Hey, I've been away from working with Hammer for a long time, and now I've suddenly found myself with a familiar issue: the lighting in the map isn't looking the way I had hoped. I'm really not sure why at all. It's...not very bright at all. Some example pictures taken by a friend:

http://steamcommunity.com/id/jayfeather113/screenshot/1137411731764257122
http://steamcommunity.com/id/jayfeather113/screenshot/1137411731764250608
http://steamcommunity.com/id/jayfeather113/screenshot/1137411731764242191 (the floating light was added because of the next picture)
http://steamcommunity.com/id/jayfeather113/screenshot/1137411731756582132 (from before I added the floating light; see how dark it is?)

I really do not understand why it's so dark; I can't mess with the scale of the texture because I used instances for all the lights. Am I forgetting something important? Are my textures wrong like last time? Am I using the wrong instances? (They're the "med" lights; the ones at the end of the list didn't extend the way I wanted them to.) Or, is it actually working correctly and I just need more lights? I'm confused... Here's the level:

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/26851686/h_s_area1.bsp

(Also, you'll really have to bear with me regarding getting this fixed; I literally cannot play a level in Portal 2 without my graphics driver crashing, which crashes my computer if portal 2 is not killed fast enough, so I really have to rely on everyone else to make sure this looks right...)

Add more lights...

Plus, you can change the texture scale. Just edit the instance and save it as something else.

Did you do a full compile instead of a fast or normal one? Hit F9, select Expert and then "full, both" from the dropdown list.

The easiest way to get lighting to spread around your rooms is to add fog. Fog reacts to the light a little and spreads it around more. Put in a global_ents instance and set up a logic_auto. In the logic auto, put in the output OnMapSpawn, (name of ent instance goes here), and choose from a list of env settings. Just mess with them until you find one you like. For clean chambers, I prefer bts ents and Testchamber ents. Testchamber lighting is good if you want to contrast similar colors, (so if i wanted a blue lightbridge to stand out against a white tile background i would use this ent), and bts is best used when you want some stronger contrasts in your lighting. (From your pics I would use the bts one. It will make your cool lights stand out more. Another plus is the free swag that would come with it.)

Anyway, I noticed that you were using alot of the metal texture. The metal texture absorbs most of the light, so if you can, add some white tile textures. The light will be able to reflect off those making the scence much more illuminated.

I also recomend you get a better Graphics Driver sometime... it will be nearly impossible to map otherwise. :p

@pikaguy900: Maybe you are not compiling lights

Check this: click F9 > click "Expert..." and check if the command $light_exe is checked

josepezdj wrote:
@pikaguy900: Maybe you are not compiling lights

This:

Another Bad Pun wrote:
Anyway, I noticed that you were using alot of the metal texture. The metal texture absorbs most of the light, so if you can, add some white tile textures. The light will be able to reflect off those making the scence much more illuminated.

I didn't use the white tiles because I wasn't going to use this for Portal 2 at all, so I wouldn't have access to the portal gun, therefore I figured the white walls would be pointless...

Quote:
I also recomend you get a better Graphics Driver sometime... it will be nearly impossible to map otherwise. :p

Can't! What I need to upgrade is my graphics CARD, since it's integrated intel (don't ask, I don't feel like explaining it), but I'm told that due to the wattage of my computer, I literally cannot use a different card. My only solution, then, is to buy a new computer- way out of my price range right now. :/

Also, I just had the fog tested; it seems to have brightened the place up very well, although I'd like to not have to use it. I'd use the white walls, but I'm worried they'll detract from the room if they're not used for anything whatsoever.

What you can always do is to add the "light" or the "light_spot" entities in your map. But if you want to have natural lighting you need to be careful with it. When you are using these, you need a bit experience until you will get them naturally looking. Add them mainly near other light sources, because the player can't see them. Don't make the "brightness" value too high and don't play with the "quadratic", "linear", "constant" or "falloff" properties yet.

I don't see a problem with having white walls, floors and ceilings just for decoration purposes. They do a good job of lighting up rooms, by spreading the light around. You can also make the map look a bit more interesting by alternating white and black sections and making patterns and stuff.

If you don't have a portal gun, most of the surfaces should be white. That's always a good thing to do.

UsCobra11 wrote:
If you don't have a portal gun, most of the surfaces should be white. That's always a good thing to do.

yah rooms look better in white... then use warm lights.... and you shouldn't leave all the lighting to those lightstrips, although that is a good plan to start with for style purposes
I'm really glad to see someone building a map from scratch instead of using the PTI especially someone new

Okay, so I put some white walls in my map, and the lighting is great now, but I have a new problem: the map crashes if you step forward. I'm not sure why. Anyone have any idea why? https://dl.dropbox.com/u/26851686/h_s_area1.bsp

Really strange.I decompiled your map using BSPSource and did a default compile without any changes.. and it worked. I don't know why,maybe decompiler somehow messed with the map or something,but it's strange.
Could you attach your vmf file,so i'll check if it works?

Sure, it's attached now. Really strange indeed... I hope this helps you find out what's wrong. :/

There is something weird near the observation window on the left. You can freely walk around the room as long as you don't look at that window, but as soon as you look at it, the game crashes.

I also just decompiled it and I don't see any of the props (desk, chair, monitor) in the decompiled version of the map, so one of those may be it.

Looks like i found the cause of trouble.For some reason you used prop_detail's for props in the observation room.Replacing them with prop_static's should fix the problem.

Bluntman wrote:
Looks like i found the cause of trouble.For some reason you used prop_detail's for props in the observation room.Replacing them with prop_static's should fix the problem.

Oh. I didn't realize prop_static existed. lol. Thanks! Now I can keep the props in the room.

EDIT: Okay, I have a new problem now. I'm using an instance for my level's entry door, but I can't figure out how to make it open. The instance is named Door 1, and if I pass "Open" to it as an input, the door opens...but you can't walk through it. I'm assuming this is because, as the wiki says, the instances use areaportals. So, my question is: how the heck do I make this work correctly? The instance I'm using is portal_entry_door_black. I'd use the door prop instead of an instance, but something tells me I should use this instance for consistency's sake since the door here looksdifferent than the prop door...

If you want a normal door instance, you should use this one:

instances/door/door_entities/door_ents.vmf

You can use the prop_testchamber_door as-is, but the instance has some nice benefits, like the aforementioned areaportal.

The portal doors you're currently using, actually work like portals, in that they connect two different places in the map. You need to place these in pairs and connect them somehow. (I forget how exactly.)

Note that the normal door instance doesn't come with a surrounding circular wall piece, so you have to build that yourself.
(Or just swipe one from one of the "frame_*" instances in "instances/door/portal_door_entities".)

I realized after posting this that the doors I saw in the included multiplayer map coop_doors weren't instances at all, and used the prop door I used to begin with, so I switched back to using that. The door frame, though, was a HUGE problem for me, so I just ripped it out of the multiplayer map even though it looks horrible...

So, tell me, what advantages does the instance have over a normal testchamber door prop?