Portal BTS - Typical Elements and Entities

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Introduction

This page will show you common elements that can be used in almost any room type and how to create them.

Cables

Cables found throughout the BTS Areas

A staple feature of most bts areas are the cables hanging from the ceiling. In Portal 1, they are made using keyframe_rope entities, with a single move_rope always being the first in a system. Be sure to get creative with adjusting the slack.

These properties are required for ropes as seen in Portal.

Property Name	Value
Subdivision	8
Rope Material	cable/cable

Note:On the end of each keyframe_rope, set the Subdivision to 2, on cables that hang and are unattached, set the subdivision to 2 as well for better performance.

There is one single cable in escape_00 that uses the cable/cable_back texture.

Fuse Set Props

To create fuse props, create a prop_static entity and use any of the following models:

• models/props/128_fuse_set01/128_fuse_set01.mdl
• models/props/128_fuse_set02/128_fuse_set02.mdl
• models/props/128_fuse_set03/128_fuse_set03.mdl
• models/props/128_fuse_set04/128_fuse_set04.mdl
• models/props/128_fuse_set05/128_fuse_set05.mdl
• models/props/128_fuse_set06/128_fuse_set06.mdl
• models/props/128_fuse_set07/128_fuse_set07.mdl
• models/props/128_fuse_set08/128_fuse_set08.mdl
• models/props/128_fuse_set09/128_fuse_set09.mdl
• models/props/128_fuse_set10/128_fuse_set10.mdl

Set its skin to 1 unless if it's inside an Observation Hallway.

Entities

Fog

The official BTS maps have an env_fog_controller in them with the following properties:

Property Name	Value
Name	fog_ctrl
Fog Enable	Yes
Primary Fog Color	58 82 101
Secondary Fog Color	85 43 0
Fog Start	64
Fog End	3500

Color Control

All official escape maps have a color_correction. Create a color_correction entity and enter the following properties:

Property Name	Value
Name	color_correction_bts
Lookup Falloff Start Distance	-1
Lookup Falloff End Distance	-1
Lookup Table Filename	scripts/colorcorrection/cc_bts.raw
Lookup Fade In Duration	2
Lookup Fade out Duration	2

Tonemap Control

All escape maps have anenv_tonemap_controller entity. Create an env_tonemap_controller and set its name to tonemap

Create a logic_auto and give the logic_auto the following outputs:

	My Output	Target Entity	Target Input	Parameter	Delay	Only Once
	OnMapSpawn	tonemap	SetBloomScale	0.3	0.00	No
	OnMapSpawn	tonemap	SetAutoExposureMin	0.5	0.00	No
	OnMapSpawn	tonemap	SetAutoExposureMax	2	0.00	No
	OnMapSpawn	tonemap	SetTonemapRate	0.3	0.00	No

Note:If there are test chambers within the same map, be sure to have the entities disabled during those points. If your map is mainly just a testchamber with small BTS elements (for example, a Rattman den), the entities aren't necessary.

List of other Typical Elements

These are already existing tutorials for other typical elements used in the Behind the Scenes style.

• Cat Walks
• Fans
• Interior Fences
• Locked Keypad Doors
• Piston Panels
• Speakers
• SpotLight Lamps
• Support beams
• Vacuum Tubes
• Vents
• Wall Pipes

See also

• Portal Level Creation