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Alex Smith edited this page May 13, 2024 · 100 revisions

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Note

This wiki is a work-in-progress. Expect articles to be incomplete. For specific questions, please open a support thread in the #v2-support channel of the Photon Community Discord Server.

Photon 2: Emergency Systems Platform

Thanks for checking out Photon 2. Photon is an emergency vehicle lighting, siren and systems platform for Garry's Mod.

Photon 2 is an all-new addon based on Photon Lighting Engine (released in 2014). Written from the ground up, Photon 2 is designed to be more stable, more versatile, more compatible, and much more feature-packed than its predecessor.

Already know what you're doing? Checkout the other pages in this wiki for information on creating content or integrating addons with Photon 2.

Why Use Photon 2?

Feature Photon 2 Photon Legacy VCMod ELS
Emergency Lighting Yes Yes Yes
Has a Community Discord Server Yes Yes No
In Active Development Yes No No
Independent Component Architecture Yes Yes No
Open Source Yes Yes No
Support for newest vehicles Yes Yes No
Dedicated Traffic Advisory Functions Yes Yes No
Dedicated Illumination Functions Yes Yes No
Dedicated Cruise Mode Functions Yes No No
Fully Customizable Controls Yes No No
3D Mesh Lights Yes No No
Integrated Brake/Signal/Park Lighting Yes No No
Engine Idling Yes No No
Automatic Vehicle Lighting Yes No No
Complete fading light control Yes No No

Links

Workshop

Subscribe to the Photon 2 addon on Workshop at photon.lighting/v2.

Discord

Join the official community Discord at photon.lighting/discord.

Resources

Looking for high-quality models, components and content? Check out the curated Resources page.

Features

Customizability

With Photon 2's library system, very few aspects of Photon 2 are "hard coded." Lighting components, sirens, controller sounds, commands, input configurations, and more can be easily created, modified and shared or published on Workshop.

Standard Vehicle Functionality

Daytime running lights

On configured vehicles, daytime running lights (DRLs) activate automatically whenever a driver gets in a vehicle. Consistent with real-world behavior, DRLs are usually tied with automatic headlights. On supported vehicles, this process is entirely automated and seamless.

Configurable, automatic headlights that activate in darkness

On configured vehicles, headlights activate automatically whenever the vehicle is in a dark environment and turn off when the vehicle enters daylight.

Turn signals, hazards, reverse lights, brake lights

2010 Crown Victoria brake, reverse, and hazard lights

Vehicle lights can be configured to realistically simulate incandescent and halogen bulbs. Photon 2's input priority functionality enables perfect override behavior for lights that serve multiple purposes.

Headlights and parking lights

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Vehicle lighting can switch between headlights and parking/marker lights

Precise wheel positioning

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When exiting a vehicle, the front wheel positions will remain exactly as they were.

Emergency Vehicle Functionality

Primary warning modes

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Primary emergency lights, often with different stages (or modes), each conveying a higher or lower urgency.

Default keys: F (toggle on/off), L-ALT (change light mode)

Dedicated traffic advisor/directional patterns

Rear portion of lightbar seamlessly changes to arrow patterns when channel is activated

Directional patterns are separated from primary warning patterns, allowing for forward-facing warning patterns to be operated

Default keys: RCtrl+Left Arrow arrow left, RCtrl+Up Arrow center-out arrow, RCtrl+Right Arrow right arrow

Dedicated marker/cruise lighting

Two blue lights serving as cruise lighting

Activates steady-burn lighting (usually) to increase visibility. Unlike Photon LE (Legacy), cruise lighting and traffic advisor patterns are operated independently and can be used together.

Dedicated, independent forward scene, flood, and alley illumination

Demonstrating left alley, takedown, and flood being turned on and off

Independent scene lighting directions allows for forward, left, right, and rear illumination to be activated individually.

Additional auxiliary modes

Allows for other specialized lighting without interfering with primary channel.

Ability to integrate emergency lights with brake lights, turn signals, etc.

Rear warning lights turn red when the vehicle brakes, and white when the vehicle reverses

Emergency lights can be configured to augment standard vehicle lighting. This includes special brake patterns on the lightbar, or using perimeter lighting as extra reverse lights.

Configurable park mode lighting

High-intensity flashing changes to steady-burn when the player exits the vehicle

Flash patterns can be configured to change (such as slowing or steady-burning) when drivers exit their vehicle. When re-entering, the normal pattern will resume.

Configurable park-kill sirens

Sirens can be configured to pause when drivers exit the vehicle or continue playing on a per-vehicle basis.

Configurable patterns that change with siren tones

Flash patterns can be tied to siren tones, such as a faster pattern for yelp and a slower one for wail.

Functional, animated spotlights

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Spotlights are stowed when off, then automatically move up and illuminate when activated. They can be used independently or tie in with takedown, flood, and alley lighting.

Configurable interior/compartment lighting

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Lighting components can work inside the same way they do outside. Adding interior lights is as easy as adding a lightbar.

Vehicle engine idling

  • When exiting a vehicle by quickly tapping E, the engine will remain idling. On vehicles in a dark environment with automatic headlights/DRL enabled, this will also activate the parking lights.

  • To turn off the engine and park normally, simply press and hold E.

New Sirens

While a few of Photon's original siren audio files were directly ported as a stop-gap measure, almost all of them are being replaced with brand new, high-fidelity audio samples (handmade by me for Photon 2).

Notable new sirens made for Photon 2 include:

  • SoundOff Signal (nErgy) (Single and dual tone configurations.)
  • Whelen Epsilon Series (Used on new CenCom Core controllers.)
  • Federal Signal PathFinder SSP (Modern SmartSiren tones.)
  • Federal Signal PathFinder Unitrol (Modern Touchmaster tones.)
  • Code 3 Z3
  • Motorola Astro Spectra
  • D&R IQ Elite (Modern Intimidator tones.)

New Lighting Components

  • Federal Signal Valor (45" and 51")**
  • Federal Signal Integrity (45" and 51")
  • Federal Signal Vision SLR (LVMPD configuration by default)
  • Federal Signal X-Stream (single and dual)
  • Federal Signal MB1 Message Board
  • Federal Signal Smart Controller (animated with realistic button behavior)
  • Federal Signal Legend (45") (with HotFeet)
  • SoundOff Signal nForce (48" and 54")
  • SoundOff Signal Observe Interior Light
  • SoundOff Signal mPower Fascia (multiple sizes)
  • Whelen Legacy (42", 48", 54")
  • Whelen PAR46 LED Spotlights (with up/down animations)
  • Ford 96T Rear FPIU Spoiler Lights

Demonstrator Vehicles

To showcase Photon 2's functionality, components, and sirens, a collection of demonstrator vehicles are included. (Final touches are still being added and more vehicles are planned.)

All marked demonstrator vehicles are based on real-world cars, featuring 4K liveries, authentic license plates, realistic lighting equipment, sirens, and flash patterns.

  • Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Police (USA) - 2020 Ford Police Interceptor Utility
    • SoundOff Signal nForce 54" Lightbar
    • SoundOff Signal nErgy 400 Dual-Tone Siren
  • Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (Nevada, USA) - 2016 Ford Police Interceptor Utility
    • Federal Signal Vision SLR Lightbar
    • Federal Signal PathFinder SSP Siren
  • Boulder County Sheriff's Office (Colorado, USA) - 2020 Ford Police Interceptor Utility
    • SoundOff Signal nForce 48" Lightbar
    • SoundOff Signal nErgy 400 Siren
  • Boulder Police Department (Colorado, USA) - 2020 Ford Police Interceptor Utility
    • Federal Signal Valor 51" Lightbar
    • Federal Signal PathFinder Unitrol Siren
  • Fort Collins Police Department (Colorado, USA) - 1996 Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor
    • Code 3 MX7000 Lightbar
    • Motorola Astro Spectra Siren
  • Colorado State Patrol (Colorado, USA) - 2021 Dodge Durango Pursuit
    • Whelen Liberty II Lightbar
    • Whelen Inner-Edge front interior bar and Whelen Dominator rear interior bar
    • Whelen CenCom Core Siren (Epsilon tones)
  • Seattle Police Department (Washington, USA) - 2013 Ford Police Interceptor Utility
    • Federal Signal Legend (with HotFeet)
    • Motorola Astro Spectra Siren
    • 3 Livery Variants (Classic [2013], Refreshed [2014], Updated [2015])
  • United States Capitol Police (USA) - 2020 Ford Police Interceptor Utility
    • Whelen Legacy 48" Lightbar
    • Whelen Epsilon Siren
    • Ford "Ready for the Road" Lighting

Task List

To see most current tasks and known bugs, visit the Photon 2 project page.

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Default Controls

Important

Visit the Controls page to view the default controls.

Acknowledgements

Photon 2 would not be possible without volunteer contributors.

A special thank you to all those who helped develop and test this project with me (Schmal):

Sentry, Mighty, Rin, Blake, Gandhi, Afro Man, German, Sk3leCreeper, W4nou, GoodMannSamm, Creator, Noble, Doctor Internet, German, Fink, RebS, Dustinobot, Anemolis

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