StaticPropLighting - Worth it?

shiftey · Post by **shiftey** » Thu Oct 15, 2009 10:53 pm

VRAD -StaticPropLighting

Generate per-vertex prop_static lighting. This is always enabled for light_spot entities.

Note:Depending on the number of static props in the level, this can dramatically increase the size of the .bsp file and the length of time needed for vrad to finish.

Note:When using this setting, it disables all info_lighting entities in your level and it will light models as if there wasn't one linked to them.

Is it worth using? It will make the graphics look a lot better but will it have a significant effect on framerate? I don't mind the increase of bsp size. I just don't want my map to get low fps.

shiftey · Post by **shiftey** » Fri Oct 16, 2009 8:05 am

After noclipping through a few ep2 maps, I have come to the conclusion that they used StaticPropLighting. So if valve did it so can I. So far it hasn't hurt my fps, just made my bsp slightly larger and vrad times twice as long.

But I must say...it makes everything look beautiful. Especially those ep2 pine trees and rock clusters.

fug's Obsidian clips · Post by **fug4life** » Fri Oct 16, 2009 8:42 am

Sounds good.

I know that an info_lighting acts like a cube map. Sometimes you get a prop_static that will just not react to light, especially if it collides with another static prop.

shiftey · Post by **shiftey** » Fri Oct 16, 2009 4:00 pm

Yeah I used at least 5 info_lightings in the map, so using StaticPropLighting frees up 5 entities.

It's a win win. Awesome gfx + less entities.