I'm working on my second map and I'm attempting to recreate the destroyed theme. So far the puzzle is complete and I'm just trying to create a good atmosphere.

http://steamcommunity.com/id/jimo/scree ... 0237593183

http://steamcommunity.com/id/jimo/scree ... 237586419/?

http://steamcommunity.com/id/jimo/scree ... 215904185/?

Note: 90% of the lighting comes from light entities in those screenshots, they're just examples of my work so far.

The main question I had was about the light_environment values. When I look at Valve maps, the sunlight coming from the skybox seems to be much brighter than mine is. I used the recommended values from the mapping wiki but everything still seems rather dark? Does anyone have any suggestions, I'm rather stuck

Try adding the global_ents.vmf instance to your map and triggering the appropriate relay.

BOB74j wrote:
Try adding the global_ents.vmf instance to your map and triggering the appropriate relay.

I didn't know about this! I'll give this a try tonight.

Thanks!

In Valve's maps, the light coming from the sky is usually boosted by directional spots (type "light_spot".)
They have a colour of rgb(255 247 217), with a brightness between 1000 and 2000, depending on the size of the map. (You will have to experiment a bit to get it right.)