Minimum Light Level: Is it somehow possible, to brighten up light-textures like orange001 or 002, without changing the .rad-file? Minimum Light Level does only work for non-light textures like concrete and stuff...
why is that so?
cheers

For plain textures like that one, you can simply adjust the texture scale to control the amount of light it gives off.

Okay, does it have to be func_brush or world brush?
the smaller the scale, the brighter?

You can put light emitting materials on both brush entities and world brushes. Scaling down will make it brighter, yes. But since you seem familiar with rad files, you can make a map specific one by naming it after the map (or use the -light <your file name> argument to vrad.exe). Not sure if it will override the default rad file though.

Yep, smaller scales=brighter. You can use them on world brushes and func_brushes, but you should be aware that using them on func_brushes may not have the desired result, ie if you disable or move the brush, the surrounding area will remain illuminated, since the lighting effect given off by texture lights is static.

it just doesnt work! i tried the texture scale up and down, the lightmap scale too. i tried very different values so i should see a difference but nothing... either way, func_brush and world brush didnt work. My plans are: making platforms that emit the white009(so far everything to my desire) that change color to orange 002 "onstartouch" via trigger_multiple. it works totally fine, but i want the orange light to be brighter, no need to emit light actually, just brighter! over .rad isnt good, because the white and the orange brush are func_brushes and the emitted light stays when it shouldnt. in order to have a texture toggle effect that in fact is simple brush-number toggle, they are triggered by trigger_multiple. is there a better way?

I'm not sure what you're trying to do? You want the orange light to be brighter, but not emitting light?! Do you mean the material or the actual light? Are you trying to change the color of the lighting? In that case you need to place the lights manually and turn them on/off respectivly. Keep in mind that vrad has a limit to how many light settings you can have per surface. For example, I doubt you can have more than 4 lights close to each other that can be toggled on/off individually. If you want more dynamic lighting, well, use light_dynamic (costly to render).

i just want the texture to be lighter. I will set the light myself by placing light_dynamics. it?s really just the texture i want to be brighter! i want a shiny orange not normal orange.

It may be as easy as copying the material file and making som adjustments (maybe $tint something...). Was some time ago since I worked with materials, so I don't remember if it's possible. Otherwise, you have to make your own texture (and material). It can be tricky to convert it to the VTF format if you never have done this before. I recommend the program VTFEdit over the official commandline tools.

the question is: when i make my own material, would someone else playing my map see this implemented material at all? won?t he have to copy my custom material into his "materials" folder so the bsp can access it??

Good point. You can embed custom files into the bsp. There is an official commandline tool called bspzip, but there are also GUI alternatives. I used to use Pakrat, but I believe it is outdated now. More info here: http://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki ... placements.

Wow! Thanks a lot! sounds very promising! and my friend or someone won?t notice that its my own material?
If that works, the possibilities are unlimited. I could open the orange002 with photoshop or what and just make color corrections, then rename it and implement it with this tool you just posted me the link?

Yes, but I'd be careful not to break the EULA by copying Valves textures.

I don?t go and sell them! If I make a custom map with my own textures (some of them copied and altered valve originals) why should that be illegal?

I'm not implying anything is illigal, just that there's a risk. Read it yourself and make your own interpretation, but I'll bet it doesn't allow modifications to their content regardless your intentions. However, my experience is that Valve won't take any legal actions against their modding community, unless there's commerical intention behind.

okay. but if I change a few things, how will it be possible to say the original was copied? i could look up the whole text behind a material and copy it and say it was my idea? what is so genius about a material like orange002 lol^^
bye and thanks a lot for helping me!