Are compilers trial Shareware or what?

[Mad Mapper]

G'day all

I have been making maps (on and off) for a few years now but every so often the compilers (MBuilder and MOHPile) ceases to work forcing me to to compile my maps on another computer. First it was on my own PC then my son's and now my lady's. I've ran out of systems to compile on. It's as if the compilers are shareware or something.

Normally, all three PCs have partitioned drives and I have successfully mapped and compiled on each of these systems. But the sys_update for MOHpile points to C:\Windows and can't be redirected so yesterday I fdisked and formatted my entire 80 Gb HDD just to have a single partition "C:\" with WinXP Pro and MOH stuff ONLY in a last ditch attempt to rectify this frustrating problem.... It still didn't work.
The Compilers only flash the DOS window for a second and don't create Vis, Prt or BSP files.

I have tried this without user made pk3 files in either of the main folders (i.e. main, mainta, maintt)
I have tried this with a new skybox and player start.
I have tried it with previously saved map files that have compiled for me before.
I have tried several versions of Radiant (SDKs)
I have re-installed the various versions of Radiant (deleteing the ini file before re-installing)
I have re-installed the two compilers
I have tried running the compiler in Win95 and Win98 compatibility modes

Nothing has/had been installed on either of the three systems between the times when the compilers were working and when they ceased to work.

I just don't get it.

My system
AMD 3500+
1 Gb GEL DDR RAM
ATI RadeOn 9600 graphics
Windows XP Pro

My son's system (as above but with nVidia MX 400)

My lady's system
AMD 2200+
512 Mb DDR RAM
nVidia GeForce FX 5200
Windows XP Pro


Any constructive suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you

[Rookie One.pl]

99% sure you made some mistake while mapping. If you're using MBuilder, add:

Code: Select all

pause

at the end of the Batch file window. The window will not close after the compiler runs but wait until you press any key instead. See what's the error message and tell us what it is, so we can give you some advice.

[tltrude]

I have seen the flashing dos window problem before. It happens when I try to use a Windows application to run a dos program. Dos is a seperate operating system. My guess is the dos system that comes with Windows XP Pro totally sucks! To fix the problem, you'll need to learn more about how the Windows XP Pro dos system works--a lot more than what I know.

It may be that there is a limit to the number of dos macros XP Pro can save. But, reformatting your hard drive should have fixed that.

[bdbodger]

I have used mbuilder for years and never had a problem with it . As long as you set it up and don't change your windows registry it will point to the right directories . Set it up quit it then restart it . Mbuilder is only a front end it creates a batch file then it runs it . The compilers are qmap.exe and mohlight.exe . They are dos programs unless you are running them in a dos window they will dissapear after they run , they exit automatically . What keeps the dos window visible is a pause statement in the batch file . At the bottom of mbuilder you will see a button called other options . At the top of the dialog box that opens when you click that button are options to have it pause after doing the three stages of a compile . Here is what one of the builder.bat files created by mbuilder might look like

"D:\MOHAAT~1\Q3map.exe" -gamedir C:\PROGRA~1\EAGAME~1\MOHAA C:\MOHAAT~1\test_snow.map
pause
"D:\MOHAAT~1\Q3map.exe" -vis -gamedir C:\PROGRA~1\EAGAME~1\MOHAA C:\MOHAAT~1\test_snow.map
pause
"D:\MOHAAT~1\MOHlight.exe" -gamedir C:\PROGRA~1\EAGAME~1\MOHAA C:\MOHAAT~1\test_snow.map
pause

To setup mbuilder use that change button at the end of the top line and browse to your game directory that is the directory you installed mohaa into . Next use the change button at the end of the middle section and browse to the directory that you installed mohaa tools into , the directory that contains qmap.exe and mohlight.exe . Last use the bottom change button to browse to the directory that you have your .map files in . Once you do all that exit mbuilder and restart it for the changes to take effect . You should then be able to see the list of .map files you have created in the window on the bottom right hand side . Choose one and use the build map button . If you added the pause statements it will pause after each stage and you can read the output . If you want to test what I am saying after you try to compile a map with mbuilder look in the directory your .map file is in and you will see a file called builder.bat right click on it and choose edit . It will open in notepad and you can read what is in it . If you double click on the .bat file it will be the same as useing the build map button in mbuilder because it is the .bat file that mbuilder creates and runs . Mbuilder does not compile maps it creates a batch file that executes qmap.exe and mohlight.exe in command line format with the swiches you choose .

[Mad Mapper]

Thanks for your replies good peoples.

I have finally resolved the issue. Yeah it's was an oversight on my behalf. D'oh!

The SHADER had one too many " } " 's in it.
I guess I should state that I only make MP maps and for this I use a dmloading tga (screenshot of the map for loading purposes) which should be written in the SHADER yet I had removed that part..... well, all except for one lousy bracket.

Sorry about all the fuss, my bad.
Man, I formatted 80 GB for this map!

Thanks again for your replies, much appreciated.