Everything disappeared problem

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

critMagnet

L1: Registered
Aug 7, 2016
4
1
So today I launched a map i was working on yesterday, and all the props disappeared, spawn entities turned green (Half Life 2 spawn entities, I think?) everything was ungrouped and only the brushes and textures stayed.
Is there a way to fix it?
 

Kube

Not the correct way to make lasagna
aa
Aug 31, 2014
1,342
1,849
Before you go any further, find/make copies of some autosaves of the map. Go to your main drive, then the folder HammerAutosaves, and copy any files that share the map name (sort by Recently Edited).

Once you have those backups copied, verify your game cache. I'm on mobile, but you can do easily find a tutorial to do this online. Then, check the original vmf and report back.
 

killohurtz

Distinction in Applied Carving
aa
Feb 22, 2014
1,016
1,277
Did Hammer at any point ask you to re-save your map with invalid solids removed, and if so, did you say yes? There's an ancient bug that can trigger when you choose this option that takes every entity in your map down with it. Unfortunately there is no way to directly undo this, but if you have autosaves, a VMX file, or a recently compiled BSP of your map, then it's possible to recover some of your work.
 

critMagnet

L1: Registered
Aug 7, 2016
4
1
Before you go any further, find/make copies of some autosaves of the map. Go to your main drive, then the folder HammerAutosaves, and copy any files that share the map name (sort by Recently Edited).

Once you have those backups copied, verify your game cache. I'm on mobile, but you can do easily find a tutorial to do this online. Then, check the original vmf and report back.
Can't find it :/
 

Kube

Not the correct way to make lasagna
aa
Aug 31, 2014
1,342
1,849
Can't find it :/

Can't find the autosaves? If your main drive is C, the folder should be "C:\HammerAutosave". Sort by "Date Modified".

Can't find out how to verify your game cache? Check out this tutorial.

Edit: For the HammerAutosave folder, you might as well check all of your drives, it might be the one you have TF2 installed in.
 

critMagnet

L1: Registered
Aug 7, 2016
4
1
Can't find the autosaves? If your main drive is C, the folder should be "C:\HammerAutosave". Sort by "Date Modified".

Can't find out how to verify your game cache? Check out this tutorial.

Edit: For the HammerAutosave folder, you might as well check all of your drives, it might be the one you have TF2 installed in.
Not a single HammerAutosave folder on both of the drives.
I guess I should just verify my TF2 and make a new map :/
 

killohurtz

Distinction in Applied Carving
aa
Feb 22, 2014
1,016
1,277
The quickest way to find out where they're stored is by opening up Hammer, clicking Tools > Options, and going to the General tab. Your autosaves will be in the directory listed, assuming you even had them enabled to begin with.

kwdbaFe.png


If you didn't have them set up, don't worry - you can still try the VMX, which is saved in the same place as your VMF, or any compiled BSPs you might have. Try moving the VMX to a different folder (to avoid a name conflict), changing the extension to VMF, and opening it up. Did it store a version of your map with everything still intact?
 

critMagnet

L1: Registered
Aug 7, 2016
4
1
The quickest way to find out where they're stored is by opening up Hammer, clicking Tools > Options, and going to the General tab. Your autosaves will be in the directory listed, assuming you even had them enabled to begin with.

kwdbaFe.png


If you didn't have them set up, don't worry - you can still try the VMX, which is saved in the same place as your VMF, or any compiled BSPs you might have. Try moving the VMX to a different folder (to avoid a name conflict), changing the extension to VMF, and opening it up. Did it store a version of your map with everything still intact?
Well crap, it was disabled the whole time and I didn't even know about it.

But after this thing happened (or before) my TF2 got magically uninstalled (thanks gabe), maybe this is what messed it up :<