try reducing the angle so that it doesn't try smoothing the lighting over the caps of the cylinders? this should normally happen if the caps are completely flat, but if they're angled even by 1 degree then the default angle cutoff will be too high. 

Oh yeah, that makes more sense than my idea. I should probably lower the default angle cutoff a bit. The key for that is "_phong_angle" and default is 89.

To confirm it is that, add the flag "-phongdebug" to light, and enter "r_lightmap 1" in the console (for Quakespasm). 

+1 that would be handy. I recommend worldspawn keys for everything except -extra4/-extra anyway, but it would be useful to have a record of what command flags were used (could even add a key for saving the tools version, though that would bloat the bsp by a few bytes) 

Ok I tried ericw's methods by adding the new shadow keys, didn't see much happen as the breakable was still darker.

Here is what happens with r_lightmap 1:
http://imgur.com/tzeRgMp

I guess you can still see the shadow here. Now these breakables are only a cosmetic part of the map so this is not crucial, and I could just make the pillar a good old detail brush. But if there is an easy way to fix this it would be awesome. 

I forgot to mention, the pillar caps are indeed angled as Spike mentioned, so if that means its something to do with the phong shading, maybe that helps to diagnose this. 

I set the phong angle on the breakable to a lower number 45 randomly, and noticed some improvement viewing from certain angles, but still darker from others.

Should I also change the phong angle on the detail pillar as well, to match the angle on the breakable. What kind of decrease would you suggest? 

Try adding -phongdebug to your light command line, it will compile very quickly and just give you a visualization of the phong shading.

What you want it to look like (with r_lightmap 1) is the pillar caps to be solid and the curved surface of the pillar to be a smooth gradient. It might help to move the breakable to the side so you can see if the phong shading is blending around the cap edge. 

Also 45 is the right value for "_phong_angle" if it's an octagonal pillar, any lower and the 8 sides of the pillar won't be smoothed together. 

Ok here's what I'm seeing with phongdebug added:
http://imgur.com/rOVWyNN
http://imgur.com/GTlWNtQ

After changing all of the breakable pieces and the detail brush pillar to _phong_angle 45 the darker shadowing is gone!

http://imgur.com/yrkURID

Thank you Spike and ericw. Great help and this map is looking good once again. 

Hi! I've added a "_falloff" light property. It allows to specify light diameter in map units (this decouples light brightness from light falloff). 

That's a feature I think a lot of people would want. Does brightness increase with light diameter though or does it stay the same? 

It stays the same. 

I hope it gets implemented.

I imagine you can make very bright spotlights on floors too with this. 

Agree with Fifth. Sounds very useful and more control of any attribute is always welcome. 

PS I like your star ceiling Redfield. 

Hi! I've added arghrad-style sun setup using light entity.

Allows to set most of sun properties using a light entity with "_sun" key set to 1.
If the light targets an info_null entity, direction towards that entity sets sun direction.
Light itself is disabled, so it can be placed anywhere in the map.

Following light properties override corresponding worldspawn properties:
light -> _sunlight;
mangle -> _sunlight_mangle;
deviance -> _sunlight_penumbra;
_color -> _sunlight_color;
_dirt -> _sunlight_dirt;
_anglescale -> _anglescale.

Here's a compiled version (x86 build, also supports "_falloff" property I've added earlier). 

Cool. I will try this on the stand-alone version of my SM179 map. I was very displeased with the sunlight and didn't have time to tweak it as it was a 24hr jam.

MaxEd Is there a default falloff for the _sun entity or is it 0? Will pointing this to an info_null effect the falloff? 

Is there a default falloff for the _sun entity?
The default falloff for the _sun entity is 0.

Will pointing this to an info_null effect the falloff?
No. 

I merged in features, _sun and _falloff (only for delay 0/linear falloff for now) 

Will pointing this to an info_null effect the falloff?

Actually, that's a neat idea for spotlights, so I've added that:

Added "_spotlightautofalloff" worldspawn key. When set to 1, spotlight falloff is calculated from the distance to the targeted info_null. Ignored when "_falloff" is not 0.

Calculated falloff = [distance from light to target_null] + [cone radius at target_null]. 

Sorry for such a newb question but are there binaries for this version? or is it just added to the code at this point? 

Not trying to be a smartass but... if you have a prefab map with brushes you want, why not just open that map and copy them into your current map?

I mean mapping like that seems clumsy and complicated. You won't get a visual in editor and more than likely it'll be trial and error going into the game back and forth to make sure your key settings are correct.

What's the advantage, what am I missing? 

You can make a change to the main prefab and it carries over into all external uses of it.

Copy+Paste means youd have to manually change each instance. 

I am guessing but I think ericw is trying a sneaky way to get prefabs added to Trenchbroom someday. SleepWalkR has resisted adding them to the editor for his own reasons and this is a work around that could be added to any editor in theory. I assume with very little work.

Again I am guessing... or day dreaming. I copy and paste just fine using TB2 but it would be nice to treat the prefab as a group without having to define it as a group. I dunno. Maybe I am just missing something here myself. 

duh... what muk said: that too!!