Making Switchable Textures Created 18 years ago2005-06-13 13:37:38 UTC by Elon Yariv

I want to make a switchable texture!! If I'll name it like this- +0~SCREEN -will it will be switchable ingame? (I have another texture that is going to be off) If it will work then it's easy to make special textures!

How do I choose which color of light the texture will emmit and how bright the light will be?

Dont we have a tutorial on making light emitting textures? And arn't there thousands of them on every HL modding site?

Not sure but I know that in the costum textures tutorial atom only explains how to include the wad files!!!

No, there is no tutorial in this site on this!!

Yes there is. It's called, appropriately, Texture Lighting. It's also covered in Light.

Realy, thanks!!

And the switchable texture? : (which is more importent)

Hehehe...as for the texlight I should have searched in the biginer section!!!

I still can't figure that tex light thing out. I think I just don't have the brain capacity.

There are a million tutorials on switchable textures.

Textlights are really simple. Simpy edit your lights.rad file, which lives in the same place as your ZHLT tools.

GENERIC88A 255 100 100 1000

The first column is the texture name, second column contains color and brightness information.

The first 3 subcolumns are the color of the light to be emitted from your texture. I use MS paint to pick a color, and then transcribe the numbers, but you can use just about anything--including a normal light entity in hammer--, to do the same.

Then all that's left is the brightness. I would recommend starting with a low number--50-100--to start, and then work up to the desired brightness.

And that's it. Simple as pie.

Yes, I know about the texlight but can you direct me to a tutorial thet explains how to create switchable textures!!! :

Have you ever tried looking at the textures in Wc? Thier named like this: +0~acs0 and +0~acs1 (these are two examples!!!)! So, your first texture was named +0~Screen, try to make a new one called +1~Screen (Im not sure if this will work cuz I dont know anything 'bout Switchable Textures myself )

The one that is off is seposed to be called like that +A~SCREEN and I just want to be sure that I know how to make it switchable!!! Do I just need to give two textures identical names and before those names write +0 or +A? Or is it more complucated? :

The new ZHLT (http://www.zhlt.tk allow you to add a style to any brush based entity with a texture light on any side(s)

Here's how it works:

Set a style of lighting for the texlight. Can be applied to any brush based entity.

Available styles are:

0 : "Normal"
-3 : "Grouped"
10 : "Fluorescent flicker"
2 : "Slow, strong pulse"
11 : "Slow pulse, noblack"
5 : "Gentle pulse"
1 : "Flicker A"
6 : "Flicker B"
3 : "Candle A"
7 : "Candle B"
8 : "Candle C"
4 : "Fast strobe"
9 : "Slow strobe"
12 : "Underwater"
The Grouped setting is essentially a hack to allow your texlights to be switchable. To use it, create a brush entity with texlights on it, and set its style to Grouped; then create a light entity with the same name as the brush entity. Hlrad will now pretend that the light emitted by the texlight is "really" being emitted by your light entity. In other words, turning the light on and off will now turn the texlights on and off, too.

You'll probably want to set the brightness of the light entity to 0.01, so that it emits no light of its own (this trick is unnecessary if you're using Spirit of Half-Life, which supports switchable texlights directly).

I have no problem with changing Lights.RAD but the must texture change or else it will look stupid! And I know I can do it with Func_walltoggle but I already have the textures and all I need is to make them switchable!!!

Read my post and try that.

[b]+0~SCREEN[/b]

[b]+A~SCREEN[/b]

You meen that if I'll use your metaod and trigger the func_wall it will change its texture,+0~SCREEN, into the +A~SCREEN texture!?! If it changes its texture then is it because of the texture's name? :

Why didn't you try it instead of posting?

I don't want to crash Hl1 or something like that!

Do you want those textures to emit light?

+0~SCREEN orange-ish color
+A~SCREEN light grey-ish color

And when those texture switch, you also want the light to switch? From grey to orange and vice versa?

Yes, only that +A~SCREEN emmits no light!! They did it already with many texlights!!!

I don't want to crash Hl1 or something like that!

Biggest chicken I ever heard of

Rofl.

Anyway: add

Just place a light entity in front of the orange screen and trigger both the brush (func_wall) and the light goes off when switched to the grey screen.

oh, You're so Creative, env_muzzleflash

Ok, i did some testing and i got it. Here you go, elon:

First, rename your "on" texture to +0~SCREEN_EY and the "off" texture to +A~SCREEN_EY. Then add these in a new or existing wad file.
Then openup your lights.rad/valve.rad file and add this line:

+0~SCREEN_EY 230 85 0 1200

Now go into Hammer and make a brush with your "on" texture on it. Turn this brush into a func_wall and name it screen_light. Then go the Style option and select Grouped. If you don't see the Style option, turn off smart-edit and add a new key and value:

key: style
value: -3

Next, place a light entity anywhere near and name it the same as your brush, in this case: screen_light. Set its color and brightness to 255 255 255 0.01, so that it won't emit any light of its own.

Now make a func_button and let it target the brush (screen_light). Goto its flags and check Don't move and Toggled.

Thats it, save and compile this map with the ZHLT 3.0 or higher. 3.2 is out, so use that one. Don't use older tools.

If you use the button ingame, the screen texture goes to its off version and the orange light dissapears. If you use button again, the screen texture goes back to its on version and the orange light reappears.

If you can't figure this out, i got an example map and everything ready for you.

Thanks, muzzleflash!!

And I use zhlt 3.2

Man it's annoying! Why do I have to use this light entity!?! If I'll use regular half-life texlight that are swtchable then I wont need to do it! There have to be a way to make it work like in the half-life textures!! :

Are there actually switchable half-life textures?? which are those?
I thought that switchable lights were made with a point light entity and using the "turned off" textures that most of the lights have.

?

Does it still work without the light entity?

No, when the texture changes the light stays!! :

Well there you go, you NEED the light entity.

And again:

The Grouped setting is essentially a hack to allow your texlights to be switchable. To use it, create a brush entity with texlights on it, and set its style to Grouped; then create a light entity with the same name as the brush entity. Hlrad will now pretend that the light emitted by the texlight is "really" being emitted by your light entity. In other words, turning the light on and off will now turn the texlights on and off, too.

No it's not, to be able to switch a texture you just need a +0 texture and a +A texture!!!

He's talking about switching the light from it!

Ohhh...I get it!!!

After I typed the style value in the func_wall I chacked for problems and it said that it's an unused key!!

Tried the thingy with the light but it didn't work! (I didn't do the grouped thingy cause of the problem)

Just ignore the unused key. Its because Styles are not in your fgd file.

And you must set the Style to Grouped (-3) or else ?t won't work.

Did everything you told me to but it didn't work so could you post an example? :

There is one here already by BJ, called, amazingly:

Switchalable Textlights

I'm not sure if it's the same as Muzzle's method, because I've not tried it.

I know how to switch texlight but with my texlights it's diffrent!! :

Rowleybob, thats an example that uses a different way of making switchable texture lights.

I got the example at work, so ill upload it at the vault tomorrow.

Elon: you should actually look at the example map then. This is what your looking for.

Muzzle: looking forward to your example.

Thanks helped to insert another detail in the map!!! Sorry I didn't knew it's going to be so complicated but once when I created a switchable texlight with those tnnl lights I didn't need all these stuff! :

Nope, this only applies at custom texture lights.

Great example! Texture lighting looks soooo much better that point-based, and what a nice, easy way to make them switchable!