Silly Lighting Question:

posted on December 5th, 2009, 8:17 pm

  Hey guys,

  So I have yet to figure out what needs to be done in order to have "normal lighting" over the whole map.  At the moment it's quite dark.  In the theatre we would call it a "wash" that simply puts soft light over the entire map.  Most maps are naturally this way, yet I cannot seem to get it correct.

  I assume it has something to do with the CTRL + R function and the "Ambient light" selection.  No matter what I change it to it has not been fixed.

  So what's the simple thing I'm missing?  I have several normal directional lights set up as well but I doubt they are the main source.

posted on December 5th, 2009, 9:00 pm

i, for one, set my gamma higher^^
it gives you a soft lightening, even for your menus, lol

posted on December 5th, 2009, 9:03 pm

Erm, no no.

  I mean in the actual map lighting, not the overall correction in the game settings.  The actual map does not seem to have a light source.  What is the main light source that I see in EVERY OTHER map?  I've looked over a few and I haven't found what I'm missing.  Or in the words of an aging pop group:
 
  I STILL HAVEN'T WHAT I'M LOOKING FOR, GINA!  ("Gina" may have been added for dramatic effect)

posted on December 5th, 2009, 9:36 pm

When making maps, you start off with 1 light.  I've always added 2 more and it works fine.  So 3 lights total in a triangle pattern pointing in different directions is one way to give you standard map lighting.

posted on December 5th, 2009, 9:38 pm

Thank ye, kindly.

posted on December 5th, 2009, 9:40 pm

Oh, and I don't know if this will make a difference, but the triangle I use is small, and in the center of your screen, not a large trangle with points towards the edge.

posted on December 6th, 2009, 6:02 pm

Don't think so, as far as i can tell the position of lights doesn't have any effect, only the direction. But I may be wrong.

posted on December 6th, 2009, 6:05 pm

That is correct Unleash . You can place the light anywhere on the map at all - it is only the direction it is pointing that effects where the light comes from.

posted on December 6th, 2009, 6:15 pm

Good to know.  I found a way that works and never changed it, so I wasn't sure.