Replace the bad default cubemap textures with a solid black one.

[111112oo]

The default cubemap in LDR with no cubemaps placed is very very very ugly. Sticks out, doesn't match the lighting, HL2 style, has seams with each face in the wrong orientation and so on. If I place and build a single cubemap inside a toolsblack box to simulate a solid black default cubemap instead, things look a lot better! Replacing the default cubemap texture with a solid black one or disabling cubemaps on maps without them would help make the game look a lot better on incorrectly made maps.

I run a deathrun server which is full of maps without built cubemaps, even by very talented mappers. It being ugly clearly isn't teaching mappers to build cubemaps properly. I want to stop getting mad at this texture lol.

EDIT: There is also another default cubemap posted below for when no cubemaps are placed but the map is compiled in HDR instead. It's better but still should be solid black instead. However, the default cubemap does seem to go properly black or disable if there is a placed but unbuilt cubemap in the map.

[chloecormier]

This actually should already be the case? If you look in the materials/engine folder of your VPKs, we include all-black cubemaps, and I can't reproduce your issue, it seems to use the all-black cubemap on maps without built ones for me.

That said, we already know that overriding SDK materials is unreliable and just doesn't work sometimes for some reason. This also causes toolsblack to use planar fog instead of radial fog, for example. We still haven't figured out exactly why that is. Something's wrong with asset loading priority, since it always works when packed into maps but it's super buggy when overriding from the mod folder. We'd love any help figuring out why that is, maybe our GameInfo.txt is misconfigured somehow.

[111112oo]

Hmm, didn't catch that myself oops. On further testing it seems that the bad default cubemap only appears on maps with no env_cubemaps placed in the map, but when there is one in the map but unbuilt built it doesn't appear. I do have live TF2 mounted for reference.

[111112oo]

Addendum to my addendum. -If there is a cubemap placed in the map with no cubemaps built then the default cubemap is full black. LDR or HDR. -If there is no cubemap placed in the map compiled in LDR only, then you get the hl2 default cubemap. -If there is no cubemap placed in the map compiled in HDR, then you get this weird new one that looks better, but is still unideal: (I should not be able to see the reflection of a different sky here)