env_projectedtexture

From Valve Developer Community

Projecting a colourful texture.

env_projectedtexture is a point entity is available in all Orange Box games. It creates a dynamic shadow-mapping light that affects all objects in the world. It is used to create the Episode Two flashlight.

Note:Shadows are only drawn when the user is running with "High" shadow detail.

Bug:Does not accept a configurable texture value from Hammer - will always default to the flashlight. You must use the SpotlightTexture input instead.

Bug fixes

Enabling multiple shadow maps

Valve's games only allow one projected texture to cast shadows at a time - including the player's flashlight! To surmount this, shadow casting can be disabled on each entity with the enableshadows KV, or for a proper solution a programmer can perform this C++ fix:

In CClientShadowMgr::Init() (Clientshadowmgr.cpp around line 1293), replace:

bool bTools = CommandLine()->CheckParm( "-tools" ) != NULL;
m_nMaxDepthTextureShadows = bTools ? 4 : 1;	// Just one shadow depth texture in games, more in tools

With:

m_nMaxDepthTextureShadows = YOUR_CHOSEN_MAX; //with your number

Warning:A new render texture will be created for each shadow map you enable support for, regardless of whether it's used. Having too many RTs hurts performance, so keep your limit within reason (ideally something below 10).

Fixing targeting

Because the targeting code isn't finished in the SDK, A projected texture will flicker when bound to a target. To fix this, open c_env_projectedtexture.cpp and around line 174 there is an else block containing an assert and some commented code. Replace the whole block with this:

else
{
	Vector vecToTarget = m_hTargetEntity->GetAbsOrigin() - GetAbsOrigin();
	QAngle vecAngles;
	VectorAngles( vecToTarget, vecAngles );
	AngleVectors( vecAngles, &vForward, &vRight, &vUp );
}

The server needs code to update the entity with angles on a target as well. Open env_projectedtexture.cpp and around line 245 edit the InitialThink() function to recalculate angles towards the target:

void CEnvProjectedTexture::InitialThink( void )
{
	if ( m_hTargetEntity == NULL && m_target != NULL_STRING )
		m_hTargetEntity = gEntList.FindEntityByName( NULL, m_target );
	if ( m_hTargetEntity == NULL )
		return;
 
	Vector vecToTarget = (m_hTargetEntity->GetAbsOrigin() - GetAbsOrigin());
	QAngle vecAngles;
	VectorAngles( vecToTarget, vecAngles );
	SetAbsAngles( vecAngles );
 
	SetNextThink( gpGlobals->curtime + 0.1 );
}

Fixing cuts in projected texture

Warning:Having this set will reduce your performance, but only by a small fraction, though noticeable.

Projected texture being cut.

When using multiple env_projectedtexture, projected textures might be cut at certain viewing angles. To fix this, force r_flashlightscissor 0 for your mod or map.

You can do this by adding the following code block into the constructor of c_basehlplayer.cpp

	ConVar *r_flashlightscissor = cvar->FindVar( "r_flashlightscissor" );
	if ( r_flashlightscissor->GetBool() )
	{
		r_flashlightscissor->SetValue( 0 );
	}

Enabling visibility tests

Projected textures are not tested for visibility. Being constantly enabled creates issues like shadows bleeding through walls. To fix them, head into c_env_projectedtexture.cpp, and make these changes:

Add a new function (remember to declare it in the header):

bool C_EnvProjectedTexture::ShouldDraw()
{
	//No need to check the flashlight for visibility.
	if( m_bCameraSpace )
		return true;
 
	//Trace forward to the nearest brush face to get a good leaf test vector.
	Vector vForward;
	GetVectors( &vForward, NULL, NULL );
 
	Vector vTraceStart = GetAbsOrigin();
	Vector vTraceEnd = GetAbsOrigin() + vForward * m_flFarZ;
 
	trace_t tr;
	CTraceFilterWorldOnly filter;
 
	UTIL_TraceLine( vTraceStart, vTraceEnd, CONTENTS_SOLID && CONTENTS_OPAQUE, &filter, &tr );
 
	//Check to see if our end vector is in a visible leaf.
	int LeafNum = enginetrace->GetLeafContainingPoint( tr.endpos );
	return render->AreAnyLeavesVisible( &LeafNum,1 );
}

In C_EnvProjectedTexture::UpdateLight, change the first line to read:

if ( m_bState == false || !ShouldDraw() )

Bug:This can cause the light to not draw under certain visleaf conditions. A better solution might be to test the entity's PVS?

Enabling shadow receiving on the view model

Shadow receiving is disabled on various types of renderables. If you want to have shadows cast upon the view model then head into baseviewmodel_shared.h, find the ShouldReceiveProjectedTextures function and make it return true.

For example:

virtual bool ShouldReceiveProjectedTextures( int flags )
{
	return true;
}

This change also works for other renderables like detail models. Just search the solution for ShouldReceiveProjectedTextures.

You could also simply comment out the entire ShouldReceiveProjectedTextures function, instead of changing it to return true.

Keyvalues

target <string>

The entity will rotate to point at its target, no matter where it is in the world. See also lightonlytarget.

Bug:Does not work with stock SDK code. See #Fixing targeting.

FOV <float>

The angle at which the texture is projected. The projection is square, but the texture can make it appear of any shape.

Remember the default Player FOV is 75°.

NearZ <float>

Near Z for projected texture. Default value is 4.0.

Objects closer than this will not receive the projection.

FarZ <float>

Far Z for projected texture. Default value is 750.0.

Objects beyond this distance will not receive the projection. Think of it as the range limit.

Enable Shadows <bool>

Should I cast shadows?

Shadow Quality <bool>

Quality of shadows ( To do: what's the difference?)

Light Only Target <bool>

Should I light only the entity that is my target? The world will still be lit.

Light World <bool>

Should I light the world?

Camera Space <bool>

Display relative to player's view. Breaks things horribly unless the entity moves with the player.

Light Color <color255>

Tint of projected texture.

Parentname:

Bug:Does not work with stock SDK code. See #Fixing targeting.

Angles:

Targetname:

Flags

• Enabled

Inputs

TurnOn

TurnOff

Enable or disable the light.

FOV <float>

See lightfov keyvalue above.

Parentname:

Targetname:

Inputs not in FGD

These inputs are accepted by the entity but not known to Hammer:

target <string>

Specify a new target entity to point at.

cameraspace <bool>

See above keyvalues.

LightOnlyTarget <bool>

See above keyvalues.

Bug:Non-functional.

LightWorld <bool>

See above keyvalues.

Bug:Cannot be re-enabled.

EnableShadows <bool>

See above keyvalues.

Ambient <float>

Allows for an ambiance light, much like the shadow color for it.

SpotlightTexture <VTF/string>

A VTF file (not VMT), relative to /materials.

Outputs

Targetname: