$bumpmap

A material's albedo (left) compared to its bump map.

The above material in-game.

$bumpmap is a material shader parameter available in all Source games. It specifies a texture that will provide three-dimensional lighting information for a material. The texture is a bump map, but the process it is used for is called normal mapping. The two terms are often used interchangeably, however.

 Warning: $bumpmap will disable prop_static's per-vertex lighting in every Source game but . Not enough data is stored in the vertices for normal mapping, so the engine has no choice but to fall back.

 Note: 

• In the Water shader, $bumpmap is for a DX8 du/dv map. Use $normalmap instead.
• Bump maps cannot be used on decal textures, except in .

Basic syntax

LightmappedGeneric
{
	$basetexture	brick/brickwall021a
	$surfaceprop	brick
	$bumpmap		brick/brickwall021a_normal
}

Additional parameters

$bumptransform <matrix>  (DX9+)

Transforms the bump map texture. To do: Does this actually require DX9? Present in DX8 fallback shaders.

The default position is "center .5 .5 scale 1 1 rotate 0 translate 0 0".

1. center defines the point of rotation. Only useful if rotate is being used.
2. scale fits the texture into the material the given number of times. '2 1' is a 50% scale in the X axis.
3. rotate rotates the texture counter-clockwise in degrees. Accepts any number, including negatives.
4. translate shifts the texture by the given numbers. '.5' will shift it half-way.

 Note: All values must be included!

 Bug: Scaling the texture may cause odd issues where the Texture Lock tool in Hammer will not actually lock the texture in place.

 Bug: Rotating textures applied on brushes will rotate around the map origin (confirm: Orangebox engine only?). A fix for this is to change the center position in the VMT to the brush's origin.

$bumpscale <float>  (DX8)

Scales the bump map by the given value in DirectX 8. To do: Does this actually exist? Seemingly not present in DX8 fallback shaders.

$bumpframe <integer>

The frame to start an animated bump map on.

$nodiffusebumplighting <boolean>

Stops the bump map affecting the lighting of the material's albedo, which help combat overdraw. Does not affect the specular map.

 Bug: Does not function beyond Source 2007.^[confirm]

Shaders: LightmappedGeneric, Lightmapped_4WayBlend, WorldVertexTransition

$ssbump <boolean> (in all games since )

Flags the bump map texture(s) as being self-shadowing. Click for more details.

Shaders: LightmappedGeneric, Lightmapped_4WayBlend, WorldVertexTransition

$forcebump <boolean>  (removed in )  (DX8)

If 0, use bumpmapping if the card says it can handle it. If 1, always force bumpmapping on.

$bump_force_on <boolean> (only in )

Force bump mapping on, even for low-end machines.

Shaders: LightmappedGeneric, Lightmapped_4WayBlend, WorldVertexTransition

$addbumpmaps <boolean> (only in )

Enables the usage and blending of two bump maps together for LightmappedGeneric.

Shaders: LightmappedGeneric

$bumpmap2 <texture>  (DX9+)

The second bump map to use, for either WorldVertexTransition or for LightmappedGeneric in for bump map blending.

Shaders: LightmappedGeneric, Lightmapped_4WayBlend, WorldVertexTransition

$bumpframe2 <integer>  (DX9+)

Same as $bumpframe, but for the second bump map.

Shaders: LightmappedGeneric, Lightmapped_4WayBlend, WorldVertexTransition

$bumptransform2 <matrix>  (DX9+)

Same as $bumptransform, but for the second bump map.

 Note: $detail used with $detailscale will override this on LightmappedGeneric if the shader is using $addbumpmaps.

Shaders: LightmappedGeneric, Lightmapped_4WayBlend, WorldVertexTransition

$bumpmask <texture>  (DX9+)

If using two bump maps, use a third bump map to act as the base, with the alpha channel acting as a mask for the first two bump maps. The alpha channel of $bumpmask is also used as a specular mask.

 Note: Only used by materials/nature/toxicslime002a.

 Note: Does not work with $seamless_scale.

Shaders: LightmappedGeneric

$bumpdetailscale1 and $bumpdetailscale2 <normal> (only in )

The strength of the first and second bump maps for bump map blending.

Shaders: LightmappedGeneric

Console commands

mat_fastnobump <boolean>

Quickly enables/disabled normal mapping.

mat_normalmaps <boolean>

Displays the bump map texture of all materials that have one in place of their albedo.

(Yes, these two commands have bump and normal the wrong way around!)

mat_bumpmap <boolean>

Enable or disable normal mapping. Default 1.

See also

• $ssbump
• Bump map, for technical details and a guide to creation.