sunstep
Truly Feared
- Joined
- Jun 15, 2020
- Messages
- 164
[Intro]
Blackwonder modifies team fortress 2 maps pretty often. Unfortunately, I've noticed multiple times now that this goes horribly wrong. An example of this Is this thread. I've noticed this issue of reflections becoming purple on multiple maps edited for blackwonder and to solve this for once and for all, I would like to give a quick guide on how to properly compile maps even though my preferred solution will always be stripper config.
[The issue]
Here are some screenshots of the problem I am talking about. I don't think I need to describe anything else. The screenshots are self explanatory. Please make sure to read this thread if you are a blackwonder mod/ admin that's into mapping.
[What causes this issue?]
To begin with, lets go over what even causes this issue.
You need to understand first how cubemaps work. I am obviously not going to explain the whole thing. But there are a few things you should know. Cubemaps get stored inside a bsp after you build them. You can find it in the materials/maps/.... folder. Now here is the problem: the folder inside the maps folder is literally the map name, meaning that if you change the name of the bsp after compiling the map, the game won't be able to find those cubemap files! This causes the reflections to be missing for the game and that explains why out of all colors it's purple! So, after reading that, I hope you understand what I am pointing at. If you don't, keep reading.
[The solution]
So, how do we get rid of this issue? Well it's quite simple. Just make sure you don't have to rename the bsp after compiling. Just use hammer's save as feature to get a brand new vmf with a brand new name. This will compile the map with the name you want and have the correct map name inside the materials/maps folder and therefore not have any cubemaps missing.
[My experiment]
Funny enough I thought using compile pal was the issue, so I experimented. I came to the conclusion that manually building cubemaps vs using compile pal's automatic cubemap tool didn't make a difference. Then I quickly came to realize that the cubemap files were probably unable to be found which most likely explained the purple color. So I browsed inside the bsp and found that the cubemap folder was still named to the bsp's old name. So I used hammer's save as feature to get a new vmf, compiled it and all reflection issues where gone after making the cubemaps.
So hopefully this issue can be solved for once and for all on blackwonder now.
If you have any questions feel free to comment.
Blackwonder modifies team fortress 2 maps pretty often. Unfortunately, I've noticed multiple times now that this goes horribly wrong. An example of this Is this thread. I've noticed this issue of reflections becoming purple on multiple maps edited for blackwonder and to solve this for once and for all, I would like to give a quick guide on how to properly compile maps even though my preferred solution will always be stripper config.
[The issue]
Here are some screenshots of the problem I am talking about. I don't think I need to describe anything else. The screenshots are self explanatory. Please make sure to read this thread if you are a blackwonder mod/ admin that's into mapping.
[What causes this issue?]
To begin with, lets go over what even causes this issue.
You need to understand first how cubemaps work. I am obviously not going to explain the whole thing. But there are a few things you should know. Cubemaps get stored inside a bsp after you build them. You can find it in the materials/maps/.... folder. Now here is the problem: the folder inside the maps folder is literally the map name, meaning that if you change the name of the bsp after compiling the map, the game won't be able to find those cubemap files! This causes the reflections to be missing for the game and that explains why out of all colors it's purple! So, after reading that, I hope you understand what I am pointing at. If you don't, keep reading.
[The solution]
So, how do we get rid of this issue? Well it's quite simple. Just make sure you don't have to rename the bsp after compiling. Just use hammer's save as feature to get a brand new vmf with a brand new name. This will compile the map with the name you want and have the correct map name inside the materials/maps folder and therefore not have any cubemaps missing.
[My experiment]
Funny enough I thought using compile pal was the issue, so I experimented. I came to the conclusion that manually building cubemaps vs using compile pal's automatic cubemap tool didn't make a difference. Then I quickly came to realize that the cubemap files were probably unable to be found which most likely explained the purple color. So I browsed inside the bsp and found that the cubemap folder was still named to the bsp's old name. So I used hammer's save as feature to get a new vmf, compiled it and all reflection issues where gone after making the cubemaps.
So hopefully this issue can be solved for once and for all on blackwonder now.
If you have any questions feel free to comment.
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