Talk:Light

wow, i did try to make my entity definition as perfect as possible, yet people need to edit it. the added "style" table is self explanitorry and appears as a drop-down box in hammer editor.

Is it just me does the Custom option not work in Source? I've tried with many different lights and many different patterns and it just doesn't seem to want to work.

Yeah, ive tried that thing too and dont work for me neither --InvaderZim

Is the custom option the one where you use alphabetical letters to create a flicker, fade in, etc. pattern? I could help you with that. --Fiercefighter 17:27, 9 Nov 2005 (PST)

Just so you guys know, i wrote this article a long time ago and now it's all screwed up! I had valuable information in there that is now gone, im very upset. See the 1st version of this article and then look at the ***** that for some reason kept editing it and editing it and editing it (aside from adding stuff, cause thats a good thing but not removing stuff)

Uhh, I don't see a difference between the two versions (beyond cosmetic), assuming a difference even exists. Also: This is a wiki. If you're not prepared to have other people edit your writing, then you probably shouldn't contribute. --Campaignjunkie ^(talk) 12:39, 23 Mar 2006 (PST)

^^ Ditto. The article is not screwed up, it's just went through some layout changes to make it consistent with other entity descriptions. Most of your work is still there. Jupix 13:16, 23 Mar 2006 (PST)

I assume setting "_fifty_percent_distance" and "_zero_percent_distance" produces a function ( luminosity(distance) ) with a horizontal asymptote (...Distance at which brightness should fall off to negligible (1/256)%...) of some sort. Is this exponential or inverse, or a mix, or something else? --4LT 19:22, 20 Aug 2008 (PDT)

Does anyone know, if it's possible to increase the max. amount of named lights? --User:killer89 19:48, 20 Aug 2010 (PDT)

Appearance values

I understand that Hammer already has a drop-down box for all values available for light entities, however while exploring the map d2_coast_12, Valve created light entities (for the flare scene in the bunker of the coast)with Appearance values like '34', '35' and '36' (etc). What's up with this?--Mattshu 16:48, 15 January 2011 (UTC)

The above was realized after I decompiled a HL2 map using vmex. The same map was released with Source SDK (sdk_d2_coast_12), and when I checked the Appearance values in the SDK map, they were blank. Obviously a decompile mismatch due to vmex. --Mattshu 00:53, 11 February 2011 (UTC)

The source code of vbsp says: "any light that is controlled (has a targetname) must have a unique style number generated for it". It automatically numbers light styles serially starting from 32 and writes them into the BSP, so it's actually not a decompiling error. But I could "fix" that with the next BSPSource release nevertheless :) --Barracuda 14:55, 11 February 2011 (UTC)

Hello from the future Barracuda! Just now saw your reply. Thanks for that explanation :) —Mattshu 23:46, 22 May 2016 (UTC)

Static light becomes dynamic when adding appearance effect

(I'm working on Source SDK 2007)

So I'm working on a map and notice something I have come across one time before but did not really care for digging into it at that time.

When I make a single "light" that has "Flicker A" appearance it just kills my maps performance. However the horrible laggy visual feedback is not really reflected in the fps values (60-100fps but feels like 5fps). First I thought it was micro-stuttering and my GPU overheating but after some testing I came across the following:

When I disable dynamic lights in the scene with the command "r_dynamiclighting 0" the performance is perfect (and now the crazy part) but the light with the Flicker A effect remains! The lighting in the scene is not changed in any way!? How is this possible? How can a light be disabled and still be visible? Usually if you disable things they disappear. Like static props, particles, sprites e.t.c.

Small update. The lag is gone even after doing a console "restart" of the level while having "r_dynamiclighting 0" set and after the restart the flickering lighting still has the appearance I need. Strange... I hope someone can explain to me what is disable there behind the scenes that I don't see Taurus 00:27, 30 January 2013 (PST)

And also. How can this light be referred to as static only when apparently the appearance effect makes it dynamic and very expensive? Should this not be noted in the wiki?

"It creates an invisible, static light source that shines in all directions."

This effect seems to be only useful in enclosed well optimized areas. Using it for a large fire in an open area is nothing I recommend for sure. Taurus 22:01, 29 January 2013 (PST)

I have a Problem with some Entitys ( lamps )

Iam making my first "good" map and ofcouse light shouldnt miss on a map. But not only light the entitiys for the light as well. And thats my Problem, i use lamps which are completle Black, just Black, i dont know how to fix this.

The two "LampEntitys" (on Screenshot) next to the double door are completle Black ingame.

I´ve no Idea what I could do, so if you know what i could do, please help me.

-philgamer Steamprofile : http://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198237497942/

I had to remove your screenshot because it was too large, but maybe give this a peek.—Mattshu 23:46, 22 May 2016 (UTC)