Constructor 1.0.3 Issue List
by Paul Ash · in Constructor · 09/02/2007 (9:08 pm) · 66 replies
Ill be adding all of this to the constructor Wiki as soon as I have some free time
1. Vanishing lights
Lights will randomly vanish inside of the constructor, but the light they create will remain, this issue is easily worked around by saving and reloading your file
2A. Collision Randomly not working
This issue took me a whole day to find all of the problems that where creating it, for one, Export to dif can be unstable but will work some of the time The most annyoing and hardest to find. Sometimes random walls will not work, this is fixed by saving your work and reloading then you must export before you even click anything else, this will fix the issue, another issue that will make collision not work at all is the hallow tool, it has as many issues if not more then the "export to dif"
2B. Collision STILL IS NOT WORKING!!
Sometimes it seems that just saving as a csx and saving and reloading, this issue is corrected by saving as a .map file before saving and loading that map file, that seems to correct the issue a little bit more often!
(Please note that if you do need to save out as a .map to get things working you are going to loose your DTS baked in objects as only the CSX file format can support them!!!)
3. Going Passed 0.00000001
Alot of the interfaces have an issue that will allow you to set values that should never be 0 or negatives, an example of this is the texture scale, this results in the texture going crazy and the only way to correct it is to undo all the actions that led up to it.
///-----Investigating!
4. Import my Album
//
//It is impossible to import all of the texture from a directory using the "import all" button unless there is a //png //in the directory with the file, all JPG will not show as files.
//
///-----Investigating!
5. Now you see it, now you dont (Where the heck are my faces!) or My contractor in the constructor sucks theres cracks in everything!
It seems the control that should randomly remove faces that the player should never see has a few bugs, this results in randomly removing faces creating cracks or even removing walls all together, this is easily fixed by disabling the feature. go to System->Preferences->Export, and deselected the "Hidden Surface Removal"
6. jpg....er..I mean png?
If the user has more then one file with the same name but a different extension it will always pick jpg even if the user selects the png from the texture browser.
7? Not sure if this is an issue
You cannot add folders of textures from a portable drive. This works in 1.0.2, does not in 1.0.3, however one at a time does work, which is why I'm calling this a bug
8. grayscale image ultra light
textures that are greyscaled are extremely light inside of the editor. which can be annyoing if you are trying to save file size via a grey scale image
Thanks Issue 5: Thanks everyone that helped me nail that one, lets keep these things coming!!!
Hopefully we can keep this clean and up to date, anything you all add to this list, ill edit my post and update the list. Thanks everyone! and lets keep the work arounds coming
*Update Sept 05 : After fully testing the "export to dif" seems a lot of the issues where occurring due to other things, so it is okay to use it, but be warned i have seen it do a lot of random crazy stuff, Added issue 5 fixes cracks and vanished faces
*Update Sept 06: New small issue update!
*Update Sept 07: Added 2B for a slightly different collision fix
*Update Sept 08: added greyscale issue
1. Vanishing lights
Lights will randomly vanish inside of the constructor, but the light they create will remain, this issue is easily worked around by saving and reloading your file
2A. Collision Randomly not working
This issue took me a whole day to find all of the problems that where creating it, for one, Export to dif can be unstable but will work some of the time The most annyoing and hardest to find. Sometimes random walls will not work, this is fixed by saving your work and reloading then you must export before you even click anything else, this will fix the issue, another issue that will make collision not work at all is the hallow tool, it has as many issues if not more then the "export to dif"
2B. Collision STILL IS NOT WORKING!!
Sometimes it seems that just saving as a csx and saving and reloading, this issue is corrected by saving as a .map file before saving and loading that map file, that seems to correct the issue a little bit more often!
(Please note that if you do need to save out as a .map to get things working you are going to loose your DTS baked in objects as only the CSX file format can support them!!!)
3. Going Passed 0.00000001
Alot of the interfaces have an issue that will allow you to set values that should never be 0 or negatives, an example of this is the texture scale, this results in the texture going crazy and the only way to correct it is to undo all the actions that led up to it.
///-----Investigating!
4. Import my Album
//
//It is impossible to import all of the texture from a directory using the "import all" button unless there is a //png //in the directory with the file, all JPG will not show as files.
//
///-----Investigating!
5. Now you see it, now you dont (Where the heck are my faces!) or My contractor in the constructor sucks theres cracks in everything!
It seems the control that should randomly remove faces that the player should never see has a few bugs, this results in randomly removing faces creating cracks or even removing walls all together, this is easily fixed by disabling the feature. go to System->Preferences->Export, and deselected the "Hidden Surface Removal"
6. jpg....er..I mean png?
If the user has more then one file with the same name but a different extension it will always pick jpg even if the user selects the png from the texture browser.
7? Not sure if this is an issue
You cannot add folders of textures from a portable drive. This works in 1.0.2, does not in 1.0.3, however one at a time does work, which is why I'm calling this a bug
8. grayscale image ultra light
textures that are greyscaled are extremely light inside of the editor. which can be annyoing if you are trying to save file size via a grey scale image
Thanks Issue 5: Thanks everyone that helped me nail that one, lets keep these things coming!!!
Hopefully we can keep this clean and up to date, anything you all add to this list, ill edit my post and update the list. Thanks everyone! and lets keep the work arounds coming
*Update Sept 05 : After fully testing the "export to dif" seems a lot of the issues where occurring due to other things, so it is okay to use it, but be warned i have seen it do a lot of random crazy stuff, Added issue 5 fixes cracks and vanished faces
*Update Sept 06: New small issue update!
*Update Sept 07: Added 2B for a slightly different collision fix
*Update Sept 08: added greyscale issue
About the author
#2
while i don't like having to turn this feature off, its better than my player falling through holes in the floors etc.
09/03/2007 (2:12 am)
RE: 5. Missing faces, in my use of constructor, this stems from the "remove hidden face" export feature, turning this feature off (for me at least) solves this problem.while i don't like having to turn this feature off, its better than my player falling through holes in the floors etc.
#3
09/03/2007 (7:49 am)
That does not work consistently (remove hidden face).
#4
09/03/2007 (8:17 am)
@ Andrew "does not work consistently", the remove hidden face feature or turning it off as a solution?
#5
Though it leads to a crash of Constructor (Mac version - haven't tested in on Windows yet) in the end of the process.
09/03/2007 (8:42 am)
Quote:4. Import my AlbumI disagree here. Well I have to check if there a .png in the last two folders/directories I imported from.
It is impossible to import all of the texture from a directory using the "import all" button unless there is a png in the directory with the file, all JPG will not show as files.
Though it leads to a crash of Constructor (Mac version - haven't tested in on Windows yet) in the end of the process.
#6
If it doesnt happen to you, ill change the issue, then try to track down the bug to something else
09/03/2007 (9:03 am)
Just tested it, it happened just the same stephan.If it doesnt happen to you, ill change the issue, then try to track down the bug to something else
#7
09/03/2007 (9:12 am)
Turning it off as a solution to counter missing faces/sections of faces
#8
Though it crashed, like the Mac version.
My directory of images, contained one photoshop file, one file renamed .BU (as in Back-Up ;)), and a few subfolders.
Maybe it is not specifically a .png image, but a different file format instead?
Sorry can't test more at the moment.
09/03/2007 (1:02 pm)
@Paul: tested again on windows this time. I was able to import my images from the same directory.Though it crashed, like the Mac version.
My directory of images, contained one photoshop file, one file renamed .BU (as in Back-Up ;)), and a few subfolders.
Maybe it is not specifically a .png image, but a different file format instead?
Sorry can't test more at the moment.
#11
I'm out of ideas... anyone else got any? :-/
-Jason
09/05/2007 (8:01 am)
Hey guys, unfortunately the save/reload/export is not working for me either to correct the random surfaces that have no collision. Interestingly enough, I had the problem fixed (or so I thought) until I created some new brushes... now the new ones have no collision.I'm out of ideas... anyone else got any? :-/
-Jason
#12
09/05/2007 (1:58 pm)
Did you create new brushes then export, or did you totally exit and reload and export from a fresh start, cuz the moment you edit the level you need to reload and export right away before doing anything or those new brushes wont have collision
#13
That is how I get mine to export out perfectly by scaring it to do what I wont...
Paul Ash not trying to be mean. but some of the fixes people have come up with make me fill that way not saying that it don't work just wish we didn't have to do the little things to make our art work.
09/05/2007 (3:00 pm)
"BOOOOO! Constructor I got you, you should have seen your face.."That is how I get mine to export out perfectly by scaring it to do what I wont...
Paul Ash not trying to be mean. but some of the fixes people have come up with make me fill that way not saying that it don't work just wish we didn't have to do the little things to make our art work.
#14
Sense the small task of quitting and restarting to export and turning off Hidden faces, all of my stuff has exported perfectly.
If you really did any large scale game you would better appreciate what we have with the constructor ;)
If you wanna make something better then the constructor , by all means, throw down :D
09/05/2007 (8:17 pm)
In real production of games, the pipelines are very rarely even as stable as the pre-build one for torque.Sense the small task of quitting and restarting to export and turning off Hidden faces, all of my stuff has exported perfectly.
If you really did any large scale game you would better appreciate what we have with the constructor ;)
If you wanna make something better then the constructor , by all means, throw down :D
#15
I'm glad, but it's done nothing for me.. either one. Though, my level is a rather large interior only, so I do not know yet how other aspects might come into play.
I think constructor is turning out to be a fine tool, though it's hardly the only one available. I just take issue with the dif exporters :P
09/05/2007 (8:53 pm)
Quote:Sense the small task of quitting and restarting to export and turning off Hidden faces, all of my stuff has exported perfectly.
I'm glad, but it's done nothing for me.. either one. Though, my level is a rather large interior only, so I do not know yet how other aspects might come into play.
I think constructor is turning out to be a fine tool, though it's hardly the only one available. I just take issue with the dif exporters :P
#16
You say "If you really did any large scale game you would better appreciate what we have with the constructor ;)", but I wonder considering that I could spend a lot of time designing things in Constructor only to find out that everything was unusable due to bugs in Constructor that GG will never fix. In a production environment, certainly this would never happen. The tools would at least work well enough to get the game finished.
What is GG's focus? So far, I can't tell what it is. From comments in various threads by various GG employee's I get the feeling that TGE, TGEA, and Constructor are not on the front burner. Documentation is apparently not real important either. So far, I haven't been able to determine what GG's main money maker is.
09/05/2007 (9:01 pm)
@Paul: Perhaps you are right about a real production environment. But, as a programmer, I have too much pride to release something with bugs like this. And if I did by accident, I would be working non-stop to fix the problem. In my mind, there is no excuse for bugs like this. I can create a simple box with a hole for a door and 'Export as Dif' and I can walk right through the walls and floor sometimes, other times the collisions work as they should. I've tried all kinds of combinations and nothing seems to work reliably. I understand Constructor is free, so perhaps I shouldn't be complaining (as you say).You say "If you really did any large scale game you would better appreciate what we have with the constructor ;)", but I wonder considering that I could spend a lot of time designing things in Constructor only to find out that everything was unusable due to bugs in Constructor that GG will never fix. In a production environment, certainly this would never happen. The tools would at least work well enough to get the game finished.
What is GG's focus? So far, I can't tell what it is. From comments in various threads by various GG employee's I get the feeling that TGE, TGEA, and Constructor are not on the front burner. Documentation is apparently not real important either. So far, I haven't been able to determine what GG's main money maker is.
#17
I can deal with the bad things that Constructor has (bug's) like undo changes all lights you tweaked back to first imputed seating's, bad cut faces, crashes, act.. if GG would just make a reliable stable "Export to DIF" I really thing 75% of the complaining done here would stop. and Constructor would move forward a lot smother.
Paul Ash I wasn't trying to get you all worked up and as soon as I clicked the Submit Post button I realized the retaliation would be one Sorry to do so.
09/06/2007 (6:39 am)
Constructor is Free don't make it right to waste peoples time with that said we are all just beta testers right now anyway I am shore that GG don't like to waste time. I also would hate to see constructor go to the trash this is a much needed tool and it would help improve TGE and TGEA and I will say it again "Constructor is on its way to become a very powerful tool" all the features that they have added in helping an artist such as my self needs. I can deal with the bad things that Constructor has (bug's) like undo changes all lights you tweaked back to first imputed seating's, bad cut faces, crashes, act.. if GG would just make a reliable stable "Export to DIF" I really thing 75% of the complaining done here would stop. and Constructor would move forward a lot smother.
Paul Ash I wasn't trying to get you all worked up and as soon as I clicked the Submit Post button I realized the retaliation would be one Sorry to do so.
#18
Or perhaps GG should give up on TGEA's ATLAS 2 since people don't like using external editors and are unhappy that there is not real-time terrain deformation or cutting features for it. Or give up any direction with console development because 99% of the people around here will probably not be making a game for the XBox 360 or Wii. Those avenues should be closed off as well. No use GG spending time and money focusing on things that few will be able to use. Maybe GG should just get out of the engine business altogether. It seems to bring a lot of misery to them and their forums. They can concentrate on making internal engine technology and games and not worry about people being jilted because they left the engine world. Most of those people will move on to another engine to be jilted by, a C4, a LawMaker, BeyondVirtual, A7, a Unity. They will find lack of networking or enhanced terrain or limitations of CScript or LUA or Boo or AngelScript abilities. Perhaps GG should send their employees out to other companies and close-up shop completely. Sell off TheGreatGamesExperiment and the various Torque technologies to interested parties and close their doors forever. Like Catapult, though he still hasn't sold the GBA tech off, and it can still be licensed. Perhaps that is the best. Close up shop. Down the forums and put the domain up for sale. And then, only silence in their inboxes. Ah. Silence.
09/06/2007 (7:33 am)
Perhaps GG should dump Constructor as a good idea gone awry. Then teams could compile the GPL'd Radiant on the OS of their choice and have their programmers tweak map2dif to use the full range of q3 geometry (without using any of the GPL'd sources from id, of course, as the licenses are incompatible). If Constructor is not working for your team, then don't use it. There's nothing stopping you from using something else and map2dif'ing it. Sure, DTS's aren't burned in, but then that is at issue here as well. But at least you could create your content. And then we could find something else to argue about that isn't getting done in our projects and the reasons why.Or perhaps GG should give up on TGEA's ATLAS 2 since people don't like using external editors and are unhappy that there is not real-time terrain deformation or cutting features for it. Or give up any direction with console development because 99% of the people around here will probably not be making a game for the XBox 360 or Wii. Those avenues should be closed off as well. No use GG spending time and money focusing on things that few will be able to use. Maybe GG should just get out of the engine business altogether. It seems to bring a lot of misery to them and their forums. They can concentrate on making internal engine technology and games and not worry about people being jilted because they left the engine world. Most of those people will move on to another engine to be jilted by, a C4, a LawMaker, BeyondVirtual, A7, a Unity. They will find lack of networking or enhanced terrain or limitations of CScript or LUA or Boo or AngelScript abilities. Perhaps GG should send their employees out to other companies and close-up shop completely. Sell off TheGreatGamesExperiment and the various Torque technologies to interested parties and close their doors forever. Like Catapult, though he still hasn't sold the GBA tech off, and it can still be licensed. Perhaps that is the best. Close up shop. Down the forums and put the domain up for sale. And then, only silence in their inboxes. Ah. Silence.
#19
Its cool i wasnt worked up or anything im just trying to get you to understand, you will never release a piece of software that is not full of bugs. Computers are complicated beasts I know Ive been working with them all my life, and programming sense I could spell. The constructor is a great piece of software you just need to get used to quarks in it. play with the dang thing remove variables in the possibilities of it creating issues, narrow them down till you find out why its not working, then remove the issue or work around it. Then post it here with as much information as possible then we can get it to the devs and maybe it will get fixed, now please everyone lets get back to posting issues with constructor. and I don't mean your personal issues with it lol
09/06/2007 (8:26 am)
@Adam WilsonIts cool i wasnt worked up or anything im just trying to get you to understand, you will never release a piece of software that is not full of bugs. Computers are complicated beasts I know Ive been working with them all my life, and programming sense I could spell. The constructor is a great piece of software you just need to get used to quarks in it. play with the dang thing remove variables in the possibilities of it creating issues, narrow them down till you find out why its not working, then remove the issue or work around it. Then post it here with as much information as possible then we can get it to the devs and maybe it will get fixed, now please everyone lets get back to posting issues with constructor. and I don't mean your personal issues with it lol
#20
"did you totally exit and reload and export from a fresh start, cuz the moment you edit the level you need to reload and export right away before doing anything or those new brushes wont have collision"
Yes sir, I completely exited Constructor, reloaded my csx file, then exported with "Export to Dif..."...
That still didn't give my newest brushes the collision they needed, and I even tried using "Export Legacy Dif" and that had the same results. Am I doing something wrong, perhaps? I don't know.
-Jason
09/06/2007 (10:03 am)
@Paul Ash"did you totally exit and reload and export from a fresh start, cuz the moment you edit the level you need to reload and export right away before doing anything or those new brushes wont have collision"
Yes sir, I completely exited Constructor, reloaded my csx file, then exported with "Export to Dif..."...
That still didn't give my newest brushes the collision they needed, and I even tried using "Export Legacy Dif" and that had the same results. Am I doing something wrong, perhaps? I don't know.
-Jason
Torque 3D Owner Peter Simard
Default Studio Name
Faces randomly won't export. Problem is worse the longer the map is being edited.