Portal - Tutorial - Hazard Liquid

← Portal Level Creation

Hazard Liquid in the game.

This is a tutorial for creating the Hazard Liquid seen in Portal.

Summary

1. Create a non-entity brush with nodraw on five sides and nature/hazardliquid on the top
2. Add info_particle_systems to create gaseous effect
3. Use trigger_hurt to damage player if he/she touches water

Construction

To add a water volume to your level, follow these steps:

1. Create a brush the size of the water volume using the Block Tool.
2. Open the Texture Browser by clicking the Browse button on the Texture Bar.
3. Find and select the tools/toolsnodraw material in the Texture Browser.
4. With your water brush selected, click the Apply Current Texture button to assign the tools/toolsnodraw material to the whole brush.
5. Select the Texture Application tool, which opens the Face Edit mode.
6. Left-Click the top face of the water brush in the 3D view to select it.
7. Click Browse to bring up the Texture Browser again.
8. Select nature/hazard_liquid.
9. Click the Apply button on the Face Edit panel.

Now you will need to add the gas particle effect that floats above the surface of the water.

1. Select the Entity Tool.
2. In the Entities selection box, make sure the Category is set to Entities and choose the Object info_particle_system.
3. In the 3D view, click on the center of the top of your water brush to place the info_particle_system entity there.
   Tip:If the body of water is large, you might want to use multiple particle systems placed in various places on top of it
4. Go into the Properties window for the particle system by selecting it and pressing Alt-Enter.
5. Set the Particle System Name parameter to one of these:

• water_mist_1024_512

This particle covers up 1024*512 units in it's area.

• water_mist_256

This particle covers up 256 units in it's area.

• water_mist_384_128

This particle covers up 384*128 units in it's area.

• water_mist_512

This particle covers up 512 units in it's area.

• water_mist_128

This particle covers up 128 units in it's area.

Making the water deadly

Hazard Liquid and the trigger_hurt in Hammer editor.

You will need to add a trigger_hurt to make the water hurt the player. This is a simple process

1. Open the Texture Browser and select the tools\toolstrigger texture.
2. Create a new brush that fills approximately the same space as the water brush (you might want to extend or retract the edges slightly so it is easier to distinguish from the water brush)
   Tip:You can also duplicate the water brush, apply the toolstrigger texture, and scale it down slightly
3. Right-click the new brush and choose "Tie To Entity". Select trigger_hurt.
4. Open the trigger_hurt's Properties window with Alt-Enter
5. Set up the properties using these values:

Property Name	Value
Damage	100
Damage Type	CHEMICAL
Damage Model	Normal
Zero Damage Force	YES

That's it! You now have a body of Hazard Liquid that emits a gas effect and will kill the player on contact. Don't forget to add water_lod_control entity!

See also

• Portal Level Creation
• Water
• info_particle_system
• trigger_hurt

External links

• Example map Example map using this tutorial. VMF included.