Pitch Black Ceilings on Rooms

YTXZ

L1: Registered
Jun 18, 2015
25
1
Hello.
Just a quick question on how to fix my rooms having completely pitch black ceilings.

dd44789134.jpg


dd028dcaa5.jpg


ba83831f5b.jpg


Things I have tried:
-Setting light brightness all the way up to 50000, didn't work at all.
-Modifying VMT files to have $reflectivity on them, didn't work.
-Using different textures, nope.
-env_cubemaps because I have no idea what I'm doing anymore so I tried everything.

Anything that can actually fix this?
 

Vincent

&#128296 Grandmaster Lizard Wizard Jedi &#128296
aa
Sep 5, 2009
912
684
I swear YM has made a huge tutorial about this. I'll find it. In the mean time I know for sure if you choose a brighter texture than it'll reflect more. You chose a texture with almost zero reflectivity.

Found the tutorial: http://www.nodraw.net/2011/02/reflectivity/#more-376

Though truth be told you seem to be in a very early stage of development, you don't need to worry too much about it. Just choose brighter dev textures.
 
Last edited:

tyler

aa
Sep 11, 2013
5,102
4,621
If it's not a leak, run vvis. This is from vrad not calculating lightbounces correctly and it's because vvis either didn't finish (from a leak) or never ran.
 

EArkham

Necromancer
aa
Aug 14, 2009
1,625
2,773
You can also doublecheck your lightmap size, make sure you don't have like a 1024x1024 lightmap on that brush or something.
 

Vel0city

func_fish
aa
Dec 6, 2014
1,947
1,589
This has to do with material reflectivity. Since the grey material you use on your brushes doesn't reflect a lot of light the ceiling becomes pitch black. One way of fixing this is to put a normal light near the spotlights so it illuminates the ceiling.

Or you can create a custom .vmt for the texture to give it more reflectivity, like Vincent said with the tutorial. Don't forget to pack the custom file though, or people will see a black and purple checkerboard texture.
 

tyler

aa
Sep 11, 2013
5,102
4,621
If you'd read the OP's post, you'd know that his/her problem has nothing to do with the texture reflectivity.
 

YTXZ

L1: Registered
Jun 18, 2015
25
1
It's possible your map has a leak. Leaks have a tendency to bugger up lighting in maps.
This is most definitely the work of a leak. Check your pointfile to find the leak and seal it. Wben you have a leak, light reflection stops working and you get black ceilings.
Yeah. It's definitely a leak or they haven't run VIS.

No leaks (won't direct point files), All options are at normal, -not fast or off.
------------------------------
I swear YM has made a huge tutorial about this. I'll find it. In the mean time I know for sure if you choose a brighter texture than it'll reflect more. You chose a texture with almost zero reflectivity.

Found the tutorial: http://www.nodraw.net/2011/02/reflectivity/#more-376
Though truth be told you seem to be in a very early stage of development, you don't need to worry too much about it. Just choose brighter dev textures.
This has to do with material reflectivity. Since the grey material you use on your brushes doesn't reflect a lot of light the ceiling becomes pitch black. One way of fixing this is to put a normal light near the spotlights so it illuminates the ceiling.

Or you can create a custom .vmt for the texture to give it more reflectivity, like Vincent said with the tutorial. Don't forget to pack the custom file though, or people will see a black and purple checkerboard texture.

I thought that "$reflectivity" "[999 999 999]" would be high enough. :/
Also not sure if you read what I originally posted, I already said I tested the reflectivity trick.
----------------
In general to suggestions on how to fix it so far, none of them worked. But thanks anyway.
I honestly don't know what is going on with this ceiling.
-No leaks, -All compile settings are on normal.
 

tyler

aa
Sep 11, 2013
5,102
4,621
Do you have any large props or things in the 3D skybox that either intersect or cover that part of the map when it's compiled?
 

UKCS-Alias

Mann vs Machine... or... Mapper vs Meta?
aa
Sep 8, 2008
1,264
816
What is the setting on the light entity you use? Maybe something in those settings prevents it. Try to copy one from a diffirent map where the light works.

Try to put all visgroups off except the normal geometry ones and the lights. If something is colliding then that should solve it aswel.

Post your compile log, it might show other errors.
 

YTXZ

L1: Registered
Jun 18, 2015
25
1
What is the setting on the light entity you use? Maybe something in those settings prevents it. Try to copy one from a diffirent map where the light works.

Try to put all visgroups off except the normal geometry ones and the lights. If something is colliding then that should solve it aswel.

Post your compile log, it might show other errors.

light_spot :
pitch yaw roll (Y Z X) = -90 0 0
brightness = 230 255 255 1024
brightnessHDR = -1 -1 -1 1
brightnessScaleHDR = 1
appearance = Normal
constant = 0
linear = 0
quadratic = 1
50% falloff = 256
0% falloff = 512
hard falloff = 0
inner angle = 60
outer angle = 75
focus = 1
maximum distance = 0
pitch = -90

Tried copying one from 3 different valve maps, didn't work.

Code:
** Executing...
** Command: "C:\ZXTY\Steam\steamapps\common\Team Fortress 2\bin\vbsp.exe"
** Parameters: -game "C:\ZXTY\Steam\steamapps\common\Team Fortress 2\tf" "C:\ZXTY\Steam\steamapps\common\Team Fortress 2\sourcesdk_content\tf\mapsrc\cp_triple_a0.vmf"

Valve Software - vbsp.exe (Jun 16 2015)
4 threads
materialPath: C:\ZXTY\Steam\steamapps\common\Team Fortress 2\tf\materials
Loading C:\ZXTY\Steam\steamapps\common\Team Fortress 2\sourcesdk_content\tf\mapsrc\cp_triple_a0.vmf
fixing up env_cubemap materials on brush sides...
ProcessBlock_Thread: 0...1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10 (0)
**** leaked ****
Entity prop_static (-2830.00 -2114.00 1600.00) leaked!

FindPortalSide: Couldn't find a good match for which brush to assign to a portal near (8224.0 5120.0 2376.0)
Leaf 0 contents: CONTENTS_SOLID 
Leaf 1 contents: 
viscontents (node 0 contents ^ node 1 contents): CONTENTS_SOLID 
This means that none of the brushes in leaf 0 or 1 that touches the portal has CONTENTS_SOLID 
Check for a huge brush enclosing the coordinates above that has contents CONTENTS_SOLID 
Candidate brush IDs: 


FindPortalSide: Couldn't find a good match for which brush to assign to a portal near (8224.0 5120.0 -520.0)
Leaf 0 contents: CONTENTS_SOLID 
Leaf 1 contents: 
viscontents (node 0 contents ^ node 1 contents): CONTENTS_SOLID 
This means that none of the brushes in leaf 0 or 1 that touches the portal has CONTENTS_SOLID 
Check for a huge brush enclosing the coordinates above that has contents CONTENTS_SOLID 
Candidate brush IDs: 


FindPortalSide: Couldn't find a good match for which brush to assign to a portal near (8736.0 5120.0 2336.0)
Leaf 0 contents: CONTENTS_SOLID 
Leaf 1 contents: 
viscontents (node 0 contents ^ node 1 contents): CONTENTS_SOLID 
This means that none of the brushes in leaf 0 or 1 that touches the portal has CONTENTS_SOLID 
Check for a huge brush enclosing the coordinates above that has contents CONTENTS_SOLID 
Candidate brush IDs: 


FindPortalSide: Couldn't find a good match for which brush to assign to a portal near (8704.0 6144.0 2336.0)
Leaf 0 contents: 
Leaf 1 contents: CONTENTS_SOLID 
viscontents (node 0 contents ^ node 1 contents): CONTENTS_SOLID 
This means that none of the brushes in leaf 0 or 1 that touches the portal has CONTENTS_SOLID 
Check for a huge brush enclosing the coordinates above that has contents CONTENTS_SOLID 
Candidate brush IDs: 


FindPortalSide: Couldn't find a good match for which brush to assign to a portal near (9216.0 5632.0 2336.0)
Leaf 0 contents: 
Leaf 1 contents: CONTENTS_SOLID 
viscontents (node 0 contents ^ node 1 contents): CONTENTS_SOLID 
This means that none of the brushes in leaf 0 or 1 that touches the portal has CONTENTS_SOLID 
Check for a huge brush enclosing the coordinates above that has contents CONTENTS_SOLID 
Candidate brush IDs: 


FindPortalSide: Couldn't find a good match for which brush to assign to a portal near (7680.0 5120.0 2376.0)
Leaf 0 contents: CONTENTS_SOLID 
Leaf 1 contents: 
viscontents (node 0 contents ^ node 1 contents): CONTENTS_SOLID 
This means that none of the brushes in leaf 0 or 1 that touches the portal has CONTENTS_SOLID 
Check for a huge brush enclosing the coordinates above that has contents CONTENTS_SOLID 
Candidate brush IDs: 


FindPortalSide: Couldn't find a good match for which brush to assign to a portal near (7680.0 5120.0 -520.0)
Leaf 0 contents: CONTENTS_SOLID 
Leaf 1 contents: 
viscontents (node 0 contents ^ node 1 contents): CONTENTS_SOLID 
This means that none of the brushes in leaf 0 or 1 that touches the portal has CONTENTS_SOLID 
Check for a huge brush enclosing the coordinates above that has contents CONTENTS_SOLID 
Candidate brush IDs: 


FindPortalSide: Couldn't find a good match for which brush to assign to a portal near (7680.0 6144.0 2336.0)
Leaf 0 contents: 
Leaf 1 contents: CONTENTS_SOLID 
viscontents (node 0 contents ^ node 1 contents): CONTENTS_SOLID 
This means that none of the brushes in leaf 0 or 1 that touches the portal has CONTENTS_SOLID 
Check for a huge brush enclosing the coordinates above that has contents CONTENTS_SOLID 
Candidate brush IDs: 

*** Suppressing further FindPortalSide errors.... ***
Processing areas...done (0)
Building Faces...done (0)
Chop Details...done (0)
Find Visible Detail Sides...done (0)
Merging details...done (0)
FixTjuncs...
PruneNodes...
WriteBSP...
done (0)
*** Error: Skybox vtf files for skybox/sky_halloween weren't compiled with the same size texture and/or same flags!
Can't load skybox file skybox/sky_halloween to build the default cubemap!
*** Error: Skybox vtf files for skybox/sky_halloween weren't compiled with the same size texture and/or same flags!
Can't load skybox file skybox/sky_halloween to build the default cubemap!
Finding displacement neighbors...
Finding lightmap sample positions...
Displacement Alpha : 0...1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10
Building Physics collision data...
done (0) (25273 bytes)
Static prop models/props_trainyard/handrail128.mdl outside the map (-2494.00, -514.00, 1088.00)
Static prop models/props_trainyard/handrail128.mdl outside the map (-2366.00, -514.00, 1088.00)
Static prop models/props_trainyard/handrail128.mdl outside the map (-2238.00, -514.00, 1088.00)
Static prop models/props_trainyard/handrail128.mdl outside the map (-2110.00, -514.00, 1088.00)
Static prop models/props_trainyard/handrail128.mdl outside the map (-1998.00, -1026.00, 1600.00)
Static prop models/props_trainyard/handrail128.mdl outside the map (-2126.00, -1026.00, 1600.00)
Static prop models/props_trainyard/handrail128.mdl outside the map (-2254.00, -1026.00, 1600.00)
Static prop models/props_trainyard/handrail128.mdl outside the map (-2382.00, -1026.00, 1600.00)
Static prop models/props_trainyard/handrail128.mdl outside the map (-2510.00, -1026.00, 1600.00)
Static prop models/props_trainyard/handrail128.mdl outside the map (-2830.00, -2114.00, 1600.00)
Placing detail props : 0...1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10
Compacting texture/material tables...
Reduced 133 texinfos to 92
Reduced 13 texdatas to 10 (453 bytes to 318)
Writing C:\ZXTY\Steam\steamapps\common\Team Fortress 2\sourcesdk_content\tf\mapsrc\cp_triple_a0.bsp
1 second elapsed

** Executing...
** Command: "C:\ZXTY\Steam\steamapps\common\Team Fortress 2\bin\vvis.exe"
** Parameters: -game "C:\ZXTY\Steam\steamapps\common\Team Fortress 2\tf" "C:\ZXTY\Steam\steamapps\common\Team Fortress 2\sourcesdk_content\tf\mapsrc\cp_triple_a0"

Valve Software - vvis.exe (May 29 2015)
4 threads
reading c:\zxty\steam\steamapps\common\team fortress 2\sourcesdk_content\tf\mapsrc\cp_triple_a0.bsp
reading c:\zxty\steam\steamapps\common\team fortress 2\sourcesdk_content\tf\mapsrc\cp_triple_a0.prt
LoadPortals: couldn't read c:\zxty\steam\steamapps\common\team fortress 2\sourcesdk_content\tf\mapsrc\cp_triple_a0.prt


** Executing...
** Command: "C:\ZXTY\Steam\steamapps\common\Team Fortress 2\bin\vrad.exe"
** Parameters:  -game "C:\ZXTY\Steam\steamapps\common\Team Fortress 2\tf" "C:\ZXTY\Steam\steamapps\common\Team Fortress 2\sourcesdk_content\tf\mapsrc\cp_triple_a0"

Valve Software - vrad.exe SSE (May 29 2015)

      Valve Radiosity Simulator     
4 threads
[Reading texlights from 'lights.rad']
[37 texlights parsed from 'lights.rad']

Loading c:\zxty\steam\steamapps\common\team fortress 2\sourcesdk_content\tf\mapsrc\cp_triple_a0.bsp
No vis information, direct lighting only.
Setting up ray-trace acceleration structure... Done (0.08 seconds)
1071 faces
6528451 square feet [940097024.00 square inches]
0 Displacements
0 Square Feet [0.00 Square Inches]
15 direct lights
BuildFacelights:     0...1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10 (0)
Build Patch/Sample Hash Table(s).....Done<0.0071 sec>
FinalLightFace:      0...1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10 (0)
FinalLightFace Done
0 of 0 (0% of) surface lights went in leaf ambient cubes.
ThreadComputeLeafAmbient: 0...1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10 (5)
Writing leaf ambient...done
Ready to Finish

Object names       Objects/Maxobjs  Memory / Maxmem  Fullness 
------------       ---------------  ---------------  -------- 
models                  14/1024          672/49152    ( 1.4%) 
brushes                 61/8192          732/98304    ( 0.7%) 
brushsides             376/65536        3008/524288   ( 0.6%) 
planes                 352/65536        7040/1310720  ( 0.5%) 
vertexes              1322/65536       15864/786432   ( 2.0%) 
nodes                  927/65536       29664/2097152  ( 1.4%) 
texinfos                92/12288        6624/884736   ( 0.7%) 
texdata                 10/2048          320/65536    ( 0.5%) 
dispinfos                0/0               0/0        ( 0.0%) 
disp_verts               0/0               0/0        ( 0.0%) 
disp_tris                0/0               0/0        ( 0.0%) 
disp_lmsamples           0/0               0/0        ( 0.0%) 
faces                 1071/65536       59976/3670016  ( 1.6%) 
hdr faces                0/65536           0/3670016  ( 0.0%) 
origfaces              243/65536       13608/3670016  ( 0.4%) 
leaves                 942/65536       30144/2097152  ( 1.4%) 
leaffaces             1193/65536        2386/131072   ( 1.8%) 
leafbrushes            298/65536         596/131072   ( 0.5%) 
areas                    2/256            16/2048     ( 0.8%) 
surfedges             5680/512000      22720/2048000  ( 1.1%) 
edges                 3025/256000      12100/1024000  ( 1.2%) 
LDR worldlights         15/8192         1320/720896   ( 0.2%) 
HDR worldlights          0/8192            0/720896   ( 0.0%) 
leafwaterdata            0/32768           0/393216   ( 0.0%) 
waterstrips             82/32768         820/327680   ( 0.3%) 
waterverts               0/65536           0/786432   ( 0.0%) 
waterindices          1080/65536        2160/131072   ( 1.6%) 
cubemapsamples           7/1024          112/16384    ( 0.7%) 
overlays                 0/512             0/180224   ( 0.0%) 
LDR lightdata         [variable]     1009128/0        ( 0.0%) 
HDR lightdata         [variable]           0/0        ( 0.0%) 
visdata               [variable]           0/16777216 ( 0.0%) 
entdata               [variable]       20082/393216   ( 5.1%) 
LDR ambient table      942/65536        3768/262144   ( 1.4%) 
HDR ambient table      942/65536        3768/262144   ( 1.4%) 
LDR leaf ambient       688/65536       19264/1835008  ( 1.0%) 
HDR leaf ambient       942/65536       26376/1835008  ( 1.4%) 
occluders                0/0               0/0        ( 0.0%) 
occluder polygons        0/0               0/0        ( 0.0%) 
occluder vert ind        0/0               0/0        ( 0.0%) 
detail props          [variable]           1/12       ( 8.3%) 
static props          [variable]           1/3540     ( 0.0%) 
pakfile               [variable]        1812/0        ( 0.0%) 
physics               [variable]       25273/4194304  ( 0.6%) 
physics terrain       [variable]           2/1048576  ( 0.0%) 

Level flags = 0

Total triangle count: 2566
Writing c:\zxty\steam\steamapps\common\team fortress 2\sourcesdk_content\tf\mapsrc\cp_triple_a0.bsp
5 seconds elapsed

** Executing...
** Command: Copy File
** Parameters: "C:\ZXTY\Steam\steamapps\common\Team Fortress 2\sourcesdk_content\tf\mapsrc\cp_triple_a0.bsp" "C:\ZXTY\Steam\steamapps\common\Team Fortress 2\tf\maps\cp_triple_a0.bsp"
 

A Boojum Snark

Toraipoddodezain Mazahabado
aa
Nov 2, 2007
4,775
7,669
No leaks (won't direct point files)
Your compile log clearly states there is a leak. Leaks don't always make pointfiles.

I thought that "$reflectivity" "[999 999 999]" would be high enough. :/
Even though it has nothing to do with the problem, for the record, reflectivity is a 0-1 normalized field which represents 0 to 100%.

This problem is absolutely because of the leak. Nothing except a lack of vis information (even fast vis does the stuff vrad needs) will cause this sort of shadowing because of no light bounces. First step, if there is no pointfile, is to go to the coordinates of the static prop mentioned in the leak.

The leak means VBSP can't make the portal structure, no portals means VVIS can't run either of it's two steps (first one is the core data and needed for light, second one is deep visibility determination (second is skipped during fast)), and no vis information means VRAD does what it says in the compile log - "No vis information, direct lighting only." - and then only does 3 steps instead of the normal 10 or so.
 
Last edited:

YTXZ

L1: Registered
Jun 18, 2015
25
1
Your compile log clearly states there is a leak. Leaks don't always make pointfiles.


Even though it has nothing to do with the problem, for the record, reflectivity is a 0-1 normalized field which represents 0 to 100%.

This problem is absolutely because of the leak. Nothing except a lack of vis information (even fast vis does the stuff vrad needs) will cause this sort of shadowing because of no light bounces. First step, if there is no pointfile, is to go to the coordinates of the static prop mentioned in the leak.

The leak means VBSP can't make the portal structure, no portals means VVIS can't run either of it's two steps (first one is needed for light, second one is deep visibility determination (the one skipped during fast)), and no vis information means VRAD does what it says in the compile log - "No vis information, direct lighting only." - and then only does 3 steps instead of the normal 10 or so.

I checked the coordinates, and it sent me to a prop that is in the middle of the map with no leak anywhere. My entire map is sealed inside a giant skybox cube made of 6 brushes and there are no holes there, all corners are perfectly closed, and there is no pointfile.
It just states that a random fence in the map is leaking that is not even close to the borders of the map.
 

YTXZ

L1: Registered
Jun 18, 2015
25
1
I checked the coordinates, and it sent me to a prop that is in the middle of the map with no leak anywhere. My entire map is sealed inside a giant skybox cube made of 6 brushes and there are no holes there, all corners are perfectly closed, and there is no pointfile.
It just states that a random fence in the map is leaking that is not even close to the borders of the map.

In fact I re compiled the map without changing anything and now its not leaking anymore.
 

YTXZ

L1: Registered
Jun 18, 2015
25
1
Countered a new problem, random things are randomly leaking for no reason, when I re-compile it suddenly doesn't leak anymore at all or the object changes without me changing anything in the map.
Hammer is just completely broken it seems...
 

YTXZ

L1: Registered
Jun 18, 2015
25
1
I got first pointfile, it points straight at a solid wall and there is no way to fix such a thing because there is no leak. What is causing this then? I can even send you the map there is no leak it just points at the solid wall in a perfect 0 degree angle...