End of the Tunnel Effect

Ever wondered how to do the lighting effect at the end of the tunnels in the coast levels? Actually it's really simple - I'll be showing one way to achive the same effect.

The areaportal way
Pros: Saves on FPS
Cons: Can only be used one-way. Looking at it when fully closed outside the tunnel will cause a Hall of Mirrors effect.

Ok, in my example map, I have a basic tunnel with a road in the middle.


First, make a box that covers the entire opening of your tunnel. I suggest making it 1 unit thick. Make this box a func_areaportalwindow


Open up the properties folder. Inside I set these settings:
Rendered Window bright1
Fade Start Distance 512
Fade End Distance 1772
Translucency Limit 0

Next, make a box surrounding the areaportal window. I made mine 3 units thick. Make it a func_illusionary and set these settings:
Name bright1
Disable Shadows Yes
Disable Recieving Shadows Yes

Now, texture the func_illusionary tools/nodraw on all sides. Then texture only the side that is facing the inside of the tunnel with skybox/sky_fake_white. Heres a example:


Almost done, now we need to add a light to the end of the tunnel to add realism to the effect. Add a simple light entity and set the brightness to 255 255 255 500.
Note: For more realism add an env_lightglow at the edge of the func_areaportal.

That should do it, add a info_player_start and check it out.

I hope you enjoyed my first tutorial on the snarkpit. Any and all comments would be welcome. If you have any questions, feel free to pm me.

Thanks for looking.