Hammer freezes when I try to compile official Valve maps

[Xam100]

Hello, sorry for another "Hammer freezes when..." thread but my issue is quite peculiar.

Background: I stoped making maps two years ago, same time I stopped playing TF2. I decided to come back at both, only to find I can't even run Valve (meaning official) maps of the game, nevermind custom ones.

I initially converted Valve maps with BSPsource, but all of them (and I mean ALL of them) never ran completely, Hammer always froze before the compiling was done.

To make things worse, it freezes at different points of the compiling: some at Portal flow, others at Process block, others still at "Warning: map using 4 displacement" and so on. So I wouldn't even know which compile log to post.

Bottom line, no matter what map I choose, I can't run it. I tried to download the decompiled files from the dedicated thread here, same issues. Tried to wait as long as possible, nothing. Tried to reset my TF2 configuration, nothing still. Tried verifying my TF2 files, nothing again.

I run Hammer mainly from the bin folder in the TF2 folder, but no matter where I try to run it from, I still can't make it work. The map proprieties and configuariton are the default ones, I didn't do anything fancy.

Thanks to anyone who's willing to help.

 

[Startacker!]

The default Hammer compiler is prone to freezing up in its display, regardless, it's still compiling in the background. The only thing you can really do is sit back and wait. You can also try to use an external compiling tool such as CompilePal, which isn't prone to freezing. Any map you're decompiling from the game can take a long time to compile since they're much more complex and actually finished.

 

[MOCOLONI]

The default Hammer compiler is prone to freezing up in its display, regardless, it's still compiling in the background. The only thing you can really do is sit back and wait. You can also try to use an external compiling tool such as CompilePal, which isn't prone to freezing. Any map you're decompiling from the game can take a long time to compile since they're much more complex and actually finished.

Another solution would be using the official compilers the command-line way.

 

[Xam100]

Thanks for the answers!
So, I waited for the compiling to finish. It took hours (two years ago it didn't took that long, even when compiling finished maps it only took around 5 minutes at best) but it eventually went through. The problem is, as soon as TF2 launches, it closes back and takes me back to hammer, with no error message in sight. I think it's related as to why it takes so long to compile.
I added -condebug in the launch options, but it doesn't report any console.log file, probably because it closes right before it can properly start. I only have the compile log to report, hopefully someone can figure the problem out with it.

Spoiler: Compile log

** Executing...
** Command: "D:\Steam\SteamApps\common\Team Fortress 2\bin\vbsp.exe"
** Parameters: -game "D:\Steam\SteamApps\common\Team Fortress 2\tf" "D:\Documents and Settings\Administrator.PERSONALPC\Documenti\Immagini\cp_gullywash_final1_d\cp_gullywash_final1_d.vmf"

Valve Software - vbsp.exe (May 21 2020)
2 threads
MSG_FILEWRITE - Filesystem was asked to write to 'D:\Documents and Settings\Administrator.PERSONALPC\Documenti\Immagini\cp_gullywash_final1_d\cp_gullywash_final1_d.log', but we don't own that location. Allowing.
materialPath: D:\Steam\SteamApps\common\Team Fortress 2\tf\materials
Loading D:\Documents and Settings\Administrator.PERSONALPC\Documenti\Immagini\cp_gullywash_final1_d\cp_gullywash_final1_d.vmf
ConVarRef mat_reduceparticles doesn't point to an existing ConVar
Patching WVT material: maps/cp_gullywash_final1_d/nature/blendgroundtograss001_wvt_patch
Patching WVT material: maps/cp_gullywash_final1_d/nature/blendgroundtograss007_nodetail_wvt_patch
Patching WVT material: maps/cp_gullywash_final1_d/brick/blendcobbletocobblesnow001_wvt_patch
fixing up env_cubemap materials on brush sides...
ProcessBlock_Thread: 0...1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10 (2)
ProcessBlock_Thread: 0...1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10 (1)
Processing areas...done (0)
Building Faces...done (0)
Chop Details...done (1)
Find Visible Detail Sides...
Merged 7424 detail faces...done (3)
Merging details...done (0)
FixTjuncs...
PruneNodes...
WriteBSP...
done (2)
writing D:\Documents and Settings\Administrator.PERSONALPC\Documenti\Immagini\cp_gullywash_final1_d\cp_gullywash_final1_d.prt...Building visibility clusters...
done (0)
*** Error: Skybox vtf files for skybox/sky_dustbowl_01 weren't compiled with the same size texture and/or same flags!
Can't load skybox file skybox/sky_dustbowl_01 to build the default cubemap!
*** Error: Skybox vtf files for skybox/sky_dustbowl_01 weren't compiled with the same size texture and/or same flags!
Can't load skybox file skybox/sky_dustbowl_01 to build the default cubemap!
Finding displacement neighbors...
Found a displacement edge abutting multiple other edges.
Finding lightmap sample positions...
Displacement Alpha : 0...1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10
Building Physics collision data...
WARNING: Map using power 4 displacements, terrain physics cannot be compressed, map will need additional memory and CPU.
done (1) (7807321 bytes)
Placing detail props : 0...1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10
Compacting texture/material tables...
Reduced 10528 texinfos to 7598
Reduced 94 texdatas to 78 (2533 bytes to 1768)
Writing D:\Documents and Settings\Administrator.PERSONALPC\Documenti\Immagini\cp_gullywash_final1_d\cp_gullywash_final1_d.bsp
MSG_FILEWRITE - Filesystem was asked to write to 'D:\Documents and Settings\Administrator.PERSONALPC\Documenti\Immagini\cp_gullywash_final1_d\cp_gullywash_final1_d.bsp', but we don't own that location. Allowing.
Wrote ZIP buffer, estimated size 7342, actual size 5386
18 seconds elapsed
  -0.279400 -2.044524 0.000000
  0.355600 -1.986289 0.000000
  0.355600 -2.044524 0.000000
  -0.355600 -2.044524 0.000000
make_triangles:calc_triangle_representation: Cannot convert
  -0.279400 -2.044524 0.000000
  0.355600 -1.986289 0.000000
  0.355600 -2.044524 0.000000
  -0.355600 -2.044524 0.000000
make_triangles:calc_triangle_representation: Cannot convert

** Executing...
** Command: "D:\Steam\SteamApps\common\Team Fortress 2\bin\vvis.exe"
** Parameters: -game "D:\Steam\SteamApps\common\Team Fortress 2\tf" "D:\Documents and Settings\Administrator.PERSONALPC\Documenti\Immagini\cp_gullywash_final1_d\cp_gullywash_final1_d"

Valve Software - vvis.exe (May 21 2020)
MSG_FILEWRITE - Filesystem was asked to write to 'd:\documents and settings\administrator.personalpc\documenti\immagini\cp_gullywash_final1_d\cp_gullywash_final1_d.log', but we don't own that location. Allowing.
2 threads
reading d:\documents and settings\administrator.personalpc\documenti\immagini\cp_gullywash_final1_d\cp_gullywash_final1_d.bsp
reading d:\documents and settings\administrator.personalpc\documenti\immagini\cp_gullywash_final1_d\cp_gullywash_final1_d.prt
2906 portalclusters
8649 numportals
BasePortalVis:       0...1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10 (4)
PortalFlow:          0...1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10 (3578)
Optimized: 8981 visible clusters (0.99%)
Total clusters visible: 904946
Average clusters visible: 311
Building PAS...
Average clusters audible: 1023
visdatasize:881461  compressed from 2138816
writing d:\documents and settings\administrator.personalpc\documenti\immagini\cp_gullywash_final1_d\cp_gullywash_final1_d.bsp
MSG_FILEWRITE - Filesystem was asked to write to 'd:\documents and settings\administrator.personalpc\documenti\immagini\cp_gullywash_final1_d\cp_gullywash_final1_d.bsp', but we don't own that location. Allowing.
59 minutes, 43 seconds elapsed

** Executing...
** Command: "D:\Steam\SteamApps\common\Team Fortress 2\bin\vrad.exe"
** Parameters:  -game "D:\Steam\SteamApps\common\Team Fortress 2\tf" "D:\Documents and Settings\Administrator.PERSONALPC\Documenti\Immagini\cp_gullywash_final1_d\cp_gullywash_final1_d"

Valve Software - vrad.exe SSE (May 21 2020)

      Valve Radiosity Simulator    
2 threads
MSG_FILEWRITE - Filesystem was asked to write to 'd:\documents and settings\administrator.personalpc\documenti\immagini\cp_gullywash_final1_d\cp_gullywash_final1_d.log', but we don't own that location. Allowing.
[Reading texlights from 'lights.rad']
unknown light specifier type - lights

[56 texlights parsed from 'lights.rad']

Loading d:\documents and settings\administrator.personalpc\documenti\immagini\cp_gullywash_final1_d\cp_gullywash_final1_d.bsp
Setting up ray-trace acceleration structure... Done (7.54 seconds)
21024 faces
8 degenerate faces
2097862 square feet [302092128.00 square inches]
550 Displacements
490752 Square Feet [70668368.00 Square Inches]
21016 patches before subdivision
301658 patches after subdivision
sun extent from map=0.017452
311 direct lights
BuildFacelights:     0...1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10 (127)
BuildVisLeafs:       0...1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10 (110)
transfers 25837143, max 821
transfer lists: 197.1 megs
GatherLight:         0...1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10 (0)
    Bounce #1 added RGB(1289581, 762395, 548849)
GatherLight:         0...1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10 (1)
    Bounce #2 added RGB(224665, 112980, 71761)
GatherLight:         0...1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10 (0)
    Bounce #3 added RGB(47474, 19672, 10485)
GatherLight:         0...1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10 (0)
    Bounce #4 added RGB(10313, 3652, 1708)
GatherLight:         0...1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10 (0)
    Bounce #5 added RGB(2388, 717, 291)
GatherLight:         0...1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10 (1)
    Bounce #6 added RGB(562, 146, 52)
GatherLight:         0...1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10 (0)
    Bounce #7 added RGB(137, 31, 10)
GatherLight:         0...1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10 (0)
    Bounce #8 added RGB(34, 7, 2)
GatherLight:         0...1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10 (1)
    Bounce #9 added RGB(9, 1, 0)
GatherLight:         0...1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10 (0)
    Bounce #10 added RGB(2, 0, 0)
GatherLight:         0...1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10 (0)
    Bounce #11 added RGB(1, 0, 0)
Build Patch/Sample Hash Table(s).....Done<0.1326 sec>
FinalLightFace:      0...1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10 (30)
FinalLightFace Done
Computing detail prop lighting : 0...1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10
0 of 0 (0% of) surface lights went in leaf ambient cubes.
ThreadComputeLeafAmbient: 0...1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10 (43)
Writing leaf ambient...done
Ready to Finish

Object names       Objects/Maxobjs  Memory / Maxmem  Fullness
------------       ---------------  ---------------  --------
models                 110/1024         5280/49152    (10.7%)
brushes               4428/8192        53136/98304    (54.1%)
brushsides           32407/65536      259256/524288   (49.4%)
planes               29978/65536      599560/1310720  (45.7%)
vertexes             47084/65536      565008/786432   (71.8%)
nodes                 7939/65536      254048/2097152  (12.1%)
texinfos              7598/12288      547056/884736   (61.8%)
texdata                 78/2048         2496/65536    ( 3.8%)
dispinfos              550/0           96800/0        ( 0.0%)
disp_verts           34910/0          698200/0        ( 0.0%)
disp_tris            54368/0          108736/0        ( 0.0%)
disp_lmsamples     1367055/0         1367055/0        ( 0.0%)
faces                21024/65536     1177344/3670016  (32.1%)
hdr faces                0/65536           0/3670016  ( 0.0%)
origfaces            12298/65536      688688/3670016  (18.8%)
leaves                8050/65536      257600/2097152  (12.3%)
leaffaces            31291/65536       62582/131072   (47.7%)
leafbrushes          18653/65536       37306/131072   (28.5%)
areas                   13/256           104/2048     ( 5.1%)
surfedges           155126/512000     620504/2048000  (30.3%)
edges                97901/256000     391604/1024000  (38.2%)
LDR worldlights        311/8192        27368/720896   ( 3.8%)
HDR worldlights          0/8192            0/720896   ( 0.0%)
leafwaterdata           11/32768         132/393216   ( 0.0%)
waterstrips           3081/32768       30810/327680   ( 9.4%)
waterverts               0/65536           0/786432   ( 0.0%)
waterindices         54036/65536      108072/131072   (82.5%) VERY FULL!
cubemapsamples           0/1024            0/16384    ( 0.0%)
overlays                 0/512             0/180224   ( 0.0%)
LDR lightdata         [variable]    14370124/0        ( 0.0%)
HDR lightdata         [variable]           0/0        ( 0.0%)
visdata               [variable]      881461/16777216 ( 5.3%)
entdata               [variable]      291801/393216   (74.2%)
LDR ambient table     8050/65536       32200/262144   (12.3%)
HDR ambient table     8050/65536       32200/262144   (12.3%)
LDR leaf ambient     26785/65536      749980/1835008  (40.9%)
HDR leaf ambient      8050/65536      225400/1835008  (12.3%)
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]           1/2531252  ( 0.0%)
dtl prp lght          [variable]           1/4        (25.0%)
HDR dtl prp lght      [variable]           1/4        (25.0%)
static props          [variable]           1/117224   ( 0.0%)
pakfile               [variable]        5386/0        ( 0.0%)
physics               [variable]     7807321/4194304  (186.1%) VERY FULL!
physics terrain       [variable]           0/1048576  ( 0.0%)

Level flags = 0

Total triangle count: 63622
Writing d:\documents and settings\administrator.personalpc\documenti\immagini\cp_gullywash_final1_d\cp_gullywash_final1_d.bsp
5 minutes, 42 seconds elapsed

** Executing...
** Command: Copy File
** Parameters: "D:\Documents and Settings\Administrator.PERSONALPC\Documenti\Immagini\cp_gullywash_final1_d\cp_gullywash_final1_d.bsp" "D:\Steam\SteamApps\common\Team Fortress 2\tf\maps\cp_gullywash_final1_d.bsp"


** Executing...
** Command: "D:\Steam\SteamApps\common\Team Fortress 2\hl2.exe"
** Parameters: -game "D:\Steam\SteamApps\common\Team Fortress 2\tf" -toconsole -dev -console +sv_lan 1 +map "cp_gullywash_final1_d" -steam

 

[Xam100]

Sorry for the double post, but there's been an update.
I've tried using CompilePal, and unfortunately the same errors happen: hours to compile the map, then when the game launches it crashes immediately.
I've tried copy pasting the compiled map in the maps folder, but when I launch it in-game it looks like this:

Spoiler: Screenshot

The lightning is messed up.

If anyone has any idea why all of this is happening I'd appreciate it to know, I honestly got no clue.

 

[Maid]

That's Fullbright!
first thing to check is that you have mat_fullbright 0 set in console.
if you do and you're still seeing a fullbright map, then the vrad stage of your compile has messed up.

 

[MOCOLONI]

I initially converted Valve maps with BSPsource, but all of them (and I mean ALL of them) never ran completely

When decompiling maps, make sure you don't untick the write options for entities such as func_detail, func_areaportal, func_occluder as otherwise they will be generated as normal solids and significantly increase compile times.

Warning: map using 4 displacement

This is because the maps' power-4 displacements are considered problematic in most games and it's not really a problem with Hammer.

PortalFlow: 0...1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10 (3578)

This is an enormous amount of time for a map like Gullywash. Either it wasn't decompiled properly (always use the latest version of BSPSource), invalid solids were found in the map and you clicked on "Yes" to re-save (should never be done as it erases entity data), or your system just isn't doing great (which I doubt since it's supposedly the same one from just a couple of years ago).