Important warning to all mappers

[Morgue]

Hello. I just had way too many hours of my life go down the drain earlier tonight. The building had a power outage and I came back to find the map I was working on (and planning to enter into the contest) would not load. I had been working on it right before it hit, and now all I see is a black plane with grid lines when I open it. If you can, save your work onto a secondary source, or even duplicate the .vmf file every once in awhile.

As of yet, I can't find a .bsp to .vmf file converter, and will be searching for quite awhile If you know of any bsp -> vmf converters, please let me know. Thanks and good luck with the contest.

 

[Jeff Roy]

Ouch! Thats strange man, sorry to hear all that work went out the window!

 

[FragBait0]

Can't you load the .vmx backup?

As for a "converter"....there isn't one. Because you can't just go from a BSP to a nice neat VMF. Because.

Sure, you can get decompilers but it makes a pig's ear of geometery and a lot of your texturing is screwed up etc etc

The best option is probably to load the BSP in HL and take some screenshots to work from.

And remember (everyone, no one in particular)...
Data not backed up is data not wanted.

 

[Morgue]

Can't you load the .vmx backup?

How does that work? I've got all of my files (bsp, prt, vmf, vmx). The strange thing is, all the files seem to be about the right size for the map I made, yet when I open it (and I've restarted the computer) it brings up an empty map. Same thing happens when I load it up on another computer. It's like I hit save just as the power went out and it had time to save all the information except for how to make it appear in Hammer. And yeah, I same to be learning from a lot of forums that it just isn't possible to go directly from a bsp to a vmf, but maybe from any of the other files is the question.

The best option is probably to load the BSP in HL and take some screenshots to work from.

I wish that was possible but it would eat up too much time (2 weeks until the due date )

 

[georgeblunt]

ok.. given that the files still have the correct size, it's propably something real stupid.. like.. the view in hammer for some reason jumped to a place, where there just isn't anything.. tried to zoom/pan like hell?
just a thought.. and no, i don't think you are stupid. it's just those damn stupid problems you come across from time to time.. hehe


just a guess.
good luck!

 

[Exavior]

Also check to make sure all your vis groups are on.

 

[Ti133700N]

Increment on save would have been a great feature but you can still do it manually, well now you won't forget to do it.

 

[Morgue]

tried to zoom/pan like hell?

Haha, yeah. First thing I tried and there was only the blue/green/red marker.

it's just those damn stupid problems you come across from time to time.. hehe

Yeah, I've had my fair share of those

Well, now the good news. I got this thing fixed now, thanks to FragBait (not that I don't appreciate the rest of the advice). I don't know how you knew .vmx was a backup file but it just saved me. I now have everything up and running again. Don't be a moron like me -backup your stuff now! I would explain the process for fixing it but It's getting too late now. If anyone needs help or wants to know, I can post later tomorrow. Thanks again!

 

[FragBait0]

How does that work?

Maybe your VMF is somehow corrupted and the vmx is not?


Maybe it's a shot in the dark. But if you so desperatly need this map then it couldn't hurt to try it.

 

[ComradeBadger]

I've had this problem. Even text-editing won't save it. Sorry.

You'll get 'unexpected end of file found' no matter how you hack it.

:|

 

[FragBait0]

Which is why he dosen't describe anything saying "unexpected end of file found"?

Interesting.

 

[sabre0001]

Hate it when something like this happens...For some reason i never learn from this mistake either (although im trying it properly now)...
Unlucky there and hopefully you get it sorted, any chance Valve will extend the deadline??

I also have a huge problem that i need sorted - see http://www.halflife2.net/forums/showthread.php?t=66093

Sorry to advertise it here but.....as you can see from the title of it, im none too happy...