High detail export not working in QuArk
by Bryce · in Artist Corner · 05/17/2007 (7:48 pm) · 7 replies
I have a pretty large single-level building I've made for my game. When I first started it and it was just two rooms, I would be able to export a High-detail DIF just fine, and see everything that should be going on in the console (brush count, face count, that stuff). After I made it bigger and tried to export a high-detail, I wouldn't get the normal brush and face counts and all that other stuff (I am repetitive). There would be no new .dif file in my output directory.
Low-detail works, and when I do that my building has no lighting! The normally dark areas were now just as lit up as the rest of the map! I can't have this because I'm making a stealth-based game and darkness is good for the player! Help?
Low-detail works, and when I do that my building has no lighting! The normally dark areas were now just as lit up as the rest of the map! I can't have this because I'm making a stealth-based game and darkness is good for the player! Help?
#2
My DIFs won't be too detailed. I just model walls and floors and all that. For things that you can shoot (fishbowls, furniture, priceless pieces of art) I am doing DTS. And it's funny that too many difs make for slow gameplay in torque. Whenever I'm inside an interior rather than outside my framerates go way up and the game is a lot smoother to play, which is kind of encouraging me to make more indoor levels :-)
05/18/2007 (2:35 pm)
No, it says operation completed with only about maybe 6-8 lines. There are no errors, but no .dif in the output directory.My DIFs won't be too detailed. I just model walls and floors and all that. For things that you can shoot (fishbowls, furniture, priceless pieces of art) I am doing DTS. And it's funny that too many difs make for slow gameplay in torque. Whenever I'm inside an interior rather than outside my framerates go way up and the game is a lot smoother to play, which is kind of encouraging me to make more indoor levels :-)
#3
05/19/2007 (6:08 am)
How old is your map2dif version? 
#4
05/20/2007 (6:31 pm)
Quote:Whenever I'm inside an interior rather than outside my framerates go way up and the game is a lot smoother to play..That's portals doing their job!
#5
Start with the portals, stick them all in a folder and set the folder to be 'ignore on build' (or whatever that option is - not infront of my computer at the moment.)
Export and see if it works.
If it doesn't, start hiding bits of your map from export and see what happens. I usually hide half the map, see what half doesn't export, and then half that half and so on until I find what it is that the exporter doesn't like.
Sounds painful I know but it's the only way that I know....
map2dif_plus will issue more detailed build warnings/errors which might give you some clues, although I find the standard map2dif works better.
05/20/2007 (6:41 pm)
I'm guessing that you've got some dodgy geometry in your map, most likely a portal or detail brush. For me these have always been the usual suspects.Start with the portals, stick them all in a folder and set the folder to be 'ignore on build' (or whatever that option is - not infront of my computer at the moment.)
Export and see if it works.
If it doesn't, start hiding bits of your map from export and see what happens. I usually hide half the map, see what half doesn't export, and then half that half and so on until I find what it is that the exporter doesn't like.
Sounds painful I know but it's the only way that I know....
map2dif_plus will issue more detailed build warnings/errors which might give you some clues, although I find the standard map2dif works better.
#6
I have so far only used one texture in this map (until I can find my Paint Shop Pro CD....arg). There are only two portals/doors leading to the outside world. You step inside the first portal, then you have the option of going forward into the hallway or turning right. Turning right will show you the second door leading outside. When you enter the hallway, it immediately cuts right into a room with four detail brushes which are supports for the roof. Everything are cubes, nothing special, no stairs. Everything lit perfectly well until I decided to cut a hole in the hallway wall, which exposed a big empty room soon to be filled up and walled.
My only thought is "map too big". Oh, Chris, my game dev laptop is having a power supply problem and isn't turning on, so I won't be able to check the map for a while.
05/21/2007 (7:46 pm)
Here's a description of my map.I have so far only used one texture in this map (until I can find my Paint Shop Pro CD....arg). There are only two portals/doors leading to the outside world. You step inside the first portal, then you have the option of going forward into the hallway or turning right. Turning right will show you the second door leading outside. When you enter the hallway, it immediately cuts right into a room with four detail brushes which are supports for the roof. Everything are cubes, nothing special, no stairs. Everything lit perfectly well until I decided to cut a hole in the hallway wall, which exposed a big empty room soon to be filled up and walled.
My only thought is "map too big". Oh, Chris, my game dev laptop is having a power supply problem and isn't turning on, so I won't be able to check the map for a while.
#7
The detail object(s) need to be in a folder with just the brush that they are attached to.
The detail objects (which are actually like a folder themselves) cannot be empty.
Try removing these detail brushes and see what happens.
05/23/2007 (6:26 pm)
Quote:room with four detail brushes which are supports for the roofAre these details of the roof and are they touching the roof and nothing but the roof?
The detail object(s) need to be in a folder with just the brush that they are attached to.
The detail objects (which are actually like a folder themselves) cannot be empty.
Try removing these detail brushes and see what happens.
Torque Owner ChrisG
Are you interrupting it before it completely exports?
or is the export hanging?
The level I'm working on was all done as DIF with a lot of detail.
The export from Quark would take about 5 mins.
I've spent the last 4 months converting all my detailed objects to DTS in 3DSmax. The export time and Torque crashes due to bad DIFs was just getting too much..