Mapping woes, with hammer.

[Lethal]

Can any one please tell me how to use the lighting properly, when I use the example I get no shadows, yet with env_sun I get no lightmaps.
Plus why do I get a memory read error during compliing with any map?
Thanks.

[SoUlFaThEr]

if its the memory read error im thinking of you can fearlessly ignore it........sometimes there will even be 2 of these errors. no one knows what it affects, and it doesnt seem to harm anything so dont worry.


in 1.6 we could use a spot_light instead of light_environment........in source go back to the light_environment only.
the ambient light part of this entity, which is new, is actually an adjustment to the shadow color. theres also a shadow_ control point entity.
DO NOT use light_dynamic unless you want serious FPS problems. this engine is not yet ready for dynamic lighting.

its makes no sense that you dont get lightmaps with an env_sun because its actually a dynamic sprite and is NOT light so add the light_env.....adjust the PITCH to something between -45 and -90 to begin seeing shadows.......its default is -90 which is pointing the light straight down.....-60 is nice for testing. and choose a horizontal shine direction with the YAW (black circle)(its in relation to the TOP view of the 2d grids in hammer.

you can leave your env_sun in there.

hope that helped somewhat

[Lethal]

The game engine I am making my map for is cs:s.
I added light_env, which gave me light in such a way it makes it look like the sun of the skybox is producing it.
My problem is there are no shadows on anything else but the map. Its a large outdoor one room map. I placed the env_sun above the light_env but not directly on top of it, a small distance.

Thanks for the help, in this hard to explain situation, could i just put the file up for examination, or have an example that works.

[sfx1999]

Could you elaborate on anything else but the map?

Also, you can get those dynamic shadows with an env_shadowcontrol I think. With this, you can control the direction of player shadows to be correct for the sun.

[SoUlFaThEr]

the env_sun needs an info target to work properly.

if you are not having shadows.....change the PITCH. it starts at -90 which is straight down...so make it -60 or something...see you sky to make it look right.

also the light env has 2 things.....the regular light....and the ambient light which is actually the color of the shadows set these numers high to see what they do to your map........like 500 in ambient just to see what its doing.

[Lethal]

Thanks guys, I will give this lot a shot and see what happens.
Any ideas as to how to add bump mapping and specular?
I tried the entity I am supposed to use from the example but I don't want to have to go around the whole map placing within the right height it with this entity. So far my laptop as no problems running this map of mine, no its not that bare, the laptop struggles with css on its own though doing actions such as lots of jumping and ducking and shooting produces alot of choke, so it looks like it could do with more ram.

Once I am done with this map, and happy with it of course, where could I release/upload it?

[SoUlFaThEr]

no clue but i would stay away from bumpmapped textures because they cause fps drops on swap buffers

specular isnt bad but then you need more cubemaps everywhere

the env sun isnt as hard as you think

[Lethal]

Yeah I know. It is just annoying when a guide/tutorial says one thing but does not give the desired results.
I actually tried to make a map for Battlefield 1942, a large beach landing map.
It went wrong though due to the scale and size map made it difficult to place objects the way I wanted.
Which makes me think why with the difficult interface for mapping?
Even the CAD claris mac software was advanced enough to allow you to type values rather than wrestle with your mouse and monitor.

[Zacker]

You can not add bumpmapping(or any other shader) with an entity. The shaders are defined in the material.

i would stay away from bumpmapped textures because they cause fps drops on swap buffers

Well performance wise the amount of detail a bump map adds is still better than actually modelling thoose details. The details you take away from your map when taking out bump mapping needs to be added elsewhere, which is likely to cause an even bigger fps drop.

the env sun isnt as hard as you think"

Yeah, I doubt the env_sun cause a drop of more than max 2-3 fps. It is just a simple sprite which is being scaled up and down.