Collision problem w/ slice and knife tool
by Sean H. · in Constructor · 05/17/2009 (11:23 am) · 18 replies
I've created a room in Constructor by creating a simple box, subtracting a smaller inner box to hollow it, then subtracting another small box to add a doorway. I added a portal to this doorway to create an inner and outer zone for the model.
After upgrading to v.1.0.51, the interior exported and imported fine into TGEA with collision working properly and everything. I was ecstatic. :)
However, I'm now attempting to subdivide the faces of the room into smaller parts. Not that I'm not trying to change the shape or appearance of the room at all, just to make the faces smaller. I tried doing this using the slice tool and the knife tool.
My problem is, all brushes which are cut into smaller parts using the knife or slice tool no longer exhibit collision with game objects. I've gone through this over and over and I don't see what I might be doing wrong. I take the room, export it, and it collides with the player fine. When I take the exact same room, and add one single slice to the floor dividing it into two brushes, collision no longer works with the floor.
Is this a bug in constructor? Is it possible to simply subdivide an existing map? If so, what's the proper way to do it?
After upgrading to v.1.0.51, the interior exported and imported fine into TGEA with collision working properly and everything. I was ecstatic. :)
However, I'm now attempting to subdivide the faces of the room into smaller parts. Not that I'm not trying to change the shape or appearance of the room at all, just to make the faces smaller. I tried doing this using the slice tool and the knife tool.
My problem is, all brushes which are cut into smaller parts using the knife or slice tool no longer exhibit collision with game objects. I've gone through this over and over and I don't see what I might be doing wrong. I take the room, export it, and it collides with the player fine. When I take the exact same room, and add one single slice to the floor dividing it into two brushes, collision no longer works with the floor.
Is this a bug in constructor? Is it possible to simply subdivide an existing map? If so, what's the proper way to do it?
#2
@Don: have you upgraded to the 1.051 version of Constructor available on TDN? That should solve all collision problems.
06/14/2009 (7:07 pm)
@Sean: I've not seen that particular problem before, and I love the slice tool, but I don't use the knife all that much. I must have missed this thread before. Where you able to resolve it? If you're still having problems with it, double check that non of your sliced brushes are becoming invalid -- you'll see red lines appear if that happens. Depending on how you slice the floor and the complexity of other touching/penetrating brushes you may be generating too many faces -- but I would think that would throw an error message when you tried to export it.@Don: have you upgraded to the 1.051 version of Constructor available on TDN? That should solve all collision problems.
#3
Ok, I found an old bookmark for it but when I log in all I get is a blank page in IE, loads ok in chrome, haven't tried friedfox yet though...
I think I'll be accessing thie site through Chrome from now on, IE can't seem to to it right...
06/14/2009 (7:20 pm)
@Michael I haven't seen any links leading to TDN, thought it was scrapped. Ok, I found an old bookmark for it but when I log in all I get is a blank page in IE, loads ok in chrome, haven't tried friedfox yet though...
I think I'll be accessing thie site through Chrome from now on, IE can't seem to to it right...
#4
Try this: Constructor page on TDN. I'm logged in just fine there, but I do recall some people having issues loggin in on TDN. If that doesn't work I'll see if I can get you a direct link to the update patch.
06/14/2009 (7:59 pm)
You can get to TDN from the Online Documentation link under Support, up at the top of the page.Try this: Constructor page on TDN. I'm logged in just fine there, but I do recall some people having issues loggin in on TDN. If that doesn't work I'll see if I can get you a direct link to the update patch.
#5
I followed the instructions, extract it to the constructor folder, overwriting existing files, and it won't run now.
I then uninstalled the whole mess, then re-installed constructor and then re-extracted over existing files (as stated in the instructions) and it sill won't run...
it just sits in the task manager doing nothing. This is puzzling
06/14/2009 (9:23 pm)
I got in ok using Google Chrome, I got the file...I followed the instructions, extract it to the constructor folder, overwriting existing files, and it won't run now.
I then uninstalled the whole mess, then re-installed constructor and then re-extracted over existing files (as stated in the instructions) and it sill won't run...
it just sits in the task manager doing nothing. This is puzzling
#6
06/15/2009 (9:17 am)
That's very strange. Try extracting to a different location and then copying in the extracted files and over-writing the old files.
#7
06/15/2009 (9:22 am)
Depending on your zip utility it might have mis-extracted the file path, try following David's suggestion that way you can make sure the right files are definitely being overwritten and not misplaced -- which would cause that behavior. 
#8
06/15/2009 (1:21 pm)
I seem to recall some other people having the same problem... Not sure what caused it. I believe it was fixed by installing a fresh install of constructor, and then updating that.
#9
But...
I scrolled further down the TDN Constructor page and found a link for upgrading from 1.0.3 to 1.0.3 final, dropped that into the constructor folder and then made some Difs that I was having problems with and so far so good, they work now. Player cannot pass through them anymore.
Note: each time I tried to implement the newest patch I would uninstall the old constructor, re-install it, extract the 1.0.5 patch into a temp folder, drag everything to where it belongs and run it, nothing happened. I'll wait for the official release, until then, I think I may have resolved the problem. So far, so good... :)
06/15/2009 (4:05 pm)
I couldn't extract it directly into the constructor directory, I had to extract it into a temporary directory and then manually drag in the files to the appropriate directories. Still didn't work.But...
I scrolled further down the TDN Constructor page and found a link for upgrading from 1.0.3 to 1.0.3 final, dropped that into the constructor folder and then made some Difs that I was having problems with and so far so good, they work now. Player cannot pass through them anymore.
Note: each time I tried to implement the newest patch I would uninstall the old constructor, re-install it, extract the 1.0.5 patch into a temp folder, drag everything to where it belongs and run it, nothing happened. I'll wait for the official release, until then, I think I may have resolved the problem. So far, so good... :)
#10
@Jaimi: any chance of a 1.0.52 patch? Maybe a 1.0.6 even :D
06/15/2009 (4:37 pm)
That's very strange. What kind of OS and system are you using? I've got Constructor and the 1.0.51 patch on 4 computers and never had a problem installing or patching. And without that patch I have problematical collisions.@Jaimi: any chance of a 1.0.52 patch? Maybe a 1.0.6 even :D
#11
Gateway
AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 4400+ 2.3 GHz
2 GB Ram
NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GT, 1 GB Ram
06/15/2009 (6:48 pm)
Windows Vista Home Premium (32 bit), Service Pack 2Gateway
AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 4400+ 2.3 GHz
2 GB Ram
NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GT, 1 GB Ram
#12
06/18/2009 (8:16 pm)
@Michael - I'll be releasing a 1.06 patch this weekend.
#13
06/18/2009 (9:24 pm)
Awesome, thanks Jaimi!
#14
Yes, I'm still having this problem and no none of the sliced brushes are invalid.
As far as complexity of the brushes, like I said in the original post, it's a 6-side room. I made a 6-sided interior room, by taking a solid block and doing a brush subtraction. Can't get any simpler than that. When I export it as-is, collision works fine. When I add any slices to the floor, collision with the floor fails completely.
06/21/2009 (7:55 am)
Quote:
Where you able to resolve it? If you're still having problems with it, double check that non of your sliced brushes are becoming invalid -- you'll see red lines appear if that happens. Depending on how you slice the floor and the complexity of other touching/penetrating brushes you may be generating too many faces -- but I would think that would throw an error message when you tried to export it.
Yes, I'm still having this problem and no none of the sliced brushes are invalid.
As far as complexity of the brushes, like I said in the original post, it's a 6-side room. I made a 6-sided interior room, by taking a solid block and doing a brush subtraction. Can't get any simpler than that. When I export it as-is, collision works fine. When I add any slices to the floor, collision with the floor fails completely.
#15
For anyone else who has this problem, the solution is to save the scene as a map file. For some reason the slices affect collision in the .csx files, but not for .map files. If you're experiencing this problem, once you've made your slices, File->Save As and save as a .map file. Now when you export to dif, the collision should work properly.
I'm glad I finally have a solution to this problem, but this is a very annoying bug.
06/24/2009 (8:30 pm)
Ok I finally got this problem resolved with Jaimi's help.For anyone else who has this problem, the solution is to save the scene as a map file. For some reason the slices affect collision in the .csx files, but not for .map files. If you're experiencing this problem, once you've made your slices, File->Save As and save as a .map file. Now when you export to dif, the collision should work properly.
I'm glad I finally have a solution to this problem, but this is a very annoying bug.
#16
06/24/2009 (9:47 pm)
I work in .map whenever I can - .csx just seems too buggy for me.
#17
@Sean: any chance I could have a peek at that scene? I make extensive use of the slice tool and I've yet to have any collision problems as a result of it.
06/26/2009 (11:05 pm)
Quote:And I'm the exact opposite. I get much better results with Constructor's Export To DIF method while using it's native .csx format. map2dif was always far too unreliable for me.
I work in .map whenever I can - .csx just seems too buggy for me.
@Sean: any chance I could have a peek at that scene? I make extensive use of the slice tool and I've yet to have any collision problems as a result of it.
#18
06/27/2009 (6:09 am)
I have to use a custom build of map2dif, anyways. 
Torque Owner Don Bates
Orion Codeworks