Hello there,

I am working on a Half Life 2 map using Hammer Editor, and I am running into some challenges when it comes to achieving realistic and dynamic lighting effects. I have been experimenting with various light entities; but I am not quite getting the results I am aiming for; and I was hoping to get some advice from the community.

I want to create a natural lighting setup that has soft shadows; particularly for outdoor areas with sunlit and shaded parts. My shadows tend to come out too harsh or unnatural; and adjusting light_environment does not seem to fully solve the issue.

For an indoor section; I am trying to implement flickering fluorescent lights to give it a run down; eerie feel. I have tried using light_spot with a logic_timer; but the flickering effect is not consistent and looks a bit jarring. Is there a better method to achieve this effect without it appearing too disruptive?

Also; I have gone through this post; https://www.interlopers.net/tutorials/17779?page=tableau&params=17779 which definitely helped me out a lot.

I have noticed that my current lightmap setup is causing performance issues; especially in larger areas. I have tried reducing the lightmap grid size; but I am not sure if that is the best way to optimize without sacrificing too much visual quality.

Thanks in advance for your help and assistance.