[need help] Hammer crashes placing prop_dynamic's

Kronixx

L5: Dapper Member
Apr 17, 2009
205
38
Hey guys,

It's been a couple lifetimes since I've been to this forum, another 1-2 lifetimes since I've been in Hammer. Recently I got back on it and am noticing that it crashes when I place ~3 prop_dynamic props in the level. Basically the only thing I can guess is it's a windows 8.1 issue, but google revealed nothing to me in a few searches.

Anyone got info on what's making this crash?
 
Oct 6, 2008
1,947
445
It's Hammer!

How you running it anyways?
 

YM

LVL100 YM
aa
Dec 5, 2007
7,135
6,056
make sure you've updated to boojum's latest pack, that'll eliminate some sources of crashing
 

Kronixx

L5: Dapper Member
Apr 17, 2009
205
38
I'm running it directly from the hammer.exe, source SDK wasn't working for me at all.

I don't see how boojum's map pack, given this is what you're talking about:
http://forums.tf2maps.net/showthread.php?t=4674
will fix the issue. Does that affect how hammer runs other than upgrading entity icons and stuff?

The map i'm using is brand new, I've only built a single room out of primitives so it's not a complex map with tons of objects yet. It's completely empty and when I place the 3rd prop_dynamic it's crashing. Can't really move forward on this till I figure this out :(
 
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A Boojum Snark

Toraipoddodezain Mazahabado
aa
Nov 2, 2007
4,775
7,669
If you've been gone that long, I am guessing it might be using the wrong SDK. The Hammer you want to use now is in common\Team Fortress 2\bin and the Source SDK tool is no longer functional for TF2.
 

Kronixx

L5: Dapper Member
Apr 17, 2009
205
38
If you've been gone that long, I am guessing it might be using the wrong SDK. The Hammer you want to use now is in common\Team Fortress 2\bin and the Source SDK tool is no longer functional for TF2.

It seems we were typing at the same time :p

That is the hammer.exe I am currently running. I did stumble on an article that said the SDK was out of date and to use the one you mention. Any chance it's because steam apps installed to 2 different drives? I have a C: and F: that both have steam content on it. Do I need to migrate everything to one drive? I checked the configuration on hammer and it seemed to be pointing correctly...from what I can understand
 

A Boojum Snark

Toraipoddodezain Mazahabado
aa
Nov 2, 2007
4,775
7,669
Strange. If it's "working" it shouldn't be an installation/directory issue... Does it happen with other prop entities? Does it matter if/what models they have?
 

Kronixx

L5: Dapper Member
Apr 17, 2009
205
38
No everything seems to work just fine up until the crash. Material browser seems to work, although i've been building everything in 100% "Nodraw" and i'll texture visible faces later to save work down the road. I was just going to adjust some walls to fit the doors to my first spawn room and needed the props in place to see what I was doing.

So how I have it set up is when I place a point entity it is default to the info_teamspawn, the green gordon freeman guy. I can change 2 of them to prop_dynamic and hit apply which changes the properties list appropriately and I set the model to something something gate_003, the widest gate prop that is used for setup phases in maps. When I place the third, open the properties of it, and call up the list of other entities, the moment I click "Prop_Dynamic" on the third one it instantly crashes.
 

Kronixx

L5: Dapper Member
Apr 17, 2009
205
38
Did a tools validation on the Source SDK under Tools in steam, still crashes whenever I touch the settings on the 3rd prop
 

Kronixx

L5: Dapper Member
Apr 17, 2009
205
38
it did report 1 file failed to validate and would be reacquired. I launched TF2, closed it. Tried again and still crashes on the third prop :(
 

Kronixx

L5: Dapper Member
Apr 17, 2009
205
38
It's so sad, I think I'm going to have to construct this whole map without props in it because of this haha!

I searched google for another 30 minutes and only found an obscure thread about video card settings, which mine are not out of the ordinary and don't run any OC settings....I'm stumped. Valve Plz!
 

Fish 2.0

L6: Sharp Member
Nov 22, 2012
324
262
I know it is random but try restarting your computer if you haven't already. Restarts tend to fix a lot of steam/valve related software issues for me at least.
 

Seba

DR. BIG FUCKER, PHD
aa
Jun 9, 2009
2,364
2,728
So it crashes when you're in the dropdown list of point entities? That happens to me almost every time as well; what usually works for me is selecting the entity type before creating it (so I don't place eg a prop_static then change it to _dynamic or move_rope or whatever, instead I press shift-e, use the menu on the right, and select the entity there).
 
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Kronixx

L5: Dapper Member
Apr 17, 2009
205
38
I have done several restarts, I also turn my computer off every day when I go to work or go to bed. Been working on this issue for 3 days now lol, so unfortunately that didn't fix it.

I will try to band-aid fix it with Seba's idea. I guess as long as that doesn't crash I can just change my workflow accordingly if I must.

An observation last night, If I just spam down a bunch of point entities and then change them it doesn't crash. If I place one, change it, place the next change it, it always crashes on the 3rd one no matter what. But the first method I was able to go 5 straight no crash. It is completely beyond explanation >.<
 

mint onion

L3: Member
Jul 18, 2013
101
45
all i can add is i'm using the latest abs and am running win 8.1 without any abnormal crash issues.

have you tried a fresh re-install?

do you experience performance issues or crashing in any other software? might be time for a new computer or upgrade to hardware you'll know for certain is compatible or stable?

good luck!
 

Kronixx

L5: Dapper Member
Apr 17, 2009
205
38
all i can add is i'm using the latest abs and am running win 8.1 without any abnormal crash issues.

have you tried a fresh re-install?

do you experience performance issues or crashing in any other software? might be time for a new computer or upgrade to hardware you'll know for certain is compatible or stable?

good luck!

I believe I'm running the latest ABS, if by ABS you mean his map pack thing. Downloaded a fresh copy right as I started this thread.

I've reinstalled maybe 4 or so times now.

No performance issues at all. Computer is only 3 years old.
Phenom II x6 1090T
corsair H70 water cooler (cpu never breaks mid 30's celsius)
8GB Ram
Sapphire Radeon 6970 running dual 27" monitors

EDIT--

I just tried it on my 7 year old laptop to try and cater to hardware more in the same era, crashes the same exact way.
 
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