Map crashing server

[Fingersniffer]

Myself and Nosher put our new map on our server tonight, alas it crashed the server several times. I just wondered if there are any obvious things we should check off the list?
From what I've seen so far there doesn't APPEAR to be any pattern to the crashes, it just happens out of the blue.

Any help would, as always, be appreciated.

 

[phatal]

Did you check the console when the crashes occurred? They should show in red for the client. If your friend or yourself can access the server logs you should be able to see what the error is there as well. Post it and I think that would be a lot easier to narrow down where the issue is.

Also did it just disconnect you from the server or did it give a message along with the typical disconnection window?

I had another thought. Was it just your map that was causing issues? Did you play anything else, stock maybe, that played for as long as you did your custom?

 

[Fingersniffer]

It just gave the "server connection problems" and the counter in red in the top corner.

Edit: played 2fort on it, just in case, it worked ok with no crashes, so definately our map I think.

 

[Nosher]

and here is the compile log...



materialPath: c:\program files\steam\steamapps\team fortress 2\tf\materials
Loading C:\Program Files\Steam\SteamApps\\sourcesdk_content\tf\mapsrc\CTF_Call2Arms_250308_2109.vmf
Patching WVT material: maps/ctf_call2arms_250308_2109/dev/dev_blendmeasure_wvt_patch
Patching WVT material: maps/ctf_call2arms_250308_2109/dev/dev_blendmeasure2_wvt_patch
Patching WVT material: maps/ctf_call2arms_250308_2109/nature/blendrockground005_wvt_patch
Patching WVT material: maps/ctf_call2arms_250308_2109/nature/blendrockgroundwall004_wvt_patch
Patching WVT material: maps/ctf_call2arms_250308_2109/nature/blendrockground007_wvt_patch
fixing up env_cubemap materials on brush sides...
0...1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...100...1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10Processing areas...done (0)
Building Faces...done (0)
Chop Details...done (0)
Find Visible Detail Sides...done (0)
Merging details...done (0)
FixTjuncs...
PruneNodes...
WriteBSP...
done (0)
writing C:\Program Files\Steam\SteamApps\\sourcesdk_content\tf\mapsrc\CTF_Call2Arms_250308_2109.prt...Building visibility clusters...
done (0)
Creating default LDR cubemaps for env_cubemap using skybox materials:
skybox/sky_hydro_01*.vmt
! Run buildcubemaps in the engine to get the correct cube maps.
Creating default HDR cubemaps for env_cubemap using skybox materials:
skybox/sky_hydro_01*.vmt
! Run buildcubemaps in the engine to get the correct cube maps.
Finding displacement neighbors...
Found a displacement edge abutting multiple other edges.
Warning: overflowed 2 displacement corner-neighbor lists.Finding lightmap sample positions...
Displacement Alpha : 0...1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10
Building Physics collision data...
done (10) (598004 bytes)
Placing detail props : 0...1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10
Compacting texture/material tables...
Reduced 4219 texinfos to 1983
Reduced 192 texdatas to 153 (6431 bytes to 4867)
Writing C:\Program Files\Steam\SteamApps\\sourcesdk_content\tf\mapsrc\CTF_Call2Arms_250308_2109.bsp
32 seconds elapsed



materialPath: c:\program files\steam\steamapps\\team fortress 2\tf\materials
Loading C:\Program Files\Steam\SteamApps\\sourcesdk_content\tf\mapsrc\CTF_Call2Arms_250308_2109.vmf
Patching WVT material: maps/ctf_call2arms_250308_2109/dev/dev_blendmeasure_wvt_patch
Patching WVT material: maps/ctf_call2arms_250308_2109/dev/dev_blendmeasure2_wvt_patch
Patching WVT material: maps/ctf_call2arms_250308_2109/nature/blendrockground005_wvt_patch
Patching WVT material: maps/ctf_call2arms_250308_2109/nature/blendrockgroundwall004_wvt_patch
Patching WVT material: maps/ctf_call2arms_250308_2109/nature/blendrockground007_wvt_patch
fixing up env_cubemap materials on brush sides...
0...1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...100...1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10Processing areas...done (0)
Building Faces...done (0)
Chop Details...done (0)
Find Visible Detail Sides...done (0)
Merging details...done (0)
FixTjuncs...
PruneNodes...
WriteBSP...
done (0)
writing C:\Program Files\Steam\SteamApps\\sourcesdk_content\tf\mapsrc\CTF_Call2Arms_250308_2109.prt...Building visibility clusters...
done (0)
Creating default LDR cubemaps for env_cubemap using skybox materials:
skybox/sky_hydro_01*.vmt
! Run buildcubemaps in the engine to get the correct cube maps.
Creating default HDR cubemaps for env_cubemap using skybox materials:
skybox/sky_hydro_01*.vmt
! Run buildcubemaps in the engine to get the correct cube maps.
Finding displacement neighbors...
Found a displacement edge abutting multiple other edges.
Warning: overflowed 2 displacement corner-neighbor lists.Finding lightmap sample positions...
Displacement Alpha : 0...1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10
Building Physics collision data...
done (10) (598004 bytes)
Placing detail props : 0...1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10
Compacting texture/material tables...
Reduced 4217 texinfos to 1980
Reduced 192 texdatas to 153 (6431 bytes to 4867)
Writing C:\Program Files\Steam\SteamApps\\sourcesdk_content\tf\mapsrc\CTF_Call2Arms_250308_2109.bsp
32 seconds elapsed



2 threads
reading c:\program files\steam\steamapps\\sourcesdk_content\tf\mapsrc\CTF_Call2Arms_250308_2109.bsp
reading c:\program files\steam\steamapps\r\sourcesdk_content\tf\mapsrc\CTF_Call2Arms_250308_2109.prt
2169 portalclusters
6133 numportals
0...1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...100...1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10Optimized: 2975 visible clusters (0.00%)
Total clusters visible: 384862
Average clusters visible: 177
Building PAS...
Average clusters audible: 666
visdatasize:468296 compressed from 1179936
writing c:\program files\steam\steamapps\\sourcesdk_content\tf\mapsrc\CTF_Call2Arms_250308_2109.bsp
4 minutes, 27 seconds elapsed



[Reading texlights from 'lights.rad']
[34 texlights parsed from 'lights.rad']

Loading c:\program files\steam\steamapps\sourcesdk_content\tf\mapsrc\CTF_Call2Arms_250308_2109.bsp
7397 faces
5 degenerate faces
521970 square feet [75163808.00 square inches]
985 Displacements
287571 Square Feet [41410332.00 Square Inches]
7392 patches before subdivision
72164 patches after subdivision
260 direct lights
0...1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...100...1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10transfers 4532204, max 429
transfer lists: 34.6 megs
0...1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10 Bounce #1 added RGB(312159, 230634, 176547)
0...1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10 Bounce #2 added RGB(68772, 43890, 29926)
0...1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10 Bounce #3 added RGB(17853, 10087, 6095)
0...1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10 Bounce #4 added RGB(5039, 2619, 1397)
0...1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10 Bounce #5 added RGB(1546, 746, 348)
0...1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10 Bounce #6 added RGB(505, 227, 92)
0...1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10 Bounce #7 added RGB(173, 72, 25)
0...1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10 Bounce #8 added RGB(62, 24, 7)
0...1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10 Bounce #9 added RGB(23, 8, 2)
0...1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10 Bounce #10 added RGB(9, 3, 1)
0...1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10 Bounce #11 added RGB(3, 1, 0)
0...1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10 Bounce #12 added RGB(1, 0, 0)
0...1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10 Bounce #13 added RGB(0, 0, 0)
Build Patch/Sample Hash Table(s).....Done<0.0524 sec>
0...1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10FinalLightFace Done
0 of 0 (0% of) surface lights went in leaf ambient cubes.
0...1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10Writing leaf ambient...done
Ready to Finish

Object names Objects/Maxobjs Memory / Maxmem Fullness
------------ --------------- --------------- --------
models 48/1024 2304/49152 ( 4.7%)
brushes 1736/8192 20832/98304 (21.2%)
brushsides 11359/65536 90872/524288 (17.3%)
planes 5976/65536 119520/1310720 ( 9.1%)
vertexes 13488/65536 161856/786432 (20.6%)
nodes 5151/65536 164832/2097152 ( 7.9%)
texinfos 1980/12288 142560/884736 (16.1%)
texdata 153/2048 4896/65536 ( 7.5%)
dispinfos 985/0 173360/0 ( 0.0%)
disp_verts 235993/0 4719860/0 ( 0.0%)
disp_tris 414464/0 828928/0 ( 0.0%)
disp_lmsamples 914855/0 914855/0 ( 0.0%)
faces 7397/65536 414232/3670016 (11.3%)
hdr faces 0/65536 0/3670016 ( 0.0%)
origfaces 4353/65536 243768/3670016 ( 6.6%)
leaves 5200/65536 166400/2097152 ( 7.9%)
leaffaces 7310/65536 14620/131072 (11.2%)
leafbrushes 5131/65536 10262/131072 ( 7.8%)
areas 3/256 24/2048 ( 1.2%)
surfedges 51964/512000 207856/2048000 (10.1%)
edges 29739/256000 118956/1024000 (11.6%)
LDR worldlights 260/8192 22880/720896 ( 3.2%)
HDR worldlights 0/8192 0/720896 ( 0.0%)
leafwaterdata 3/32768 36/393216 ( 0.0%)
waterstrips 650/32768 6500/327680 ( 2.0%)
waterverts 0/65536 0/786432 ( 0.0%)
waterindices 10164/65536 20328/131072 (15.5%)
cubemapsamples 4/1024 64/16384 ( 0.4%)
overlays 38/512 13376/180224 ( 7.4%)
LDR lightdata [variable] 5579884/0 ( 0.0%)
HDR lightdata [variable] 0/0 ( 0.0%)
visdata [variable] 468296/16777216 ( 2.8%)
entdata [variable] 168114/393216 (42.8%)
LDR ambient table 5200/65536 20800/262144 ( 7.9%)
HDR ambient table 5200/65536 20800/262144 ( 7.9%)
LDR leaf ambient 20678/65536 578984/1835008 (31.6%)
HDR leaf ambient 5200/65536 145600/1835008 ( 7.9%)
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] 1/12 ( 8.3%)
static props [variable] 1/72236 ( 0.0%)
pakfile [variable] 548333/0 ( 0.0%)
physics [variable] 598004/4194304 (14.3%)
physics terrain [variable] 507566/1048576 (48.4%)

Level flags = 0

Total triangle count: 19719
Writing c:\program files\steam\steamapps\\sourcesdk_content\tf\mapsrc\CTF_Call2Arms_250308_2109.bsp

 

[dirtyminuth]

Might want to edit out your account name.

985 displacements, most I've ever seen in these parts, cowboy! You might want to investigate these entries in VBSP compile output:

Found a displacement edge abutting multiple other edges.
Warning: overflowed 2 displacement corner-neighbor lists

That's all I can see, so perhaps you have some problems in how your entities are setup. And one more thing....

2169 portalclusters
6133 numportals

That is an unbelieveable number of numportals. Have you optimized your map?

 

[Nosher]

985 displacements, most I've ever seen in these parts, cowboy! You might want to investigate these entries in VBSP compile output:

It has a large cavern of which 99% is displaced....
pic:-

That's all I can see, so perhaps you have some problems in how your entities are setup. And one more thing....

How should they be set up? I am a little confused by this one.. (first map and all!)

That is an unbelieveable number of numportals. Have you optimized your map?

Mmmmm - this is the one thing I haven't done, as (again) I am confused of what exactly I need to do - I have read the tuts but can't seem to get my head round it!

Cheers
Nosh.

 

[dirtyminuth]

How should they be set up? I am a little confused by this one.. (first map and all!)

Have you added any CTF or CP entities yet? I assumed you did.

Mmmmm - this is the one thing I haven't done, as (again) I am confused of what exactly I need to do - I have read the tuts but can't seem to get my head round it!

The most important item to understand is the func_detail entity and visleafs (i.e. numportals / portalclusters). Your map is divided into sections of viewable space, called visleafs. You have a lot of visleafs (ctf_core, a medium-sized map, has about 1500). To reduce them, you need to turn small architectural details (like your wooden posts in the cavern) into func_details.

That's a very general overview; You don't always want to reduce visleafs, but in your case, you do. Check here for solid information on func_details (and much more!)

 

[Nosher]

Have you added any CTF or CP entities yet? I assumed you did.

Just the two intel cases......plus triggers for them.

There are numerous doors, and they are ok.

The most important item to understand is the func_detail entity and visleafs (i.e. numportals / portalclusters). Your map is divided into sections of viewable space, called visleafs. You have a lot of visleafs (ctf_core, a medium-sized map, has about 1500). To reduce them, you need to turn small architectural details (like your wooden posts in the cavern) into func_details.

That's a very general overview; You don't always want to reduce visleafs, but in your case, you do. Check here for solid information on func_details (and much more!)

Thanks for the pointers - it is appreciated - I have tried to read the tutorial, but find it very difficult to apply the sort stuff to my map....

So by turning something ito a func_detail entity (I presume by ctl&T to tie it etc..) what does it does to that bit of architechiture in the game play part??

Thanks (again) in advance!!
Nosh

 

[trainRiderJ]

func_details doesn't affect gameplay, in that you can still run into it, jump on it, shoot it, it still casts shadows, etc.

All it does is allow to you make your map render more efficiently, because the engine knows better what a player should and shouldn't be seeing.

 

[woodbulb]

So by turning something ito a func_detail entity (I presume by ctl&T to tie it etc..) what does it does to that bit of architechiture in the game play part??

Thanks (again) in advance!!
Nosh

prenote: It is EXACTLY the same as a normal brush, only difference is the following with visibility:

I had to learn this a few weeks ago as my maps would take 8 hours to compile with 4 cores running lol. (Using func_details got it down to 7 minutes)

Basically think about it like this. The compiler works out the problem of if a player is standing in room A, should he be able to see room B and when/where...but to do this for EVERY single point in the entire map is insane, so they split the map up into blocks and it calculates it that way. So say I'm in this hypothetical room A, and there is an open hallway to room B... if I'm in room A and looking down this hallway of course I need for room B to be loaded/visible.

But now say you add some details... some pillars and whatnot inside the hallway. Your compiling now takes longer because its calculating "What if player is behind pillar, should we load room B". Assuming the pillars physically don't block your view that much through the hallway, but are simply for detail... there is no point to this calculation. So to remove the pillars from being part of the calculation you just ctrl+t them to func_detail.

Where you don't want to func_detail is say your pillar is super-wide and it actually should block visibility (e.g. to save fps of not having to load stuff behind it), leave it as a world brush.

Also you can have as many brushes as you want tied to one func_detail but there is a downside to that. This is something I found out:

2 pillars in a room (each one is tied to a unique func_detail), one of the pillars is behind... say... a wall in the room. Now let's say only one pillar is visible to you, then that is the only pillar that will be loaded from your position as the other is behind a wall. (This is good)

If you had tied both pillars to a single func_detail, then in this position of looking at just the one pillar, it would still load both even with the 2nd pillar not visible. This is because they are tied to the same entity. So watch out for this, I used to tie a lot of things to one func_detail or one func_illusionary and it would lag the map more since seeing just one piece of the entity would load the rest.

If you want to test ingame what is being loaded "behind the scenes", use console and type sv_cheats 1, and then mat_wireframe 1. Walk around and look how it is being loaded.

Anyways I hoped that long schpeel helped. If it didn't let me know I'll draw pictures or whatever it takes.