Lighting Tweaking (dev branch)

[metalcraze 290]

In the original release (5.3) I liked the effect of a lighthouse near Kamino where it was lighting up the forest which was eerie and atmospheric. This seems to not be the case in the current dev build (light from the lighthouse is either too weak or missing). Please bring this back.

[Ash712 1]

I noticed that the flares are totally different in the dev build 0.55 than in the 0.54 build. Did anyone else notice that too? Is there now a way to tweak the flare settings like the brightness or size of the flare?

0.54 flare: http://i.imgur.com/eFjINuK.jpg

0.55 flare: http://i.imgur.com/wAAjeQr.jpg

I kinda like the way it looks in 0.54 much more, the emitted light is also much more powerful.

I noticed this as well :(

I wish BI would change it back, as the older flares looked awesome!

Not a fan of the new ones...they look "Cheap" compared to before.

[froggyluv 2130]

1 - Make the bloody night sky black for $%&^s sake. It's really disconcerting to have the environment so dark and yet have a dusk bright sky all night. I sincerely hope this is just a side effect of the fiddling with apertures etc, and can be addressed.

Seems to depend on time of night and I guess maybe, moon position? For instance im working on night mission and trying to find perfect lighting -I was using like a Winter 5am timeframe and it's literally black! I'm looking for a more lit sky for ambience, switched to 12 midnite and its that real atmospheric blue.

Wondering if the AI are effected in terms of seeing range by the color and brightness of the sky as my scuba guys are still getting a little too easily spotted when in the black sea (with black sky) and I can barely see two feet in front of my face

[DaRkL3AD3R 1]

Well, I just gotta say... round of beers for all the devs! Lighting is leaps and bounds better than it was at alpha launch :D Truly an incredible job guys.

Here's a few night shots I took today to showcase some major improvements:

http://imageshack.us/a/img823/1131/2013051300001.jpg

http://imageshack.us/a/img401/3205/2013051300002c.jpg

http://imageshack.us/a/img829/72/2013051300004.jpg

http://imageshack.us/a/img835/197/2013051300007.jpg

Massive improvement on that light house, it actually works now! Haha great job guys really impressed. From here, if things could get any better it would truly be astonishing. I am getting great performance and visuals at night, so I don't know how you guys could improve this lol.

[bad benson 1733]

yea i was on the stable version for the past week or so to be compatible with a friend and i was blown away a little bit when switching back to DEV. not only do the trees look much better but the night also looks very polished now already. i really like the flares on the streetlights at the air field and how they react when they get covered by an object.

really nice work BI. the game looks and incredibly also runs better every update. i'm now even more excited for the things to come. and i really hope that the fact that there is no rain at the moment means that we will get new rain that matches the beauty of the rest of the game. maybe even increased specular levels on at least terrain rvmats when it rains a.k.a. stuff looking wet...pretty please?! ;)

[sqb-sma 66]

Just one note, the full moon sky brightness is far too bright, it should be more like the current half moon sky brightness. We had a full moon not too long ago and the blueness of the sky was barely discernible.

[DaRkL3AD3R 1]

Just one note, the full moon sky brightness is far too bright, it should be more like the current half moon sky brightness. We had a full moon not too long ago and the blueness of the sky was barely discernible.

I think there's a great many variables in play to determine what the sky looks like to really judge it by one moment.

For instance, on May 3rd I believe, at 00:00 hours with 0% overcast, the sky is blueish and the ground is fully lit up by moon light. Yet only 3 hours later at 03:00 I believe, the sky is black and the ground is dark.

Also not sure about your location, but some nights here in NJ, when the sky is extra clear and the moon is full, I can say it's got a slight blue tint and it's pretty darn bright.

[CaptainObvious 95]

Where I live, full moon with clear sky is pretty darn bright too, no problems walking around outside without any artificial lights on, shadows are also very much noticeable.

[dmarkwick 261]

I guess it would depend on atmospheric conditions - little bit of moisture in the air and there will be more ambient moonlight. (IRL that is)

[EDcase 87]

Anyone play with HDR set to LOW?

It smooths out fps. Even if fps shows the same as NORMAL it feels like more.

BUT...

Bright objects like white walls get overbright and white out.

Also when in a vehicle or chopper the outside view gets over brightened.

If you get this then vote: http://feedback.arma3.com/view.php?id=4242

[shurik_spb 10]

Well, I just gotta say... round of beers for all the devs! Lighting is leaps and bounds better than it was at alpha launch :D Truly an incredible job guys.

Here's a few night shots I took today to showcase some major improvements:

http://imageshack.us/a/img823/1131/2013051300001.jpg

http://imageshack.us/a/img401/3205/2013051300002c.jpg

http://imageshack.us/a/img829/72/2013051300004.jpg

http://imageshack.us/a/img835/197/2013051300007.jpg

Massive improvement on that light house, it actually works now! Haha great job guys really impressed. From here, if things could get any better it would truly be astonishing. I am getting great performance and visuals at night, so I don't know how you guys could improve this lol.

Hey. How did you make the lightsources to cast shadows? I saw few screens on your page, where you turn them on and off. :rolleyes:

[DaRkL3AD3R 1]

Hey. How did you make the lightsources to cast shadows? I saw few screens on your page, where you turn them on and off. :rolleyes:

Which pictures are you referencing? I don't recall finding a secret way to enable shadows on dynamic lights lol

[nodunit 397]

There are no dynamic shadows but the devs did tweak the lights so that they do not illuminate the terrain nearly as far away as it used to, all in all despite not having shadows it looks MUCH better now, no longer do you stand 50 meters from a light and see the ground still lit.

[DaRkL3AD3R 1]

There are no dynamic shadows but the devs did tweak the lights so that they do not illuminate the terrain nearly as far away as it used to, all in all despite not having shadows it looks MUCH better now, no longer do you stand 50 meters from a light and see the ground still lit.

Agreed that change alone makes a whole world of difference. Night operations are looking better and better. Can't wait to see what this game looks like going into Beta and Gold.

[shurik_spb 10]

Which pictures are you referencing? I don't recall finding a secret way to enable shadows on dynamic lights lol

Sorry, looks like I've made a wrong quote in a wrong thread. Actually the album I am talking about was posted in this thread http://forums.bistudio.com/showthread.php?152866-Development-branch-discussion&p=2394457&viewfull=1#post2394457

Here is an album http://s229.photobucket.com/user/NodUnit/media/Arma%203%20and%20Bugs/3L_zps05c6609e.jpg.html?sort=3&o=10

And I think that light attenuation was shown on this pictures, but not shadow casting, my bad.

Edit.

Or not. If you will compare 2 of following pictures:

http://s229.photobucket.com/user/NodUnit/media/Arma%203%20and%20Bugs/5S_zps5e5fbf5d.jpg.html?sort=3&o=7

http://s229.photobucket.com/user/NodUnit/media/Arma%203%20and%20Bugs/5L_zpsa4534bad.jpg.html?sort=3&o=8

[metalcraze 290]

Anyone play with HDR set to LOW?

It smooths out fps. Even if fps shows the same as NORMAL it feels like more.

BUT...

Bright objects like white walls get overbright and white out.

Also when in a vehicle or chopper the outside view gets over brightened.

If you get this then vote: http://feedback.arma3.com/view.php?id=4242

Of course. The "low" HDR is 8 bit precision one just like what we had in ArmA2 by default. 16 bit, default now, is more punishing - but more precision = better looks. However in ArmA2 it was possible to also use 32 bit precision for HDR - I wonder what results would it produce in A3 if it was possible to use it (could set it in user cfg there, haven't tried in A3)

I don't find "normal" HDR problematic though. During a sunny day in the forest or a city bright stuff will shine a bit since that's how human eye works. And A3 levels of shiny are nowhere near what A2 had and are quite real. The sky getting brightened though isn't entirely realistic.

Edited May 15, 2013 by metalcraze

[DaRkL3AD3R 1]

Of course. The "low" HDR is 8 bit precision one just like what we had in ArmA2 by default. 16 bit, default now, is more punishing - but more precision = better looks. However in ArmA2 it was possible to also use 32 bit precision for HDR - I wonder what results would it produce in A3 if it was possible to use it (could set it in user cfg there, haven't tried in A3)

I don't find "normal" HDR problematic though. During a sunny day in the forest or a city bright stuff will shine a bit since that's how human eye works. And A3 levels of shiny are nowhere near what A2 had and are quite real. The sky getting brightened though isn't entirely realistic.

The way that we only have access to Low or Normal tells me we should probably at least expect High and Very High, for 24 bit and 32 bit precision HDR. Maybe in beta?

Not sure I want that level of hurt on my GPU though lol hopefully by then I have a GTX 780/880 to beast it through.

[St. Jimmy 272]

Anyone play with HDR set to LOW?

It smooths out fps. Even if fps shows the same as NORMAL it feels like more.

BUT...

Bright objects like white walls get overbright and white out.

Also when in a vehicle or chopper the outside view gets over brightened.

If you get this then vote: http://feedback.arma3.com/view.php?id=4242

Turn the brightness in game down to 0,5-0,6 and there isn't any overbright white when HDR is on low. With that trick game looks IMO better in daytime but night time is like in Arma 2 then. At least I don't get any overbrightness so my display settings might be perfect also.

Edited May 15, 2013 by St. Jimmy

[nodunit 397]

Or not. If you will compare 2 of following pictures:

http://s229.photobucket.com/user/NodUnit/media/Arma%203%20and%20Bugs/5S_zps5e5fbf5d.jpg.html?sort=3&o=7

http://s229.photobucket.com/user/NodUnit/media/Arma%203%20and%20Bugs/5L_zpsa4534bad.jpg.html?sort=3&o=8

What you are looking at are doctored images.

I wanted to get an idea as to what A3 might look like if lights did cast shadows, and to demonstrate just how much of a change it could make in not only the overall visuals but also atmosphere.

This is why there are two images of the same screencap, one to show how it looks now and the second to show how it might look.

You should also note that this was a few patches ago, before they introduced the previously mentioned light tweak, so light was bleeding in places it made no sense to be, thus magnifying the "Argh!".

Edited May 15, 2013 by NodUnit

[fabio_chavez 103]

to whoever is planning to mess around with the standard lighting config:

i created this table of questionable usefullness in an copypaste orgy,

its just the standard values of aia lighting config, but reordered so you can easyer follow how each parameter changes through the classes.

its meant to better be able to keep track of changes and to make experiments or to keep record of different sheets with different purposes etc

im not sure if anybody can use it but feel free to make it avaiable publicly if you like, it should be selfexplanatory.

xls format

https://mega.co.nz/#!s0JxyJDb!KU95LROJKGF4GOXxAJ1x7gBxz6hU-43uFcrfsnI8Sng

ods format (open office)

https://mega.co.nz/#!lwwSWYpD!OOYQUDTS1f4BSNmoxoyydkbsQrxNAeUUIBAQc6JQTrA

TO THE DEVELOPERS: PLEASE PROVIDE MORE DOCUMENTATION ABOUT THE LIGHTING PARAMETERS!!!???°

and check my thread please:

http://forums.bistudio.com/showthread.php?153392-Questions-about-Arma3-Lighting

[tpw 2314]

Speaking of lighting tweaks, I noticed that street lights are now destructible - you can shoot them out or kill them with a grenade. I spent a fun 1/2 hour running around at night taking every light I could out of commission.

[DaRkL3AD3R 1]

Speaking of lighting tweaks, I noticed that street lights are now destructible - you can shoot them out or kill them with a grenade. I spent a fun 1/2 hour running around at night taking every light I could out of commission.

This has always been the case. Wonder how come people are reporting it lately. I've been doing it since the Alpha launched. It just took quite a bit to do it, like 12 rounds from 6.5mm weapons to do the trick.

[sproyd 2]

This has always been the case. Wonder how come people are reporting it lately. I've been doing it since the Alpha launched. It just took quite a bit to do it, like 12 rounds from 6.5mm weapons to do the trick.

Yeah its a lot easier now and more realistic. I had tried before recent dev patches and it didn't work but then again I didn't try like 12 rounds

---------- Post added at 23:19 ---------- Previous post was at 23:14 ----------

On another note I just played a fantastic round of Wasteland at dusk.

It was getting quite dark and everyone was starting to complain on Global about not being able to see, I had switched to NVGs. I was on the hill overlooking the air base and heard the sound of a quad approaching. I went prone behind a rock and when I popped out I was instantly blinded by the quad's headlights combined with the light hitting all of the great dust particle effects the quad kicked up - basically a blinding white wall of dust under NVGs. Upon turning off my NVGs, the whole area was illuminated really awesomely by the quads headlights. The driver got off to go to the gun store, stepped into the light and I let rip with fully auto 6.5mm. He went down. I then realised I was illuminated for everyone within half a mile and switched to semi where I took 2 shots - one for each of the quad's headlights. The area went back to dark in a 1, 2 sequence. NVGs back on. AWESOME.

VERY happy with lighting in its current state. Vehicle headlines epicosity.

[bad benson 1733]

great post sproyd. that's why these details count. immersion and gameplay.

i said it before but it can't be said enough. the game is becoming more and more beautiful in that arma/ofp kind of sense of things just looking right and natural and it runs really well too. i might be wrong but i noticed that pp effects are getting tweaked too. i never used them much since they were just overdone in arma 2 but now they really add to the scene and almost give the air that dusty/humid volume.

loving it! BI, you guys are making us really happy. can't wait for the new and totally awesome rain ;) well i'll be happy too, if it's like before but actually existing.

[DaRkL3AD3R 1]

great post sproyd. that's why these details count. immersion and gameplay.

i said it before but it can't be said enough. the game is becoming more and more beautiful in that arma/ofp kind of sense of things just looking right and natural and it runs really well too. i might be wrong but i noticed that pp effects are getting tweaked too. i never used them much since they were just overdone in arma 2 but now they really add to the scene and almost give the air that dusty/humid volume.

loving it! BI, you guys are making us really happy. can't wait for the new and totally awesome rain ;) well i'll be happy too, if it's like before but actually existing.

That's very true, almost forgot rain existed lol it's been a loooong while since they removed it from the Alpha. Seriously hoping the revamp was worth the wait! Or maybe it'll just come back in exactly the way it was when it left lol "expect nothing, receive everything."