Backward compatability for export!

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1

So I have a terrain that ended up in 2.3.0.1 Suddenly I cant export all the files marked for export, as it crashes before the end of the process, I didnt seem to have any problems with older versions and as I still have a copy of 2.2.6.0 I thought I would see if the terrain would load there - it did.
But when I launch the export process I immediately get an error message popup saying, “Object reference not se to an instance of an object”. So just in case I can fix this with a manual tweak of a json file or something else doable, thought I would ask the question.

2

Hey Andy,

Backwards compatibly of a project can be difficult at times especially if a new or updated node has occurred between versions.

You can try a few things though

  • as you mentioned .JSON data, . terrain files are just that so you’re free to check the project file and edit it to your needs.
  • export a torlet/.tfrag (file menu) this is basically the graph set up only rather than the entire project settings
  • remove the offending node manually and then reimport earlier version ( if you know which)
  • sometimes it’s also worth check stats in data view to ensure a node hasn’t just failed.
  • you can start a project from the splash screen without the render engine running by right clicking your project name on the list ( in some cases this may allow you to remove the offending

My top tips

  • if you’re ever moving versions mid project use the incremental save button (+) next to save that way you always have a comparison for thing like this and can easily rollback or debug that way.
  • this may also be a bug or config error, which makes tech support a viable route as well.

Hope that helps.

3

Thanks for the pointers Ty.
So no nodes actually failed according to the build stats, but I think this maybe the first time I have used Anastomosis, so not sure if processing time is usually so long, but nothing else is taking anything like the time that node is taking, so thinking that is likely to be the point of contention. Any thoughts? Here is a clip from the stats:

                                         Anastomosis │ 0:04:59.556                  
                                             Rivers1 │ 0:00:49.368                  
                                         Anastomosis │ 0:05:06.631                  
                                             Rivers2 │ 0:00:56.359                  
                                         Anastomosis │ 0:04:50.18

If it puts things into context, here is how it is used at the present:

image
image1113×238 24.5 KB

4

Got ya, thanks for the update, Andy.

/anastomsis is a heavy node

image
image781×681 38.9 KB

It’s something you’d want to use sparingly, namely at the end of a chain of processing, rather than multiple times ( if you can help it).

image
image1920×1080 267 KB

There are quality settings in this node; you can see that each quality is slightly higher to process from the erosion 2 node, but it’s astronomically more expensive at higher resolutions, compared to the erosion 2 node, which scales well.

baking options

  • If you need to use it earlier in your node graph, you can opt to bake its shaping as well.

    • In Gaea 2, baking will always bake up to the node you’ve baked. It’s best to use it before adding the nice, pretty simulation passes, usually.

  • You can opt to build in certain places if you know, for example, you’re not going to change those parts again (or use incremental save). This can be useful, as you can use GaeaRaw as the build file type, which allows you to build over time rather than all at once.

alternative options

  • Use a lighter anastomosis before a more detailed one:
    • no smooth edges
    • low impact
    • depth is lighter processing
    • width is lighter processing
  • /roughen maybe even /shaper node with a blurred mask of the rivers
    This could emulate some of the initial use cases you’d want to use anastomosis.
  • Chain rivers directly, then anastomosis

I would isolate this section of your terrain and test some of the ideas to see what works best for you.

Hope that helps some more.

5

It took a while, as there is life beyond Gaea, but just to update you.
So it seems more like there was some kind of corruption for which repair didn’t fix, exporting a torlet into new project didnt fix. But couldnt get to the cause.

Thing is I dont think this was a build error, because it built, all nodes were processed, mods filtered throught to my end point LightX node. It was just the exports that were failing.

I rebuilt the whole thing from scratch - it works!

So none the wiser, the pain was real, but no lessons were learned!

Anyway, thanks for your help Ty!

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