Mapping/Surface inspector

Intro

This page intends to be a summary and reference of "Surface Inspector" use and effects for UFO:AI. Surface Inspector can be opened by using the "Surfaces" tab in the Sidebar.

Mostly this is the effects of each flag when no other flag is set. Combinations of flags can be tricky but mostly it seems that "going through" effects override blocking effects. Ex: if you set 2 flags, one allowing shots to go through the brush and the other one blocking the shots, final effect will be to allow the shots going through.

Note: It is a common convention to use the appropriate texture for some of the flags. So if you put the 'actorclip' flag on a brush, you also have to assign the tex_common/actorclip texture.

Texture options

Texture related controls
Field or button	Purpose
Shader	Texture path and name, starting from `base/textures`, without extension.
Horiz./Vert. Shift	horizontal/vertical shift of the applied texture
Step	For all fields - by how large value should scroll buttons change the field.
Horiz./Vert. Scale	vorizontal/vertical stretch of the applied texture. Note that it is applied to the whole texture, so shifted textures will have the stretch applied also to parts that do not fit on the face.
Rotate	Rotation of the texture
Fit Texture (A) (B)	The numbers of (A) and (B) determine the scaling of the texture for the X-/Y-axis (equivalent X-/Z-axis or Y-/Z-axis, depending on the face that is selected). <Fit> will apply the setting to the selected face(s).
Flip Texture	Flip the texture horizontally or vertically.
Modify Texture	'Auto-Fit' the texture of the selected face. Often useful, but also gives weird results sometimes.
Default Scale	Choose the scaling for the texture of new brushes.
Texture Lock	Same as in the Side Toolbar. Used when moving brushes around to avoid the texture shift. Especially useful when integrating prefabs into the map.

Surface and contentflags

Surface and contentflags affect almost everything regarding brush, except the texture - visibility, transparency, additional effects, even sounds. The following attempts to be a full list of these flags used in UFO:AI.

Meaning of each attribute:

visual effect : does the flag change the face's appearance?
player : can a human player go through a "wall" with that flag set
shots : can a shot go through a "wall" with that flag set
visibility : is it possible to see through a "wall" with that flag set
blast: does a blast go through a "wall" with that flag set (tested with rocket)

Surface flags

light

visual effect: produces light
players:
shots:
visibility:
blast:
used for: lamps

blend33

visual effect: 2/3 transparent
players:
shots:
visibility: go through
blast:
used for: windows, water

blend66

visual effect: 1/3 transparent
players:
shots:
visibility: go through
blast:
used for: windows, water

nodraw

Note: The following requires levelflags to be set for the level of the brush and every level above! So if the brush is located in e.g. level 3, levelflags 3 - 8 have to be set. If not, the nodraw brush will block the 'Line of Sight' and also the 'Line of Fire', but he will not block actor movement and also he will not cast a shadow. ShipIt 13:33, 11 April 2012 (SAST)
visual effect: invisible, but casts shadow
players: blocked
shots: blocked
visibility: blocked
blast: blocked
used for: shadows, performance optimisations, models
specific texture: tex_common/nodraw texture should be always used

warp

visual effect: warps
players:
shots:
visibility:
blast:
used for: water surface
notes: Should be assigned to visible faces only

fireaffected

visual effect: none until fired up
players: blocked
shots: blocked
visibility: blocked
blast: blocked
used for: faces that should have an ability to light on fire, like straw
notes: Will spawn a fire particle when shot with some flames inducing weapon, fo example, flamethrower

footstep

visual effect: none
players: blocked
shots: blocked
visibility: blocked
blast: blocked
used for: faces that should produce a sound when stepped on
notes: See footsteps

flow

visual effect: flows
players: blocked
shots: blocked
visibility: blocked
blast: blocked
used for: river
notes: To change the direction of moving rotate the texture with the surface inspector

phong

visual effect: smoothes the texture
players: blocked
shots: blocked
visibility: blocked
blast: blocked
used for: barrels, pipes, rocks, tree trunks
notes: Should be assigned to visible faces only

Content flags

level1 to level8

see Levelflags or Levelflags - step by step

actorclip

visual effect : invisible (no shadow)
players : blocked
shots : go through
visibility : go through
blast : blocked
used for : limiting actor movement (whole cells and railing), creating "floor", stairs (see Ladders)
specific texture: tex_common/actorclip texture should be always used
Note : If no levelflags set, the actorclip brush is not shown anymore in UFORadiant when using the levelselector.

weaponclip

visual effect : invisible (no shadow)
players : go through
shots : blocked
visibility : go through
blast :
used for : blocking shots on objects that wouldn't block them otherwise (for example, models)
specific texture: tex_common/weaponclip texture should be always used
Note : If no levelflags set, the weaponclip brush is not shown anymore in UFORadiant when using the levelselector.

lightclip

visual effect : invisible (but casts shadow)
players : unaffected
shots : unaffected
visibility : unaffected
blast : unaffected
used for : shadows
specific texture: tex_common/lightclip texture should be always used
Note : If no levelflags set, the lightclip brush is not shown anymore in UFORadiant when using the levelselector.

solid

visual effect : none
players : blocked
shots : blocked
visibility :
used for : mostly by ufo2map during compilation phase to determine which brushes will have priority when splitting overlapping brushes
Note : if trans33 or trans66 is checked, it overides solid flags (ie the brush is transparent and allows everything to go through it)

water

visual effect : none (no shadow)
players : go through
shots : go through
visibility : go through
used for : water. Use flow flag for "flowing liquid" and warp for water bodies like lakes or seas, fences

plays sounds on entering the brush;

exports envmaps for that surface (material) (explanation by mattn)

window

visual effect : doesn't draw inside of the brush
players :
shots : blocked
visibility :
used for : windows, of course.

passable

visual effect : none, does not cast a shadow
players : go through
shots : blocked
visibility : go through

terrain

notes : "It forces texture coordinate plane to be horizontal, even if face in question is at >45 deg angle to horison. Intended to keep texture mapping continuous on steep slopes. Not to be used on exactly vertical faces, this could cause rendering anomalies. In other words, it forces texture to be mapped in xy plane, disabling xz and yz cases."

origin

visual effect : invisible
players :
shots :
visibility :
used for : doors

Value

Used for surface lights (see surfaceflag light and surface lights).