98 lines
4.1 KiB
Markdown
98 lines
4.1 KiB
Markdown
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Here we'll run down the practices of lighting your map using
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[WorldSpawn](/WorldSpawn "wikilink") and [vmap](/vmap "wikilink").
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## Basic Rules {#basic_rules}
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- Point lights are hard to maintain, use surface lights (either
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[vmap_surfaceLight (Material
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Command)](/vmap_surfaceLight_(Material_Command) "wikilink") or
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[light_surface](/light_surface "wikilink"))
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- [light_environment](/light_environment "wikilink") will do a bulk of
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the world lighting, it should even be used in afternoon and dark
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settings
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- Avoid ambient lighting, unless you know exactly what you want, or
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you're in a completely interior-only map
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## Global settings {#global_settings}
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[light_environment](/light_environment "wikilink") will do the bulk
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work. It emits light from any sky surface, such as `common/skyportal`.
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The amount of samples specify how many **passes** are done. This will be
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~evened~ out to match the desired **intensity**, so increasing samples
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does **not** make the map brighter.
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Using more than 1 sample is useful if you want less harsh-shadows. Even
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a value of 4 with a `sunspreadangle` of e.g. 5-10 degrees is sensible
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for day-time maps. It makes them look less artifacting too. The theory
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is, the cloudier the world is, the softer the shadows are - so we need
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more **samples** and a `sunspreadangle` that's wider to accommodate
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that.
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The `sunspreadangle` will determine how far apart the different samples
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will be spread. E.g. if you set it to '0' it will do nothing. Every
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light_environment sample will take place on the exact same spot, from
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the same angle. However if you set it to 360 (the maximum amount), each
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sample will spread out to get a full 360 coverage of the map. Resulting
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in a lightmap without any real contrasting shadows.
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## Which light_environment color to use? {#which_light_environment_color_to_use}
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99% of the time it's going to be white. Let `_ambient` inside your
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light_environment tint the shadows the color of the sky, let radiosity
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do its job. Radiosity can't do its job if the sun color is non-white.
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**The effects of radiosity will be barely visible using a non-white
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light_environment color.**
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## Ambient color? {#ambient_color}
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Set `_ambient` in your light_environment to whatever the color of the
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sky is set to. This determines the color of the shadows cast by the
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light_environment. **This does not create a minimum ambient intensity in
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the process**
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## Minimum light intensity {#minimum_light_intensity}
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A really ugly hack, only use it in the worst case scenario.
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In your [worldspawn (Entity)](/worldspawn_(Entity) "wikilink") keys, you
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can add a `_minlight` intensity value, as well as a `_minlight_color`
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value. This is not something you want to use for anything looking good.
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It raises the lighting level-wise, but keeps the light values of each
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entity/sky/shader intact. A much worse alternative is the worldspawn
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`_ambient` key.
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**You will never achieve truly black areas in your map after this. Be
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warned.**
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## What about the worldspawn **_ambient** key? {#what_about_the_worldspawn__ambient_key}
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The overall lighting level of the map is raised. This has the tendency
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to flatten the difference between light and shadow. The dynamic range is
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utterly destroyed.
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## What about the worldspawn **_floodlight** key? {#what_about_the_worldspawn__floodlight_key}
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With floodlight, light becomes darker in closed spaces and brighter in
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wide open spaces.
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The worldspawn key for that is `_floodlight`, with you specifying:
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` `**<red color>` `<blue color>` `<green color>` `<travel distance>` `<intensity>**
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The side effect is that it'll obviously act as a contrasting knob. It
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**does not fix spaces where light wasn't present to begin with**!
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There are very few artistic use cases for this. However, if your map is
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looking very dull/flat, it could help a lot.
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## Should I use radiosity? How many bounces? {#should_i_use_radiosity_how_many_bounces}
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Half-Life 2 compiled with a maximum of 8 bounces, that is sensible. You
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can even set it to 100 and it'll stop once photons lose their energy.
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**And of course yes you should use radiosity... Damn it, that fixes most
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lighting problems!**
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[Category: Level Design](/Category:_Level_Design "wikilink")
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