Creating Animated Clouds

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Skill Level

This tutorial expects you to have this amount of knowledge within the topic to follow along smoothly.

Novice Familiar Competent Proficient Expert


Example models

Moving Clouds are a simple prop_dynamic away, below are some of the models of animated clouds:

Some models available in Counter-Strike: Source Counter-Strike: Source are:

  • models/props/cs_office/clouds.mdl
  • models/props/de_tides/clouds.mdl
  • models/props/de_port/clouds.mdl

Copying models to another Source game

Looking at Mod Content Usage, it defines that we can only use these models "if available;" therefore, it must be done via mounting the GCF/VPK. If you don't have access to code or don't wish to mount the GCF or VPK (in all games since Source 2013Left 4 Dead), you must make your own instead.

Making your own

  1. Create the top of a sphere as a model or brushwork. You could even do a flat surface, but its best to turn the edges downwards so its edges get covered by other things in the sky.
  2. Create a cloud material and don't forget to make it transparent.
  3. Animate the material using the following paramters in its VMT, where X and Y are numbers of your choice.
	"Proxies"
	{
		"TextureScroll"
		{
			"texturescrollvar"	"$baseTextureTransform"
			"texturescrollrate"	X
			"texturescrollangle"	Y
		}
	}

4. Copy the models and materials into the correct directories for your mod.

Note.pngNote: Be sure to have your faces on the model or brushwork face inwards, or add the "$nocull" 1 option to your vmt.

Placing the model

  1. Make a 3D skybox.
  2. Place the model in the map as a prop_dynamic if it's a model or func_brush if it's brushwork.
  3. Put the prop_dynamic by the center of your sky_camera in the skybox.
  4. Be sure to make it so the entity's Shadow property is set to Off, or else it might block the sunlight in your skybox.