Thought i would post this as som many mappers get this mess!
ERROR: WindingFromDrawSurf failed: MAX_POINTS_ON_WINDING exceeded
DEFINITION: This error means that there are too many vertices repeating themselves along a single axis. It can also mean you have a “brush side polygon” somewhere with more than 64 corner points. This error most commonly occurs when people have a brush or group of brushes that need to be repeated along an axis and they clone the original one many times and place them along this single axis.
SOLUTION: Here is what to do to find your MAX_POINTS_ON_WINDING problem and fix it:
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Compile your level, fullvis (no light), with the normal Q3radiant compiler.
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The error will appear with three numbers at the end, which are your X,Y,Z coordinates in that order. If you get an ALLLOC_Failed statement with no coordinates at the end (the three numbers after the error), then close radiant and restart it, then start over from step 1.
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While in your XY top view, use these coordinates to find the specific point on the map where the error begins. You will know where the first error brush is by finding the little,light-greenish box with a dot in it.
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Now that you see the specific line and brush marked by the little tiny box, you have to start thinking about how you made things in this area of your level.
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This error comes about most commonly when you clone a brush or group of brushes many times and line them up in a single file line. The error is actually caused by having too many vertices on the same axis. Now you need to look in each direction on your grid or camera screen to spot the cloned, or duplicated brushes that are lined up in an exact row. Common troublemakers are banisters and columns, because there are usually many in the exact same axis.
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Once you find the offenders there is a really easy way to get rid of the problem in almost any instance. Select all of the brushes that are in a perfect line, snap your grid to 1, and lift the bases of each of the brushes one single grid unit above the surface they are touching. This reduces the amount of vertices on that plane drastically and almost always gets rid of the error for you, without changing your level or creating visual anomalies.
