Drawbridge Lighting Error

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Another Bad Pun

In the shadows, he saw four eyes lit by fire
aa
Jan 15, 2011
801
1,844
I made a drawbridge!
It looks pretty nice at first:
open.png

But when it closes, the lighting stays the same, and it looks awful.
closed.png

I'm using func_door_rotating to make them move into the bridge position. I think the issue is that the origin for both of them, including the dark one, is at the bottom of the bridge. This is really the only way I could get them to work, but I think it comes with the cost of the lighting not updating. As there anything I can do? Or should I just spend some time reworking it?
 

Spipper

Former cheese man Gorgonzola
aa
Feb 18, 2012
246
407
I had a similar problem with one of the pop-up signs in pollution, where the func_door brushpillars holding the sign would be pitch black. Ensuring the pillars stayed above ground and not below, when the map compiled, fixed that problem, since it seems like the light is baked into the brush on compile or something cool.
So a possible solution: Make sure the initial position of the bridge is closed and then quickly open it on mapspawn or whatever. That way it won't look awful when it's closed.
 
Last edited:

Vel0city

func_fish
aa
Dec 6, 2014
1,947
1,589
^this^

If you save the map and send it off to the compiler with the bridge open and one side is in the shadow VRAD will put it in the shadow, and since the light is baked on the brush it won't change brightness when the brush moves position. You have to close the bridge in Hammer, compile and have an entity that puts it in the open position when the map spawns, usually in the entity that controls the bridge or a logic_relay. Better yet: don't put it in the full sun. It'll either look weird if it's open or closed.
 

Pocket

Half a Lambert is better than one.
aa
Nov 14, 2009
4,694
2,579
The only drawback is that your facing edges will be pitch black no matter what, in this case. But if you ever get this map to beta, you might be able to get someone to make custom props for the bridge and not have to rely on brushwork at all. Dynamic props have real-time lighting and will end up looking nicer.