Brushes Getting Messed up When Reloading Map

  • If you're asking a question make sure to set the thread type to be a question!

asiagoUnicorn

L1: Registered
Jun 4, 2015
5
0
Whenever I reload my map some of the brushes get a little bit messed up.

Imgur won't embed in the preview, so I'm playing it safe and linking instead.

Before I reload, all those little edges are squared up and look great. Afterwards, though they get moved slightly off. I'm pretty sure my brushes are convex when they're in the right positions, so I don't think that's the problem. Of course, they could just be ever so slightly convex and I'm just missing it.
 

killohurtz

Distinction in Applied Carving
aa
Feb 22, 2014
1,016
1,277
Position the vertices how you want them, and then open up the problems dialog with Alt+P. If it finds an invalid solid, you'll have to fix the vertices or remake the brush.
 

asiagoUnicorn

L1: Registered
Jun 4, 2015
5
0
Position the vertices how you want them, and then open up the problems dialog with Alt+P. If it finds an invalid solid, you'll have to fix the vertices or remake the brush.

Yep, it appears to be invalid for some reason. I'll just mess around with it until it isn't.

Also, thanks for introducing me to the problems dialog! It probably would have been useful to have known about it ages ago. :/
 

killohurtz

Distinction in Applied Carving
aa
Feb 22, 2014
1,016
1,277
A brush will be invalid if it has a non-flat face, i.e. one of the vertices that makes up the face is on a different plane than the others.

Now for your first image - let me try my best to explain this - even though this vertex seems out of place, the face is still valid because the edges in the top view are not all perfectly parallel either. In this quick example, you can see that after a cut in the top view, the sides are no longer even, but it will also result in a new vertex (circled in green) that's a little higher than the old one, because it's further up on the slope. That's basically what's happening here.

In the second screenshot, that new vertex has been lowered to the grid, but the edges in the top view are still uneven. Moving that vertex caused the previously flat face to become invalid. Does all that make sense?

Anyway, if you need an angled ramp in your map, I would strongly suggest sticking to 45 degree angles like in my example. It's much easier to spot misaligned vertices and keep everything on the grid that way.
 

asiagoUnicorn

L1: Registered
Jun 4, 2015
5
0
Alright, I think I've got it. Also, it seems that as long as I only move the midpoints of each line on the brush, I can keep everything nice and parallel, regardless of angle or orientation.
 

worMatty

Repacking Evangelist
aa
Jul 22, 2014
1,257
999
It looks counter-intuitive, doesn't it. I'm glad Killo can get his head around it 'cause it's hard for me.

Am I right in thinking that, in the image below, the shape is invalid because the two green lines are not parallel?
2015-06-05_18-35-07.png

If moving the two indicated verticies to the right made them parallel, would that clear the error? I have a rule of thumb when rotating shapes on the grid and messing with vertices afterwards that lines should be kept parallel, but I don't know if it's true enough to bleat it at people.
 

RaVaGe

aa
Jun 23, 2010
733
1,210
Just keep your face flat and everything will be ok, if your face is divided by two triangles but are part of the same face, then your brush is invalid and in this case you just have to cut that face in two triangles, when it's a displacement it's more though.
 
Last edited:

henke37

aa
Sep 23, 2011
2,075
515
Displacements are easy. As long as the base brush is flat, the displacement can be as wrinkly as you feel like.
 

henke37

aa
Sep 23, 2011
2,075
515
Triangles can't be nonplanar. So correctly cutting a quad will fix the nonplanar problem.