$detail

GoldSrc

Source Engine

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A detail texture (noise_detail_01), and its effect when applied to a material (brickwall031a).

$detail is a material shader parameter available in all  Source games. It specifies a texture which Source will use to add high-resolution detail to a material when it is viewed up close, by darkening or lightening the diffuse appropriately, depending on the $detailblendmode. You can also use a full color (as opposed to grayscale) image and blend it using $detailblendmode 2. It is very effective for increasing the apparent resolution of a texture, and was used extensively in  Half-Life 2: Episode Two, as well as  Portal 2 for the white tile textures's bumps.

Bug: $detail textures do not work in conjunction with some parameters:

• In on LightmappedGeneric, Does not work with $seamless_scale.
• In on VertexLitGeneric. Does not work with $selfillumfresnel, if $bumpmap is used.
  Confirm:Fixed in ?
• In on LightmappedGeneric, Does not work with $lightwarptexture

  [todo tested in ?]

Note:

• In , LightmappedGeneric does not appear to even have $lightwarptexture as a parameter... So it cannot "not work".
• In on VertexLitGeneric, Does not work with $desaturatewithbasealpha
• In , Does not work with $blendmodulatetexture and $bumpmap

Todo:  Document issues from other branches of source.

Confirm: Things that don't work in , usually don't work in either. And vice versa. But it'd be better if someone could confirm this.

Bug:Using $detail with $blendmodulatetexture will cause a graphical issue (stripes over the surface), only works correctly in and .   (tested in: )

Syntax

$detail <texture>

You will probably want to use at least $detailscale (see below) as well.

Parameters and Effects

$detailtexturetransform <matrix> (DX9 SM2)

Rotates, scales, etc. the detail texture. 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 horizontal X axis while the vertical Y axis is still at original scale.
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. 1 will shift it once completely over, which is the same as not moving it at all.

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.  [todo tested in ?]

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.  [todo tested in ?]

Bug:This parameter does not exist for LightmappedGeneric, WorldVertexTransition, LightmappedTwoTexture, WorldTwoTextureBlend, and (only in ) Lightmapped_4WayBlend.  [todo tested in ?]

Bug:Does not work with $treesway.  [todo tested in ?]

Note: (only in ) For the PBR (Strata shader), this parameter is called $detailtransform.

$detailscale <float>

Fits the detail texture onto the material the given number of times (default = 4). Generally used instead of $detailtexturetransform with a value of around 7 or 8 for a 128px detail texture. To independently scale the X and Y coordinates, place your values in brackets: $detailscale "[ 4 8 ]"

$detailblendfactor <normal>

Controls the amount that the detail texture affects the base texture. The precise use of this depends on the blend mode; in most cases it acts similarly to $alpha. A value of 0 usually makes the detail texture have no effect, whilst a value of 1 applies the full effect.

Bug:Nonfunctional for $detailblendmodes 1 or 5 on UnlitGeneric  (tested in: )

$detailblendmode <integer>

How to combine the detail material with the diffuse or albedo.

There are 12 different detail blend methods that can be used, although not all modes are available with all shaders (see below).

The blend modes are implemented in stdshaders/common_ps_fxc.h.

Blend modes in L4D2, factor .8 (Left to right modes 0 to 11, base texture only and detail only. Top row detail opacity 100%, bottom 50%).

Important: Listed below are limitations which apply to the various modes for specific games and shaders. Using a non-supported Blendmode can/will result in "Missing Shader Combo" errors flooding the console. The material will not render!

Mode	Effect	Description
0	DecalModulate	This functions the same as the DecalModulate shader—colors below 128 darken the image, colors above lighten the image. Tip: Use  VTEX's mipblend option to have detail textures which use this blend mode "fade out" when at a distance, reducing aliasing.
1	Additive	The color of the detail texture is added to the base texture. This is similar to $additive, except it is affected by lighting (see blend mode 5).
2	Translucent Detail	The detail texture is applied as a translucent overlay on top of the base texture.
3	Blend Factor Fade	The detail texture is applied as a translucent overlay, but ignoring its alpha channel. Instead, the blend factor is used to determine how much of the base texture shows through underneath.
4	Translucent Base	This effectively flips the normal layering of the two textures. The detail texture appears "below," with the base alpha channel controlling it as a translucent overlay. The detail alpha channel controls the overall material alpha—for translucency, masking, or other uses. Note: Incompatible with VRAD texture shadows, which explicitly look for $basetexture Workaround:If using or VRAD, assign the detail as a %alphatexture.
5	Unlit Additive	The color of the detail texture is added to the base texture identically to mode 1, but this color is unaffected by lighting and therefore appears to glow.
6	Unlit Additive Threshold Fade	This adds color unaffected by lighting like mode 5, but first modifies the color added in two modes, depending on if the blend factor is above or below 0.5. Clarify: Modifies how?
7	Two-Pattern DecalModulate	Only the red and alpha channels of the detail texture are used. This operates like the DecalModulate shader or blend mode 0, but the base alpha channel fades between using the red (0) or alpha (255) detail channel as the modulation source. This effectively allows two detail materials, although both are greyscale. Tip: If this a detail texture using this blend mode should need to be stored in an uncompressed format, consider using IA88 instead of BGRA8888, for half the file size at no quality loss.
8	Multiply	The color of the base channel is multiplied by that of the detail texture. Effectively makes $detail an ambient occlusion texture.
9	Base Mask via Detail Alpha	Only the detail alpha channel is used. It is multiplied with the base texture's alpha channel to produce the final alpha value. Tip: Use A8 instead of DXT5, for increased quality at the same file size.
10	Self-Shadowed Bumpmap	The detail texture is used as a (possibly additional) $ssbump bumpmap. The blend factor is ignored. Note: You can use this to get a standard bumpmap and a self-shadowing bumpmap on the same material. However, this is expensive and should be used very sparingly. Important: This requires a $bumpmap! If the Detailtexture VTF is flagged with the SSBump Flag, this mode will be used automatically IF there is a $bumpmap present!
11	SSBump Albedo	Utilises a SSBump Texture like an Ambient Occlusion Texture. This is done by calculating the above-average 'Luminance' of the SSBump. Calculated as Basetexture * (DetailTexture.r * (2/3) + DetailTexture.g * (2/3) + DetailTexture.b * (2/3)) Important: This cannot be used with $bumpmap. If the Detailtexture VTF is flagged with the SSBump flag, this mode will be used automatically IF $bumpmap is absent!

Branch	Shader	Limitations
	LightmappedGeneric	• Modes 1-6 and 8 are not supported. • Mode 9 does not work with $bumpmap, $envmap, $selfillum.
	WorldVertexTransition	• Modes 1-6, 8-9 are not supported. • Mode 7 does not work with $blendmodulatetexture.
	VertexLitGeneric	• Modes 10+11 are not supported. • 0-4 and 7 always work (with or without $bumpmap) • 5+6 only work with $phong or without $bumpmap. • 8+9 only work without $bumpmap.
	Lightmapped_4WayBlend	• Modes 1-6 are not supported.
	LightmappedGeneric WorldVertexTransition	• Modes 2-9 are not supported. • Modes 0+1 always work. • Mode 10 does not work with $ssbump. Workarounds:   For mode 2, use WorldTwoTextureBlend.   For mode 8, use LightmappedTwoTexture.
	VertexLitGeneric	• Modes 10+11 are not supported. • 0-4 always work (with or without $bumpmap) • 5+6 only work with $phong or without $bumpmap. • 7-9 only work without $bumpmap.
	LightmappedGeneric WorldVertexTransition	• Mode 6 is not supported. • Mode 7 does not work with $bumpmap2, $softedges and $blendmodulatetexture.
	All shaders	• Modes 1, 4, 6, 9, and 10 are not supported.

Note: Blend modes 5 and 6 are applied after lighting. Blend mode 10 is applied during lighting. All other blend modes are applied before lighting.

$detailtint <RGB matrix>

Color tint of the detail texture.

Bug: In On VertexLitGeneric. Does not work with $bumpmap or $phong  [todo tested in ?]

Bug:Does not work with $blendtintbybasealpha

Todo: Verify which games this is broken in ( Works in and ).

  [todo tested in ?]

$detailframe <integer> (DX9 SM2)

The frame to start an animated $detail texture on.

$detail_alpha_mask_base_texture <boolean> (removed since )

WorldVertexTransition only. When enabled, causes the level of detail alpha to determine "base texture blending."

Important: Since at minimum this parameter does not actually do anything!

WorldVertexTransition Parameters

Confirm:are these limited to , or are they in some/all –branch games?

$detail2 <texture> (only in )

Shader(s): WorldVertexTransition

Detail texture for WorldVertexTransition's second layer.

Note: LightmappedGeneric technically has support for these parameters and other WorldVertexTransition parameters, but they may not work as expected.

Note: There is no $detailtransform2, the Shader will use $basetexturetransform2 instead!

Important: Requires both $detail and $basetexture2 to be present!

Bug:Cannot be used with $detailblendmode "9".  [todo tested in ?]

$detailscale2 <float> (only in )

Shader(s): WorldVertexTransition

Detail scale for $detail2.

$detailblendfactor2 <normal> (only in )

Shader(s): WorldVertexTransition

Detail blend factor for $detail2.

Note: $detailblendfactor and $detailblendfactor2 are blended together before combining with the basetexture.

$detailframe2 <integer> (only in )

Shader(s): WorldVertexTransition

The frame to start an animated $detail2 texture on.

$detailtint2 <RGB matrix> (only in )

Shader(s): WorldVertexTransition

Color tint for $detail2.

SolidEnergy Parameters

Todo: Confirm if all of this information is actually true for

Confirm:Is SolidEnergy available in –branch games?

Note: $detail1tint and $detail2tint do not exist on this Shader, they are missing in this list intentionally!

Important: $detail has very similar parameter names, but they are not the same!

$detail1 <texture> (only in )

Shader(s): SolidEnergy

Detail texture for SolidEnergy's second layer.

$detail1blendmode <integer> (only in )

Shader(s): SolidEnergy

How to combine the detail material with the albedo. There are 2 different detail blend methods that can be used.

Mode	Effect	Description
0	DecalModulate	This functions the same as the DecalModulate shader—colors below 128 darken the image, colors above lighten the image.
1	Multiply	$basetexture is multiplied by $detail1, Alpha of the $basetexture controls the strength of the effect. Black parts have full multiplication, White parts have no multiplication.

$detail1scale <float> (only in )

Shader(s): SolidEnergy

Detail scale for $detail2.

Note: Does not appear to do anything.

$detail1blendfactor <float> (only in )

Shader(s): SolidEnergy

Detail blend factor for $detail2.

Note: Does not appear to do anything.

$detail1frame <integer> (only in )

Shader(s): SolidEnergy

The frame to start an animated $detail1 texture on.

Important: s WorldVertexTransition Shader has very similar $detail2 parameter names, but they are not the same!

$detail2 <texture> (only in )

Shader(s): SolidEnergy

Detail texture for SolidEnergy's third layer.

$detail2blendmode <integer> (only in )

Shader(s): SolidEnergy

How to combine the detail material with the albedo.

There are 2 different detail blend methods that can be used.

Mode	Effect	Description
0	Additive	Adds $detail2 onto the $basetexture. Note: When using a $detail1, $detail2 will first be multiplied by $detail2!
1	Multiply	$basetexture is multiplied by $detail2. Note: There is no way to control the strength of the effect.

$detail2scale <float> (only in )

Shader(s): SolidEnergy

Detail scale for $detail2.

Note: Does not appear to do anything.

$detail2blendfactor <float> (only in )

Shader(s): SolidEnergy

Detail blend factor for $detail2.

Note: Does not appear to do anything.

$detail2frame <integer> (only in )

Shader(s): SolidEnergy

The frame to start an animated $detail2 texture on.

Valve's Detail Textures

Valve's stock detail textures (available in OB only) are best used with the following pre-configured values:

$detail detail\noise_detail_01 // e.g. for brickwork, concrete...
$detailscale 7.74
$detailblendfactor 0.8
$detailblendmode 0

$detail detail\metal_detail_01
$detailscale 4.283
$detailblendfactor .65
$detailblendmode 0

$detail detail\rock_detail_01
$detailscale 11
$detailblendfactor 1
$detailblendmode 0

$detail detail\plaster_detail_01
$detailscale 6.783
$detailblendfactor .8
$detailblendmode 0

The below parameters come from models\props_forest\LadderWood.vmt. It is the only Valve Stock texture VMT file to use this particular detail texture. Because the detail texture (detail\wood_detail_01) is a high resolution (1024×1024), the $detailscale is lower than the others, with the exception of rock_detail_01.

$detail detail\wood_detail_01
$detailscale 2.563
$detailblendfactor .8
$detailblendmode 0

Additionally, there are 2 other stock detail textures. detail\detailash001a and detail\detaildirt001a. These files were used in the "leaked" version of  Half-Life 2 and in  Half-Life 2: Episode One using the following parameters.

Concrete/concretefloor009a in Episode One materials:

$detail detail/detaildirt001a
$detailscale 0.27

Metal/metalfloor005a in Episode One materials:

$detail detail/detailash001a
$detailscale 0.50

See also

Hiding large-scale tiling with detail textures - How to make texture repeating less noticeable using $detail