Shadows Problem - Props and doors - Developers

Hi! I've been creating a map and I'm running into some problems with shadows. All of the props and prop doors that are inside a building are casting shadows in the SAME direction as if they are outside, such as here: [IMG]http://img809.imageshack.us/img809/3357/shadowproblem1.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://img593.imageshack.us/img593/2/shadowproblem3.jpg[/IMG] As you can see, the shadows are quite unrealistic and shouldn't be cast while the props and prop doors are inside. Here i disabled shadows on ALL props: [IMG]http://img231.imageshack.us/img231/810/shadowproblem2.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://img710.imageshack.us/img710/5008/shadowproblem4.jpg[/IMG] This, in my opinion, still looks unrealistic because shadows should still be cast by by the actual light sources within the room. For example, look at the table on the right side. The floor looks way too bright beneath the table. This is the same for the coffee table in the middle, and the table next to the couch. Are these second two images the way it's supposed to be, even though it still doesn't look quite right? Do I have to completely turn of shadows on props that are inside? What am I supposed to do here?

Change the lightmap scale to a higher number and use the "block light" brush in the doorways?

[img]http://developer.valvesoftware.com/w/images/c/cf/Shadow_control.png[/img]

[QUOTE=Folgergeist;29330139][img_thumb]http://developer.valvesoftware.com/w/images/c/cf/Shadow_control.png[/img_thumb][/QUOTE] Yeh or that XD

Yeah, but shadow_control only changes the direction of shadows that ALL of the props cast in the SAME direction, correct? What I'm getting at is that it looks unrealistic for all props to cast a shadow in the same direction. Realistically, they should cast a shadow depending on how light entities are shining on it. Is there any way to apply shadows to props depending on where light entities are?

Put block_light textured brushes over your props :smug:

Thanks for all of your suggestions by the way! Salmonmarine, wouldn't I have to fit brushes manually to each static prop? That would be pretty time consuming especially on complicated looking props. But my main concern is how this would work on physics props? Is it even possible? Also, would info_lighting have any application here? This is actually my first map, but I'm a fast learner. I'm also dedicated to not making a piece of crap for my first map. Therefore, I want to get my lighting right :P

Unfortunately you cannot edit the RTT shadows under the orange box to the way you want, unless you edit some code to do it. Where it calculates each shadow position depending on the nearest light position. You can see this in alienswarm.

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[QUOTE=Firegod522;29346436]Unfortunately you cannot edit the RTT shadows under the orange box to the way you want, unless you edit some code to do it. Where it calculates each shadow position depending on the nearest light position. You can see this in alienswarm.[/QUOTE] Ah, that sucks... Wish they would have built more realistic shadowing into the engine. So in this case, would my best option for indoor prop shadows be to use shadow_control to make the shadows point straight down? It would look better than in the pictures at least... Or is there a better way to go about this?

I would leave the shadows off.

Yeah, disable the shadows on the props. Set the lightmap scale lower and use Block Light brushes around the props that aren't going to move so they cast "fake" shadows calculated by VRAD.

Well, I compromised by just turning off shadows for the doors and setting the shadows pitch to -80 for other props. Almost straight down. For realism, it's better than no shadow I think. Also, I turned off shadows for the table brush, since it looked bad. (Pic #2)