env_fire properties

I seem to be having some trouble setting up an env_fire. I put it on top of func_breakable wood, and after about 15 seconds, the wood breaks, and the fire goes out. The only way to keep the fire going is if I move the func_breakables to world. It's driving me nuts

What I want to have is fire that only hurts the client... not anything else.... any way to achieve that? I tried making all of its damage set to zero... but it still hurts the player and still destroys all breakables around it.... how do I TURN OFF the damage on an env_fire.... and if you can't... what entity do I use for naturalistic flames without the flame pain output... something that I can just have a trigger_hurt around to control what I want to hurt and destroy and what not to.

If you're using Orange Box, you might want to use info_particle_system - which will look better anyway - though you might have to make your own particle system in the particle editor.

I do have the orange box, but I am mapping this for the core hl2 engine, so that everyone can play it. I might switch... I don't know. Is there an entity that isn't Orange Box specific that will allow me to have fire without pain?

I'm not sure how to make my own "particle system" .... and I don't know what a particle editor is. I don't know if this is relavent or not, but Valve VDC lists the particles that the info_particle_system can handle [url=http://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/Half-Life_2:_Episode_Two_Particle_Effect_List HERE[/url]. Among the list is NOT env_fire. The wiki for that entity is actually pretty vague comparitively... I'm not sure exactly what it does. I messed around with it in the Orange Box Episode 2 Hammer, but couldn't figure anything out...

anyone here wish to elaborate how I could make good looking fire with info_particle_system that does not hurt the player? I would prefer I have a non-hurting fire entity setup that works for all source games though.... not just Ep2 if possible.

http://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/Particle_editor

I'd say if someone's going to play single player, it's safe to say they have Ep2 installed. How else are you going to take advantage of the improved engine stability, HDR, shadow rendering, etc.

I recommend exporting a fire particle system from Portal and using that as a base. (Make sure you include the particle materials in your mod too)

Duly noted. Looking into the particle editor. If I switch to Ep2, is everything going to function the same? Is Ep2 completely backwards compatible across the board with official source entities and such?

It should function much the same.

---

Aaron's Stuff

CJ: I've converted to the Orange Juice Box. Thanks for that suggestion. It's the latest version of Source and I might as well make use of its potential. I have also converted my env_fire(s) into info_particle_system(s). It DOES look better with the built in embers and whatknot. It ALSO does not hurt you, which is most important to me at this point.... trigger_hurt ftw!

Now having said that... I kinda had to hack around to make it do what I want it to do. In Portal, the Particle system name keyvalue was called "fire_large_02" ...that one info_particle_system made for a whole fire in one area. I thought that fire_large_02 might be an entity it was referring to, but there was no such entity. It seems fire_large_02 is built into the info_particle_system and is referred to internally. So again I checked the Half-Life 2: Episode Two Particle Effect List for a list of internal entities so I could choose which one to display. Low and behold, there is NO fire entity whatsoever listed. So, While fire_large_02 was entirely too big for a simple torch (I compiled it, it filled a medium size room with fire) I decided to do some intelligent guesswork and renamed the particle system name keyvalue to "fire_small_02" . I compiled it and it is now a single flame... almost the perfect size!

I ran HL2:E2 with the -tools option to open the particle editor like you suggest to "edit" the particle system or whatever. And it worked once... I was baffled as to what to do, and closed it. Then I went to VDC for some preliminary help and got an idea of where to start, but now when I try to run HL2:E2 with the launch option -tools, it just crashes after it is open. Weird. so.... I cant get the in-game particle editor working or whatever, but the Orange Box's info_particle_system is indeed doing what I want it to! Thanks! I will google the error later to see what might be triggering the crash.

Aaron: It does seem to function the same... thanks for the response. Ive downloaded Night Terror and will try it in the next couple of days