Clock

← Portal Level Creation

This tutorial will show how to create the clock seen in the very first test chamber of Portal. The clock can be used to indicate when a test element is activated after a delay, and is used in Portal to show how much time is left until the portals in the very first room open.

Creation

Step 1

The clock model

Create a prop_dynamic entity. Set its World Model to models/props/clock.mdl, its Pitch Yaw Roll to -90 180 0 and set Disable Shadows to yes.

Step 2

Create a 2w*10l*10h brush aligned to the left within the clock model. Texture the front side with signage/clock/clock_minutes and press "Fit" to fit the texture on the brush. Tie this brush to a func_brush entity and set its Name to brush_clock_minutes.

Next create a 2w*2l*10h brush right next to the previous brush. Texture the front with signage/clock/clock_dots and fit the texture to the brush. Tie this brush to a func_detail entity.

After that, create another 2w*10l*10h brush next to the previous brush and texture the front with signage/clock/clock_seconds and fit the texture to the brush. Tie this brush to a func_brush entity and set its Name to brush_clock_seconds.

Create another 2w*2l*10h brush with the front textured with signage/clock/clock_dots and tie it to a func_detail.

Now create another 2w*10l*10h brush and texture the front with signage/clock/clock_centiseconds. Tie it to a func_brush and set its Name to brush_clock_centiseconds.

Next create another 2w*2l*10h func_detail brush with the front textured with signage/clock/clock_dots.

Finally, create another 2w*10l*10h with the front textured with signage/clock/clock_milliseconds. Tie it to a func_brush and set its Name to brush_clock_milliseconds.

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  The minutes display brush

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  The first "dots" display brush

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  The seconds display brush

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  The second "dots" display brush

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  The centiseconds display brush

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  The third "dots" display brush

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  The milliseconds display brush

Step 3

Create an env_texturetoggle entity. Set its Name to texturetoggle_clock_minutes and set its Target Brush(es) to brush_clock_minutes.

Next create another env_texturetoggle and set its Name to texturetoggle_clock_seconds and set its Target Brush(es) to brush_clock_seconds.

After that, create a material_modify_control entity. Set its Name to mmc_clock_centiseconds, set its Parent to brush_clock_centiseconds, set its Material to modify. to signage/clock/clock_centiseconds, and set its Material variable to modify to $frame.

Finally, create another material_modify_control entity and set its Name to mmc_clock_milliseconds, set its Parent to brush_clock_milliseconds, set its Material to modify. to signage/clock/clock_milliseconds, and set its Material variable to modify to $frame.

• 

  The texturetoggle_clock_minutes entity

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  The texturetoggle_clock_seconds entity

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  The mmc_clock_centiseconds entity

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  The mmc_clock_milliseconds entity

Step 4

Create a logic_timer entity. Set its Name to timer_clock_minutes, set Start Disabled to Yes and set its Refire Interval to 1. Next, give it the following outputs:

	My Output	Target Entity	Target Input	Parameter	Delay	Only Once
	OnTimer	texturetoggle_clock_minutes	IncrementTextureIndex		0.00	No
	OnTimer	timer_clock_minutes	Disable		0.10	No

Next, create another logic_timer entity and set its Name to timer_clock_seconds, set Start Disabled to Yes, and set its Refire Interval to 1. Add the following outputs to it:

	My Output	Target Entity	Target Input	Parameter	Delay	Only Once
	OnTimer	texturetoggle_clock_seconds	IncrementTextureIndex		0.00	No
	OnTimer	counter_clock	Add	1	0.00	No
	OnTimer	counter_clock_2	Add	1	0.00	No

After that, create another logic_timer entity. Set its Name to timer_clock_centiseconds, set Start Disabled to Yes, set its Refire Interval to 1, and add the following output to it:

	My Output	Target Entity	Target Input	Parameter	Delay	Only Once
	OnTimer	mmc_clock_centiseconds	StartFloatLerp	0 59 1 0	0.00	No

Finally, create another logic_timer entity and set its Name to timer_clock_milliseconds, set Start Disabled to Yes, and set its Refire Interval to .1. Add the following output to it:

	My Output	Target Entity	Target Input	Parameter	Delay	Only Once
	OnTimer	mmc_clock_milliseconds	StartFloatLerp	0 9 .1 1	0.00	No

• 

  The timer_clock_minutes entity

• 

  The timer_clock_seconds entity

• 

  The timer_clock_centiseconds entity

• 

  The timer_clock_milliseconds entity

Step 5

The counter_clock entity

Create a math_counter entity. Set its Name to counter_clock, set its Maximum Legal Value to 60, and add the following outputs:

	My Output	Target Entity	Target Input	Parameter	Delay	Only Once
	OnHitMax	timer_clock_seconds	Disable		0.00	No
	OnHitMax	texturetoggle_clock_seconds	SetTextureIndex	59	0.00	No
	OnHitMax	timer_ticktock1	Disable		0.00	No

The counter_clock_2 entity

Next, create another math_counter and set its Name to counter_clock_2 and set its Maximum Legal Value to 59. Now add the following outputs to it:

	My Output	Target Entity	Target Input	Parameter	Delay	Only Once
	OnHitMax	timer_clock_centiseconds	Disable		0.00	No
	OnHitMax	timer_clock_milliseconds	Disable		1.00	No

Step 6

The sound_ticktock1 entity

Create a ambient_generic entity. Set its Name to sound_ticktock1, set its Sound Name to Portal.room1_TickTock, set its Volume to 5 and set its Max Audible Distance to 441.

The timer_ticktock1 entity

Next, create a logic_timer entity, set its Name to timer_ticktock1, set Start Disabled to Yes, set its Refire Interval to 1 and add the following output to it:

	My Output	Target Entity	Target Input	Parameter	Delay	Only Once
	OnTimer	sound_ticktock1	PlaySound		0.00	No

Step 7

The logic_auto entity

Create a logic_auto entity and add the following outputs to it:

	My Output	Target Entity	Target Input	Parameter	Delay	Only Once
	OnMapSpawn	mmc_clock_milliseconds	SetMaterialVar	9	0.00	No
	OnMapSpawn	mmc_clock_centiseconds	SetMaterialVar	59	0.00	No
	OnMapSpawn	texturetoggle_clock_seconds	SetTextureIndex	59	0.00	No

Step 8

The relay_start_clock entity

Create a logic_relay and set its Name to relay_start_clock. Add the following outputs to it:

	My Output	Target Entity	Target Input	Parameter	Delay	Only Once
	OnTrigger	timer_clock_minutes	Enable		0.00	No
	OnTrigger	timer_clock_seconds	Enable		0.00	No
	OnTrigger	timer_clock_centiseconds	Enable		0.00	No
	OnTrigger	timer_ticktock1	Enable		0.00	No
	OnTrigger	timer_clock_milliseconds	Enable		0.90	No

The clock is now finished and ready to be implemented in a map.

Implementation

Step 1

Position the clock on the wall where it should be in the map.

Step 2

Send the Trigger input to the relay_start_clock relay when the countdown should begin.