Only One Layer Of My Prop Will Compile Correctly (Getting No Errors)

[mild goblet]

it might just be the vmt files not being vertexlitgeneric?

[solid solar]

And what you see in the viewer is the same thing you see in game as well

[solid solar]

They are

I'll double check

I only have 2 vmt files as well

[mild goblet]

oh, they're bodygroups, uh change them to seperate models

[solid solar]

what would i write?

[mild goblet]

$model "Torso" "Head.smd"
$model "Arms" "Arm.smd"
$model "Legs" "Leg.smd"

something like that

[solid solar]

do i need to do anything else ?

[mild goblet]

see if it works first i guess

[solid solar]

compiling right now

i also think my collision box might be a bit messed up too but ill have to see after this

same thing again

[mild goblet]

thats with the $model? show the qc

[solid solar]

yes

okay wait..

im confused

when i noclip inside of it, i see the rest of the prop but its all... idek how to explain it

[mild goblet]

looks like it got compressed to one spot, im not sure how rigging in blender works

[solid solar]

someone said its probably something to do with vertex sorting order

but idk how id fix that

this is the message im getting in the log

i assume im well above the verts that source supports?

damn even after slashing all of them, it still only shows that part

[mild goblet]

i have no answer sadly, but i can tell you that your crowbar is outdated, we're at 0.74

also, as a experiment pass me the smd and qc, see if i get the same results

[solid solar]

bet

[mild goblet]

well, i assembled all the parts and assigned them a root bone

[solid solar]

does it work now for you?

[mild goblet]

yeah

[solid solar]

whaaa

i wish i knew how to do this in blender

[mild goblet]

me too, i only ever know 3ds max...

[solid solar]

THANK YOU THANK YOU

you make me want to install 3d max now

and learn that instead..

[solid solar]

how did you do the collisions?

after seeing the prop in game, i went to make it bigger but the collisions are no longer the same

[mild goblet]

i resized the size of the collision mesh to fit the whole printer, i could further adjust it to just below the screen part

how did you make it bigger

[ocean thunder]

For one, yeah. That’s way too many vertices for 4 boxes.

For two, select all objects, apply all transforms on them, and reexport your smd

Keep in mind Source Engine only goes to 16bit float precision for each 3D axis.

Any verts too close together are considered 1 vert

[solid solar]

i fixed that, i’m down to little to no verts so i guess the question is how could i make rounded edges without exceeding source’s vert count

[solid solar]

by chance could you send a gif on how to do this?

or a couple screenshots

[solid solar]

i assume they’re not too close as justan was able to get it working

[solid solar]

i sized it in blender but when i exported it (when everything was messed up) it just went to the middle like everything else

so i’m gonna do what noruze suggest & try it again

[ocean thunder]

In moderation.

You can do just fine with 2-3 edge bevels per corner. More if it's a particularly large bevel

Even still, it would be a good idea to have the lower poly version as an LOD mesh, since Source doesn't generate its own LODs

Don't try and use subdivision modeling workflow to game engine assets. It will never work out well

If you do, then you'll need to do this type of analytical fixup every time you make a model.

Which usually amounts to using polygons wisely. Dissolving unused or useless verts, texel sizing...

And rigging. Especially rigging. One of the biggest CPU perf hits in Source second to physics is bones- usually when there's a lot of them in use in the world.

Not to discourage you using them, but you can actually tell the compiler not to use bones in your LOD mesh, when it isn't seen or relevant to someone 50m away.

Few different fps (and tps) budgeting options available.

[ocean thunder]

As an addition the VertexLitGeneric shader is made to smooth vertex normals between the next vertex, while Blender BSDF takes the next 2 vertices with more weight towards the closest one.

Either way (I'm guessing you mean to have a flat surface) a 1-edge bevel shouldn't cause issues, and if it comes down to it you can always mark an edge as sharp, or use weighted normals

I don't fully know the extent of blender workflow myself. Just barely enough to get models exported.

[solid solar]

as much as you just informed me on some really good info, i dont really know what all of it means as im new to blender & modeling completely. i want to understand what all of this means & wish i just picked up every detail you said.

i was wanting rounded edges but i think my issue is, is what i had made was also too small of a model

so i need to make it bigger & figure out a way to not need bevel. i saw some other techniques for rounding edges that don't look super fuckery for verts

ill just need to do a lot of testing & etc and learn more about blender

perfect my craft

while using bevel though, and im sure i will be here & there ofc. what would be the best settings for it?

for source to prevent as many verts as possible