Is there a way to "kill" a light_environment?

mmik

L2: Junior Member
Dec 28, 2008
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I tried adding a name to my light_environment, but it didn't have any inputs when I tried to make an output.

Is there a way to shut off/kill a light_environment?
 

A Boojum Snark

Toraipoddodezain Mazahabado
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Nov 2, 2007
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No. In fact the entity does not even exist in the final map, as it's used to calculate lightmaps and is then removed (which is the same as a light/light_spot without a name).
 

mmik

L2: Junior Member
Dec 28, 2008
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Ok, I guess my next question is, how taxing would it be for a rather large door to move over my map, blocking out all sunlight? D:

Are there any more rational ways to do this?
 

A Boojum Snark

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Nov 2, 2007
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That wouldn't actually do anything. As I said, light_env lighting is calculated at compile and then that's that. There is no way to change it while running the map. There is no light being actively cast for the door to block.

The only possible way to fake it would be a ton of light_spots trying to fake sunlight, but it would look poor and you would probably run into the entity limit (since named lights stay in the map to be toggled) long before you had it looking even halfway decent. Not to mention you would be doubling the amount of data needed for the lightmaps.
 

Earl

L6: Sharp Member
Dec 21, 2007
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In the goldsrc engine it was possible to have flickering/blinking/toggled lights. Isn't it at least possible to have a toggled light in source? He could just create a very bright constant attenuation light far away from the map.
 

A Boojum Snark

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Yeah, but it would have to be really far away for it to not be noticable as not coming from the sky. That would result in a lot of dead sky space to get it that far off.
 

Pseudo

L6: Sharp Member
Jan 26, 2008
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With constant attenuation the light is unaffected by distance so I don't think it would have to be an extreme distance away. A simple light entity could be toggled. Although if this is used for the entire map I'm not sure how the performance would be.
 
Jan 31, 2008
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It would have to build the lightmaps for every surface the lights hit twice.
Would take ages to compile especially with HDR
 

A Boojum Snark

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Nov 2, 2007
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With constant attenuation the light is unaffected by distance so I don't think it would have to be an extreme distance away. A simple light entity could be toggled. Although if this is used for the entire map I'm not sure how the performance would be.

I'm not seeing how you could make it appear as all light is coming from the same angle, rather than a point somewhere above the map. Wouldn't it still cast shadows with constant? and if it didn't... that would be just as weird for the sun to not be making shadows.
 

TotalMark

L6: Sharp Member
Feb 13, 2008
331
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dev_sun0000.jpg

dev_sun0001.jpg

dev_sun0002.jpg


I tried some stuff with a "light" set to "constant 1" and a orange white light. It's not too far from the skybox. Stepping into the gray area shuts it off.

There is still dropoff though.
 

mmik

L2: Junior Member
Dec 28, 2008
76
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Hey, I got exactly what I needed with a block-light brush. Thanks for the support, though. Real educational, guys.
 

teddyruxpin

Sr. Hygiene Technician
Mar 24, 2008
83
26
You can also make some adjustments to the HDR lighting using a tonemap controller but I have found when you use it to kill or change the colors of the lighting you get very odd shadowing affects and complete and utter darkness in areas where you can not see a brush vs open space.

-Teddy