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env_projectedtexture

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Class hierarchy
CEnvProjectedTexture
↳CPointEntity
↳CBaseEntity
env_projectedtexture.cpp
Env_projectedtexture has different appearances
Projecting a colorful texture in Garry's Mod.
Portal 2 uses projected textures extensively for world lighting.
Showcase of Portal 2: Community Edition volumetrics in a Portal 2 map.

env_projectedtexture is a point entity available in all Source Source games since Source 2006 Source 2006. It projects a texture as a dynamic light that affects all objects in the world, optionally with Shadow Mapping. env_Projectedtexture does not light the world similarly that other light entities which are ray-traced when you compile the map. This light however is real-time and works without RAD.

Warning.pngWarning:This is the most expensive light entity in the engine, use sparingly. Newer hardware with a good CPU can handle it better.
Note.pngNote:While it is technically supported in Alien Swarm Deferred Alien Swarm Deferred and Lambda Wars Lambda Wars, it is highly recommended that you use Light_deferred instead.
Note.pngNote:Removed from Black Mesa Black Mesa in the December 24 2017 update (Xengine update) and replaced with newLight_Spot.
Note.pngNote:Projected textures don't render when the mod folder is called portal.
PlacementTip.pngWorkaround:Use a mod name other than portal.

Flags

Enabled : [1]

Icon-Bug.pngBug:Always starts on in Garry's Mod Garry's Mod and Counter-Strike: Source Counter-Strike: Source.
PlacementTip.pngWorkaround:Use logic_auto with TurnOff input.
  [todo tested in ?]

Always Update (for moving light) : [2] (only in Alien SwarmMapbase.)
All lights always update in Garry's Mod Garry's Mod.

Tip.pngTip:If a game doesn't support this flag, you still can move projected texture. Clear parent each 0.24 seconds and set parent each 0.25 seconds, this will update the projected texture position (parent must have attachment point).

Keyvalues

Name (targetname) <string>
The name that other entities refer to this entity by, via Inputs/Outputs or other keyvalues (e.g. parentname or target).
Also displayed in Hammer's 2D views and Entity Report.
See also:  Generic Keyvalues, Inputs and Outputs available to all entities

Target (target) <targetname>
The entity will rotate to point at this target. Make sure you check the Always update flag if you set this.
FOV (lightfov) <float>
The field of view cone/pyramid at which the texture is projected.
Confirm:This keyvalue does not work in Alien Swarm.
NearZ (nearz) <float>
Objects closer than this will not receive the light from the projection.
FarZ (farz) <float>
Objects beyond this distance will not receive the light from the projection.
Enable Shadows (enableshadows) <boolean>
Enables/disables shadows from this projected texture.
Shadow Quality (shadowquality) <integer choices>
Quality of shadows.
  • 0: Low (sharp, pixelized shadows)
  • 1: High (smooth edged shadows)
Shadow Filter (shadowfilter) <integer> (only in Mapbase)
Changes the Shadow Filter parameter of the light, which is responsible for smoothing the light. Works only when enabled Always update flag.
Light Only Target (lightonlytarget) <boolean>
Limit flashlight effect to only affect target entity.
Light World (lightworld) <boolean>
Control whether flashlight affects static world geometry.
Light Color (lightcolor) <color255 + int>
Light color and intensity.
Note.pngNote:This entity has different brightness rules when compared to light. A good number to start at is 10000 with a Brightness scale of 5-10
Camera Space (cameraspace) <integer>
Angles are interpreted as being relative to camera.
Texture Name (texturename) <string> !FGD
The texture which this entity projects. Must be a VTF file (not VMT), relative to /materials.
Texture Frame (textureframe) <integer> !FGD
If the texture is animated, this is the frame it should begin on.
Simple Projection (simpleprojection) <boolean> (in all games since Alien Swarm) !FGD
Indicates if this is a simple, non-light casting texture projection.
Simple Projection Size (projection_size) <float> (in all games since Alien Swarm) !FGD
Size of the simple projection.
Simple Projection Rotation (projection_rotation) <float> (in all games since Alien Swarm) !FGD
Brightness Scale (brightnessscale) <float> (in all games since Alien Swarm) (also in Mapbase)
Scale the light color by this brightness.
Color Transition Time (colortransitiontime) <float> (in all games since Alien Swarm) (also in Mapbase)
Amount of time it takes for a color change to occur. Higher numbers cause faster transitions.
Appearance (style) <integer choices> (in all games since Portal 2) (also in Garry's Mod)
Various Custom Appearance presets.
Note.pngNote:Requires input AlwaysUpdateOn to work.
Lightstyle presets (epilepsy warning)
Literal Value Description Sequence Preview
0 Normal m Lightstyle 0.png
10 Fluorescent flicker mmamammmmammamamaaamammma Lightstyle 10.gif
2 Slow, strong pulse abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcba Lightstyle 2.gif
11 Slow pulse, noblack abcdefghijklmnopqrrqponmlkjihgfedcba Lightstyle 11.gif
5 Gentle pulse jklmnopqrstuvwxyzyxwvutsrqponmlkj Lightstyle 5.gif
1 Flicker A mmnmmommommnonmmonqnmmo Lightstyle 1.gif
6 Flicker B nmonqnmomnmomomno Lightstyle 6.gif
3 Candle A mmmmmaaaaammmmmaaaaaabcdefgabcdefg Lightstyle 3.gif
7 Candle B mmmaaaabcdefgmmmmaaaammmaamm Lightstyle 7.gif
8 Candle C mmmaaammmaaammmabcdefaaaammmmabcdefmmmaaaa Lightstyle 8.gif
4 Fast strobe mamamamamama Lightstyle 4.gif
9 Slow strobe aaaaaaaazzzzzzzz Lightstyle 9.gif
12 Underwater light mutation mmnnmmnnnmmnn Lightstyle 12.gif
Custom Appearance (pattern) <string> (in all games since Portal 2) (also in Garry's Mod)
Set a custom pattern of light brightness for this light. Pattern format is a string of characters, where a is total darkness, z fully bright. i.e. aaggnnttzz would be a steppy fade in from dark to light.
Default Appearance (defaultstyle) <string> (in all games since Portal 2)
Light Strength (lightstrength) <float> (only in Garry's Mod)
How bright the light appears.
Confirm:How is this different than brightnessscale?
Light View Models (lightviewmodels) <boolean> (only in INFRA)
Control whether flashlight effects view models.
Light Not PVS Culled (lightnotpvsculled) <boolean> (only in INFRA)
Disable PVS culling optimization for this light (you shouldn't do this unless it's explicitly causing problems).
Enable Volumetrics (volumetric) <boolean> (only in Strata Source) !FGD
Whether or not to use volumetrics for this projected texture.
Volumetric Intensity (volumetricintensity) <float> (only in Strata Source) !FGD
Defines the intensity of the volumetrics. (Default is 1. Can go above; no strict limit)
Icon-Important.pngImportant:As of 31/10/23, Volumetrics are currently broken due to a missing shader. According to a dev, the shader was working in DX9 but was not ported to DX11 due it planning to be remade, however currently this has not yet been worked on. Do not enable volumetrics while this is the case!
Note.pngNote:The volumetric shader has been re-implemented in Portal: Revolution Portal: Revolution. It is planned to upstream this to Portal 2: Community Edition Portal 2: Community Edition, however it has not been done yet due to a bug where the volumetric lighting flickers when the player has paint on their face. Confirmation from P2:CE developer, and another developer mentioning the bug.
Movie Name (moviename) <string> (only in Strata Source)
.webm file used in place of the texture.

Inputs

Note.pngNote:In some FGDs, only TurnOn, TurnOff and FOV are present.
TurnOn
Turns on the texture.
TurnOff
Turns off the texture.
FOV <float>
Sets FOV.
EnableShadows <boolean>
Set the if shadows are enabled.
Icon-Bug.pngBug:Can only can enabled/disabled if shadows are enabled when the entity is intitially spawned.  (tested in: Counter-Strike: Source)
Ambient <float>
Set ambient.
Icon-Bug.pngBug:Non-functional.  [todo tested in ?]
Confirm:Does it work in any game?
SpotlightTexture <string>
Sets the spotlight texture.
Note.pngNote:Disabled in Portal 2 onwards. Fixed in Portal 2: Community Edition
Target <string>
Specify a new Target entity to point at.
CameraSpace <boolean>
Sets Camera Space.
LightOnlyTarget <boolean>
Sets Light Only Target.
LightWorld <boolean> !FGD
Sets Light World.
AlwaysUpdateOn  (in all games since Alien Swarm) (also in Mapbase)
Turn on per frame updating (for moving lights).
AlwaysUpdateOff  (in all games since Alien Swarm) (also in Mapbase)
Turn off per frame updating (for moving lights).
LightColor <color255> (in all games since Alien Swarm) (also in MapbaseGarry's Mod)
Change the Light Color.
SetBrightness <float> (only in Mapbase)
Sets the brightness.
SetLightStyle <integer> (in all games since Portal 2) (also in Garry's Mod)
Sets an Appearance. (see Appearance keyvalue above for possible values)
SetPattern <string> (in all games since Portal 2) (also in Garry's Mod)
Sets Custom Appearance. (see Custom Appearance keyvalue above)
SetNearZ <float> (in all games since Portal 2) (also in Garry's Mod)
Sets NearZ.
SetFarZ <float> (in all games since Portal 2) (also in Garry's Mod)
Sets FarZ.
EnableVolumetrics <boolean> (only in Portal 2: Community Edition)
Enables or disables volumetrics.
SetVolumetricIntensity <float> (only in Portal 2: Community Edition)
Sets the intensity of the volumetrics. (Default is 1. Can go above; no strict limit)
SetBrightnessScale <float> (only in Portal 2: Community Edition)
Sets the brightness.

Caveats and Fixes

Issue/Caveat Affected games Fix/Workarounds Notes
The Volumetrics option in Strata Source Strata Source is temporarily broken due to a missing shader Strata Source Strata Source N/A
Note.pngNote:This was fixed in Portal: Revolution. There are plans to upstream it to P2CE [1]
Valve's games only support one shadow map in the PVS at a time (including player flashlight). Official Source games/stock Source SDK Base 2013 code It is possible to modify/remove this limit in game code by following these instructions.

If mapping for a multiplayer game without game code access where point_servercommand is available and permitted, the cvar mp_flashlight can be forcibly set to 0 to disable to the player flashlight and from interfering with env_projectedtexture.

The following games/branches have exceptions to this:
  • Garry's Mod: 9 (Can be increased with -numshadowtextures #)
  • Strata Source: 8
  • Mapbase: 4 (Can be increased with -numshadowtextures #)
  • INFRA: 8
Textures used for projected textures require the flags Clamp S, Clamp T and Clamp All to avoid glitchy tiling. Also note, that VTFs are used directly and no VMT is needed. All Source games N/A N/A
Shadows are only rendered when the user is running with "High" shadow detail.
 All Source games except Portal 2 and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. If your options menu does not show the "High" shadow detail setting by default (especially all Intel graphics card), add
-force_vendor_id 0x10DE -force_device_id 0xFFFF to the game's launch options
  • Counter-Strike: Global Offensive dynamic shadows from Projected Textures work on "Low" settings
In multiplayer, mat_supportflashlight must be set to 1 for flashlights to work All multiplayer Source games N/A By default these ConVars are disabled in Team Fortress 2, so this entity won't work there without special configuration
Viewmodels won't receive light or shadows from projected textures All Source games except Garry's Mod and Portal 2 env_projectedtexture/fixes#Enabling shadow receiving on the view model
Some Nvidia graphics cards (especially with latest drivers and/or all newer Nvidia Nvidia cards since around mid-late 2010s) render big/small white specks, squares or noises (and sometimes it's also flickering) on certain textures Portal 2 and Garry's Mod, possibly all Source games[confirm]. Remove the bumpmap ($bumpmap or $ssbump) or $detail textures), or use mat_bumpmap 0 (to disable Bumpmapping), or run the game in Vulkan (-vulkan launch option). Video of said bug.
Also in GMOD (click to preview):
A animated GIF of said bug, but in Garry's Mod.
While running in DirectX 9 mode, some graphics cards will not render shadows from env_projectedtexture regardless of the shadow detail setting, and as a result will render the texture through brushes and props instead of properly stopping them Portal 2 Run the game in Vulkan mode with the launch parameter -vulkan Also affects all DX9 based mods, fixed in Portal 2: Community Edition and Portal: Revolution
Parenting does not work with stock SDK code Source SDK Base 2013 Env_projectedtexture/fixes#Fixing Parenting N/A
No smooth transition between this light and env_cascade_light CS:GO N/A N/A
SpotlightTexture input is disabled in some branches Portal 2 engine branch and CS:GO branch N/A Fixed in Strata Source Strata Source
The light will cause multiple layered info_overlays to show through each other
Todo: At least in Garry's Mod
 N/A N/A
Source 2007/2009 Bugs
Note.pngNote:the way that this page was structured before made it easy to put newly discovered bugs in the wrong category, so some of the following bugs may or may not be in modern titles.
The configurable texture value from Hammer is not accepted - will always default to effects/flashlight001 Source 2007, Source 2009, Source Multiplayer, Source 2013 Multiplayer Use the SpotlightTexture input or override the actual contents of the default VTF with a new one.

Env_projectedtexture/fixes#Fix_configurable_texture_value_in_Hammer

N/A
This entity cannot target another entity Source 2007, Source 2009, Source Multiplayer [confirm] env_projectedtexture/fixes#Fixing targeting N/A
Models will not receive their own shadows correctly Source 2007, Source 2009, Source Multiplayer [confirm] Create a bumpmap for the texture.
Even a flat bumpmap is sufficient, such as 🖿dev/flat_normal.vtf. 		N/A
This entity will cause issues if the entity overlaps a portal in Portal Portal N/A
Confirm:Is this fixed in latest version of Portal?

See also

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