Func lod

From Valve Developer Community

The title given to this article is incorrect due to technical limitations. The correct title is func_lod.

This Brush-based Entity is available in all Source Games.

Table of contents

[edit]

Entity Description

Brush-built model that fades out over a specified distance. Useful for creating world detail that doesn't need to be drawn far away, for performance reasons.

Note: The fading is not always consistent; brushes may suddenly "pop" into view depending on where the player is looking. This happens because of a hardware issues with rendering translucent materials. Low-end cards will fade nearer than the distance specified, and smaller objects fade nearer than a larger object with the same fade distance.

Note: The overhead required by this entity is substantial. Use it only for special effects or when fading very dense geometry, and one could then argue, shouldn't that better be a model?

[edit]

Keyvalues

targetname <target_source>

Defines the name that other entities refer to this entity by.

hammerid [New with Orange Box]

<integer readonly> This id is used for debugging purposes in Hammer.

renderfx

Literal Value	Description
0	Normal
1	Slow Pulse
2	Fast Pulse
3	Slow Wide Pulse
4	Fast Wide Pulse
5	Slow Fade Away
6	Fast Fade Away
7	Slow Become Solid
8	Fast Become Solid
9	Slow Strobe
10	Fast Strobe
11	Faster Strobe
12	Slow Flicker
13	Fast Flicker
14	Constant Glow
15	Distort
16	Hologram (Distort + fade)
17	Scale up
22	Spotlight FX
23	Cull By Distance (TEST)
24	Fade Wider Pulse

rendermode

<choices> Used to set a non-standard rendering mode on this entity. See also 'FX Amount' and 'FX Color'.

Literal Value	Render Mode	Description (Click for more info.)
0	Normal	Default rendering.
1	Color	Obsolete.
2	Texture	Plain opacity.
3	Glow	No Z buffer checks. Fixed size on screen.
4	Solid / Alphatest	Obsolete. (Use alphatest capabilities in materials instead.)
5	Additive	Obsolete. Add this entity's color to what's behind it.
7	Additive Fractional Frame	Obsolete? Blend between animation frames.
8	Alpha Add (Not in FGD.)	Add alpha.
9	World Space Glow	No Z buffer checks. Fixed size in world (as opposed to on screen).
10	Dont Render / None	Don't render.

renderamt

<integer> FX Amount (0 - 255) - How opaque the entity will be rendered. (0 is fully transparent, while 255 is fully opaque). Will not work if the rendermode keyvalue is set to Normal or Dont Render.