Hillcrest Hospital Replica [WIP] [Commentary]

[SilentlyWeeps]

Hillcrest General Hospital

Built in 1934, Expanded In The 60's And Abandoned In The 80's
I have set out on a quest to completely recreate this building as close to exact detail
as painfully possible. Now that it's been over a year and the first plan to create it as a deathmatch map
for HL2DM fell apart, I have started fresh and I'm hoping L4D2 will get the job done.

{I'm a very determined stubborn asshole} best way to put it, and I'm not giving up until I see it through.


Episode 2 Buggy Compile - 2011

In-game

In-game

In-game

In-game

L4D2 Compile - 2012

In-game

In-game

[cz_squishy]

Looks like a leak

[SilentlyWeeps]

Log Posted Above, If it was a leak then the lighting wouldn't render during compile.

[Ark11]

Looks like some sort of VisGroups problem, try and optimise your map a little.

[cz_squishy]

Log Posted Above, If it was a leak then the lighting wouldn't render during compile.

Sometimes it looks like that, usually with water or something, but it's most likely something with vvis

[cpl. punishment]

Is that the whole compile log? It looks like it's missing VBSP.

[Smurftyours]

Let this be a lesson of saving a new file every time you change something. When I map, even if I don't compile I still save a variant of the map. Example: Map_v1, Map_v2, Map_v3.

[Chopium]

Try copy-pasting all the brushes and entities into a new map file (new name). I had that problem before and this fixed it.

[SilentlyWeeps]

Let this be a lesson of saving a new file every time you change something. When I map, even if I don't compile I still save a variant of the map. Example: Map_v1, Map_v2, Map_v3.

Actually so I can better understand this, do you mean I should be working under new saves each time I edit
or save over ? I have changed the vmf name 3 times since the start, and if I add up all the times I saved over them
especially the current one its prolly over 50 times. Did I screw up by renaming it in the first place ?

I guess this is just a way of saying I should be making backups incase of this problem but I don't want
a bailout plan and have to redo work by going back to other saves, I want an explaination as to why this error
usually occurs. Either way ill try starting over if that's the only way to fix it now.

Try copy-pasting all the brushes and entities into a new map file (new name). I had that problem before and this fixed it.

I will start a new vmf and redo all brushwork manually, and only prefab the windows, this time
saving under a new name for every edit performed if thats the best route ?. If anyone has other ideas, solutions etc plz feel free to share them. Thanks for all the feedback so far guys!

[Archanor]

Try using cordon bounds and compile only parts of your map, bit by bit.
I usually compile 1/4th of my map at a time to try zoning out the problem, so if there's something wrong in the part you just compiled, you'll know more exactly where it is.

[thefight]

I've had this problem before with larger more detailed buildings, all I did was propper the windows and other complex brushes. Worked great after that.

[MayheM]

Let this be a lesson of saving a new file every time you change something. When I map, even if I don't compile I still save a variant of the map. Example: Map_v1, Map_v2, Map_v3.

Actually so I can better understand this, do you mean I should be working under new saves each time I edit
or save over ? I have changed the vmf name 3 times since the start, and if I add up all the times I saved over them
especially the current one its prolly over 50 times. Did I screw up by renaming it in the first place ?

That's exactly what he means. I have been doing this for a long time now and it is a great habit. For instance my current project is called cs_waterside. I use _dev# as my version indicator. Every major change I make I use the next integer. Currently being at cs_waterside_dev44 I save a lot. I say major changes because some things you know will remain do not require a rename. For instance you add some brushwork and happen to cause a leak in _dev5, go back and fix said leak there is no need to name the map _dev6.

But like others stated, it does look as though BSP did not run.

[SilentlyWeeps]

Is that the whole compile log? It looks like it's missing VBSP.

VBSP didn't run your right, fortunatly I fixed that by detailing the fuck out of the rest of the windows, the frames
are just to much of a rendering cost for the engine apparently. It runs but still i'm getting the same messed up effect in game.

I've had this problem before with larger more detailed buildings, all I did was propper the windows and other complex brushes. Worked great after that.

Forgot about propper, honestly thats the route I might go first before exporting models in 3ds max, but then
again the current frames are really low detail up close, so in the end I might have to use an external editor
after all, which will delay this map even more, which is the last thing I need considering I have Sectra still way behind schedule.

Try using cordon bounds and compile only parts of your map, bit by bit.
I usually compile 1/4th of my map at a time to try zoning out the problem, so if there's something wrong in the part you just compiled, you'll know more exactly where it is.

The last compile I did after resizing the 2D Skybox and detailing all the windows almost fixed the problem, but still
i'm getting the same effect but in smaller sections, it's in the same area of the map but I have to noclip around more to run into it. I will try using cordon next, then propper, if that fails then this might take much longer to complete. Keep an eye out ppl in case I decide to release the source files for this project, which will include the older vmfs before this problem occured, that will at least produce some useful content. Machinima or future ideas maybe idk.

Thanks Again! for all the feedback guys.

[SilentlyWeeps]

So I managed to somehow get around the rendering issues, I'm sure they will come back but I took the opportunity to make a demo video with commentary, it's the first time ive ever tried it so plz don't kill me. I still doubt this project will ever get to a professional state at all, but I think it's a good start. Sectra will be the fun one to make

That is if you guys think it's decent enough and would like to see more of this demo/commentary related stuff etc.
Just scroll up if you can't see the video, it's updated in the main post.

[SilentlyWeeps]

Alright,

This time I'm starting fresh and moving the project to L4D2, and I have to say so far
I'm wondering why I didn't do this in the first place. I will have more updates tomorrow,
so far I'm hoping to work on it about 5-6 hours a day after work. Hoping to finish it this summer.

I will die a happy man when I complete this map that's all I have to say.