IN THIS THREAD I WILL ANSWER YOUR SOURCE QUESTIONS

[ginsengavenger]

it's for use on HINT brushes... except that it tells the compiler to skip that face and not build a portal along it. be aware though that that edge of the brush will still split faces.

[insta]

Can anybody tell me if the point_devshot_camera entity works? When using the -makedevshots command in-game, I'm only told by the console that it's a unknown command, but in the Help text for the entity, that's what you're supposed to write.

[mike-0]

skybox problems...

all the files are in the correct place, both in the sdk materials\skybox folder and in the hl2mp materials\skybox folder. my VMT looks like this...

"UnlitGeneric"

 {

 // Original shader: BaseTexture

 "$basetexture" "skybox/$sky_mike_01bk.vtf"

 "$nofog" 1

 $ignorez 1

 }

When i search for my skybox name in the texture browser, i get the purple checkers, and in game, with the compiled map, i get the purple checkers.

anyone know what's wrong with this?

[insta]

Just a guess, but maybe remove the $ from "$basetexture" "skybox/$sky_mike_01bk.vtf"?

Mind you, this is just a guess.

[Tequila]

Just a guess, but maybe remove the $ from "$basetexture" "skybox/$sky_mike_01bk.vtf"?

Mind you, this is just a guess.

Actually I'd try removing it from '$sky_mike_01bk.vtf'.

Again, this is just my guess.

[insta]

Ah yes, that's what I meant. Should probably have deleted all that other junk

[mike-0]

that must be it. im at school right now, but if i remember correctly i took the dollar sign off the vtf's name without changing the code in the VMT. ill try when i get home.

[Zacker]

The VMT's for my skies in SoW2 look like this:

"UnlitGeneric"

{

// Original shader: BaseTexture

"$basetexture" "skybox/prariebk"

"$nofog" 1

$ignorez 1

}

I am not sure how technically correct it is, but it works fine ingame.

[mike-0]

dammit, it wont work. im going to redo it from scratch.

[DaanO]

Another question: In some maps i saw plants on displacements, they looked like sprites. How were those made?

[mike-0]

for those alpha blend textures there will be two seemingly identical textures to choose from in the browser. one of those two will compile the grass sprites with it, one wont, just trial and error it. theres a file you can edit in notepad to change the density of the grass, it might be the vmt for the texture, i dont remember.

[Erratic]

Another question: In some maps i saw plants on displacements, they looked like sprites. How were those made?

It's just a parameter in the vmt file. Here's how it works,

"%detailtype" "grass01"

"%detailtype" is the material variable placed within the paranthesis of the vmt and the value, 'grass01', denotes the detail added to the terrain, this can be sprite based, like the grass, or model based (I think).

At least that's my understanding of it. Check the detail.vbsp file for a list of detail decorations you can add.

I'm not completely sure about model details being placed on the displacements (similar to how Unreal terrain details work), as I've never experimented with that myself.

[Hipshot]

Its odd, you come to this forum, seems 70% of the people are Source mappers, and you still cant make a basic material shader?

This is how it should look like

"UnlitGeneric"

 {

 "$basetexture" "skybox/sky_mike_01bk"

 "$nofog" 1

 $ignorez 1

 }

The "//" dosen't need to be there, they are just for comments, never ever tell what format the texture is in, since they are always .vtf, don't use the $ in front of the name of the texture in a skybox.

[Erratic]

Its odd, you come to this forum, seems 70% of the people are Source mappers, and you still cant make a basic material shader?

Here's an example of why people often refrain from asking for help.

[Hipshot]

Its odd, you come to this forum, seems 70% of the people are Source mappers, and you still cant make a basic material shader?

Here's an example of why people often refrain from asking for help.

I wasen't thinking of the one that didn't know. I was thinking of those that did answer, but didn't know. I should be as basic as making a brush in hammer (well, almost as) that a texture should not have its suffix in the material shader.

And, ok, I do fell that people should refrain from asking some questions. I mean, I can see how one could ask if the shader was correct, but them, would he need to ask?