Spot Light?

What would you recommend in order to create a spotlight, using the entity "floodlight" as the actual light?

[IcarusNine]

There is no "floodlight" entity. Is there?
Is it mod related?

Originally Posted by IcarusNine

There is no "floodlight" entity. Is there?
Is it mod related?

I am refering to the floodlight world model. (I beleive it is in Half Life 2: Episode 2.)

[IcarusNine]

Ah. I'd probably use a prop_static, a light_spot, and a point_spotlight.

• Prop_static: Set 'er to use the floodlight model. Also disable shadows. You could also set it to 'not solid', just to be safe, but I haven't explicitly tested the need for it, despite many opportunities.
• Light_spot: Use whatever settings you like, though I generally prefer very light colors, and put it wherever you like near or inside the prop. If you want the light to go wayyyy far, bump the 'constant' value up to 100000. (If you didn't disable shadows on the prop then you shouldn't put the light inside the model because it'll be blocked by what is essentially a solid light-blocking shadow-casting object.)
• Point_spotlight: Put it on the light_spot. Apply settings to taste. Make sure that 'no dynamic light' is checked in the flags, because you don't need it, you don't want it, and it's ugly. (I think this too needs the prop's shadows disabled if you want to put it inside the prop, but I'm not sure.)

env_lightglow and func_dustmotes are optional, hence you get no instructions for them.
(But there are tutorials for that sort of thing, somewhere...)

Originally Posted by IcarusNine

Ah. I'd probably use a prop_static, a light_spot, and a point_spotlight.

• Prop_static: Set 'er to use the floodlight model. Also disable shadows. You could also set it to 'not solid', just to be safe, but I haven't explicitly tested the need for it, despite many opportunities.
• Light_spot: Use whatever settings you like, though I generally prefer very light colors, and put it wherever you like near or inside the prop. If you want the light to go wayyyy far, bump the 'constant' value up to 100000. (If you didn't disable shadows on the prop then you shouldn't put the light inside the model because it'll be blocked by what is essentially a solid light-blocking shadow-casting object.)
• Point_spotlight: Put it on the light_spot. Apply settings to taste. Make sure that 'no dynamic light' is checked in the flags, because you don't need it, you don't want it, and it's ugly. (I think this too needs the prop's shadows disabled if you want to put it inside the prop, but I'm not sure.)

env_lightglow and func_dustmotes are optional, hence you get no instructions for them.
(But there are tutorials for that sort of thing, somewhere...)

Thanks a bunch! I had been experimenting with the point_spotlight, and am using that currently, but I see why the light_spot is also needed, as the point_spotlight is only that, a beam. Thanks again,

Don't know how big your spotlight is, but there's also a particle effect that could help you out a lot if you modify it to your needs (using the particle editor - pretty easy, but VERY buggy). Use an info_particle_system and for the system put in: light_rays_01

If you like it, but its too big, colors are off, whatever, you can just copy over all the particle files from the game's .gcf and load it into the particle editor (valve's sdk page tells you how). Then tweak to your needs, save as something new, and type the new name back into the info_particle_system.

I probably told you something you didn't need to know, but it's good to have options and I never hear anyone talk about particle systems in Source.

[munkeypants]

You may also want to place a plain light entity a few feet in front of your spotlight, and set the brightness very low, this way you get a little more ambient light directly around it.

It depends what kind of look you're going for really.

[shadowmancer471]

I found out the best way to make lighting is to make a light_spot and point_spotlight come out from a prop, and colour the light something other than pure white (dark green with grey seems to work wonders.

This really adds atmosphere to a map