newLight_Point
Contents
- 1 Keyvalues
- 2 Inputs
- 3 Outputs
- 4 Lighting behavior with VIS and areaportals
- 5 Bugs/Limitations
- 5.1 Deferred lighting incorrect work with $translucent objects
- 5.2 Deferred lighting incorrect work with $alphatestreference and $allowalphatocoverage
- 5.3 Godrays incorrect work with $alphatestreference and $allowalphatocoverage
- 5.4 Godrays incorrect work with $translucent
- 5.5 Godrays draw through water
- 5.6 Godrays leaks
- 5.7 Godrays can't be displayed in monitors and reflections
- 5.8 Weird clipping
- 5.9 Brush polygons may clip deferred lighting
- 5.10 Shadows incorrect work with newLight_Point cube edges
- 5.11 Deferred lighting shine through nodraw texture
- 5.12 Shadows don't appear immediately after reload
- 5.13 Shadows don't appear immediately with a lot of lights with shadows
- 5.14 Dynamic lights with shadows may buggy
- 5.15 Viewmodel illuminated by deferred render draw in refract shader
- 5.16 Objects with refract shader self refract if illuminated by deferred render
- 5.17 Viewmodel doesn't support self-shadowing with deferred ligths
- 5.18 Godrays and deferred lighting incorrect work with cloak
- 5.19 Godrays doesn't refract by refract shader and fully draw through
- 5.20 Strange "holes" when player's camera is at a great distance
- 5.21 Weapons dynamic light incorrect work with damaged func_breakable_surf
- 5.22 New lights don't work with 3D Skybox
- 5.23 Motion blur blurring viewmodel lighting layer
- 5.24 Deferred lighting incorrect work with Customize Character window
- 5.25 Deferred lighting does not draw with -tools
- 5.26 Deferred lighting that use shadows disappear after materials reload
- 6 See also
newLight_Point is a point entity available in 
Black Mesa.
It is one of the many new lighting entities available. Black Mesa incorporates a new lighting system which utilizes Deferred lighting to create dynamic lighting system with dynamic shadows, which allows to complement and quite enliven some scenes, it is also nice effect for moving objects, such as trains. It is also include fine tuning Godrays and lightcookies.
Warning:New lights use expensive gbuffer, that means that with this entity your scene rendering at least 5 times, which makes your level very expensive, considering that XenEngine uses 32-bit architecture and DirectX 9.5 rendering. In large quantities, new lights can greatly heat up your computer and also cause large FPS drops (depending on difficulty of your map and how your area open). Use wisely.
Note:You can have only 512 point light entities placed in the map editor. Represented by class CNewLightPoint.
NewLight_Point in
Endgamechapter.
Keyvalues
- Name
(targetname)<targetname> - The name that other entities refer to this entity by.
- Parent
(parentname)<targetname> - The name of this entity's parent in the movement hierarchy. Entities with parents move with their parent.
- Pitch Yaw Roll (Y Z X)
(angles)<angle> !FGD - This entity's orientation in the world. Pitch is rotation around the Y axis, yaw is the rotation around the Z axis, roll is the rotation around the X axis.
Important:Have huge differences if you use texture for your newLight_Point.
- Enabled
(Enabled)<choices> - Enable/Disable this Entity.
Determines if the light is off at level start.
- 0: Enabled
- 1: Disabled
- Appearance
(FlareStyle)<choices> - Appearance presets.
Light Appearances 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 !FGD Underwater light mutation mmnnmmnnnmmnn
Tip:Static lightmapped lights reduces performance with custom appearance (especially near displacements). If this cause problems, you can use replace your static lights with new lights, if used correctly - in most cases this will significantly preserve performance.
- Light Color
(LightColor)<color255> - This is the color of the sunlight.
Determines color of light.
- Light Ambient Color
(LightColorAmbient)<color255> - This is the ambient color of the sunlight.
Determines color of shadows that light source creates.
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- Light Intensity
(Intensity)<float> - RGB * Intensity.
Brightness of the light.
Note:With 0 will not draw, process and specular shader be disabled.- SpecularMultiplier
(SpecMultiplier)<float> - 0 to 1 RGB * Intensity * SpecularMultiplier.
Brightness of the specular shader from this light source.
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- Range
(Range)<float> - Range.
How far the light source illuminates. Measured in Hammer Units.
Important:It greatly affects optimization, less is better.
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- Light Type
(LightType)<choices> - Determines the light type.
- 0: Static - shadows are cast only by static objects (prop_static, geometry, etc.). Lighting does not update if it has parent (use if part scene has no large moving parts, or shadow accuracy is not important).
- 1: Stationary - shadows are cast by static and dynamic objects, lighting does not update if it has a parent. Important:Shadows for dynamic props update, but baked for geometry. That means that shadows from func_physbox and other dynamic geometry will never update, and shadows from other geometry on them too.
- 2: Dynamic - lighting is not baked at all. Shadows are cast by static and dynamic objects, lighting updates if it does have a parent. This light is quite expensive, and should only be used for moving light sources, or if your scene have moving geometry.
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- HasShadow
(HasShadow)<choices> - Do you want this light to have shadows?
Determines whether the light source will cast shadows. Remember that default choices is No.
- 0: No
- 1: Yes
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- ShadowMapLOD
(ShadowLod)<choices> - Resolution of ShadowMap used by this light.
Determines quality of shadows. 1024 is very expensive, use it only in places where it's really needed, in most cases 512 is good alternative. 256 produces the blurriest shadows, but it is also the cheapest.
- 0: 256
- 1: 512
- 2: 1024
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Important:In one level you can have only 8 light spot/points with shadows which use one and same shadow lod, even if you don't use all them simultaneously. If this limit is not respected - 9-th and next lights will not cast shadows. However - you can rise up this limit with point_template, just kill past lights with kill input and spawn new when you need it. Also use different shadow lods.
- ShadowFaceX
(ShadowFaceX)<choices> - Shadow Enabled for this Face ?
Determines whether the given side lighting will display shadows.
- 0: Enabled
- 1: Disabled
- ShadowFaceX_Minus
(ShadowFaceX_Minus)<choices> - Shadow Enabled for this Face ?
Determines whether the given side lighting will display shadows.
- 0: Enabled
- 1: Disabled
- ShadowFaceY
(ShadowFaceY)<choices> - Shadow Enabled for this Face ?
Determines whether the given side lighting will display shadows.
- 0: Enabled
- 1: Disabled
- ShadowFaceY_Minus
(ShadowFaceY_Minus)<choices> - Shadow Enabled for this Face ?
Determines whether the given side lighting will display shadows.
- 0: Enabled
- 1: Disabled
- ShadowFaceZ
(ShadowFaceZ)<choices> - Shadow Enabled for this Face ?
Determines whether the given side lighting will display shadows.
- 0: Enabled
- 1: Disabled
- ShadowFaceZ_Minus
(ShadowFaceZ_Minus)<choices> - Shadow Enabled for this Face ?
Determines whether the given side lighting will display shadows.
- 0: Enabled
- 1: Disabled
- NearZ
(NearZ)<float> - NearZ used by shadowmap camera for this light.
Determines distance at which light source will cast shadows.
- DepthBias
(DepthBias)<float> - DepthBias - Offset added to depth values in shadowmaps.
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- SlopeDepthBias
(SlopeDepthBias)<float> - Slope Depth Bias - For surfaces having aliasing due to steep angles with light.
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- NormalBias
(NormalBias)<float> - While rendering objects into shadow maps, each vertex will be moved along -ve Normal direction, giving it an appearance of shrinking while rendering to shadow maps. This property determines the amount of Units to be moved. Helps with shadow aliasing.
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Bug:Numbers lower than 0.8 can cause huge graphics problems.|
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- ShadowRadius
(ShadowRadius)<float> - Radius of shadow edges for soft shadows. If its value is negative, code will auto assign a value depending on shadowlod. These code based values can be adjusted via convars nr_shadow_rad_High,nr_shadow_rad_Med and nr_shadow_rad_Low.
Determines shadow blur. Low numbers are expensive to render.
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- Enable Texture Light
(bTexLight)<choices> - Enable Texture Ligh.
Determines whether the given light source uses .vtf texture from game files (just like env_projectedtexture). With NewLight_Point, this technically works like a cube. A great example is the batteries that use lights/lightcookie_battery.vtf.
- 0: Disabled
- 1: Enabled
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Note:One of the most expensive features, use wisely. If shadows enabled - it can work with lags even with powerful PC.- Texture name for TexLight
(texName)<string> - Texture name for Texture shadows.
Determines which texture will use light source. It use .vtf files, not .vmt.
- .Enable Prop Only Mode
(bNegLight)<choices> - Enable Prop Only Mode.
Todo: Document what it does.
- 0: Disabled
- 1: Enabled
- LightnGodRayMode
(LightnGodRayMode)<choices> - 0:Light 1:Godrays 2:Both Light and GodRays.
- 0: Light
- 1: Godrays
- 2: Both Light and GodRays
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- EnableGodRays
(EnableGodRays)<choices> - Enable GodRays.
Determines whether godrays are enabled or not at map start.
- 0: Disabled
- 1: Enabled
Warning:You can have only 40 point lights with godrays enabled simultaneously, otherwise game will crash with this error message.
If you'll try to enable forty-first light point with enabled Godrays.
Note:Godrays are draw and process even with closed areaportals.|
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- Density
(Density)<float> - Density Controls the length of rays/volumetric shadows. 1.0 should work in 99% cases. Good values to start from: 0.5 to 1.5.
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- Weight
(Weight)<float> - Weight Controls the intensity of volumetric shadow. Blocking of rays by geometry. Good values to start from: 0.1 - 10.0.
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- Decay
(Decay)<float> - Decay NOT being used.
Todo: Document what does it change.
- Exposure
(Exposure)<float> - Exposure Controls the intensity of Rays during blending pass with main scene. 2.0 is a good start. Good values are 1.0 - 10.0.
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- DistFactor
(DistFactor)<float> - DistFactor Controls the falloff of rays / length. 1.0f is a good starting value increase or decrease in the increments of 0.1. 0.0 will make the rays dissappear only disk will be rendererd.
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- DiskRadius
(DiskRadius)<float> - Radius of Disk/circle of sun in texturespace. 1.0 will be full screen 0.5 is half screen etc.
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Note:With 0 - will not render.- ColorInner
(ColorInner)<color255> - This is the color of the inner circle.
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Note:Unlike lighting - brightness of inner depends on fourth number which can be written here.- ColorRays
(ColorRays)<color255> - This is the color of the rays.
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Note:Unlike lighting - brightness of rays depends on fourth number which can be written here.- GodRaysType
(GodRaysType)<choices> - GodRaysType.
- 0: Normal
- 1: Fancy
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- DiskInnerSizePercent
(DiskInnerSizePercent)<float> - Used only in Fancy Gaphics Mode. Disk inner circle radius = DiskRadius * DiskInnerSizePercent.
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Note:With 0 - will not render.- ColorOuter
(ColorOuter)<color255> - Used only in Fancy Mode. This is the color of the outer circle.
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Note:Unlike lighting - brightness of outer depends on fourth number which can be written here.- Ell_FR_ConstA
(Ell_FR_ConstA)<float> - This is fancy Godrays disk size.
Note:For fancy Godrays only.|
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- Ell_FR_ConstB
(Ell_FR_ConstB)<float> - This is fancy Godrays disk distortion.
Note:For fancy Godrays only.|
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- EEll_SR_ConstA
(EEll_SR_ConstA)<float> - This is fancy Godrays disk hole size.
Note:For fancy Godrays only.|
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- EEll_SR_ConstB
(EEll_SR_ConstB)<float> - This is fancy Godrays disk hole distortion.
Note:For fancy Godrays only.|
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- Ell_RRF_ConstA
(Ell_RRF_ConstA)<float> - This is fancy Godrays inner size.
Note:For fancy Godrays only.|
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- Ell_RRF_ConstB
(Ell_RRF_ConstB)<float> - This is fancy Godrays inner distortion.
Note:For fancy Godrays only.|
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- RotSpeed
(RotSpeed)<float>
Determines rotating speed of fancy rays, 0 - don't rotate, negative number - will rotate to left.
Note:For fancy Godrays only.|
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- RotPatternFreq
(RotPatternFreq)<float>
Determines count of fancy rays in frame, with negative number will deny RotSpeed +/- effect.
Note:For fancy Godrays only.|
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- RenderInWorldSpace
(m_bEnableWorldSpace)<choices> - Disables disks if this enabled.
- m_fAlphaDiskInner
(m_fAlphaDiskInner)<float>
- m_fAlphaDiskOuter
(m_fAlphaDiskOuter)<float>
- UseToneMapRays
(m_bUseToneMapRays)<choices>
- 0: Enabled
- 1: Disabled
- UseToneMapDisk
(m_bUseToneMapDisk)<choices>
- 0: Enabled
- 1: Disabled
- ShadowPass_Brush
(m_bSRO_Brush)<choices> - Do we want to Render Brushes in shadow passes for this light?
- 0: YES
- 1: NO
- ShadowPass_StaticProp
(m_bSRO_StaticProp)<choices> - Do we want to Render StaticProps in shadow passes for this light?
- 0: YES
- 1: NO
- ShadowPass_DynProp
(m_bSRO_DynProp)<choices> - Do we want to Render Dynamic Props in shadow passes for this light?
- 0: YES
- 1: NO
- ShadowPass_AlphaTest
(m_bSRO__Trans)<choices> - Do we want to Render AlphaTested Objects in shadow passes for this light?
- 0: YES
- 1: NO
bUseOldFallOff!FGD(bUseOldFallOff)<choices>
- Deprecated. Enable old falloff similar to light/light_spot.
- 0: No
- 1: Yes
falloffConstant!FGD(falloffConstant)<integer>- Deprecated. Constant (work only if bUseOldFallOff enabled).
Inputs
SetColorLight<color255>- Change Light's Color value. Doesn't affect the godrays.
SetIntensityForLight<float>- Change Light's intensity value. Doesn't affect the godrays.
TurnOnGodRays<void>- Turn the Godrays on.
TurnOffGodRays<void>- Turn the Godrays off.
TurnOn<void>- Turn the light on.
TurnOff<void>- Turn the light off.
Toggle<void>- Toggle the light's current state.
Base:
AddContext<string>- Adds to the entity's list of response contexts. See Context.
AddOutput<string>- Assigns a new keyvalue/output on this entity. For keyvalues, some rely on extra necessary code to be ran and won't work if its simply just changed through this input. There is a strict format that must be followed:
// Format of changing KeyValues: "AddOutput [key] [value]"
//// Raw text:
"OnUser1" "!self,AddOutput,targetname new_name"
// Format of adding an Output: "AddOutput {targetname}:{inputname}:{parameter}:{delay}:{max times to fire, -1 means infinite}"
//// Raw text:
"OnUser1" "!self,AddOutput,OnUser1:SetParent:!activator:0.0:-1"
// Arguments can be left blank, but the empty blank should still be contained.
//// Raw text:
"OnUser1" "!self,AddOutput,OnUser1:ClearParent::0.0:-1"
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ClearContext- Removes all contexts from this entity's list.
ClearParent- Removes this entity from the the movement hierarchy, leaving it free to move independently.
FireUser1toFireUser4- Fires the respective
OnUseroutputs; see User Inputs and Outputs.
Kill- Removes this entity and any entities parented to it from the world.
KillHierarchy- Functions the same as
Kill, although this entity and any entities parented to it are killed on the same frame, being marginally faster thanKillinput.
RemoveContext<string>- Remove a context from this entity's list. The name should match the key of an existing context.
SetParent<string>- Move with this entity. See Entity Hierarchy (parenting).
SetParentAttachment<string>- Change this entity to attach to a specific attachment point on its parent. The entity will teleport so that the position of its root bone matches that of the attachment. Entities must be parented before being sent this input.
SetParentAttachmentMaintainOffset<string>- As above, but without teleporting. The entity retains its position relative to the attachment at the time of the input being received.
DispatchResponse<string> !FGD- Dispatches a response to the entity. See Response and Concept.
DispatchEffect<string> (removed since
) !FGD- Dispatches a special effect from the entity's origin; See also List of Client Effects. Replaced by the particle system since .
RunScriptFile<script> (in all games since
) (also in 
)- Execute a VScript file from disk, without file extension. The script contents are merged with the script scope of the receiving entity.
RunScriptCode<string> (in all games since) (also in )- Execute a string of VScript source code in the scope of the entity receiving the input. String quotation may be needed when fired via console. Bug:In Hammer, using string arguments will corrupt the VMF file's structure, making the file unviewable for the next Hammer session.Fix:Remove the string argument manually with a text editor.Note: Backtick characters ` are replaced with quotation marks at runtime, allowing quotation marks to be used when normally not possible.
CallScriptFunction<string> (in all games since) (also in ) !FGD- Calls a VScript function defined in the scope of the receiving entity.
TerminateScriptScope(only in) !FGD- Destroys the script scope of the receving entity.
SetLocalOrigin<coordinates> (in all games since
) !FGD- Send this entity to a spot in the map. If the entity is parented to something, it will be offset from the parent by this amount.
Outputs
Base:
OnUser1toOnUser4- These outputs each fire in response to the firing of the like-numbered
FireUser1toFireUser4Input; see User Inputs and Outputs.
Lighting behavior with VIS and areaportals
Static type
Static type is the most stable, since its shadows are baked in and updates only with save loads or while lighting turning on. It shows all shadows even with closed areaportal.
Areaportal is open.
Areaportal is closed.
Stationary type
Shadows for static props and brushes are baked, but not for physics props and other dynamic models. This means that shadows from dynamic models will disappear if they are hidden by a closed areaportal or if VIS is hiding such objects. Shadows for static props and brushes will not disappear.
Areaportal is open.
Areaportal is closed.
In some cases, this can be noticeable if dynamic model creates a large shadow.
Areaportal hides the box, note that there is no shadow.
Areaportal shows the box, now there is a shadow of the box.
Areaportal hides the box.
Areaportal shows the box.
Dynamic type
Shadows for static props and world geometry are baked, but not for dynamic models and brushes. This means that shadows from dynamic models and brushes will disappear if they are hidden by a closed areaportal or if VIS is hiding such objects. Shadows for static props and world geometry will not disappear. Moving lighting will update shadows for static props and world geometry, even with closed areaportal.
Areaportal is open.
Areaportal is closed.
Bugs/Limitations
Todo: make a TOC specifically for this box to make navigation easier
Deferred lighting incorrect work with $translucent objects
Deferred lighting all time rendering through walls with material shader parameter $translucent. This happen because of game can't tell the depth of scene because of the transparency, what you are see in the picture is just the lighting layer applied to the color of transparency texture.
No $translucent. Behind the wall placed lighting and some models with small room.
With $translucent. Now player see everything, but only what lighted.
Scene behide window. Looks like the gargantua has lost its texture and turned white.
Scene out window. This is what should see player.
This problem also applies to brushes which not have $translucent, but which parented to brushes that have this parameter. Similar will happen if brush with $translucent is part of your brush entity.
This sticker is brush parented to the glass. Flashlight off.
This sticker is brush parented to the glass. Flashlight on.
Same will happen if you use overlays/decals on brushes with $translucent.
Metal speaker is overlay that use $alphatest, but lighting of the health charger visible anyway, because overlay pasted on the transparency window.
This issues does not happen if replace LightmappedGeneric to ShatteredGlass or UnlitGeneric, so, you can use one of them for glass or transparency surfaces when it's needed.
In some cases use $alphatest if it'll give similar to $translucent resualts, with this your surface also will cast dynamic shadows.
Deferred lighting incorrect work with $alphatestreference and $allowalphatocoverage
$alphatestreference is a material shader parameter that specifies the threshold alpha channel value at which the surface should be transparent instead of opaque, default "0.5". $allowalphatocoverage creates translucent steps based on alpha values. Both have one and same problems with deferred lighting.
For examples used this texture with this alpha channel.
Diffuse texture.
Alpha channel.
Here deferred lighting placed behind wall with the texture, lighting is red and shadows is blue. We can see the circle part of that have alpha channel part which is invisible due to $alphatest, with enabled deferred lighting we see that the invisible part doesn't show through itself deferred lighting with shadows.
Dynamic light disabled behind wall with the texture, using standart VRAD light.
Dynamic light enabled behind wall with the texture, not using standart VRAD light.
From the opposite side the invisible part illuminates everything in itself equally, without taking into account decay of light, it's also don't show shadows and other dynamic lights in itself.
Dynamic light disabled, using standart VRAD light.
Dynamic light enabled, not using standart VRAD light.
If use very low numbers you will see resualts like in the pictures.
Dynamic light disabled, using standart VRAD light.
Dynamic light enabled, not using standart VRAD light.
Dynamic light disabled, using standart VRAD light.
Dynamic light enabled, not using standart VRAD light.
You can't escape this problem, only minimize effect with $alphatestreference 0.1 or if paint alpha correct channel.
Godrays incorrect work with $alphatestreference and $allowalphatocoverage
Godrays process invisable parts, you can't escape this problem, only minimize effect with $alphatestreference 0.1 or if paint alpha correct channel.
An example.
You can't escape this problem, only minimize effect with $alphatestreference 0.1 or if paint alpha correct channel.
Godrays incorrect work with $translucent
Godrays (also disk) all time fully rendering through textures with material shader parameter $translucent, because of this you will see unexpected results like in the picture. Disable Godrays when you need or use $alphatest if it'll give resualts similar to $translucent. You also can try use some other tricks to escape this problem.
Bug example in bm_c1a3c.
Sign from other side.
Godrays draw through water
Deferred lighting don't fully draw through water, unlike Godrays.
Black Mesa: Blue Shift - bs_c3m0c.
Godrays leaks
Due to way Godrays works, in some cases they can be drawn through walls, appearing where they should not be visible at all. Disable rays with triggers or minimize effect.
An example.
.gif)
Godrays can't be displayed in monitors and reflections
Godrays is post process effect that depends on player screen. That means that they can't water reflections or monitors can't show it.
Note:Was added with Necro Patch. However, this is disabled in the code by default, because it didn't work correctly. There is no way to enable this feature.
An example.
An example.
Weird clipping
Often meeting strange clipping/flickering, strange bug that was in early stages of the game (this can be seen even in videos before new lights release in public), this does not depend on OS or drivers. Somehow related to Range value, since changing its value halfway fixes this bug, because it move away the bugged area.
One of many examples.
One of many examples.
One of many examples.
Brush polygons may clip deferred lighting
Rare phenomenon, sometimes brush polygons clip deferred lighting, the reason that cause this is unknown. Can be easy fixed if divide invalid brush into two parts.
One of examples (mat_wireframe 0).
One of examples (mat_wireframe 1).
One of examples (mat_wireframe 0).
One of examples (mat_wireframe 1).
Shadows incorrect work with newLight_Point cube edges
Because newLight_Point arу cube technically - we get shadows incorrect behavior with edges of this cube, this cause their serious distortion a.k.a. clipping. You only can minimize this if set shadow quality to maximum.
One of many examples.
One of many examples.
One of many examples.
Deferred lighting shine through nodraw texture
Not a bug, but a pattern. Unfortunately, this cannot be controlled in any way, you should keep in mind this before paint nodraw to escape situations like in the gifs. If your dynamic light source illuminates face that player never see - use cheap textures with low resolution and which don't use material shader parameters, a good solution would be tools/toolsblack or any 
UnlitGeneric texture.
Black Mesa - bm_c2a2a.
Black Mesa: Blue Shift - bs_c0m0c.
Shadows don't appear immediately after reload
After game save and load shadows don't appear for short time, maybe it has something to do with caching. This appearance duration may vary depending on power of user PC and how much of lights with enabled shadows are turned on at level, but in any case user will get this issue even with most powerful PC. Enable in worldspawn settings Level Fade In to hide this problem, this setting also will hide some other problems with loads that avaible in Black Mesa.
With no
Level Fade In. It seems like the shadows flicker, which makes it unpleasant for eyes.
With
Level Fade In. Everything looks fine.
Shadows don't appear immediately with a lot of lights with shadows
If your level use a lot of lights with shadows - shadows from enabling lights will not appear immediately, this happens if light source was disabled and if player's camera did not see this light source enabled initially.This happen because shadows use passes per frame for memory, if level use a lot of new lights - game change integer value of cvar nr_shadow_max_passes_per_frame to lower numbers. Can be fixed in some cases if change cvar nr_shadow_max_passes_per_frame value with point_servercommand to 25 or if enable light source at level start and keep it enabled before drawing of level allows player's camera to see this light source, disable this light source and than enable when we need this.
An example.
bm_c2a1a.
Dynamic lights with shadows may buggy
In some cases your attached lights may have buggy shadows if parent is moving, work smart when use this feature. If your moving light is decoration - highly recommended to leave shadows disabled to save limits and performance.
An example.
bm_c1a1c.
Viewmodel illuminated by deferred render draw in refract shader
Refract shader and Water shader take and refract player screen space without taking into account viewmodel. However - viewmodel illuminated by deferred render draw in refract shader because of game can't tell the depth of viewmodel because of the transparency, what you are see in the pictures is just the lighting layer applied to the color of transparency texture.
Clear example in test map, the hivehand illuminated by deferred render draw in the refract texture, plus it's completely discolored there..
Black Mesa - bm_c4a1a.
Black Mesa: Blue Shift - bs_c2m0a.
Objects with refract shader self refract if illuminated by deferred render
Objects with refract shader in their own refraction disable self, to escape some problems. However - objects with refract shader illuminated by deferred render refract self because of game can't tell the depth of objects because of the transparency, what you are see in the pictures is just the lighting layer applied to the color of transparency texture.
as_c3map01 - flashlight disabled, everything looks fine.
as_c3map01 - flashlight enabled, now this magnifying lamp refract self.
Similar issue happen if model with refraction behind wall with refraction.
Flashlight disabled, everything looks fine.
Flashlight enabled, now this wall show one of magnifying lamp deferred lighting layers.
Viewmodel doesn't support self-shadowing with deferred ligths
Unlike cascade shadows - viewmodel doesn't support self-shadowing with deferred ligths. Not a bug, but this is not what you expect from real life, it also isn't so with env_projectedtexture.
Here you can see how one of gluon gun switches create shadow that fall on other part of gun.
Light spot illuminates gluon gun, but lighting just ignore viewmodel and fully shine through, although only the side of the gun should be light.
Godrays and deferred lighting incorrect work with cloak
Cloak is a material shader parameter for VertexLitGeneric shader, female assassins use it to make them transparent when they need it. Godrays all time fully render through them, same for deferred lighting.
bm_c2a3c, the sun's rays are not cut off despite the fact that she is completely untransparent right now.
bm_c2a3c, she is completely untransparent, but we still can see one of lighting layers.
Godrays doesn't refract by refract shader and fully draw through
Unlike deferred lighting Godrays doesn't refract by refract shader, also fully draw through.
An example.
Strange "holes" when player's camera is at a great distance
In some cases may will appear strange "holes" when player's camera is at a great distance. Strange bug that occurs quite rarely. It is affected by game resolution, for example in bm_c4a1b1 this bug shows up well with a resolution wtih 1920x1080, but with 3840x2160 the light source from the teleporter flickers, but does not form a hole. Can be fixed if increase NormalBias number.
Confirm: Does it happen with newLight_Spot ?
Example in bm_c4a1b1, the green teleporter light source starts to glitch when player move certain distance (crossbow zoom doesn't effect to this bug, unlike HEV zoom).
Black Mesa, map bm_c4a1b1. NormalBias - 1.
Black Mesa, map bm_c4a1b1. NormalBias - 5.
Black Mesa: Black Ops - Restored, bmops_map_2. NormalBias - 0.5.
Black Mesa: Black Ops - Restored, bmops_map_2. NormalBias - 1.5.
Weapons dynamic light incorrect work with damaged func_breakable_surf
For some reason weapons dynamic light can illuminate damaged func_breakable_surf even if position of it very far from position of damaged func_breakable_surf.
Confirm: Is there a way to fix this?
An example.
New lights don't work with 3D Skybox
Don't use new lights in your 3D skyboxes, none of them will work at all.
An example. We see that deferred lighting and Godrays works fine, but 3D Skybox don't draw both.
Motion blur blurring viewmodel lighting layer
For some reason Motion blur blurring viewmodel lighting layer, you can notice this when you just rotate camera.
An example.
Deferred lighting incorrect work with Customize Character window
For some reason Customize Character take player's screen, inserts it into character preview window and show one of deferred lighting layers.
An example with zombie scientist model.
Deferred lighting does not draw with -tools
If you don't use Full Screen - deferred lighting will not draw.
In
Full Screen.
Out
Full Screen.
Deferred lighting that use shadows disappear after materials reload
This issue happen when you open Hammer while game is opened, when you disable speculars with mat_specular 0, when you reload all matelias with mat_reloadallmaterials, e. t. c. Can be fixed with save reload.
Before
mat_reloadallmaterials.
After
mat_reloadallmaterials.
See also
- New Lights Editor
newLight_SpotnewLight_DirNewLights_settingsgodrays_settingsenv_cascade_light- New Specular
- newxog_volume
- Lighting
- Adding Light
- Intermediate Lighting
- Advanced Lighting
- Effect flags (dynamic light effects)
- Tool textures (for Block light)
- BlackMesa XenEngine: Part 4 – Lighting & Shadows (page from Black Mesa developer about new lights)
- BlackMesa XenEngine: Part2 – How a Frame is Rendered (page from Black Mesa developer about how a frame rendered, include Godrays.)
- BlackMesa XenEngine: Part1 – Heavily Modified Source Engine (page from Black Mesa developer about Black Mesa engine, better known as Xengine)
Todo: Investigate and document some keyvalues and functions. Clean up english. Add more issues if you'll find.
