AllocBlock:Full

This article or section needs to be updated to include current information regarding the subject because:

• AllocBlock is the allocation of lightmaps (64 in first-party titles, 512 in ).
• AllocBlock errors are almost always texture-related in this day and age.
• AllocBlock is why GoldSrc mappers use 1.0 texture scale by default.

Remember to check for any notes left by the tagger at this article's talk page.

Description

While compiling or attempting to play it, your map has hit some sort of memory limit.

Causes

Almost anything can cause this error.

• A brush entity is too large. (most common)
• Not enough system RAM. At least 128 mb is recommended.
• Byproduct of a leaf saw into leaf error.
• File pathnames are too long.
• Too many textures/WAD files being used, or they are scaled to too high of a texel density.
• The level is simply too large in general.
• Too many SKY faces on hidden brush faces in the level.

Solution

This article or section needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality because:

Most of these "solutions" are for other compile errors, not AllocBlock. AllocBlock errors are purely related to lightmap generation. Lightmaps are always 16 luxels per texel, so the easiest way to use up AllocBlock is to have a lot of brushes with dense texture scales.

For help, see the VDC Editing Help and Wikipedia cleanup process. Also, remember to check for any notes left by the tagger at this article's talk page.

• (Pre-compile) Reduce resolution and quantity of used textures. Consider using Detail textures to increase the perceived quality of WAD textures, instead of using high-res WAD textures.

Important:Users whose GPUs have blocked the GL_ARB_multitexture extension (such as for enabling overbright lighting) will not see detail textures.

• (Compile) Use the 64-bit version of HLRAD to take advantage of more system RAM.

Note:While the game itself is 32-bit, the fact that the CPU has to all the rendering during compiling means that it uses the System RAM for holding stuff that would be stored in VRAM in the game itself. This means that particularly complicated maps and maps with a lot of textures can sometimes fail to compile on 32-bit compilers, but compile fine using 64-bit compilers.

• (Compile) Try using a third-party compile tool interface to compile your map, instead of the Run Map interface in Hammer. This will free up more system memory to allocate to your map compile.
• (Compile) Check for any overly large brush entities, such as large trigger_hurt entities.
• (In-game) Some rendering properties may cause the OpenGL or Direct3D renderer to crash. Try testing the map in the Software renderer.