thus far i tried failed several methods:

-using existing light materials, which are not mobile and thus do mot travel with the brush or model
-using sprites which only look good at a certain angle
-making new textures with selfillum which has inconsistent results; dev_interiorlight02b versus indicator_unchecked

Only way to render a light after compilation is to use a dynamic light source https://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/Lighting#Dynamic_light_sources.
Please note that some dynamic lighting entities can only have one active at one time.

Edit: If the item doesn't need a large light effect, it might be better to use a sprite to mock a glow instead.

please explain it to me like i just crawled out of the womb ten seconds ago, because i am nowhere closer to making a texture light up an entire room like a lamp

Brushes can be applied with light-emitting textures but they can only alter the lightmaps (explained here) and therefore categorised as 'static' lighting. You can alter the some states of these lights, like turning them on and off, but ultimately cannot be moved.

If you wanted to create a moveable object that emits light, you will need to use a dynamic light.

Your best bet to make a glowing fuel-rod, would be to create a $selfillum or unlitgeneric texture for your model. Pair this with a parented light_dynamic and glowing sprite (env_sprite or env_sprite_clientside) and you should be right.

Please note that dynamic lights are expensive to render and in some cases can only render one dynamic light at a time (e.g. env_projected_texture).

I already mentioned there are textures ingame that emit light such as dev_interiorlight02b which do not use entities.

But all $selfillum and unlitgeneric do is make the texture itself bright, not the rest of the world

WHAT THE FUCK AM I MISSING?

I need instructions on how to make it do, not an enclyclopedia explaining why it do

EDIT: If you are using a model, might be a great idea to fiddle with the $phong attributes. They can produce some cool glow-like effects on your textures.

Relevant video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItsklE7VRPk

JUST TELL ME HOW TO MAKE MY CUSTOM TEXTURE DO WHAT THIS TEXTURE IS DOING

Kwinten06 wrote:
Did you try to use a custom rad. file ? That could work

VDC wrote:
.rad file, mainly used for glowing textures on brushes. rad files are the only form of glowing textures that generate any light. The file is processed line per line; on each line is simply the name of the texture, the RGB value of the light, and then the brightness of the light.

^ Essentially this means it is a text file with the name of your texture. e.g. fractures_textures/light 255 0 0 200

Get GFCScape and open the pak_dir file, looking for materials/lights/white011.vmt. Glowing textures are a mix of making the texture bright so it appears like it's glowing and the parameter in your lights.rad file that actually makes the texture glow. The lights.rad file will need to added into parameters in your vrad compile otherwise they wont emit light.

See this video for a full tutorial by TopHattWaffle:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_koza7Ut_I

I'm not sure why you thought I wasn't trying to help. Here I am still thinking you want to make a glowing rod.

also this .rad thing sounds exactley like the kind of file I cannot pakrat, doesnt it. Why the hell cant I just make my own .rad? also how do I make a .rad?

Follow the tutorial by TopHatt I linked above, it literally shows you step by step how to make a rad file and compile your map with it.

portal2tenacious wrote:
I missed this guy so much. God bless you chickenmobile you're a saint.

Fracture needs a bowl full of snickers for shure. Too bad they're full of NUTS.