Buldozer Out of memory : 4096x4096

[rocket 9]

Buldozer is crashing for me with the following error message:

http://www.dhd.co.nz/images/error.gif

When I try and view a map with a terrain grid size of 4096 x 4096, regardless of any other map setting that i change. Different resolution settings changed make no difference. I was able to load maps like this into buldozer without any problem before.

When I create a completely blank map, with 4096 x 4096 (any resolution) and try to run buldozer I get the same crash. When I choose lower terrain grid sizes, it does not.

Anyone have any ideas or can anyone confirm this is happening to them?

[Synide 0]

ya, the interaction 'tween O2PE (Big animation files loaded) / V3PE (Big Maps loaded) & the ArmA.exe in Buldozer mode is 'flakey' when the big amounts of data start being used in the tools.

ya get the same sorta error if you try to preview a 3,000 frame animations in O2PE. (Which equates to approx 200Mb of data)...

It'll work in Game mode just not in Buldozer mode atm... which adds about 50% timewise to workflow if you're trying to work on anything big.

So, you're only option is to build your island into a .pbo and launch the Game if you want to 'preview' - else, only use 2048x2048.

[rocket 9]

Well the curious thing is it works fine in 1.09 and earlier, because I run a dual installation and thats what I'd been making the map on. It just no longer works in 1.14.

[suma 8]

When working with a terrain of this size, make sure your texture grid is set to something like 4x of the terrain grid (40 m in your terrain grid is 10 m), otherwise the memory requirements are enormous.

[rocket 9]

Hi Suma, thanks for the info. I've tried all different options for the terrain grid, and the crash occurs during the end of "extruding valleys and hills", even with no sattelite map applied on a blank map straight after creating it.

This didn't occur during versions earlier than v1.14, and I can't make any map with a terrain grid size of 4096 x 4096 run in bulldozer in that mode. Curiously enough, I can load my previous map files (with config.ccp changes) in v1.14 without much problem, I just can't generate new ones.

[spirit 0]

Hi Suma, thanks for the info. I've tried all different options for the terrain grid, and the crash occurs during the end of "extruding valleys and hills", even with no sattelite map applied on a blank map straight after creating it.

This didn't occur during versions earlier than v1.14, and I can't make any map with a terrain grid size of 4096 x 4096 run in bulldozer in that mode. Curiously enough, I can load my previous map files (with config.ccp changes) in v1.14 without much problem, I just can't generate new ones.

Just a quick question here. Did you simple remove the satellite files from the directory and left the mask and/or the data files for the textures? If you only removed the sat map and left the mask i know where this prob might come from. Tahts why i ask:)

Not because that simple gives errors but something else does.

[rocket 9]

The steps to reproduce this crash for me a pretty easy:

1. Create a new map in Visitor with the terrain grid of 4096 x 4096.

2. Fire up Buldozer

3. Observe crash

Anyone else get that as well?

[opteryx 1562]

Yes I do.

[rocket 9]

Well, at least its not just me then!

My theory is that a new method of memory management in arma.exe, specifically in bulldozer, is not allowing enough memory for the geometry of such a large terrain object. It appears to be out by about 1,000kb in its heap so its pretty close to its high water mark - and 4096 x 4096 is a fairly extreme case of map sizes so might not have been tested in terms of high water marks.

Any idea anyone if theres a way to allocate more memory for Bulldozer in its terrain grid geometry memory heap?

[Synide 0]

Any idea anyone if theres a way to allocate more memory for Bulldozer in its terrain grid geometry memory heap?

not unless you start playing with interrupts...

and, yes, i concur on that these particular buldozer probs. only started with 1.14...

[rocket 9]

Ultimately, I think this is a "good" thing. It says to me that the team have really gone through the code and have leaned the memory right up. We do this ALOT with console games and it is AWFUL how hard it is to get things working so they don't crash. Just when you think you've allocated enough in one heap, theres some crazy case where you actually need more memory. My sneaking suspicion is that this is what we have here, a memory heap somewhere is too small to handle the completely decompressed terrain grid (thats alot of vertices!