Sun/Shadow Effect (lighting) Created 16 years ago2007-07-16 01:46:21 UTC by ip

I've almost done my map, and I have one final touch I'd like to add to it. I'm trying to get it so that my light creates shadow effects behind objects. During the construction of my map, I'm almost positive that it use to create shadow effects behind brushs, but now it just lights up the entire map. In odd corners, completely blocked by the light, the area is still bright. I'm using a light_spot, set to 'is sky'.

Any help please on how to do this would be appriciated.

Does it have a pitch set? Try -45 or -60 (my personal favorite).

on your light environment or light or light_spot there is pitch. this regulates the shadows, have a go with that. If your too lazy then try the pitch on something like -35, but it depends on how much shadow you want.

Edit: argh srry.... your fast

And it doesn't "regulate the shadows", it's just the angle the light is coming off the sky. There's always shadows if it's not fullbright.

Still,I don't think the pitch is really your problem. It sounds more like a compiling thing to me. Did this just start happening?

Never use a light_spot to light the sky, use light_environment instead. A light_spot will light any models(and is especially noticeable on view models) with the sky lighting from the previous map played. This can cause series visual issues, especially if you just finished playing a map with green lighting(IE Xen), and your map is supposed to have white light.
with You probably haven't caught this yet because you haven't seen your map in a map cycle.

Strange, it's been suggested often here that the light_spot entity is superior to light_environment in terms of lighting quality. I never noticed a difference, but figured somebody knew what they were talking about and just did what I was told. Does this same problem afflict regular single player maps?

Somehow i think he has a leak, not a lightning issue.

Srry: Most likely. I've never mapped more than one continuous SP map with differently colored light_spots for the sky in each. But the likelyhood of that scenario in SP is so slim, whereas with multiplayer you are prety much guaranteed that scenario.
And you're right in saying that a light_spot delivers higher lighting quality than a normal light_environment, because a light_spot applies model lighting relevant to the light's position(as opposed to just taking the light level of the world under it) and its not so uniform. But if the lighting is all off in the first place ecause of something as simple as a map change, that special lighting doesn't look so special, you know?

Ok, I've tried both light_spot and environment with a pitch of -60 (I originally had -90, so it was always facing down) and I'm still not getting any shadow. I have no idea how to make a map full bright... I have no leaks, and here is my compile log:
** Executing...
** Command: Change Directory
** Parameters: "C:Program FilesSteamSteamAppsx4xaaronx4xcounter-strike"

** Executing...
** Command: C:PROGRA~1ZHLThlcsg.exe
** Parameters: "c:program filesvalve hammer editormapsaim_riverbank" -wadinclude cz_druglab -wadinclude zhlt

hlcsg v3.4 Final (Feb 25 2006)
Zoner's Half-Life Compilation Tools -- Custom Build
Based on code modifications by Sean 'Zoner' Cavanaugh
Based on Valve's version, modified with permission.
Submit detailed bug reports to (amckern@yahoo.com)
--- BEGIN hlcsg ---
Command line: C:PROGRA~1ZHLThlcsg.exe "c:program filesvalve hammer editormapsaim_riverbank"-wadinclude cz_druglab -wadinclude zhlt
Entering c:program filesvalve hammer editormapsaim_riverbank.map

Current hlcsg Settings
Name | Setting | Default
--------------------|-----------|------------------------
threads [ 1 ] [ Varies ]
verbose [ off ] [ off ]
log [ on ] [ on ]
developer [ 0 ] [ 0 ]
chart [ off ] [ off ]
estimate [ off ] [ off ]
max texture memory [ 4194304 ] [ 4194304 ]
max lighting memory [ 6291456 ] [ 6291456 ]
priority [ Normal ] [ Normal ]

noclip [ off ] [ off ]
null texture stripping[ on ] [ on ]
clipnode economy mode [ on ] [ on ]
clip hull type [ legacy ] [ legacy ]
onlyents [ off ] [ off ]
wadtextures [ on ] [ on ]
skyclip [ on ] [ on ]
hullfile [ None ] [ None ]
nullfile [ None ] [ None ]
min surface area [ 0.500 ] [ 0.500 ]
brush union threshold [ 0.000 ] [ 0.000 ]

Using mapfile wad configuration
Wadinclude list :
[zhlt.wad]
[cz_druglab]
[zhlt]

0 brushes (totalling 0 sides) discarded from clipping hulls
CreateBrush:
10%...20%...30%...40%...50%...60%...70%...80%...90%... (0.73 seconds)
SetModelCenters:
10%...20%...30%...40%...50%...60%...70%...80%...90%... (0.00 seconds)
CSGBrush:
10%...20%...30%...40%...50%...60%...70%...80%...90%... (0.39 seconds)

Including Wadfile: program filesvalve hammer editorwadscz_druglab.wad

• Contains 9 used textures, 52.94 percent of map (132 textures in wad)

Using Wadfile: valvecondition zerovalvedecals.wad

• Contains 0 used textures, 0.00 percent of map (222 textures in wad)

Using Wadfile: valvecondition zerovalvehalflife.wad

• Contains 7 used textures, 41.18 percent of map (3117 textures in wad)

Using Wadfile: valvecondition zerovalveliquids.wad

• Contains 0 used textures, 0.00 percent of map (32 textures in wad)

Using Wadfile: valvecondition zerovalvexeno.wad

• Contains 0 used textures, 0.00 percent of map (264 textures in wad)

Including Wadfile: program fileszhltzhlt.wad

• Contains 1 used texture, 5.88 percent of map (8 textures in wad)

added 2 additional animating textures.
Texture usage is at 0.37 mb (of 4.00 mb MAX)
2.42 seconds elapsed

--- END hlcsg ---

** Executing...
** Command: C:PROGRA~1ZHLThlbsp.exe
** Parameters: "c:program filesvalve hammer editormapsaim_riverbank"

hlbsp v3.4 Final (Feb 25 2006)
Zoner's Half-Life Compilation Tools -- Custom Build
Based on code modifications by Sean 'Zoner' Cavanaugh
Based on Valve's version, modified with permission.
Submit detailed bug reports to (amckern@yahoo.com)
--- BEGIN hlbsp ---
Command line: C:PROGRA~1ZHLThlbsp.exe "c:program filesvalve hammer editormapsaim_riverbank"

Current hlbsp Settings
Name | Setting | Default
------------------|-----------|------------------------
threads [ 1 ] [ Varies ]
verbose [ off ] [ off ]
log [ on ] [ on ]
developer [ 0 ] [ 0 ]
chart [ off ] [ off ]
estimate [ off ] [ off ]
max texture memory [ 4194304 ] [ 4194304 ]
priority [ Normal ] [ Normal ]

noclip [ off ] [ off ]
nofill [ off ] [ off ]
noopt [ off ] [ off ]
null tex. stripping [ on ] [ on ]
notjunc [ off ] [ off ]
subdivide size [ 240 ] [ 240 ] (Min 64) (Max 512)
max node size [ 1024 ] [ 1024 ] (Min 64) (Max 8192)

SolidBSP [hull 0] 267 (0.03 seconds)
BSP generation successful, writing portal file 'c:program filesvalve hammer editormapsaim_riverbank.prt'
SolidBSP [hull 1] 294 (0.02 seconds)
SolidBSP [hull 2] 295 (0.02 seconds)
SolidBSP [hull 3] 294 (0.02 seconds)
1.30 seconds elapsed

--- END hlbsp ---

** Executing...
** Command: C:PROGRA~1ZHLThlvis.exe
** Parameters: "c:program filesvalve hammer editormapsaim_riverbank"

hlvis v3.4 Final (Feb 25 2006)
Zoner's Half-Life Compilation Tools -- Custom Build
Based on code modifications by Sean 'Zoner' Cavanaugh
Based on Valve's version, modified with permission.
Submit detailed bug reports to (amckern@yahoo.com)
--- BEGIN hlvis ---
Command line: C:PROGRA~1ZHLThlvis.exe "c:program filesvalve hammer editormapsaim_riverbank"
119 portalleafs
251 numportals

= Current hlvis Settings =
Name | Setting | Default
------------------|-----------|------------------------
threads [ 1 ] [ Varies ]
verbose [ off ] [ off ]
log [ on ] [ on ]
developer [ 0 ] [ 0 ]
chart [ off ] [ off ]
estimate [ off ] [ off ]
max texture memory [ 4194304 ] [ 4194304 ]
max vis distance [ 0 ] [ 0 ]
priority [ Normal ] [ Normal ]

fast vis [ off ] [ off ]
full vis [ off ] [ off ]

BasePortalVis:
10%...20%...30%...40%...50%...60%...70%...80%...90%... (0.03 seconds)
LeafThread:
10%...20%...30%...40%...50%...60%...70%...80%...90%... (0.08 seconds)
average leafs visible: 35
g_visdatasize:2040 compressed from 1785
0.13 seconds elapsed

--- END hlvis ---

** Executing...
** Command: C:PROGRA~1ZHLThlrad.exe
** Parameters: "c:program filesvalve hammer editormapsaim_riverbank"

hlrad v3.4 Final (Feb 25 2006)
Zoner's Half-Life Compilation Tools -- Custom Build
Based on code modifications by Sean 'Zoner' Cavanaugh
Based on Valve's version, modified with permission.
Submit detailed bug reports to (amckern@yahoo.com)
--- BEGIN hlrad ---
Command line: C:PROGRA~1ZHLThlrad.exe "c:program filesvalve hammer editormapsaim_riverbank"

= Current hlrad Settings =
Name | Setting | Default
-------------------|---------------------|------------------------
threads [ 1 ] [ Varies ]
verbose [ off ] [ off ]
log [ on ] [ on ]
developer [ 0 ] [ 0 ]
chart [ off ] [ off ]
estimate [ off ] [ off ]
max texture memory [ 4194304 ] [ 4194304 ]
max lighting memory [ 6291456 ] [ 6291456 ]
priority [ Normal ] [ Normal ]

vismatrix algorithm [ Original ] [ Original ]
oversampling (-extra)[ off ] [ off ]
bounces [ 1 ] [ 1 ]
bounce dynamic light [ on ] [ on ]
ambient light [ 0.000 0.000 0.000 ] [ 0.000 0.000 0.000 ]
maximum light [ 255.000 ] [ 256.000 ]
circus mode [ off ] [ off ]

smoothing threshold [ 50.000 ] [ 50.000 ]
direct threshold [ 25.000 ] [ 25.000 ]
direct light scale [ 2.000 ] [ 2.000 ]
coring threshold [ 1.000 ] [ 1.000 ]
patch interpolation [ on ] [ on ]

texscale [ on ] [ on ]
patch subdividing [ on ] [ on ]
chop value [ 64.000 ] [ 64.000 ]
texchop value [ 32.000 ] [ 32.000 ]

global fade [ 1.000 ] [ 1.000 ]
global falloff [ 2 ] [ 2 ]
global light scale [ 1.000 1.000 1.000 ] [ 1.000 1.000 1.000 ]
global gamma [ 0.500 0.500 0.500 ] [ 0.500 0.500 0.500 ]
global light scale [ 1.000 ] [ 1.000 ]
global sky diffusion [ 1.000 ] [ 1.000 ]

opaque entities [ on ] [ on ]
sky lighting fix [ on ] [ on ]
incremental [ off ] [ off ]
dump [ off ] [ off ]

colour jitter [ 0.0 0.0 0.0 ] [ 0.0 0.0 0.0 ]
monochromatic jitter [ 0.0 0.0 0.0 ] [ 0.0 0.0 0.0 ]
softlight hack [ 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 ] [ 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 ]
diffuse hack [ on ] [ on ]
spotlight points [ on ] [ on ]

custom shadows with bounce light

[               off ] [               off ]

rgb transfers [ off ] [ off ]

[Reading texlights from 'C:PROGRA~1ZHLTlights.rad']
[59 texlights parsed from 'C:PROGRA~1ZHLTlights.rad']

3447 faces
Create Patches : 16966 base patches
0 opaque faces
175222 square feet [25232058.00 square inches]
1 direct lights

BuildFacelights:
10%...20%...30%...40%...50%...60%...70%...80%...90%... (87.14 seconds)
visibility matrix : 17.2 megs
BuildVisLeafs:
10%...20%...30%...40%...50%...60%...70%...80%...90%... (16.97 seconds)
MakeScales:
10%...20%...30%...40%...50%...60%...70%...80%...90%... (25.23 seconds)
SwapTransfers:
10%...20%...30%...40%...50%...60%...70%...80%...90%... (12.86 seconds)
Transfer Lists : 13283648 : 13.28M transfers

Indices :     3815200 :    3.64M bytes
   Data :    53134592 :   50.67M bytes

Bounce 1 GatherLight:
10%...20%...30%...40%...50%...60%...70%...80%...90%... (2.83 seconds)
FinalLightFace:
10%...20%...30%...40%...50%...60%...70%...80%...90%... (1.58 seconds)
147.91 seconds elapsed [2m 27s]

--- END hlrad ---

** Executing...
** Command: Copy File
** Parameters: "c:program filesvalve hammer editormapsaim_riverbank.bsp" "C:Program FilesSteamSteamAppsx4xaaronx4xcounter-strikecstrikemapsaim_riverbank.bsp"

** Executing...
** Command: Copy File
** Parameters: "c:program filesvalve hammer editormapsaim_riverbank.pts" "C:Program FilesSteamSteamAppsx4xaaronx4xcounter-strikecstrikemapsaim_riverbank.pts"

** Executing...
** Command: C:PROGRA~1SteamSTEAMA~1X4XAAR~1COUNTE~2hl.exe
** Parameters: +map "aim_riverbank" -game cstrike -dev -console +deathmatch 1

Everything seems to be alright in the log..
Post your .rmf in problem maps.

Ok, here the link:

http://twhl.co.za/mapvault_map.php?id=4717

Is your light inside of something by any chance?? like if the light_environment is INSIDE a brush it won't light anything.. just a thought

Could be related to you putting 2 layers of sky-brushes around your map. Remove the outer sky-brush-layer and you'll end up with a leak, seal it and the problem should be fixed.

Okay, I'll try that right now, also I added the extra 1 pixel layer above the walls because people could jump up and sit ontop of it..

would changing them to clip brushs work?

@tetsu0: no the light is well spaced from any brush.

EDIT: So far its not working... :

You've turned almost your whole map into func_wall, that's always a bad idea...

Note that brushbased entities (doors, trains, buttons etc and func_walls) don't cast any shadows...

Ah I see, thank you.

Also entities do not block VIS, but they do not split faces either since VIS sees through them...http://www.cryotank.net/maps/tutorials/rspeeds2.html