water surface not rendering

[O]

L3: Member
Mar 21, 2009
121
27
hi guys,

my first post here after the intro.

ive scoured teh turorials and the read-first threads and couldnt find anythign related to my problem.

im sure its somethign basic, but here it is anyway:

my watersurface is not rendering [and neather are the solid wall brushes that are immediately below the whole water brush].

when i jump in the water all is well. theres fog, little bits floating around and i can even see the refraction when i look up at the surface.

but back over the water its like the whole body of water doesnt appear.

whats in my map?

well i placed a brush, applied no draw, and appliead just a water texture on the top surface [water/water 2fort] [its the same with any other water texture i apply].

i noticed that this only happened when i applied the light_env entity. all the setting are according to the sky-list in the developers' wiki [ i used the skybox of 2fort and applied the same light settings to my entity]

any takers?
 

YM

LVL100 YM
aa
Dec 5, 2007
7,135
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Really great help void, what if [O] knows not what a leak is??...

The most common problem is a leak. You may also not have compiled vvis or it crashed for some other reason.

To find said leak use map>open pointfile it swill show you a little red line, follow it and it will lead you to a hole in your map allowing the void in. plug that hole and compile again.
You may have several leaks, it will only show you one at a time so repeat the process
 

YM

LVL100 YM
aa
Dec 5, 2007
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yes, if a prop origin or brush origin is outside the map it will leak too. Make sure the whole map is sealed up, real world and 3D skybox (although they can and should be sealed separately)
 

[O]

L3: Member
Mar 21, 2009
121
27
Really great help void, what if [O] knows not what a leak is??...

The most common problem is a leak. You may also not have compiled vvis or it crashed for some other reason.

To find said leak use map>open pointfile it swill show you a little red line, follow it and it will lead you to a hole in your map allowing the void in. plug that hole and compile again.
You may have several leaks, it will only show you one at a time so repeat the process

thanks youme. its cool, i have a fair idea of waht a leak is, though i dont have the experience to know for sure when i look at the map. im sorry, this may be a stupid question but where do i use this map>open pointfile thing? on the console?
 

YM

LVL100 YM
aa
Dec 5, 2007
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Its in hammer, at the top of the screen in the 'map' menu between 'edit' and 'view'
 

RavenStryker

Former Alias: †Blade†/Xi.Cynx
aa
Nov 25, 2008
782
844
In case you are having trouble still finding it.
A nice screenshot of where it is at never fails! :)
It's highlighted in that nice transparent blue. :p

loadpointfile.png
 

[O]

L3: Member
Mar 21, 2009
121
27
yes, if a prop origin or brush origin is outside the map it will leak too. Make sure the whole map is sealed up, real world and 3D skybox (although they can and should be sealed separately)

i just pulled my light_env, sun_env, and shadow control INSIDE my skybox as they used to be outside [ i didnt think it made a difference]. i noticed a few things:

  1. water surface now renders
  2. but its purple???
  3. the rest of my map seems brighter [does lowering the elevation of any of the above entities affect brightness?]
 

RavenStryker

Former Alias: †Blade†/Xi.Cynx
aa
Nov 25, 2008
782
844
[O];59794 said:
i just pulled my light_env, sun_env, and shadow control INSIDE my skybox as they used to be outside [ i didnt think it made a difference]. i noticed a few things:

  1. water surface now renders
  2. but its purple???
  3. the rest of my map seems brighter [does lowering the elevation of any of the above entities affect brightness?]

It's purple because you have not build or added cubemaps to your map.
Add a env_cubemap above your water and link it to the top of it.
After that when you compile it you must build cubemaps in order for it to show reflection. You do that by following the steps below.

Load your map into TF2
(Type the rest in console)
  • mat_specular 0
  • buildcubemaps
  • disconnect
  • mat_hdr_level 0
  • map <the name of your map>
  • buildcubemaps
  • disconnect
  • mat_specular 1
  • mat_hdr_level 2
  • map <the name of your map>
(end console)


If you compile the map again though you must rebuild the cubemaps using the in game console. Or if you change you map name you must do the same thing.

You can place those entities anywhere you want and it won't make a difference. I would just put them all in a very easy to find location so if you need to edit them they can be found without have to go on a search party. Just remember to keep them inside of your map skybox. ;)
 
Last edited:

YM

LVL100 YM
aa
Dec 5, 2007
7,135
6,056
1. good
2. That would be a lack of cubemaps which work out reflections, run a quick search on this site for how to sort that out.
3. No elevation matters not but leaks stop vrad running properly and eliminate bounce lighting, meaning you're only getting direct lighting if you have a leak.
 

[O]

L3: Member
Mar 21, 2009
121
27
It's purple because you have not build or added cubemaps to your map.
Add a env_cubemap above your water and link it to the top of it.
After that when you compile it you must build cubemaps in order for it to show reflection. You do that by following the steps below.

Load your map into TF2
(Type the rest in console)
  • mat_specular 0
  • buildcubemaps
  • disconnect
  • mat_hdr_level 0
  • map <the name of your map>
  • buildcubemaps
  • disconnect
  • mat_specular 1
  • mat_hdr_level 2
  • map <the name of your map>
(end console)


If you compile the map again though you must rebuild the cubemaps using the in game console. Or if you change you map name you must do the same thing.

You can place those entities anywhere you want and it won't make a difference. I would just put them all in a very easy to find location so if you need to edit them they can be found without have to go on a search party. Just remember to keep them inside of your map skybox. ;)

i suspected that it might be a cubemap issue, but i thought that cubemaps are only needed for cheap water not expensive water.
 

RavenStryker

Former Alias: †Blade†/Xi.Cynx
aa
Nov 25, 2008
782
844
Nope, they are needed for anything that will give off a reflection.
Otherwise you'll get the purple and black reflection of death. Lol
 

[O]

L3: Member
Mar 21, 2009
121
27
Nope, they are needed for anything that will give off a reflection.
Otherwise you'll get the purple and black reflection of death. Lol

thanks blade. worked perfectly.

i only have to build the cubemaps once [after im done with the whole map] i assume?