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▶ True RNG : It means that the random generated number is random per map. (Example : Every Molotov Cocktail has the same skin while you play the finale map of Mercy Hospital, but this skin is different than the one you had in the previous map (Hospital Interior)

▶ Real RNG : It means that the random generated number is random per entity. (Example : Every Molotov Cocktail in the world has a different skin, because each one is a different entity)

▶ Model (Real/True) RNG : It means that it gives the illusion that a same object can be different within or between maps (Example : The Pipebomb looks like a firework in map 1, and like a party bomb in map 2)

▶ Color RNG : It means that some part of the material will recieve a totally random color. (Example : The body of a guitar can take any color, randomly)

It if absolutely essential to understand that there are differend kind of "Entities" within the Source Entine
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▶ Entity : In-game thing that has the ability to draw random numbers with the EntityRandom proxy
Examples : Guns (FP and World Model) / Infected / Survivors / Rescue Vehicles / Items / Pickables items / Doors / Movable Cars
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▶ Semi-entity : In-game thing that has not the ability to draw random numbers using the EntityRandom proxy but doesn't crash the game with used on it
Examples : HUD / Items held by or on the survivors / Small Trash (Pizza boxes / cans...) / Dead Corpses
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▶ Non-entity : In-game thing that has not the ability to draw random numbers using the EntityRandom proxy and crash the game with used on it
Examples : Soda Machines / Walls / Plants / Ads / Non-movable Cars
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Knowing what kind of entity you are working with is crucial, since it will decide if you have to use the EntityRandom or UniformNoise proxy. :

- If you have an "Entity" → EntityRandom proxy
- If you have a "Semi-Entity" → UniformNoise proxy (otherwise won't work)
- If you have a "Non-Entity" → UniformNoise proxy (otherwise will crash the game ⛔)

Please note that the kind of Entity is not determined by the MDL file but by its use in the game. For example, the world model of and item is an Entity when "in the world" but a "Semi-entity" when "on a survivor"

A same VMT can even be used on all 3 kinds of Entities. For example, the charger VMT is used on an Entity (the alive charger), a Semi-entity (the dead charger) and a Non-entity (the dead displayed charger between poles)

The main thing to understand is that there are TWO different ways to create RNG with Proxies, there are actually TWO different proxies that give different results :

This proxy generates a random number directly from the Entity the material is applied to.
(Example : You spawn a bottle of pills, the game will give this bottle the random object N°350231, then, the EntityRandom proxy will use this number to generate a random number associated with the Entity)

• HUGE Advantage : The model will always return the same random number as EntityRandom, therefore, if your skin is in multiple VMT, they will all get the same EntityRandom result, so you do not have to worry if your model has multiple VMT, they will all match.
  
• HUGE Advantage : This method doesn't cause any flickering issues and takes less processing ressources, resulting in less crashes
  
• HUGE Advantage : It allows "Real RNG" : you can make every item in the world be different, because they depend on the Entity N°, that is different for every spawned thing
  
• HUGE Advantage : You don't need to "stop" the proxy, the number it returns is always the same.
  
• HUGE Disadvantage : It forces the first Advantage. If you want the different VMT to have independant random textures, it's way more complicated or even impossible to code.
  
• HUGE Disadvantage : Crashes the game if used on anything that is static on a map

This proxy keeps generating random numbers every frame. You can set the min and max values they can have.

• HUGE Advantage : Works on every-single-thing.
  
• HUGE Advantage : Allows different parts of a same model to be randomized independantly
  
• Disadvantage : Can sometimes cause short object flickering and takes more processing ressources

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In the rest of this guide, I'll take all different kinds of RNG one by one, starting by the easiest to understand then moving on to the hardest. I'll then add some remarks at the end.

Q : What effects does this do ? :
➞ This makes every object have a different texture, even within the same map

Q : What can I use it on ? :
➞ Guns / Items / Ammo / Escape Vehicles / Survivors / Infected (besides Charger)

Q : What should I use it on ? :
➞ Ammo / Escape Vehicles

Q : What can I NOT ⛔ use it on ? :
➞ Any item that is static on a map (vending machines / carpet / furniture...) : Will result in not working or crashing the game

Q : What are the pros and cons ? :
✔ No Flickering Textures
✔ Different textures within the same map
✔ No need to worry if your model has multiple VMT and you want them to match their $frame
✘ Will CRASH the game if used on the wrong thing
✘ Impossible to make each VMT be random on its own
✘ Not that much realistic if used on something else than Ammo or Escape Vehicles (See Below)


So normally, you can FORGET about this kind of RNG since it's useful only for Ammo Packs and Escape Vehicles (the rest is either unrealistic, cf. above, or will crash the game).

Below is an example of the code that you have to put in your VMT. Just modify 5.99 to the number you need. Here, there are 6 frames, so it's 5.99. 12 frames is 11.99, 2 frames is 1.99 etc.
The code directly injects the value of the EntityRandom in the $frame, so there's nothing you have to worry about. It's also a great way to test the RNG for the first time ;), so you see if it works.


Example of mod that use this kind of RNG :
Click here to access it.

Q : What effects does this do ? :
➞ This randomizes the texture "per map". Every object will have the same texture within the map. It's the most "realistic" one up to date but it doesn't allow to make textures random on their own.

Q : What can I use it on ? :
➞ Guns / Items / Ammo / Escape Vehicles / Survivors / Infected (besides Charger)

Q : What should I use it on ? :
➞ Guns* / Items*/ Ammo / Escape Vehicles / Survivors/ Infected (besides Charger)
* as long as they have the same VMT for World and First person.

Q : What can I NOT ⛔ use it on ? :
➞ Any item that is static on a map (vending machines / carpet / furniture...) : Will result in not working or crashing the game

Q : What are the pros and cons ? :
✔ No Flickering Textures
✔ No need to worry if your model has multiple VMT and you want them to match their $frame
✔ All textures (world / hand) will match as long as they use the same VMT
✘ Will CRASH the game if used on the wrong thing
✘ Impossible to make each VMT be random on its own


The code for that is a little bit more complicated, but you do not need to understand it.
To use is, just change the "9.99" to the number of different skins you have -0.01
If you have 12 skins, put 11.99. If you have 3 skins, put 2.99 etc.

Basically, the difference with "Real RNG" is that the result of the EntityRandom is stored only once into $frame. $frame starts at 1000, the "LessOrEqual" proxy stores $rand (random number) into $frame when $frame is over 500 ($fh), so this happens only once since $rand never be over 9.99 ; therefore, it's the first item you see that will determine the frame of every subsequent item in the map.
Since a same VMT can't have 2 different textures within the same map unless it directly depends on EntityRandom, the textures will match no matter if this thing is applied to a Real-Entity or a False-Entity, but it will CRASH if applied to a Non-Entity

In other words, the code does this :
1 : Compares $frame to $fh (500)
2 : If $frame > $fh* (500), then copy the $rand value into $frame...
3 : ...else copy $frame into $frame (= do nothing)
* this is only the case at the very beginning, since $frame has 1000 as default value.

Example of mod that use this kind of RNG :
Click here to access it.

Q : What effects does this do ? :
➞ This randomizes the texture "per map". Every object will have the same texture within the map. This one can be used without any risk of CTD.

Q : What can I use it on ? :
➞ Anything

Q : What should I use it on ? :
➞ Anything that is static on a map / Any item or gun or survivor when you want the VMTs to be random on their own (See below for why)

Q : What are the pros and cons ? :
✔ Works on everything
✔ Every generated number is independant
✘ Flickering Textures can happen when you see the object for the first time
✘ RNG per map is the only one avaliable


The code is almost the same as for "True RNG" with EntityRandom.
The only thing you need to modify is the "4.99", again, you need to set that to the number of different skins you have - 0.01. If you have 23 skins, put 22.99, if you have 2, put 1.99 etc.


The code does this :
1 : Compares $frame to $fh (500)
2 : If $frame > $fh* (500), then copy the $rand value into $frame...
3 : ...else copy $frame into $frame (= do nothing)
* this is only the case at the very beginning, since $frame has 1000 as default value.

The "UniformNoise" proxy keeps generating random numbers. $rand changes every fraction of second, this explains the need to "stop" the generation with the LessOrEqual proxy.

Example of mod that use this kind of RNG :

Click here to access it.

Q : What effects does this do ? :
➞ This gives the illusion for different objects to be randomly generated by the game

Q : What can I use it on ? :
➞ Guns / Items / Ammo / Escape Vehicles / Survivors / Infected (besides Charger)

Q : What should I use it on ? :
➞ Anything listed above that does NEVER have a Glow Outline except if the shape change are very, very subtle

Q : What can I NOT ⛔ use it on ? :
➞ Any item that is static on a map (vending machines / carpet / furniture...) : Will result in not working or crashing the game

Q : What are the pros and cons ? :
✔ Provides different shapes for a same object within the same mod
✔ Different shapes avaliable through the same map
✔ No need to worry if your model has multiple VMT and you want them to match their $frame
✘ Requires to know how to use a 3D Editing Tool
✘ Will CRASH the game if used on the wrong thing
✘ Looks bad on anything that has a Glow Outline (practically everthing in L4D2)[/i][/b])



Basically, there are mutiple ways to code that RNG, but the best one not to become "silly" is the one that I used in the "Tank Rock RNG" mod. I will explain some of it here in case you really want to give it a go, but it's really complicated :D.

FIRST, as I said, each different thing to display should have a separate VMT, here, the rocks each have a VMT : rock1.vmt, rock2.vmt, rock3.vmt etc...

Let's look at "rock1.vmt" :


To make the code better, I used the "patch" system. The patch system allows you to copy the content of a VMT into another (cf. "include") and then insert more stuff that will (case needed) replace what is in the VMT you included.

In this VMT, you have the $basetexture etc. (the things you know) and this $itemid.
$itemid is a custom variable that is used to know what the "rock ID" is. The code that is in rng.vmt will know if the rock is to display depending on what number the code will have rolled.

So what you need to do if you want to implement that is to copy the content of this into each VMT you want to randomize the display and set an $itemid for each one, starting at 0. "rock1" doesn't need to have the id 1, but the id's need to be chonological and start at 0.

Then, the "rng.vmt".


This VMT contains the RNG, the patch method allows you not to have to edit every single VMT if you want to change something in the RNG (because not using patch, you'd have to copy this stuff in every VMT, that would do exactly the same).

If you want to use this, as it's said, you just need to change the 2 values that yell "change me".
If you have 5 objects (like in my case), you need 4.99 and 4.49. If you have 23 objects, you need 22.99 and 22.49. If you have 4, 3.99 and 3.49 etc.

Now, if you really want to understand how this works, let me try :D (you don't need to understand, but it's good if you want to become a Material Proxies master).

STEP 1 : EntityRandom generates a random number for the whole entity (so this number will be shared between rock1.vmt, rock2.vmt, rock3.vmt etc. since they are on the same Entity : the rock thrown by the Tank) ; this number is from 0 to the max object number.
STEP 2 : LessOrEqual proxy makes the number return to 4.49 if it's past 4.49, this is due to the way we control what item is selected, further in the code
STEP 3* : Subtract does a substraction : is substracts $selected (value selected by EntityRandom) and $itemid.
STEP 4* : Abs (absoluve value proxy) turns $itemid to it's positive countrepart if $itemid is below 0. Doing that after substracting $selected and $itemid returns the delta between $selected and $itemid.
STEP 5* : We compare the delta between $selected and $itemid and if it's less than 0.5, it means that it's this item that has to be displayed, we therefore turn $alpha to 1 (= visibile) ; otherwise we keep it to 0 (invisible)

* For example, let's say we have $itemid = 5 and $selected = 3. We make 3-5 = -2 and then abs(-2) = 2. It means that the difference between 5 and 3 is 2.
Now let's say we have $itemid = 5 and $selected = 5. We make 5-5 = 0 and then abs(0) = 0.
With this operation, we'll get 0 if the numbers match and anything above if they don't, that's the way to write "Is equal to" with proxies and that's what we need.
"Is equal to" can't be written in programming language, but "Has a difference of 0 with it" can be (and that's equal to ==). In the code therefore, we use 0.49 and not 0.

⛔ WARNING :
➞ Do NOT use this if you can use Entity Random : True RNG

Q : What effects does this do ? :
➞ This allows the different VMT's of an items to share the same $frame. It's therefore useful if you can't use EntityRandom : True RNG (that does the same thing), especially if what you're replacing is a map item

Q : What can I use it on ? :
➞ Anything

Q : What should I use it on ? :
➞ Anything that is static on a map and that has more than 2 VMT that have the share the same $frame (i.e. models that contain multiple VTF)

Q : What are the pros and cons ? :
✔ Works on everything
✔ Allows to "link" the different VMT's without using EntityRandom
✘ The textures can sometimes be full-black for the first few seconds you came across the material, especilally late in the map
✘ The RNG doesn't seem even on Localhost games


The code is complicated ; basically, it generated a looping number using a LinearRamp proxy, this number "loops" by reducing the offset of the LinearRamp when the LinearRamp reaches the maximal frame of the VTF (reducing the result of the Proxy doesn't work).
What determines the RNG is actually the time it takes for the game to load (kinda), and more precisely the difference between the loading time of the different players.

Q : What effects does this do ? :
➞ This is a "fix" for Real RNG when it's used on certain items, that always display the first frame (frame 0) on the items carried and help by the teammates

Q : What can I use it on ? :
➞ Anything that you can use "Real RNG" on

Q : What should I use it on ? :
➞ Items carried or held by the survivors that always display the same frame (frame 0).

Q : What can I NOT ⛔ use it on ? :
➞ Any item that is static on a map (vending machines / carpet / furniture...) : Will result in not working or crashing the game

Q : What are the pros and cons ? :
✔ This is a fix for "Real RNG", use it instead of it if items carried by the survivors keep displaying frame 0 on Real RNG

As it says in the code, copy the whole bunch of ♥♥♥♥ and modify on the the said line by the N° of your last frame (in the example, it's N°49, meaning we have 50 frames)

Basically, the code draws a random number with both Entityrandom and Uniformnoise, then inject the UniformNoise one if the Entityrandom one display 0. This results in the carried item to be under Uniform Noise True RNG and the world ones under Real RNG

Example of mod that use this kind of RNG :

Click here to access it.

Adding support for Bumpmap RNG is really easy, take any RNG code and just add this Proxy at the end of the Proxies block :


It will make the frame of your diffuse match the frame of your bumpmap.

Please be aware that this "technique" is impossible with selfillummasks and other masks, it also doesn't work with anything else than bumpmap (and detail) ; therefore, it's not possible to RNG a specular mask, even if it's internal to a texture.

You can although RNG a selfillum if that selfillum is part of

There's a very simple way to include ONE "secret" texture in any of the formerly presented RNG. That "secret" texture will be displayed at a very lower rate than the other ones. It's really easy to do so.

STEP 1 : Put that secret texture as the VERY LAST FRAME of your diffuse texture
STEP 2 : In any RNG code, modify the or the into something that does not end with .99, to lower the chance of the last frame to be displayed.

Example : Let's say we have 12 different textures, meaning the N° of our last frame is 11, we want the 12th texture (11th frame) to be displayed way fewer than it originally is (originally 1/12th of the time).
Our code contains :
If we change that to 11.1 instead of 11.99, it means that the frame N°11 will be displayed only 0.1 / 11.1 times = 1/111 times instead of 1/11.99, making it approximately 10 times more rare than usual, therefore creating a "secret" texture.

Examples of mods that use this technique :

Click here to access it.


Click here to access it. (Used with Model RNG)

This sections provides some help for debugging the RNG in case it doesn't work or gives ♥♥♥♥. Try to search for your issue and see the probable cause :

❎ The game crashes when I come close to the object I applied the RNG on
➞ You used an EntityRandom based RNG on something non supported, try Uniform Noise

❎ The object is full black and does not display any texture
➞ Try to reload the map multiple times or spawn multiples items if it's on Real RNG, if it does it only sometimes or on some objets, the issue is that you entered a wrong number of frame in the code (for example, you have 12 frames and you entered 12.99 when you should have entered 11.99, because the N° of your last frame is 11)

If it always shows a full-black object no matter what, it's probably a syntax error in the code. Try to check your copy-paste and that the 3 last characters in your code are }

Example for the 3 } (end of a full VMT) :

❎ The frame is always the frame 0 (first design/frame)
➞ You maybe forgot to copy all the variables before the Proxies block, check you copy-paste. If, in this situation, you have a $frame 1000 line in your code and you always get frame 0, the code is working though. So you're either unlucky or maybe, use the Linear Ramp RNG on a Localhost server.
If you always get frame 0 on an item carried on the teammates, check the "Uniform + EntityRandom Mixed RNG"

❎ When I pick an item, I don't end up with the item I picked
➞ That's probably because you've used Entity Random : Real RNG. There's yet no way to make the item you pick match the item in your hand, sadly, this is unfixable. Use Entity Random : True RNG if you want them to match, but the design will be the same along the map.

If however, you've used Entity Random : True RNG or Uniform Noise : True RNG and end up with this problem, that means that your view model probably has a different VMT than the world model (that's the case for the base game Molotov / Pain Pills and Medkit) ; in this case, use Real RNG since even True RNG can't make the items match.
The solution to this problem would be to set the world and the first person model to the same VMT, that's done using a 3D software like Blender, but if you know that, it's probably not a secret to you ;)

❎ Textures seem to change very fast when I first see the model then stop
➞ This is a recurent problem in Uniform Noise RNG, I couldn't modify it, even by creating a sort of "buffer", yet, there's no fix for it unless using the EntityRandom RNG ; if you can't however (because the object doesn't support it and makes the game crash), there's unfortunately no solution

❎ Textures doesn't match, on the same model (VMT frames do not match)
➞ You used a wrong kind of RNG, probably an Uniform Noise based one when you should have used an Entity Random based one. If however you need to use an Uniform Noise based one (because the thing you try to RNG is in the "world"), then you need to use the "Linear Ramp : True RNG LINK" instead.