Hello NS Mapping community,

I'm 3roundburst from clan SoS. Their current and only mapper. I've had experience with Quake2 mapping (namely Jailbreak / and Breed Mods), UT mapping, and now Half life.

Anyhow my question for you all, and I hope to get some good feedback is:

What typical HLRAD parameters are you all using on a final compile?

The reason I'm asking is I can't seem to figure out how to make more localized lighting in my map without overlighting the entire rooms. I'm trying to do this with just texture lighting by the way.



(above pic shows readyroom, RAD settings: +extra +bounce 1, no env_gamma)

For some reason BC won't translate the gamma value I set (in HL RAD) to the map (which just defaults at 1.0). I've tried env_gamma with settings 1.2 1.5 and 1.7 usually the result is brighter over all (or near fullbright), instead of just overbrightening the tex lights (which is what I'm trying to accomplish). I've also tried turning off +bounce however this results in haveing to raise the light values in lights.rad. Which again ends up brightening up the map instead of just the localized light source. Another thing about turning off bounce is the transitions from bright to dark often seem harsh, especially when trying to overbrighten the local lighting.


(Above image with env_gamma 1.7 RAD: +extra)

I know there must be a sure fire way (perhaps a combo of +chop and +coring to find the lighting I'm looking for, but I can't seem to figure it out. I've seen the lighting similar to what I'm trying to get in CO_Core.

I see a lot of tutorials on making text lighting, using overlays, but I don't see any tutorials on getting into HLRad and final lighting techniques.

All the same I'm curious what NS mappers have been using in their final RAD compile for their maps. So spill the guts guys I'm dying to know.

Thanks,
3round

you could try playing around a bit with the settings -dscale and -fade
quoting the zhlt documentation:

-dscale

for the map im working on at the moment im using these values
-extra
-sparse
-bounce 2
-dscale 1
-fade 2
-gamma 0.65
-sky 0.65
smooth 60

I generally agree that spotlights are the way to go. When you use info_null as a target for an unnamed light_spot both entities can be removed, which will allow you to use spotlights and save on entities. For what you are attempting to do I would suggest experimenting with -dscale and -fade. dscale will make the transition between lit areas and dark areas more abrupt as values increase. fade will increase the distance to which light is projected. (might want to double check that one) A higher (3-4) dscale value with a higher fade value and an increased (2-3 at least) bounce would give you soft shadows with larger-than-standard bright spots near your lights, which is what I believe you are looking for. Coring is also a consideration if you believe that some of your shadows are not deep enough, as it would ensure that small amounts of light bouncing into your shadows are simply discarded.

I see the effects of Dscale. And It has brightened up the lights. But the default fade value is 1.0, which is the max it can get if I'm reading the script right. Also I can't get Dscale to go above 3. Whenever I enter a value greater than 3 it defaults to 2. I did try setting ambient light to black, which helped some (along with lowering gamma values). So right now I'm working with:

+extra
+bounce 2
+sparse
+smooth 35
+coring (~120) didn't see much effect since my text lights are around 800
+dscale 3