Basic Texture Lighting
by R@lph VViggum (view all articles)
unrated
It's easier and better than the light entity!
by R@lph VViggum (view all articles)
unrated
It's easier and better than the light entity!
Texture lighting is one of the best things for giving your map a look that could make people say ?wow.? Ever play a map with a pop machine and it seemed to throw off light? Have you put a pop machine in your map and it wasn?t like that? That?s because you need to make sure everything is ready to understand and interpret texture lighting before you can use it. This tutorial will show you the basics on how to do that. Texture lights are a way of giving a variety of color, and an air of realism when it comes to illumination in your map.
Setting Up
Firstly, you have to go to your Hammer program folder (C:Program FilesValve Hammer Editor). Go into the ?Tools? folder. In there you?ll find 2 ".rad" files named valve.rad, and lights.rad . Open lights.rad, and copy the single entry inside it to the clipboard. When this is completed, delete the lights.rad file. Take your valve.rad file and rename it to lights.rad. Paste the clipboard contents into "valve.rad" then rename it to "lights.rad" Now you should have one RAD file, which is "lights.rad" - but with more entries than the one you previously deleted.
You're now ready to use texture lights for Hammer's compile tools, if you use Zoner?s, copy your lights.rad into (C:Program FilesZHLT (or wherever you installed Zoners Tools)). You're now set for texture lighting with both compile tools.
Usage
Once you?ve got everything set up, open up Hammer and open your map or start afresh. You can now add lighting to your level without the light entity. All you have to do is place a brush with one of the ?texture light? textures (ie any of the textures listed in your "lights.rad"). Most of the light textures in the halflife.wad file are ?tex lights.? - but not all of them, go open up your lights.rad file in either your Hammer or ZHLT program folders. It?s a big list of textures, followed by their light properties. Since you?re a beginner at this, you shouldn?t mess with those values. For an example, use the texture +0~FIFTS_LGHT01 and make a brush that looks like a light, then make basic room, put in a info_player_start, but DON?T put a light entity in. Now play your map. When you?re map plays, you?ll notice it emits lights. Congrats.
Conclusion
After a while, you?ll get used to knowing which textures are texture lights. Thus, not having to use the lights.rad as a reference all the time. If you want to know how create your own texture lights, look for my ?Advanced Texture Lighting? tutorial.
Setting Up
Firstly, you have to go to your Hammer program folder (C:Program FilesValve Hammer Editor). Go into the ?Tools? folder. In there you?ll find 2 ".rad" files named valve.rad, and lights.rad . Open lights.rad, and copy the single entry inside it to the clipboard. When this is completed, delete the lights.rad file. Take your valve.rad file and rename it to lights.rad. Paste the clipboard contents into "valve.rad" then rename it to "lights.rad" Now you should have one RAD file, which is "lights.rad" - but with more entries than the one you previously deleted.
You're now ready to use texture lights for Hammer's compile tools, if you use Zoner?s, copy your lights.rad into (C:Program FilesZHLT (or wherever you installed Zoners Tools)). You're now set for texture lighting with both compile tools.
Usage
Once you?ve got everything set up, open up Hammer and open your map or start afresh. You can now add lighting to your level without the light entity. All you have to do is place a brush with one of the ?texture light? textures (ie any of the textures listed in your "lights.rad"). Most of the light textures in the halflife.wad file are ?tex lights.? - but not all of them, go open up your lights.rad file in either your Hammer or ZHLT program folders. It?s a big list of textures, followed by their light properties. Since you?re a beginner at this, you shouldn?t mess with those values. For an example, use the texture +0~FIFTS_LGHT01 and make a brush that looks like a light, then make basic room, put in a info_player_start, but DON?T put a light entity in. Now play your map. When you?re map plays, you?ll notice it emits lights. Congrats.
Conclusion
After a while, you?ll get used to knowing which textures are texture lights. Thus, not having to use the lights.rad as a reference all the time. If you want to know how create your own texture lights, look for my ?Advanced Texture Lighting? tutorial.
Thanks!!
