0005396: Geometry becomes displaced when converting a func_static to a light entity - The Dark Mod Bugtracker

ID	Project	Category	View Status	Date Submitted	Last Update

0005396	DarkRadiant	Design/Coding	public	11.11.2020 14:18	05.01.2021 15:54

Reporter	MirceaKitsune	Assigned To
Priority	none	Severity	trivial	Reproducibility	always
Status	closed	Resolution	no change required
Platform	x64	OS	Linux openSUSE	OS Version	Release

Summary	0005396: Geometry becomes displaced when converting a func_static to a light entity
Description	Be aware that in this case I'm reporting something that might be intended to stay broken, as it's a slightly unorthodox thing I tried to do. As you know some light casting entities can be given 3D models by setting "model /foo/bar.lwo" on the entity, which is used by lamps to know how to color emissive textures with the light when toggled / flickering. This works properly when the light is given an external model (ase, obj, lwo) but things start to go wrong if you attempt to convert a bunch of brushes to func_static then turn them into a light. I did so because I wanted to create a light entity out of brushes, namely a neon out of a set of cylinder patches... I achieved this by keeping my func_static separate from the light entity in the end, but during my attempt to unify them I discovered quite a bit of breakage. The issue happens in both DarkRadiant and while playing TheDarkMod, both will glitch out if you have a brush func_static converted to a light. What happens is that the geometry of the brush always changes its location and becomes offset from the center of the light entity. Things seem to work otherwise, but the func_static always needs to be converted to a light at origin 0 0 0, and even then you can't move or rotate the entity as this will cause the brushes to become displaced.
Steps To Reproduce	Draw a bunch of brushes and / or patches. Select them all, right click in a 2D viewport, choose "convert to func_static". Now open the entity window with the N key, select the classname spawnarg, and modify it from "classname func_static" to "classname light". At first everything may appear normal. However the brushes will have slid in a seemingly random direction; If you reload the map or try dragging the entity to move it, you should see them snap to the side, also you'll be dragging the light entity while its geometry stays in place. Even worse, if you go into Select Vertices mode, you will see the vertices of the brushes in one location but its real geometry in another (see the attached screenshot showing this effect).
Tags	Bug, Glitch
Attached Files	8MAEusI.png (796,396 bytes)

Judith 13.11.2020 11:41 reporter ~0012901	This is just a wrong way to do it. You don't convert a func_static or a model to a light entity class. You add a "model" spawnarg to light entity. You can also have a model and attach a light source via spawnarg.

MirceaKitsune 13.11.2020 18:34 reporter ~0012908	Yeah, I was hoping that converting a func_static to a light would be the same thing as adding a light and giving it the "model" spawnarg. If this issue could be resolved maybe it would work the same way then. But that's probably too complicated to do now, I mainly opened this just so it's known and don't expect too much can be done about it.

Judith 13.11.2020 20:47 reporter ~0012913	You are changing one entity class to another, so that happens in all instances. It's a consistent and predictable behavior, not an issue.

MirceaKitsune 13.11.2020 21:52 reporter ~0012915	What if I was able to create the entity without changing it? Currently if I select a group of brushes and try to convert them to a light, I get a plain light entity which only uses their radius but drops the model. I'm assuming it couldn't be solved this way either?

Judith 13.11.2020 22:00 reporter ~0012917	https://wiki.thedarkmod.com/index.php?title=Combined_light_entities

Bikerdude 26.12.2020 13:00 reporter ~0013232	This tracker can probably be closed.

Date Modified	Username	Field	Change
11.11.2020 14:18	MirceaKitsune	New Issue
11.11.2020 14:18	MirceaKitsune	Tag Attached: Bug
11.11.2020 14:18	MirceaKitsune	Tag Attached: Glitch
11.11.2020 14:18	MirceaKitsune	File Added: 8MAEusI.png
13.11.2020 11:41	Judith	Note Added: 0012901
13.11.2020 18:34	MirceaKitsune	Note Added: 0012908
13.11.2020 20:47	Judith	Note Added: 0012913
13.11.2020 21:52	MirceaKitsune	Note Added: 0012915
13.11.2020 22:00	Judith	Note Added: 0012917
26.12.2020 13:00	Bikerdude	Note Added: 0013232
26.12.2020 13:00	Bikerdude	Priority	normal => none
26.12.2020 13:00	Bikerdude	Severity	normal => trivial
26.12.2020 13:14	Dragofer	Project	The Dark Mod => DarkRadiant
05.01.2021 15:54	greebo	Status	new => closed
05.01.2021 15:54	greebo	Resolution	open => no change required