Advanced Light Entities

2026/7/6

A new update is here!

This update is mostly an "internal" update (refactoring, optimizations, bug fixes, and general code cleanup). The only significant "user-visible" feature is the addition of an option to disable shadow updates for the projected light and the expensive light. This update improves my special "code-organizing system" and should fix potential issues with files not loading correctly in multiplayer. After extensive testing, this update should not break anything from previous versions (unless you are a modder and have been doing extremely hacky things that you really should not be doing). However, let me know if anything is not working! I am ready to revert to the previous version if anything breaks.

Update Summary:

• Extensive code cleanup (refactoring, optimizations, etc.).

• Updated my special "code-organizing system".

• Potentially fixed some bugs, such as issues with files loading in multiplayer.

• Added the option to control shadow updates for the projected light and the expensive light.

• Maybe more.

Notes on Compatibility with the Original Legacy Version:

• All six original light entities from the old version of this addon are still implemented in this current version! This means that this current version should not break any content that uses the old version, as the original entities still exist in the game (they're just not in the spawn menu by default). However, let me know if anything does not work correctly!

• Because the original legacy entities still exist alongside the new ones, you can still spawn them if you need to. You can do this by right-clicking on an icon for a light entity, going to "Spawn other version", and clicking on a class name:

You can also spawn them by using the console command gm_spawnsent with the name of the entity class, like this:

gm_spawnsent cheap_light

The class names of the legacy entities are cheap_light, expensive_light, expensive_light_new, projected_light, projected_light_new, and spot_light.

• Certain other mods (such as Stop Motion Helper and similar) that have support for the old version of this mod [i]may not yet have support for the new entities.[/i] Until those other mods update to be compatible, you can spawn the original legacy entities to use with them as explained above.

• I felt having a separate cleanup option for each type of light entity was cluttering the cleanup menu, so I replaced the separate options with a single "Advanced Lights" option.

• If you have any issues with the new version, set the console variable advlights_legacy to 1 and restart. This will disable all new content and make the original legacy light entities available from the spawn menu again (but without spawn icons). This will also restore the original cleanup options.

• You can convert a legacy entity to a new version using the console command advlights_update. Calling this with "trace" will convert the entity you're looking at, using "pvs" will convert all lights in the current potentially visible set, and using "world" will convert all lights in the current map. Using a number as a second optional parameter allows you to specify a delay. Currently, this concommand simply replaces the old entity with a new entity and copies over light settings. It does not copy any other external things, including attached constraints!

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Description:

This addon adds four simple entities to the game:

• A one-of-a-kind, shadow-casting point light

• A normal ("cheap") point light

• A projected light

• A "spot" light (that uses the built-in light_dynamic entity)

Each entity is very basic and fully editable! You can spawn them from the entities tab in the spawn menu, and you can edit them by right-clicking from the context menu and selecting "Edit Properties". The "cheap" point light is the same kind that the light tool creates, and the projected light is the same kind that the lamp tool creates. What makes these entities so special is that they are very simple -- no models, no ropes -- just the basic light. And they are also fully editable! They can have any of their many properties changed in real time, just like the editor entities!

You can use the material tool and the lamp tool to change the texture of the projected light, and you can use the color tool and the light tool to change the color of any light!

Notes:

• You must have Shadow Detail set to High for shadows to work! From the main menu, go to Options -> Video -> Advanced -> Shadow Detail and set Shadow Detail to High. If there is no option for High, try this: From your game library, right click on Garry's Mod, go to Properties, click on SET LAUNCH OPTIONS... and try adding:

-force_vendor_id 0x10DE -force_device_id 0x1180

or

-force_vendor_id 0x10DE -force_device_id 0x1180 -dxlevel 95

• To spawn more than one expensive light you must increase the number of shadow textures. The projected light uses 1 shadow texture and the expensive light uses 6 shadow textures. By default, the engine does not support more than 8 shadow textures. To increase this number, do this: From your game library, right click on Garry's Mod, go to Properties, click on SET LAUNCH OPTIONS... and add:

-numshadowtextures 16

You don't have to use exactly 16, but don't set it too high.

• Textures not specifically made to be projected may not project correctly on to models in Windows, and may not project correctly on to anything in OSX or other operating systems.

• The "Simple FOV Mode" setting for the projected light makes the light entity simply obey the "FOV" setting. Disabling this setting will make the entity obey the separate "Horizontal FOV" and "Vertical FOV" settings, which don't seem to currently work correctly.