My map is not compiling/compiling really slow

Seitan

L3: Member
Oct 30, 2015
135
8
So my map is almost finished and i compiled to test it, then it gets stuck on "portalflow"

if i click it i get "hammer.exe stopped working" then crash.

I have no cylinders or other weird geometry on my map, just like 3 wedges, and they have func_detail.

Any ideas about how to fix this?
 

killohurtz

Distinction in Applied Carving
aa
Feb 22, 2014
1,016
1,277
It's actually normal for Hammer to stop responding while the compiler is working - it didn't actually crash, and the compile is still going even though the log doesn't update. As long as vvis.exe and/or vrad.exe is using a significant amount of your CPU (viewable in the task manager) then it's working just fine.

As for portalflow taking a long time, that's a telltale sign that the map is poorly optimized. There's a lot more to it than just func_detailing non-rectangular brushes. If you have a giant hollow cube of skybox around your map, big open areas, or small detail geometry that you left as world brushes, those will give vvis a hard time. Without knowing what your map looks like, I can't tell you exactly what you need to fix, but I would suggest reading through this guide anyway to learn proper optimization techniques and see if you're doing it right:

http://www.optimization.interlopers.net/index.php
 

Pocket

Half a Lambert is better than one.
aa
Nov 14, 2009
4,694
2,579
But most likely that's not a problem either; there is absolutely zero significance to exactly when the window will stop responding. I've had very rare occasions, on fairly simple maps, where it didn't happen at all, even.
 

Seitan

L3: Member
Oct 30, 2015
135
8
This is weird because 2 of my friends compiled the .vmf file with no problems.
 

Vel0city

func_fish
aa
Dec 6, 2014
1,947
1,589
What are your system's specs?
 

MOCOLONI

L6: Sharp Member
Dec 16, 2014
373
89
Do you use "hammer.exe" (from "\Team Fortress 2\bin\", or the "Source SDK" tool? This last one is known to cause errors almost everywhere since the SteamPipe update, either in the program or in the map.
 

Pocket

Half a Lambert is better than one.
aa
Nov 14, 2009
4,694
2,579
Killohurtz's answer was correct; are you having some other problem you forgot to tell us about? Just let the compiler run and don't worry about the window freezing up. If you want to get a better idea of what the process is doing, try opening Task Manager and looking for vbsp.exe, vvis.exe, or vrad.exe. On a simple map, the first two should only run for a few seconds each, and the third one could take up to half an hour depending on what kind of system you have.