Hammer lighting

[Ratherial]

So everyone who uses hammer should know about light_env. It completly changes the way your world is, By adding shadows, but I thought it was bascially a sun casting light on the terrain, it just
seems to me like it just slaps shadows on the ground and calls it good. It doesn't add light! A lot of my terrain is darkened for no reason I need help.

[a Hippobottomus]

Light_env creates light, you just need to change the brightness.

[Siluva]

It does add lights, just make sure to use the rights settings.
Here more infos.
https://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/Light_environment

[Pippo]

light_env casts light from skybox texture. It does this in two steps: casting direct lighting and ambient lighting. Direct lighting casts the textures you're describing and emits from the angles you specified to be your "sun". Ambient lighting casts light to where direct lighting doesn't reach by ignoring "sun" angles and just tracing from wherever a skybox texture can be seen. It sounds like you haven't set your ambient light settings the default in hammer.

[Ratherial]

Here is what I believe proper lighting light is, Manual lights placed in house, and light_env enabled. https://steamcommunity.com/id/DivineRazor/screenshot/945095565220019000 and here is what the reality of envs light casting is https://steamcommunity.com/id/DivineRazor/screenshot/945095565220019928 notice how ALL of my building are dark an have absolutely no shadow. Also I don't know if this has anything to do with lighting but the sun is not above the map, No I'm not talking about env_lighting I'm talking about env_sun. I don't know how to make my world look more lively I am willing to place light on the sides of my buildings if it comes to that.

[Pippo]

Originally posted by Ratherial:

Here is what I believe proper lighting light is, Manual lights placed in house, and light_env enabled. https://steamcommunity.com/id/DivineRazor/screenshot/945095565220019000 and here is what the reality of envs light casting is https://steamcommunity.com/id/DivineRazor/screenshot/945095565220019928 notice how ALL of my building are dark an have absolutely no shadow. Also I don't know if this has anything to do with lighting but the sun is not above the map, No I'm not talking about env_lighting I'm talking about env_sun. I don't know how to make my world look more lively I am willing to place light on the sides of my buildings if it comes to that.

env_sun and light_environment are two different entities, you don't always need one if you have the other.

It also occured to me that you might have compiled on "fast" settings, which only does minimal light bouncing and only does direct lighting.

Env_sun acts strangely regarding angles, you should probably do it the old way by having it aim to a target before you understand the entity a little more.