[Fixed] Screen is black when I load into map

Mr. Piggens

L1: Registered
Aug 16, 2022
7
2
I'm very new to Hammer, so sorry if this is a beginner question. I was somehow unable to find anything on this when Googling, so I guess I just couldn't figure out the right keywords.

When I load into my map in TF2, my screen is black, and if I move my camera around a bit I can sometimes see the sky. What can cause this error? I don't see anywhere there could be a leak in my map since it's just a simple box and it was fine before. If I recall right, the only things I changed before it messed up were that I added a resupply locker prop with a func_regenerate brush entity in front of it, which seems weird. I might have moved a trigger_add_or_remove_tf_player_attribute brush entity that the player spawns inside, but I placed it right back where it was before.

When compiling it says there is a leak, but I can't see where it says the leak is. Here is a snippet of the log:
Code:
fixing up env_cubemap materials on brush sides...
ProcessBlock_Thread: 0...1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10 (0)
**** leaked ****
Processing areas...done (0)
Building Faces...done (0)

When I try to load a pointfile with Map > Load Pointfile to see how the leak is occurring, it asks me to open testmap_a1.lin which it then says doesn't exist. I tried testmap_a1.pts and it doesn't exist either.

Update/solution​

I had forgotten to turn a solid brush with the tools/trigger texture to an actual brush entity with the func_respawnroom class. Fixing it fixed the issue.

Thank you for the replies everyone.
 
Last edited:
Solution
Update: I had forgotten to turn a solid brush with the tools/trigger texture to an actual brush entity with the func_respawnroom class. Fixing it fixed the issue.

Thank you for the replies everyone.

SuperLuxDeluxe

L3: Member
Mar 13, 2021
118
270
There's the possibility that the origin of one of your brush entities like the trigger_add_or_remove_tf_player_attribute is outside the map - this happens sometimes. Make sure you have helpers :helpers: turned on, select the brush entities, and then look at where the ball is - that's the origin. You can drag it to bring it inside the map.
I would also suggest pasting your entire log into the Interlopers Error Checker any time you have issues. It reads your compile log for errors and gives you a more detailed explanation of what the errors mean and how to resolve them. If you see something about the skybox not having a default cubemap, don't worry about that, every TF2 skybox has that error and it can be safely ignored.
I saw your previous post that said you're working on Mac. Since the file heirarchy in Mac and Linux is so different from Windows and Hammer is a very old program that's pretty much Windows only, that might be why it can't find the pointfile. It should be stored in the same directory as the map file (vmf) that you're editing if I remember correctly.
Also, I highly encourage you to join our Discord as that's where 99% of the community talks and helps people solve mapping issues.
 

spruce

L2: Junior Member
Aug 14, 2022
92
25
Is your map very big? If parts of your map (which include the skybox) aren't rendered in Hammer they might not compile as they aren't visible which creates a sort of "Fake leak", at least that's what happened to me, to see if this is the problem select the whole map, keep it selected and try to compile it

Another way is to increase the render distance in Hammer's Settings (Tools > Preferences > 3D Views > Back clipping plane) and try to go to the center of the map where everything is visible, to see your Render distance on the 2d parts of the editor click on the "Radius culling" besides the Cordon states
 

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SuperLuxDeluxe

L3: Member
Mar 13, 2021
118
270
Oh yeah Spruce is right. Radius culling is enabled by default in stock Hammer and it's pretty awful. It's supposed to improve performance in editing but in actuality it reduces performance and makes your map leak a lot. It's highly advised to turn it off.
I'm not sure if you can get it to work with your Mac set up, but I would also highly suggest looking into installing Hammer++ as it fixes a lot of issues with Hammer and adds a lot of cool new features.
 

Mr. Piggens

L1: Registered
Aug 16, 2022
7
2
There's the possibility that the origin of one of your brush entities like the trigger_add_or_remove_tf_player_attribute is outside the map - this happens sometimes. Make sure you have helpers :helpers: turned on, select the brush entities, and then look at where the ball is - that's the origin. You can drag it to bring it inside the map.
I would also suggest pasting your entire log into the Interlopers Error Checker any time you have issues. It reads your compile log for errors and gives you a more detailed explanation of what the errors mean and how to resolve them. If you see something about the skybox not having a default cubemap, don't worry about that, every TF2 skybox has that error and it can be safely ignored.
I saw your previous post that said you're working on Mac. Since the file heirarchy in Mac and Linux is so different from Windows and Hammer is a very old program that's pretty much Windows only, that might be why it can't find the pointfile. It should be stored in the same directory as the map file (vmf) that you're editing if I remember correctly.
Also, I highly encourage you to join our Discord as that's where 99% of the community talks and helps people solve mapping issues.
Thank you.

I made sure helpers were enabled and confirmed that the origins of all brush entities were inside the map.

I used the Interlopers Error Checker, and it says vvis and vrad weren't in the compile log even though I have them enabled when I run the map. The log says it was unable to load vvis_dll.dll and vrad_dll.dl, so I'll figure out how to fix that. It also gives the error with the skybox (should I stop compiling the map with HDR?), as well as saying there was a leak (but it didn't specify where the leak was).

The way I'm running Hammer is like it's inside a computer running Windows that's being simulated by my Mac, so to Hammer it looks just like a Windows 10 system.

Thank you for referring me to the Discord.

I also noticed that I must have forgot to turn the func_respawnroom brush entity into an actual func_respawnroom brush entity, since it was just a solid brush with the tools/trigger texture. I fixed it and am going to run it on my computer and update the thread in like a minute w/ the results.
 

Mr. Piggens

L1: Registered
Aug 16, 2022
7
2
Is your map very big? If parts of your map (which include the skybox) aren't rendered in Hammer they might not compile as they aren't visible which creates a sort of "Fake leak", at least that's what happened to me, to see if this is the problem select the whole map, keep it selected and try to compile it

Another way is to increase the render distance in Hammer's Settings (Tools > Preferences > 3D Views > Back clipping plane) and try to go to the center of the map where everything is visible, to see your Render distance on the 2d parts of the editor click on the "Radius culling" besides the Cordon states
Thank you.

My map is very small; it is a rectangular prism where each side is around 5 times the width of an Engineer, and it is around 10 times his height (I haven't looked up how high I should make outdoors areas). I have also made sure radius culling is disabled.
 

Mr. Piggens

L1: Registered
Aug 16, 2022
7
2
Oh yeah Spruce is right. Radius culling is enabled by default in stock Hammer and it's pretty awful. It's supposed to improve performance in editing but in actuality it reduces performance and makes your map leak a lot. It's highly advised to turn it off.
I'm not sure if you can get it to work with your Mac set up, but I would also highly suggest looking into installing Hammer++ as it fixes a lot of issues with Hammer and adds a lot of cool new features.
Thank you. I'll check out Hammer++; I was even thinking of making my own Source level-editing software for both Unix (Linux, Mac) and Windows operating systems since Hammer seems to be pretty old, but it's nice that someone has already made something like that. I'll check if it works for Mac/Linux.
 

Mr. Piggens

L1: Registered
Aug 16, 2022
7
2
Update: I had forgotten to turn a solid brush with the tools/trigger texture to an actual brush entity with the func_respawnroom class. Fixing it fixed the issue.

Thank you for the replies everyone.
 
Solution