Shiny things and lighting problem

[Gamefreak]

Im making a Half-life 2 map with the full SDK. And as a noob, of course I have run into a few problems. As you can see by image 3, 4, 5, and 6. Everything in the dark, inless it has light shining on it, is chrome. This is REALLY annoying. And im hoping somone knows how to fix it. My other problem, as you can see by image 2, is that the lighting does not effect how well you can see enemies. This might be because of the chrome, but i dont know. It makes it hard to trap players with enemies if they show up like that in the dark. Also, when the player spawns, It says "Node graph data out of date, rebuilding" What is this and how do i get rid of it? Thanks for helping a noob mapper.

 

[SeriousStu]

I had this problem and is now easily fixable. I'm just gonna go ahead and copy and paste a few things from a thread I had created about this very problem.

After a bit of research, seems I found out that I was supposed to place env_cubemaps about my map that are meant to create the reflection maps when you type "buildcubemaps" in the console while running the map.

However, there's apparently a bug with this command and pretty much everyone else seems to be getting the same problem as I am. Hopefully, this'll get fixed when VALVe release the full SDK which is, what, a week away or something? Here's hoping

Of course, the full SDK has been released now, and that bug has been fixed. Here's more info, from the same thread, on what the env_cubemap entity is and does:

You can't get proper cube maps* in custom HL2 maps yet. We have to wait until Valve fixes the problem with the buildcubemaps command. Right now, it's basically taking some generic cube maps that happen to be made from a bright scene and applying them to every reflective surface.

* A cube map is like a 360 degree panoramic picture taken of the surroundings that is used to simulate reflections instead of actually doing a dynamic reflection. It's almost as good but with a much smaller performance hit.

The original thread can be found here.
MORE information on the env_cubemap entity can be found here.

Basically, without any env_cubemap entities, the Source engine is using the maps selected Skybox texture (by default is this very light blue clear sky. It can be changed by going to "Map>Map Properties...") so all objects that have any reflections - regardless of how dark the environment is, have this "brightness" to them. It's especially evident on things like Gordons gloves, the headcrabs and anything else you expect to by shiny and reflective.

So, go about your map and place env_cubemap entites all over the place - mainly in places where there's a slot of change in contrast. Once you're done, compile your map, bring up the console and type "buildcubemaps". Hit enter and Source will do it's thing. Once it's done, enter "restart" in the console to update the changes and see how the map has turned out.

 

[Gamefreak]

Thanks man, Thats just what i needed! Now everything looks correct, and the lighting is also fixed for enemies in dark places. One more thing though, any idea what that node thing is i talked about in my post? Thanks - gamefreak

 

[The Dark Elf]

Thanks man, Thats just what i needed! Now everything looks correct, and the lighting is also fixed for enemies in dark places. One more thing though, any idea what that node thing is i talked about in my post? Thanks - gamefreak

the node graph, IIRC was to do with the nodes the npc's use, so its just building it.. AFAIK it shouldn't do it again unless you recompile or something and then run the new version of the map.

It's nothing harmful though.