Constructor Fixes

#21 I dont think 1,500 polys is hitting the limit on it. The upper limit is much higher then that. We are talking upwards of 500k+

In theory there shouldnt be a upper limit. But there are limits as far as what the engine can handle in one single .dif or .dts before strange and odd things start to happen.

A great example if its still there was the included cethiadel / temple that came with it for awhile. It was designed and used as a stress test for it. Thats reaching the upper limits of what construtor is capable of.

I dont have any exact number or anything that I could give. I havent done alot of extensive testing of what the exact limits are as I tend to build things abit different then alot of people. I like to make abunch of building blocks and use the blocks ingame to create my items. While it does make for a higher loading but it also allows me to experment with destructable walls and such.

#22 Ok, i got another one for you Jaime.

I created a new scene, took my wall.dts, added two copies of it, then a light. Exported it. There's no brushes in the scene.

This will crash torque when you load the object into it.
Adding just a single brush into the scene and it won't crash in torque.

Now most people would be wondering why the hell i'd be using constructor and not using it for brushes.
It's simple. i want the lightmapping.

Anyhow. Is this something that can be fixed? are brushes manditory?

#23 I believe you have to have a brush in your scene for it to export.

#24 I'll look into it, but the easiest answer may be to just put a brush in with a NULL texture on it.

#25 Indeed, but since this is a "fix" thread, then that means constructor is capable of exporting data that can crash torque.

So i think if torque REQUIRES at least a brush, that constructor not be able to export a DIF without a brush. i dunno. Suppose it might not be a big issue for people. Just a "bug" i found.

Adding a null brush would probably bypass it all. but yeah.

You'd think this thread would be swamped with bug reports since so many people have been complaining about it, huh?

#26 I was thinking about doing some checks before exporting, and stopping the export (and showing a dialog) if there are no brushes.

Quote:
You'd think this thread would be swamped with bug reports since so many people have been complaining about it, huh?

Yeah, I figured I'd have ton's of work to do. Oh well.

#27 I added a check at each detail level. Now if you try to export while forgetting to add a brush, you will get an error, and it will return to the edit window.

#28

Quote:You'd think this thread would be swamped with bug reports since so many people have been complaining about it, huh?

Well, the thread is only 3 days old, and considering a lot of folks that were having problems, have probably moved on to other solutions, you might not see any "flood", my guess is they will trickle in over time, as people revisit/find this thread.

I appreciate the work that Jaimi is doing, I'd love to know how the source was obtained!!

My biggest problem was with the co-planar portal issues... and portals on non rectangular openings...

#29 @Scott -

Some of the changes that I've implemented fix a lot of issues with portals. Do you want to try the test version?

#30 Jaimi,

Yea! I would be interested in checking it out.

Just let me know what I need to do!

#31 Jaimi,
Do you have a change log for things that have been fixed and things you're working on? It doesn't have to be too detailed; just to prevent the same issues from being posted again. I'm also having some issues with portals and would be more than happy to test your version out as well. (Of course who wouldn't want to test a version that might actually work?)

#32 My issues are mostly with .map files, can I send some?

Also, I had made this hollow tube a few days ago (a pipe) and saved it. I was shocked to see that it loaded fine the next time I opened it, and ran through map2dif fine. But, whenever I made a change to the map (any single change you can think of, like even just deleting a brush), it would not run through map2dif.

Thanks.

#33 Note that all of the changes so far only effect the internal DIF compiler.

1. Discarded degenerate triangles when imorting DTS shapes. This caused errors during lighting of DTS objects.
2. Fixed invalid nodes when exporting maps. This could cause an access violation during export.
3. Fixed problem with nodes that had no polygons. This solved a the portal issues.
4. Fixed possible problem with very small triangles during lighting of DTS shapes.
5. Refused to export DIF if any of the LOD's had no brushes.

I have sent the link to both of you with the current version. I would be more than happy to test any maps you would like to zip up (include the dts files and textures, they aren't stored in the .csx). Just be sure to put a note in the file what problem you are seeing.

#34 It would be beautiful if you would put the current version on the Torque Developer Network under the section "Constructor FAQ", so more people could test and help you with Constructor fixes.
Through this you could coordinate your Constructor fixes better.

#35 Jaimi can you send me the link to the new version in testing?

I would like to try it on some maps I gave up for giving me some problem...

Tnx :)

JoZ.

#36 I agree with what Stephan Goebels said. Make the update public? Please? :)

#37 @Joz - you don't have a public email address. Send me your address and I'll send you the link

@James, Stephan:

I would like to make it public, but there are two problems currently: Portals are not working in some cases (I hope to have a fix for this soon), and (more importantly), my server is on my DSL line, which has a slow upstream speed. I don't want to put up a partial "test" version, and cripple my DSL, and then have to have everyone download it again when I have the last problems fixed.

#38 @Jaimi... here it is... :)
zetagi77 ... libero.it
obviously an @ instead of the ...

Many tnx!
;)

#39 @Jaimi - Why not make torrents to distribute these"fixed" versions. That way, you're not the only one using bandwidth, we could all share the load of distributing the new versions or maintaining a seed for other versions that people want to work with, that may not be the current "fixed" version.... If you get my meaning.

That's what torrents were created for in the first place, and this seems like the perfect example.


[off topic] It seems odd to me that free stuff isn't distributed using torrents, around GG. I see so many dead links for older free stuff, many people having hosting issues (like yourself), and generally a hit and miss method of distributing non official GG stuff.[/off topic]


luvbug

#40 If you fix most of the issues with portals, you will almost certainly achieve legendary status here.