Find and Repair Annoying Bad Shells
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Magic. I found the tools. You need the following materials in order to do this tutorial:
  1. NOTEPAD (in Win 9x, 2K: Start; Programs; Accessories; Notepad)
  2. D3Edit, preferred V 1.0+
  3. A level with a "BAD SHELL" (You can check for bad shells by going to the world view and clicking "Verify Mine" under the "File" menu.
If you have the above materials, you are ready to learn how to fix those ever-frustrating BAD SHELLS.
  1. Open your level that has a Bad Shell.
  2. Make sure you're in the "World View". Click "File", then click "Verify Mine"
  3. Once you've done that, open Notepad.
  4. Either press ctrl+V to paste or click "Edit", "Paste"
    This information will be a little tough to understand, but I'll try to explain it. What was pasted there was a list of errors provided by the "Verify Mine". This will be referred to as the Error List. If you have a bad shell you will find at least one line reading:
    Room # face #: No connection for edge #
    Where # is replaced with whole numbers.
  5. To find the rooms with problems, go to the "World View" in D3Edit. Near the bottom of the screen on the left side you should find a small window with the following text:
    R: #/# F: #/# P: -1/1 E: #/#......
    Where # is replaced with whole numbers.
  6. The first number is the important one. You can cross reference that with the Room # in the error list. Hit the "R" key until you find a room with an error in it (has the same number as one in the error list).
  7. Now go to the "Current Room View". Press the "F" key to cycle through faces until you find one where the third number in the lower left is the same number as "face #" in the error list. Final easy step: Press the "E" key until the fifth number in the lower left matches "for edge #" in the error list. From here on it gets really tough to explain.
  8. Repeat the last step to find all the edges that are open. You need to connect these edges to other open edges. It's hard to explain how to do this, because it's different each time you do it. I'll update this as soon as I find the consistencies with each situation. If you connect them right, presto, no more bad shells.

    What you might try is finding the holes made by the open edges. If the hole is planar, then mark all the points surrounding the hole, then insert a face. This should seal the hole and eliminate the open edges from the error list. (repeat steps 2 and 3 to refresh the error list)

If this tutorial didn't solve your problem with bad shells, contact me and I'll try to rephrase for you.
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