Weird shadow glitch [Hammer Help]

[k4ppy]

I'm making my first map, but i've com'n up with a weird shadow glitch, idk what it is but...

...how do i fix this?

http://imgur.com/a/LGTT9

 

[Muddy]

Looks like the rocks are casting shadows. Double click on the rocks to open the properties, look for "Disable shadows" and change that to "Yes".

 

[k4ppy]

Looks like the rocks are casting shadows. Double click on the rocks to open the properties, look for "Disable shadows" and change that to "Yes".

Thanks! I'll try it, but are you sure those shadows apply to the entrance on the first picture?

 

[Muddy]

The shadows on the entrance may be due to the wooden frames also casting shadows. I recommend disabling the shadows on those too, as well as the support walls propped up against the walls of the mineshaft.

 

[iiboharz]

Actually - you don't really need to disable the shadows on those props (though that is still a valid solution). This is happening because you're running a compile which doesn't use -StaticPropPolys, which forces VRAD to cast prop shadows with polygonal precision. By default, Hammer casts shadows based on their collision model, or if there is no collision model, their bounding box.

You needn't worry about this for early compiles, though! For more information I would suggest checking this tutorial out. (in fact all of TopHATTwaffle's tutorials are fantastic)

 

[k4ppy]

Actually - you don't really need to disable the shadows on those props (though that is still a valid solution). This is happening because you're running a compile which doesn't use -StaticPropPolys, which forces VRAD to cast prop shadows with polygonal precision. By default, Hammer casts shadows based on their collision model, or if there is no collision model, their bounding box.

You needn't worry about this for early compiles, though! For more information I would suggest checking this tutorial out. (in fact all of TopHATTwaffle's tutorials are fantastic)

Oh okay :3 How do i enable this so called "StaticPropPolys"

 

[iiboharz]

It's an additional compile parameter that you add to VRAD before compile, however, considering this is one of your first maps, and it is in very early development, I would forget it for now. I was merely trying to demonstrate that this is a problem that will be fixed by a proper compile later on.

 

[k4ppy]

It's an additional compile parameter that you add to VRAD before compile, however, considering this is one of your first maps, and it is in very early development, I would forget it for now. I was merely trying to demonstrate that this is a problem that will be fixed by a proper compile later on.

Ok, thanks!

 

[Pocket]

Pretty sure Valve's maps disable shadows on those fiddly detail props most of the time though, since it makes such a tiny difference. I looked at Goldrush just now and it does.