a wall, or added a funky new displacement, you shouldn't hunt this error down, as it may take you ages to find, unless you get strange effects in your map. Just fix (simplify) the awkward gemetry if you find it. May also be the sign of an invalid brush, or simply vertices offgrid (unlikely?).
See also:
Reference: Finding the unfindable
Generally, this error may be ignored
Last contribution: Anonymous
Warning: overflowed [number] displacement corner-neighbor lists.
Description:
There seems to be a fixed amount of displacement-sides allowed that touch other displacements, and you seem to have reached the limit. I've seen this warning show up more and more, mostly with mappers trying to create large tracks of landscapes with lots and lots of displacements. This may be the cause of occasionally reported lighting errors, but that may not be the case in your map.
Solution:
The only (theoretically) fix i can think of is to reduce the amount of displacements touching other displacements. You *only* need to fix about [number] displacements, so... I'd only fix this error if you do experience problems in your map.
The affected object may not work/appear properly
Last contribution: Anonymous
fastvis = true
Description:
You seem to be running vvis in -fast mode. This is okay for testing purposes, but mind that this will cause:
- Strange compile errors, like 'cluster saw into cluster' errors
- Strange errors ingame (including unexpected crashes)
- Hitting limits ingame, by skipping essential optimization processses
- Lower performance ingame
Solution:
If you experience any of these problems, and don't have any specific clues for the cause, please try to compile without the -fast option, see if that helps. If compiling without -fast is taking too long /seems to crash vvis, you may need to optimize your map using func_detail
Last contribution: Anonymous
Leaf (portal [portal-id]) with too many portals. Use vbsp -glview to compile, then glview -portal -portalhighlight X to view the problem.
Description:
One of your leafs is neighbouring too many other leafs. (the 'doorways' between leafs are called 'portals'). This causes vvis.exe to quit compiling your map. e.g. in the example picture, the center leaf would have 12 portals, and all other ones only one. 
Solution:
Find your leaf, and see if you can reduce the number of neighbouring leafs by adding world brushes or turning existing ones into func_detail (or clever placements of hints). Big leafs in the sky should also be avoided. As the error says, open your map in Glview to find the exact location of the portal.
See also:
Reference: Using Glview
Optimizing can help against this error
WIKI: visleafs
WIKI: Glview
This error will cause your map to fail compiling correctly
Last contribution: Anonymous
Leaf [visleaf-id] (portal [portal_id]) with too many portals. Use vbsp -glview to compile, then glview -portal -portalhighlight X or -leafhighlight L to view the problem.
Description:
One of your leafs is neighbouring too many other leafs. (the 'doorways' between leafs are called 'portals'). This causes vvis.exe to quit compiling your map. e.g. in the example picture, the center leaf would have 12 portals, and all other ones only one.
Solution:
Find your leaf, and see if you can reduce the number of neighbouring leafs by adding world brushes or turning existing ones into func_detail (or clever placements of hints). Big leafs in the sky should also be avoided. As the error says, open your map in Glview to find the exact location of the portal.
See also:
Reference: Using Glview
Optimizing can help against this error
WIKI: visleafs
WIKI: Glview
This error will cause your map to fail compiling correctly
Last contribution: Anonymous
LoadPortals: couldn't read [mapname].prt
Description:
Vvis.exe cannot find the portalfile, a file that vbsp.exe creates which specifies the location of portals and leafs. Usually because of a leak or other fatal error (see further upwards in your log) in the vbsp process, but may also be because your directories are set up wrong.
Solution:
Check your logfile for other errors (mainly leaks), and/or check if you have your directories set up right.
See also:
Reference: The compile process
Reference: Leaks
This error will cause your map to fail compiling correctly
Last contribution: Anonymous
The map overflows the max portal count ([number] of max 32768)!
Description:
Your map has too many portals. (your portals is [number], the max is 32768)
Solution:
Optimize your map (tie brushes to func_detail) to reduce portals. You may even have to decrease the size of your map.
See also:
Using func_detail
MAX_MAP_PORTALS
WIKI: Optimization
This error will cause your map to fail compiling completely
Last contribution: Anonymous
WARNING: Cluster portals saw into cluster
Description:
(I think) vbsp.exe has made a concave leaf (or in other ways invalid) that can see into itself. I've also heard about this being caused by overlapping brushes or brushes that are off-grid (thuss causing offgrid visleafs). Allthough i find this unlikely, I am not sure if it isn't, so keep those possibilities open too.
Solution:
The solution is to simplify your leafs (func_detail) as much as possible to avoid this error, but usually (or sometimes) you will find no bad things come from it and your map runs as it should. If you got unexpected low FPS somewhere, this may be the cause. Finding it may be hard, and usually ends up in using cordon tools or just not doing it at all. First look at complicated parts of your map, try to use glview glview to find it.
See also:
how to use glview
WIKI: glview
The affected object may not work and/or cause general errors
Last contribution: zombie@computer
warning: Vis decompression overrun
Description:
I think you have hit some kind of limit in the vvis process, considering the process (vvis.exe) I suppose this is visleafs, if so, optimizing may work. You may also try to reduce the amount of props in your map, (grasses), I've heard this can help too.
Solution:
See above
See also:
Optimizing tutorial
HL2 WIKI Optimization
This error will cause your map to fail compiling correctly
Last contribution: zombie@computer
AllocatedLightmap: lightmap too big to fit in page
Description:
I don't know the exact cause, but ive heard rumours that it can be caused by:
-lightmaps not set to a legal size (power of 2) To check, select all brushes in your map and set them to a lightmapscale of 16, save to a different mapname and try to compile the map. If you still got the error, the cause lies somewhere else.
-big displacements in combination with too small lightmapscale. (seems commonest)
-invalid brushes -invalid displacements
Solution:
You may want to start by hiding all your displacements and see if the error persists. If it does, check every lightmapscale in your level first and if that won't help, use visgroups or cordon tools to break your level apart.
See also:
Reference: Finding the cause of unknown errors
This error will cause your map to fail compiling completely
Last contribution: Anonymous
Could not find lights.rad in lights.rad
Description:
Vrad.exe couldn't find lights.rad, a file used to determine which textures can emit light by themselves.
Solution:
Move to/make a new lights.rad in the right directory. You should search for the file in your mod's directory, most mods have one.
See also:
Lights.rad tutorial
The affected object may not work and/or cause general errors
Last contribution: zombie@computer
Error trying to allocate [number] bytes
Description:
Vrad.exe did not have enough memory to finish it's task. There are two causes: 1) You are running low on memory (ram + pagefile). 2) Vrad.exe is chocking on some very complicated bit of your map, causing it to ask a lot of memory which doesn't exist (like infinite sizes).
Solution:
If you are running low on free memory (ctr+alt+del to see that) try increasing the pagefile if you aren't letting Windows take care of it. If not, use cordon tools to isolate the problemarea in your map (might be a broken brush, or simply too complex geometry) and see what you can do to fix it.
Dan Prati informed me that is mostly a problem with very large, open maps, or particularly detailed ones (or as part of an engine limitation to the total amount of lightmaps).
Reducing the lightmap resolution on larger surfaces, or particularly complex objects, can fix this problem. If this is not acceptable, or does not fix the error, reducing lightmap resolution across the entire map may be necessary. This provides a solution when there is no single map element that is causing the error, and simply deleting map objects won't fix the problem.
See also:
Reference: Finding the unfindable
This error will cause your map to fail compiling correctly
Last contribution: Anonymous
Luxel axis perpendicular to face at ([x], [y], [z])
Description:
See Texture axis perpendicular to face
The affected object may not work and/or cause general errors
Last contribution: Anonymous
MAX_TEXLIGHTS
Maximum:
128
Description:
Your lights.rad has too many entries (there is a maximum of 128 entries) the rest will be skipped.
Generally, this error may be ignored
Last contribution: Anonymous
no samples x
Description:
Vrad.exe is freaking out over some part of geometry in your map. Did you recently add any complicated/oddshaped brushes?
Solution:
Find the brush(es) vrad doesn't like and remove or fix them.
See also:
Reference: Finding the cause of unknown errors
The affected object may not work and/or cause general errors
Last contribution: Anonymous
stylenum == MAX_SWITCHED_LIGHTS
Description:
You have too many (more than 32) differently named lights in your map. You can't have that many independantly switchable lights
Solution:
Remove some lights, or give a few the same name, or remove the names of some lights.
This error will cause your map to fail compiling completely
Last contribution: zombie@computer
Texture axis perpendicular to face at ([x], [y], [z])
Description:
This is vrad's way of saying a texture (face and its corresponding luxel(lightmap)) is aligned to its face at 90 degrees. This is because the "align"-settings for that face are setup wrong. 
Solution:
Find the face using the coordinates. You will notice a very overstretched appearance of the texture belonging to the offending side. If you can't find it, you must select the entire brush, if you can find the exact face, just select that face in the texture application tool. When you are in the texture application tool, notice the "align to face" and "align to world" tickboxes. Try the one that isn't currently checked, or both. If they don't work, your brush is broken and needs to be repaired. Either using the vertex-tool, or deleting the brush and recreating it.
See also:
Reference: Finding the location of errors
The affected object may not work and/or cause general errors
Last contribution: Anonymous
Warning: Couldn't open texlight file lights.rad
Description:
Vrad.exe couldn't find lights.rad, a file used to determine which textures can emit light by themselves.
Solution:
Move to/make a new lights.rad in the right directory. You should search for the file in your mod's directory, most mods have one.
See also:
Lights.rad tutorial
The affected object may not work and/or cause general errors
Last contribution: zombie@computer
Warning: Duplication of texlight '[texture]' in file 'lights.rad'!
Description:
This texture was listed twice in lights.rad. the fix is obvious, but not necessairy
Solution:
Lights.rad tutorial
Generally, this error may be ignored
Last contribution: Anonymous
Warning: ignoring bad texlight '[texture]' in lights.rad
Description:
One of the entries in lights.rad is invalid. Make sure when you edit this file you use plain text-editors, e.g. notepad, wordpad. DON'T SAVE MAKE-UP to this file as MS-Word (from office) will!
Solution:
Lights.rad tutorial
The affected object may not work/appear properly
Last contribution: Anonymous
WARNING: Too many light styles on a face at ([x], [y], [z])
Description:
There's a face with too many different light styles of light shining on it. (more than six). For every switchable light (that is: any light that is named or has a custom appearance) shining on a face, vrad.exe makes a new lightstyle. Basically, it calculates how the face looks like when:
-light 1 is on and light 2 is off
-light 1 is on and light 2 is on
-light 1 is off and light 2 is off
-light 1 is off and light 2 is on
I'm sure you understand how 6 switchable lights make 2 ^ 6 lightstyles, and how this enormous amount of memory has to be saved somehow. and limited.
Solution:
To stop this error, remove lights, dont give the light names unless you need to, make sure certain lights dont shine on the face (max_shining distance or by blocking it with brushes) or simply dont use that much switchable lights. Dynamic lights are not used by vrad.exe thus dont count. Lights with the same names are counted as the same lights. Find the location of the error using the coordinates.
See also:
Reference: Finding the cause of errors
The affected object may not work and/or cause general errors
Last contribution: Anonymous
zero area child patch
Description:
A solid in your level has a face with no area. My guess is that vrad.exe is trying to create a lightmap for a face that doesn't exist. Maybe you have an invalid brush?
Solution:
First check Hammers problemchecker (alt+p). If that doesn't solve your problems, you can either ignore the error, or try to find it anyway using cordon tools. You would be looking for brushes which might be too complex. I wouldn't recommend the second option.
See also:
Reference: Finding the cause of unknown errors
Generally, this error may be ignored
Last contribution: Anonymous
[number] degenerate face(s)
Description:
A degenerate face is a face with no area. For instance, when two of its points are at the same place or three vertices on one line. Rarely, this error can cause all the lighting in your level to become black. If this happens, you will have to track down the degenerate face(s). This is however rare, so only go after the face if your level turns completely dark or you experience other strange errors.
Solution:
Don't try to fix this error if you don't experience strange problems, it will take you ages to find them in your level (trial and error, most likely). You will want to examply vertex-manipulated brushes first.
Generally, this error may be ignored
Last contribution: Mr. Happy
DispInfo_LoadDisplacements: dispcounts ([number] and [number]) don't match
Description:
The game has done a miscount on the amount of displacements in your map.
Solution:
Try deleting and recreating your displacements (one at a time or all of them at once), or copy/paste them to another map and back. It seems to be caused by one or more displacements that haven't been saved properly to the mapfile.
Last contribution: Anonymous
Ed_alloc: no free edicts
Description:
You have too many entities. Either total (4096) or a maximum of a specific entity. Temporary entities such as bullets and particles are also part of this number.
Solution:
Reduce the amount of entities as much as possible. Start with particles (dust, func_precipitation), as they are usually huge in numbers, or other entities you have a lot of.
Last contribution: Anonymous
Engine Error: [entity-type] with no model at [x] [y] [z]
Description:
One of the brush-based entities in your map doesn't have any brushes tied to it
Solution:
Find the entity by searching for an origin of the coordinates in the entity report dialog, ( key:origin, value:[x] [y] [z] ) Once found, either delete the entity or tie a (few) brush(es) to it. A brush-based entity without brushes tied to it is completely USELESS!
Last contribution: Anonymous
Host_EndGame: Map coordinate extents are too large
Description:
Your map is too big (you have brush(es) too near to the edge of the grid) or you have invalid brushes. In 99.9999% (may be an understatement) of the cases, the cause is an invalid brush.
Solution:
If the problem-checker in Hammer (alt+p) doesn't find any offending brush(es), and you can't see brushes near the edge of the grid, check suspicious or recently vertex-edited brushes first. If you still can't find anything, you should use the cordon tools or visgroups to find them.
See also:
Reference: Finding the unfindable
Reference: Invalid solids
Last contribution: Anonymous
Host_Error: CVEngineServer::PrecacheModel: [model] overflow, too many models
Description:
Your map has too much models, this includes weapons, players, props, bullets, gibs etc. You should seriously remove some!
Last contribution: Anonymous
Host_Error: Server is enforcing file consistency for some_file
Description:
The server wants you to download a file you already have, but you have the wrong version so it overwrites your version with the one the server has (your version is probably a custom one since the server is 'enforced' to overwrite it). Happens untill the file is replaced.
Last contribution: Anonymous
Invalid [entity_type] spawnpoint at ([x], [y], [z])
Description:
This means this spawnpoint is invalid. Did you place it inside another volume (e.g. a model, brush)? or does your map has a leak? First check if you didn't place the spawnpoint inside the ground (commonest), so preferably place the spawnpoint one unit above the ground to be sure. Offcourse you can find the coordinates in Hammer to see which one it is.
Last contribution: Anonymous
MaterialSystem_Interface_t::AllocateLightmap : lightmap ([number]x[number]) too big to fit page ([number]x[number])
Description:
I don't know the exact cause, but ive heard rumours that it can be caused by:
-lightmaps not set to a legal size (power of 2)
-big displacements in combination with too small lightmapscale. (seems commonest)
-invalid brushes -invalid displacements
Solution:
You may want to start by hiding all your displacements and see if the error persists. If it does, check every lightmapscale in your level first, (using the tool above), or just selecting your entire level and enter a legal size for all brushes) and if that won't help, use visgroups or cordon tools to break your level apart.
See also:
Reference: Finding the cause of unknown errors
Last contribution: Anonymous
Node Graph out of Date. Rebuilding...
Description:
This is not an error, it's simply a message telling you the game is making paths (using info_nodes) for npc's to use. It should happen only once for every map, given that you don't change the map afterwards.
Last contribution: Anonymous
Textures act weird ingame
Description:
If your textures act weird (e.g. flash, look brighter from some angles but darker from others) check if you are not using model-textures (models/sometexture or props/sometexture). Since these textures are compiled to be wrapped around a model (and be lit like one) this can cause strange things when you apply them on world brushes.
Solution:
Use another texture (most model-textures have a normal counterpart), or rewrite the texture's vmt (find "Vertexlitgeneric" and replace it by "LightmappedGeneric").
See also:
WIKI: vmt's
Last contribution: zombie@computer
Textures are purple/black checkered
Description:
Half-life cannot display your textures properly, check to see if you set them up right. (you may need to check not only the directories, but also the vtf's themselves: were they compiled right?).
Be sure to use programs like Bspzip or Pakrat to include the textures when you distribute your map to others, as they may not have your custom textures. Models also come with seperate textures, don't forget to add those if you want to distribute custom models.
If you haven't placed any env_cubemaps, a purple shine will be all over your textures, so don't forget to add one.
Last contribution: Anonymous
Too many indices for index buffer.. tell a programmer ([number]>32768)
Description:
The only time I can over this error is was caused by a func_precipitation that was too big. If you got one in your level, try to decrease its size so it sits under the max again ([number] is the number you currently have, 32768 is the max). You can also try to decrease the density of the effect you were trying to make using this entity. It also seems optimizing helps.
Last contribution: Anonymous
Too many verts for a dynamic vertex buffer ([number]>32768) Tell a programmer to up VERTEX_BUFFER_SIZE.
Description:
You have too many dynamic vertices. These are points that make up entity brushes (like func_doors). In Hammer, most lines are dynamic vertices too. (like the leakfile), but the brushes aren't (they dont move in Hammer).
Solution:
Tie as much of these entity-brushes to either world (de-entify them) or func_detail (the only, non-dynamic entity). don't be confused with hl1: func_wall should not be used to optimize your map! Instead use func_detail. Proper optimization (with the use of vvis.exe) should reduce the times you see this error. According to steampowered.com, this can also be caused by a broken cache file. A Valve programmer mentiones on the Valve Wiki that this error should only happen on mods with errors in the code, but practice has learned otherwise. (so far for their coders abilities :P ). You currently have [number], and the max is 32768, so there's quite a bit to do.
See also:
How to check your cache files
Last contribution: Anonymous
Warning: Table modelprecache is full, can't add some_model
Description:
Your map has too much models, this includes weapons, players, props, bullets, gibs etc. You should seriously remove some!
Last contribution: zombie@computer
Water does not look properly ingame
Description:
water in hl2 is special. make sure you give all faces the "nodraw"-texture and only the top one a water-texture (e.g. the NATURE_ ones, avoid the DX* ones or the _BENEATH ones), make sure it has an env_cubemap (and type "buildcubemaps" in the hl2 console), and make sure both vvis.exe and vrad.exe are running properly (that's why leaks will ruin water). You cannot have two levels of water in the same area of your map, unless you use a cheap and a normal watertexture, or use the func_water_analog entity. A func_lod_control is also needed, but will be automatically placed when it's missing.
See also:
WIKI: Water
Last contribution: zombie@computer
[entity-type]: UTIL_SetModel: Not Precached
Description:
One of your brush-based entities wasn't tied to any brushes. You probably deleted the brushes belonging to this entity with ignore groups enabled, causing the entity itself to remain. Because of this, the engine cannot precache the brushes belonging to this entity, and crashes when starting the map because no brushes are precached for this entity.
Solution:
Use entity report to find the entity and delete it. You likely need to go past every entity of this kind in your map.
Last contribution: Anonymous
(missing) gameinfo.txt
Description:
A certain file used to configure Steam which resources to load is missing.
Solution:
Simply start the game you are mapping for once, and this problem should be gone. If that doesn't work, you'll have to make one yourself.
See also:
WIKI: gameinfo.txt
Steam site
Last contribution: zombie@computer
Cache Needs Decryption
Description:
This error occurs when you try to use the SDK without starting HL2 first.
Solution:
Run HL2, SourceSDK and any mods neccesairy to fix this error.
See also:
Steam site
Last contribution: zombie@computer
Cache Needs Repair
Description:
According to www.valve-erc.com: This error occurs when certain game cache files have encountered an internal problem (usually after a crash while running a game).
Solution:
To repair the cache file, simply shutdown Steam and restart Steam, and then run HL2 and any of it's mods if neccesairy. The programs will fix their errors once they have run once.
See also:
Official Valve forums
Steam site
Last contribution: Anonymous
Failed to load the Launcher.dll. The specified module could not be found.
Description:
Some properties of your game setup haven't been saved properly, or are simply missing.
Solution:
Refresh your sdk content (use the link in the sourcesdk menu from Steam). You may also try to start your map/mod manually (not via Hammer), usually doing this once fixes the error.
See also:
Steam site
Last contribution: zombie@computer