how do i solve black, unshaded panel edges?
Im making a room where a big chunk of the wall is moving out,
though when it is out, the edges are lit like they are against the wall, instead of out in the room.
What would be the best way to solve this problem?
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The problem is that since the default position of the panel is in being right next to a wall, no light hits it in that position and thus no light gets baked into it. You could either make the wall behind it much thinner or clip it at a 45 or so angle... alternatively you could make a sort of a frame, turn it into a func_brush or something and disable shadows on that, though I have no idea how will that mess up lighting in other areas. Just experiment with it, Im sure youll think of something.
A quick way to fix this (assuming the moving panel is a brush entity) is to set its minimum light level (see here) to something above zero. It can take a bit of trial and error since you don't want the brush to be lit more brightly than its surroundings, but produces a serviceable result in my experience.
the best way for realistic lighting (if its a func_door) is to create it as when its reached out, and make that the default position (so thats the closed position, and set the movement direction backward and set its starting state as open. That way it renders the light at the opened state but at mapstart its in the wall, and must close to reach out, open to go back. I usually do this 
thanks for the tips,
i think ill try to set the "default" position to the expanded position, then add a "onmapspawn" to pop the panel back in place, as soon as the map loads up
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Same problem, just add a light with small brightness behind the brush.