env_projectedtexture
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 Class hierarchy
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| CEnvProjectedTexture |
| env_projectedtexture.cpp
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Moving 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 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.
Note:Projected textures don't render when the mod folder is called portal (or tf[confirm])because cvar mat_supportflashlight is set to 0.
Note:While it is technically supported in  Alien Swarm Deferred and  Lambda Wars, it is highly recommended that you use Light_deferred instead.Note:Removed from  Black Mesa in the December 24 2017 update (Xengine update) and replaced with newLight_Spot. |
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.
parentnameortarget).
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.
- 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
AlwaysUpdateOnto 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.
aaggnnttzzwould be a steppy fade in from dark to light.
 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. |
Inputs
Note:In some FGDs, only TurnOn, TurnOff and FOV are present.- TurnOn
- Turns on the texture.
- TurnOff
- Turns off the texture.
- FOV <float>
- Sets FOV.
- EnableShadows <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 <float>
- Set ambient.
- Bug:Non-functional. [todo tested in ?]
- Confirm:Does it work in any game?
- SpotlightTexture <string>
- Sets the spotlight texture.
- Note:Disabled in onwards. Fixed in
- Target <targetname*>
- Specify a new Target entity to point at.
- CameraSpace <boolean>
- Sets Camera Space.
- LightOnlyTarget <boolean>
- Sets Light Only Target.
- 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).
- SetLightStyle <integer> (in all games since ) (also in )
- Sets an Appearance. (see Appearance keyvalue above for possible values)
- SetPattern <string> (in all games since ) (also in )
- Sets Custom Appearance. (see Custom Appearance keyvalue above)
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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 |
The following games/branches have exceptions to this:
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| 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  .
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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
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In multiplayer, mat_supportflashlight must be set to 1 for flashlights to work
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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
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env_projectedtexture/fixes#Enabling shadow receiving on the view model | |
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
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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).
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Video of said bug. Also in GMOD (click to preview): 
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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
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Portal 2 | Run the game in Vulkan mode with the launch parameter -vulkan
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Also affects all DX9 based mods, fixed in and
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| 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
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Portal 2 engine branch and CS:GO branch | N/A | Fixed in Strata Source
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The light will cause multiple layered info_overlays to show through each other
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Todo: At least in
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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
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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.
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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)