Option to offset spotlight cone start

[jitspoe]

Describe the project you are working on

Quake-like retro fps.

Describe the problem or limitation you are having in your project

Some spotlights are kind of large and I want the cone to start wider than a single point. For example, here's a top-down view of a light partially submerged in water:

Note that the cone starts in front of the light, but looks a little weird not matching up with the texture. It should be wider at the start.

Describe the feature / enhancement and how it helps to overcome the problem or limitation

A simple parameter on the SpotLight3D to set the offset so that the light could start sooner, but with a near clipping plane so the world geometry does not cast shadows from INSIDE the light fixture, so it would look like this:

(Note: I was able to move the lights back in this case, but sometimes model geometry will cast shadows, preventing that solution).

Describe how your proposal will work, with code, pseudo-code, mock-ups, and/or diagrams

Here there would just be a new parameter like "Start Offset", in meters.

If this enhancement will not be used often, can it be worked around with a few lines of script?

No, this would require modifying the shadow rendering.

Is there a reason why this should be core and not an add-on in the asset library?

I don't think addons can modify this.

[Calinou]

Thanks for the proposal! Consolidating in #2520.

(Note: I was able to move the lights back in this case, but sometimes model geometry will cast shadows, preventing that solution).

With godotengine/godot#85338, you should have more flexibility for toggling shadows on specific geometry on a per-light basis.