Effects Tutorials

  1. Tutorial Index
  2. General Half-Life 2
  3. Effects
Adding Steam Jets
A simple entity is used to create a nice looking particle steam effect.
Advanced Flying Birds
A more detailed look at creating flying birds.
Advanced Player View Control
Control the player view in an advanced way.
Apply textures to curved surface
Easily texture a smooth curver without adjusting texture angles
Colour Correction
A complete breakdown of how to adjust the colour in game and then use it in your maps.
Combine Gate
Creating the blue energy forcefields seen in HL2.
Create a Skybox From Photos
Stitch photos or images together to create a realistic skybox.
Creating Breakable Lamps
Shoot out a light and bask the player in darkness, complete with a point_spotlight as well.
Creating Fire
Very basic effect and very easy to implement, light up your maps arson style.
Creating Smoke
The Source engine has a particle system built in and that makes things like nice looking smoke an absolute doddle.
Digital Elevation
This is quite an advanced technique to creating huge displacement landscapes.
Disco Light Effect
Not sure where you would apply this funky effect, but looks good.
Expensive Fog
It looks really nice but can also lag the map somewhat, so be careful when and where it's used.
Flying Crows
Remember the crow effect from Ravenholm? Looks spooky and is very easy to implement, read how.
Fog
Basic looking and easy to get working.
Fog Blending
Getting fog to look just right is always a challenge, learn how to adjust it in game to get an idea of how it will look.
Mounted Gun (Orange Box)
A mounted gun that comes with an attached light.
Moving Torch
Pick up a torch that has a light beam attached.
Moving View
Move the players view, works great for cinematic introductions.
Panning & Magically Appearing Text
Create text that magically appears when a camera pans past an object. Useful for introductory credits or a main menu.
Piles of debris
Creating piles of brick debris with func_detail.
Portals
Fancy making the epic portal from the end of HL2? Look no further.
Rain
It's crude but can add that nice touch.
Realistic Reflective Floor
The secret to clean and shiny floors is revealed.
Ropes
One of the most common effects, and also the easiest.
Smoke Volume Effects
Dense fog that looks good, but maybe expensive to the engine.
Sparking Rope Tutorial
Add a spark on to the end of a moving rope.
Subdivision and You
Fine tuning your displacement skills to create nice looking subdivisions.
Sun Effects
Nice looking sun effects can make an outside map look that much better.
Water
Compared to HL1 water is a doddle, although there are a few extra rules.
Waterfalls
It takes a bit of work but waterfalls are possible.