Recessed Lighting
have you made a .rad file?
if so just adjust the RGB and brightness value in that file, and recompile the map
sadly we can't see (that I know of) specific settings used in .rad files for the official maps, because these values are external to hammer, they only come into play when calculating the RAD for the map.
The white texture already emits a light - is it possible to change it?
yes, its using the default values in the lighting.rad file for the game, making a mapname.rad file will override any duplicate values with what you specify
Looks like it has the effect I want if you just compile for HDR lighting. :0)
what exactly are you looking for? more light bounces?
you could always pair a texture light, with a seperate bouncelight. Its a good way to fake radiosity we use in 3d art.
lemme try and draw you a ascii picture cause im lazy and dont want to open 3dsmax or photoshop (I will if you need me to)
hole in wall = light rays _ & | = hard surfaces o = bouncelight
[ ] /|
/ |
/ |
___o/ _ |
ok I have no idea if that makes sense to other people. but what it means, is where the highlight, or brightest part of the wall is, put another light, not as bright, that will "extend" the lighting
this would work best if the highlight is definable, if not you can use the bouncelight carefully to fake it being definable, but it would be noticable if anything passes in front of it.
if only we had lights like 3dsmax 
EDIT: yeah the ascii thing didn't work, it took out the spaces, just say the word and I'll open 3dsmax for ya 
Dear Artesia,
Stop making ascii drawings, they don't help anyone. Open up MSPaint and attach your image to the board so that people can maybe understand what you are trying to convey. Thanks.
Love,
Comprehension
Please do not Private Message me for assistance. Post a thread if you have questions or concerns.
If you need to contact the staff privately, contact the Global Moderators via Discord.
lol alright, opening up 3dsmax as we speak, ill upload it in a few minutes
I'm making a new post called Bouncelighting as this might help other people as well
I made a single-room map to demonstrate what I'm walking about.
Here is the effect I was getting:
Basically, it's just a boring white texture in the ceiling that emits light. However, it looks nothing like the typical lights in Portal.
Here is the effect I wanted:
This looks a lot more like the Portal lights. All you have to do is check the HDR box when you're compiling your map. It's more drastic here because I only have one other dim light in the room, but the effect is quite impressive even in a well-lit room.
EDIT: I'm also having a bit of trouble with the other recessed lighting - one of my walls is extremely bright and flaring out of the recession, and the other is only lighting up the recession that brightly. I think I have to pan the textures some (haven't tried it yet), but I figured I'd give a quick heads up in case the fix is something I haven't thought of yet. I'll post screenshots tomorrow if I'm still having problems.
go take a look at my newest post at
viewtopic.php?t=386
the first is basic lighting techniques, the newest post is actually what you're doing right here