Env projectedtexture

Source Engine

Source 2

Class hierarchy
CEnvProjectedTexture ↳CPointEntity ↳CBaseEntity
env_projectedtexture.cpp

Rotating env_projectedtexture from first map of Alien Swarm (only the red light is this entity, click the image to see it animated)

Portal 2 uses projected textures extensively for world lighting.

Env_projectedtexture has different appearances

Showcase of volumetrics in a Portal 2 map. This is from an older version.

Projecting a colorful texture in Garry's Mod.

env_projectedtexture is a point entity available in all Source games since Source 2007. It projects a texture as a dynamic light that affects all objects in the world, optionally with Shadow Mapping. env_Projectedtexture does not light the world similarly that other light entities which are ray-traced when you compile the map. This light however is real-time and works without RAD.

Warning:This is the most expensive light entity in the engine, use sparingly. Newer hardware with a good CPU can handle it better. Third-party mods utilizing Deferred renderer or Clustered Shading on this entity can result in cheaper performance cost.

Bug:In Hammer++ the env_projectedtexture helper entity will not rotate properly with the 2D and 3D gizmos. ^[Why?]

Workaround:Remove either frustum() or studio() for env_projectedtexture in your mod's base.fgd

Note:Projected textures don't render when the mod folder is called portal (or tf^[confirm])because cvar mat_supportflashlight is set to 0. Some community server plugins for Team Fortress 2 reenable this cvar.

Third-Party notices

Note:While it is technically supported in Alien Swarm Deferred and Lambda Wars, it is highly recommended that you use Light_deferred instead, an another dynamic lighting technique which provides better performance, using deferred lighting. Note:Removed from Black Mesa in the December 24 2017 update (Xengine update) and replaced with newLight_Spot. Like Light_deferred, it is also a dynamic lighting technique which provides better performance since it uses deferred lighting. Note:env_projectedtexture in Strata Source (Portal 2: Community Edition and Momentum Mod) uses Clustered Shading technique.

Flags

Enabled : [1]

Whether to start enabled.

Bug:This flag only works since Alien Swarm. In it's still broken.
Workaround: Use logic_auto with TurnOff input.

Always Update (for moving light) : [2] (in all games since ) (also in .)

All lights always update in Garry's Mod.

Tip:If a game doesn't support this flag, you still can move projected texture. Clear parent each 0.24 seconds and set parent each 0.25 seconds, this will update the projected texture position (parent must have attachment point).

Keyvalues

Name (targetname) <string>[ Edit ]

The name that other entities refer to this entity by, via Inputs/Outputs or other keyvalues (e.g. parentname or target).
Also displayed in Hammer's 2D views and Entity Report.

See also:  Generic Keyvalues, Inputs and Outputs available to all entities

Target (target) <targetname>

The entity will rotate to point at this target. Make sure you check the Always update flag if you set this.

FOV (lightfov) <float>

The field of view cone/pyramid at which the texture is projected.

Confirm:This keyvalue does not work in Alien Swarm.

NearZ (nearz) <float>

Objects closer than this will not receive the light from the projection.

FarZ (farz) <float>

Objects beyond this distance will not receive the light from the projection.

Enable Shadows (enableshadows) <boolean>

Enables/disables shadows from this projected texture.

Shadow Quality (shadowquality) <integer choices>

Quality of shadows.

• 0: Low (sharp, pixelized shadows)
• 1: High (smooth edged shadows)

Light Only Target (lightonlytarget) <boolean>

Limit flashlight effect to only affect target entity.

Light World (lightworld) <boolean>

Control whether flashlight affects static world geometry.

Light Color (lightcolor) <color255 + int>

Light color and intensity.

Note:This entity has different brightness rules when compared to light. A good number to start at is 10000 with a Brightness scale of 5-10

Camera Space (cameraspace) <integer>

Angles are interpreted as being relative to camera.

Texture Name (texturename) <string> !FGD

The texture which this entity projects. Must be a VTF file (not VMT), relative to /materials.

Texture Frame (textureframe) <integer> !FGD

If the texture is animated, this is the frame it should begin on.

Simple Projection (simpleprojection) <boolean> (in all games since ) !FGD

Indicates if this is a simple, non-light casting texture projection.

Simple Projection Size (projection_size) <float> (in all games since ) !FGD

Size of the simple projection.

Simple Projection Rotation (projection_rotation) <float> (in all games since ) !FGD

Brightness Scale (brightnessscale) <float> (in all games since ) (also in )

Scale the light color by this brightness.

Color Transition Time (colortransitiontime) <float> (in all games since ) (also in )

Amount of time it takes for a color change to occur. Higher numbers cause faster transitions.

Appearance (style) <integer choices> (in all games since ) (also in )

Various Custom Appearance presets.

Note:Requires input AlwaysUpdateOn to work.

Lightstyle presets (epilepsy warning)

Literal Value	Description	Sequence	Preview
0	Normal	m
10	Fluorescent flicker	mmamammmmammamamaaamammma
2	Slow, strong pulse	abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcba
11	Slow pulse, noblack	abcdefghijklmnopqrrqponmlkjihgfedcba
5	Gentle pulse	jklmnopqrstuvwxyzyxwvutsrqponmlkj
1	Flicker A	mmnmmommommnonmmonqnmmo
6	Flicker B	nmonqnmomnmomomno
3	Candle A	mmmmmaaaaammmmmaaaaaabcdefgabcdefg
7	Candle B	mmmaaaabcdefgmmmmaaaammmaamm
8	Candle C	mmmaaammmaaammmabcdefaaaammmmabcdefmmmaaaa
4	Fast strobe	mamamamamama
9	Slow strobe	aaaaaaaazzzzzzzz
12	Underwater light mutation	mmnnmmnnnmmnn

Custom Appearance (pattern) <string> (in all games since ) (also in )

Set a custom pattern of light brightness for this light. Pattern format is a string of characters, where a is total darkness, z fully bright. i.e. aaggnnttzz would be a steppy fade in from dark to light.

Default Appearance (defaultstyle) <string> (in all games since )

Third-Party keyvalues

Shadow Filter (shadowfilter) <integer> (only in ) Changes the Shadow Filter parameter of the light, which is responsible for smoothing the light. Works only when enabled Always update flag. Light Strength (lightstrength) <float> (only in ) How bright the light appears. Confirm:How is this different than brightnessscale? Light View Models (lightviewmodels) <boolean> (only in ) Control whether flashlight effects view models. Light Not PVS Culled (lightnotpvsculled) <boolean> (only in ) Disable PVS culling optimization for this light (you shouldn't do this unless it's explicitly causing problems). Enable Volumetrics (volumetric) <boolean> (only in ) !FGD Whether or not to use volumetrics for this projected texture. Volumetric Intensity (volumetricintensity) <float> (only in ) !FGD Defines the intensity of the volumetrics. (Default is 1. Can go above; no strict limit) Important:As of 31/10/23, Volumetrics are currently broken due to a missing shader. According to a dev, the shader was working in DX9 but was not ported to DX11 due it planning to be remade, however currently this has not yet been worked on. Do not enable volumetrics while this is the case! Note:The volumetric shader has been re-implemented in Portal: Revolution. It is planned to upstream this to Portal 2: Community Edition, however it has not been done yet due to a bug where the volumetric lighting flickers when the player has paint on their face. Confirmation from P2:CE developer, and another developer mentioning the bug. Movie Name (moviename) <string> (only in ) .webm file used in place of the texture.

Inputs

Note:In some FGDs, only TurnOn, TurnOff and FOV are present.

TurnOn

Turns on the texture.

TurnOff

Turns off the texture.

FOV <floatRedirectInput/float>

Sets FOV.

EnableShadows <booleanRedirectInput/boolean>

Set the if shadows are enabled.

Bug:Can only can enabled/disabled if shadows are enabled when the entity is intitially spawned.  (tested in: )

Ambient <floatRedirectInput/float>

Set ambient.

Bug:Non-functional.  [todo tested in ?]

Confirm:Does it work in any game?

SpotlightTexture <stringRedirectInput/string>

Sets the spotlight texture.

Note:Disabled in onwards. Fixed in

Target <targetname*RedirectInput/ehandle>

Specify a new Target entity to point at.

CameraSpace <booleanRedirectInput/boolean>

Sets Camera Space.

LightOnlyTarget <booleanRedirectInput/boolean>

Sets Light Only Target.

LightWorld <booleanRedirectInput/boolean> !FGD

Sets Light World.

AlwaysUpdateOn  (in all games since ) (also in )

Turn on per frame updating (for moving lights).

AlwaysUpdateOff  (in all games since ) (also in )

Turn off per frame updating (for moving lights).

LightColor <color255RedirectInput/color32> (in all games since ) (also in )

Change the Light Color.

SetLightStyle <integerRedirectInput/integer> (in all games since ) (also in )

Sets an Appearance. (see Appearance keyvalue above for possible values)

SetPattern <stringRedirectInput/string> (in all games since ) (also in )

Sets Custom Appearance. (see Custom Appearance keyvalue above)

SetNearZ <floatRedirectInput/float> (in all games since ) (also in )

Sets NearZ.

SetFarZ <floatRedirectInput/float> (in all games since ) (also in )

Sets FarZ.

Third-Party inputs

SetBrightness <floatRedirectInput/float> (only in ) Sets the brightness. EnableVolumetrics <booleanRedirectInput/boolean> (only in ) Enables or disables volumetrics. SetVolumetricIntensity <floatRedirectInput/float> (only in ) Sets the intensity of the volumetrics. (Default is 1. Can go above; no strict limit) SetBrightnessScale <floatRedirectInput/float> (only in ) Sets the brightness.

Caveats and Fixes

Main article:  Env_projectedtexture/fixes

Issue/Caveat	Affected games	Fix/Workarounds	Notes
The Volumetrics option in Strata Source is temporarily broken due to a missing shader	Strata Source	N/A	Note:This was fixed in . There are plans to upstream it to P2CE [1]
Valve's games only support one shadow map in the PVS at a time (including player flashlight).	Official Source games/stock Source SDK Base 2013 code	It is possible to modify/remove this limit in game code by following these instructions. If mapping for a multiplayer game without game code access where point_servercommand is available and permitted, the cvar mp_flashlight can be forcibly set to 0 to disable to the player flashlight and from interfering with env_projectedtexture.	The following games/branches have exceptions to this: : 9 (Can be increased with -numshadowtextures #) : 8 : 4 (Can be increased with -numshadowtextures #) : 8
Textures used for projected textures require the flags Clamp S, Clamp T and Clamp All to avoid glitchy tiling. Also note, that VTFs are used directly and no VMT is needed.	All Source games	N/A	N/A
Shadows are only rendered when the user is running with "High" shadow detail.	All Source games except and .	If your options menu does not show the "High" shadow detail setting by default (especially all Intel graphics card), add -force_vendor_id 0x10DE -force_device_id 0xFFFF to the game's launch options	dynamic shadows from Projected Textures work on "Low" settings
In multiplayer, mat_supportflashlight must be set to 1 for flashlights to work	All multiplayer Source games	N/A	By default these ConVars are disabled in Team Fortress 2, so this entity won't work there without special configuration
Viewmodels won't receive light or shadows from projected textures	All Source games except and	env_projectedtexture/fixes#Enabling shadow receiving on the view model
Turning on a projected texture forcibly turns off all others, even if one or both do not use shadow mapping, are in different parts of the map, or otherwise would not conflict.	Portal 2 and later	Add the following VScript code to the projected texture entities which you want to prevent being automatically turned off: function InputTurnOff() { // If the input came from another projected texture, ignore it if (activator && activator.IsValid() && activator.GetClassname() == "env_projectedtexture") return false; return true; }	Non-shadowed projected textures are still somewhat expensive to render, so use this with care.
Some Nvidia graphics cards (especially with latest drivers and/or all newer Nvidia cards since around mid-late 2010s) render big/small white specks, squares or noises (and sometimes it's also flickering) on certain textures	Portal 2 and Garry's Mod, possibly all Source games[confirm].	Remove the bumpmap ($bumpmap or $ssbump) or $detail textures), or use mat_bumpmap 0 (to disable Bumpmapping), or run the game in Vulkan (-vulkan launch option).	Video of said bug. Also in GMOD (click to preview):
While running in DirectX 9 mode, some graphics cards will not render shadows from env_projectedtexture regardless of the shadow detail setting, and as a result will render the texture through brushes and props instead of properly stopping them	Portal 2	Update your graphics drivers to the latest version, or downgrade to an older version. Alternatively, run the game in Vulkan with the -vulkan launch option.	Also affects all DX9 based mods, fixed in and
Parenting does not work with stock SDK code	Source SDK Base 2013	Env_projectedtexture/fixes#Fixing Parenting	N/A
No smooth transition between this light and env_cascade_light	CS:GO	N/A	N/A
SpotlightTexture input is disabled in some branches	Portal 2 engine branch and CS:GO branch	N/A	Fixed in Strata Source
The light will cause multiple layered info_overlays to show through each other	Todo: At least in	N/A	N/A
Source 2007/2009 (Orange Box engine) Bugs
Note:the way that this page was structured before made it easy to put newly discovered bugs in the wrong category, so some of the following bugs may or may not be in modern titles.
The configurable texture value from Hammer is not accepted - will always default to effects/flashlight001	Source 2007, Source 2009, Source Multiplayer, Source 2013 Multiplayer, Team Fortress 2 branch[confirm]	Use the SpotlightTexture input or override the actual contents of the default VTF with a new one. Env_projectedtexture/fixes#Fix_configurable_texture_value_in_Hammer	N/A
This entity cannot target another entity	Source 2007, Source 2009, Source Multiplayer [confirm]	env_projectedtexture/fixes#Fixing targeting	N/A
Models will not receive their own shadows correctly	Source 2007, Source 2009, Source Multiplayer [confirm]	Create a bumpmap for the texture. Even a flat bumpmap is sufficient, such as dev/flat_normal.vtf.	N/A
This entity will cause issues if the entity overlaps a portal in Portal	Portal	N/A	Confirm:Is this fixed in latest version of Portal?

See also

• Volumetric lighting
• Lighting
• Adding Light
• Intermediate Lighting
• Advanced Lighting
• Effect flags (dynamic light effects)
• Tool textures (for Block light)
• newLight_Point
• newLight_Spot
• newLight_Dir
• NewLights_settings
• env_cascade_light
• BlackMesa XenEngine: Part 4 – Lighting & Shadows (page from Black Mesa developer about new lights)