Noob Lighting / Shading Questions

[tomnoble]

Ok, I'm guessing this must be the noobiest question ever asked on the net because I can't find a single post on it, but I just can't sort it out...

My map lacks any amount of shading what so ever. I'm hoping by this point your all going "ahh, wat a noob its blablabla" but in case your not i'll carry on.
I've placed light_environment and nothing has changed, I've tried to place a env_light entity that i've heard bashed about on some forums but i dont seem to have the option :S and i've also added a few spot lights with no result.

PLEASE help as i'm about to pull out my eyes and smash in my pc with them.

cheers.

 

[MangyCarface]

Couple things to check. Enclose your map in a skybox-textured hollow box, for one thing. Then make sure when you're compiling you've set your map to run both vvis and rad. Light_env only comes from skybox textures I believe, so you'll want to completely light your map using the "light" entity where there's no open sky above the area. Try running it all under fast vvis and rad to save yourself compiling time. If these things don't work please post a compiling log (the notepad like file generated from a compile)

 

[Paria]

is the lighting outoors ? do you have a skybox set up correctly ?

and the entity used most seems to be

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

coupled with an

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

or a

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

 

[Earl]

If your map is coming up as fullbright, you might have a leak. Check the compile log.

 

[tomnoble]

hazaa! adding in a skybox was what was needed here. Seems obvious, i know but my entire map was to be enclosed in a 'shopping center' style building and i assumed it wasn't needed.

now to work out how to light things well, have a feeling the worst is yet to come

Thanks a bunch guys,

tom

 

[MangyCarface]

Tom, sounds like you have a leak. Since your building must have been constructed to not have a sky, you have left a gap in your map somewhere that lets light out into the netherverse. There are a couple steps to solving this (for optimization's sake you don't want a skybox out there forever, it's a fix just for now.) The valve developer community has a great article on leaks and fixing them. Here are a couple tips:

Make sure you have no entities outside of your map.
Make sure your props don't protrude out of your map.
Make sure to seal the entire area so that no black is showing.

After you've done this, compile and look for the LEAK LEAK LEAK error in the compiling log.
If it persists/is still there, open up Hammer again and go to Map->Load Pointfile->Load default pointfile. This will place a red bouncing line in your map that traces the light bounce that exited the map from its origin to the place it exited. This will show you where your leak is. Failing that, you can use the Cordones to block off your map until you find the leak. Remember you don't need to run hlrad to find a leak, you only need vvis. Hope that helps.

 

[trackhed]

you only need VBSP to find a leak actually