Map Editor: Total Darkness, Toggle Light Strips?

[pc_michael]

First, my question about light strips:
I have found that if I select a light strip and hit 'K' to make a connection, it acts like I can connect a light strip to something, but I can't seem to connect it to buttons (or vice versa). Is there some way to switch light strips on and off?

Now, my question about darkness:
Is there any way to achieve total darkness? I have tried making long tunnels with dark NP surfaces but even with no light sources, there's still some illumination.

I wanted to make a puzzle where there's a bit of a maze that is completely dark until you can figure out how to turn on the lights, but with these two issues, I guess it can't be done?

[Cr4zyB4st4rd]

I don't believe you can toggle lights currently, which is a shame as id love to be able to turn them on and off.

And the world by default has an ambient light so no total darkness as far as I know.

[pc_michael]

Bummer! Oh well. Do you have any idea if either of those things are possible with Hammer?

[zapmunk]

Bummer! Oh well. Do you have any idea if either of those things are possible with Hammer?

Absolutely. Pretty much everything is doable in hammer. Level-wise.

[pc_michael]

Absolutely. Pretty much everything is doable in hammer. Level-wise.

ORLY! Well then. Looks like I have something new to learn. :)

[hym]

You can achieve total darkness with the Puzzle editor as long as any point in the volume can't travel more than 128 units along more than one axis, that will trigger the generation of automatic fill lights.

So in short, only absolute darkness in long straight square useless corridors with the Puzzle Editor. I don't think we will ever see switchable Light Strips in the Editor because I'm pretty sure their light source is baked into the radiosity map. With Hamerr you could of course simulate that kind of light with say 3 toggle-able point lights.

[zapmunk]

ORLY! Well then. Looks like I have something new to learn. :)

It's a VERY useful tool to learn, even if you never use it. It's what was used to create the campaign maps, in addition to every map in every Source game since the beginning of... Source and HL2. If there's something that Hammer can't do, then that's something that VALVe themselves has never needed to add to a map.

[Alexander Bell]

Put the mandatory observation room in its own off map room, that might work.

[pc_michael]

It's a VERY useful tool to learn, even if you never use it.
I'll bet! I downloaded it a long time ago but never really even opened it.


Put the mandatory observation room in its own off map room, that might work.

Thanks, but the observation room is in a different section of the map as it is, so it's not casting any light in the region I'm having trouble with. :/

Here is a screenshot, you can see the beginning of the tunnel maze near the top.

http://i.imgur.com/3JGwf.jpg

[tesselode]

If you're going to try Hammer, you may as well try the Portal 2 Authoring Tools version.

[pc_michael]

If you're going to try Hammer, you may as well try the Portal 2 Authoring Tools version.

Yep, thanks! When I say I previously downloaded Hammer, I mean as part of the Portal SDK.