Moodier lighting for the station.

[MattAtlas]

I was toying around with lighting earlier since fullbright medbay was annoying me, and found some values that I think look nicer overall. I would like to PR these, so please tell me your thoughts. Pay specific attention to things like newscasters, computer lighting popping out more.

Current medbay:

New medbay:

Current security lobby:

New security lobby:

Current hallway:

New hallway:

I can provide more pictures if required.

[KingOfThePing]

While I don't hate this, I also dont really like it? I don't know, of course, it's because we are used to it being brighter, but it looks like night mode now. As I said, not sure if I like it. How does actual night mode look with this change?

[MattAtlas]

2 minutes ago, KingOfThePing said:

How does actual night mode look with this change?

Marginally less bright. It used to be 0.6 as opposed to 0.8, whereas normal lighting is now 0.45 and night lighting is 0.4 on average.

[KingOfThePing]

Well, after looking at it, I give it that it is moodier. Maybe testmerge and have a poll or whatever or make this the feedback thread. Why not

[Peppermint]

I really like this, haha. Fits the asteroid scenery of being out to space that much more.

[Captain Gecko]

I appreciate these changes a lot!

One question, though, are these just visual changes or gameplay-ish? Like would this have an effect on Dionae then?

[BoryaTheSlayer]

This is way less harder on the eyes, and I genuinely appreciate the way this makes the actual lighting pop out that much more, with the shadows and what not.

[NerdyVampire]

I am all for. If it could be implemented as the default and let us choose a 'Bright mode' on the APC/request it from the AI. That would be a wonderful versatility.

[Carver]

I adore this, I always enjoyed playing rounds during the station's night lighting. Having a more comfortably moody lighting at all times would be a very nice touch.

[TrainTN]

Nice idea, but I don't think the charm would last long if absolutely everywhere was dim and moody all the time. It would get old, I think.

[Desven]

I really dislike this. The game is already really dark. The changes made to the lighting like a year ago didn't take into consideration any rooms and we have added additional bulbs in hallways and rooms just to be able to tell what's going on. It might look good for a pic, but I don't think this would hold up as a gameplay mechanic.

[MattAtlas]

51 minutes ago, Desven said:

The game is already really dark.

Where? If you look at the current code screenshots, there isn't a single tile in rooms with lights on that's below full brightness.

52 minutes ago, Desven said:

changes made to the lighting like a year ago didn't take into consideration any rooms

Which changes do you mean? Rooms starting unlit?

52 minutes ago, Desven said:

but I don't think this would hold up as a gameplay mechanic.

Moodier lighting held up perfectly fine in other servers.

[OffRoad99]

4 hours ago, BoryaTheSlayer said:

This is way less harder on the eyes, and I genuinely appreciate the way this makes the actual lighting pop out that much more, with the shadows and what not.

Absolutely this.
Your eyes will love this. It's a solid +1 from me, I already have to wear glasses to play this microscopic game.

[Boggle08]

I'm not really a fan of this, because it desaturates the shit out of the environment. The colors look duller and blend together. One of the reasons why I don't like playing the Torch is because they combine the shitty lighting with deep navy blue bulkheads. It absorbs the silhouettes of objects and sprites. I'd rather not lose visual clarity in a game where I'm already straining my eyes.

If this ends up getting implemented anyway, I kind of want a bright mode. Not because I want to get what I want, but just to accommodate dionae. Night mode already puts them into a nervous situation, and it's going to be exacerbated when the bulbs start randomly popping.

Edited February 3, 2022 by Boggle08

[Lmwevil]

does this change the actual amount of light for growing plants, and for dionae on station or is it just cosmetic light changes?

edit: Dionae could have their light sensitivity tweaked if so, not a huge deal. Plant trays have inbuilt lights, but it does matter for light sensitive things such as circuits that produce power based on light, etc etc. 

Edited February 3, 2022 by Lmwevil

[WickedCybs]

This is always a change I've wanted. The sterile fullbright lighting has always robbed Aurora of atmosphere and overpowered colour in general, making things washed out. I've always tried going for night lighting because that's at least marginally better than the default light setting, but these tweaks already look far better than either mode.

[ImmortalRedshirt]

I personally feel that the sterility is the atmosphere in the case of this map, where the well-travelled areas are given the treatment of bright lighting and the more industrial underbelly is dimmer. As it stands, the lighting/atmosphere across the whole entire map shouldn't be grimendarkened, just to force in a style that feels at odds with the main concept of the location.

[NewOriginalSchwann]

This is a very good, and very welcome, change. The Aurora's fullbright nature is very dull and frankly almost painful to look at at times.

[Kintsugi]

I feel like we need more colored lights, not less light over all. Most lights as-is are just plain white. It'd be nice to have many more tinted lights. On Bay, iirc, a random slight tint is assigned to the ship's lights at round start. It might be worth looking into.

[ErshOurHerzog]

A user of discord's white theme here.

Personally, I don't like ths. It's too dark. Yes, it makes the whole mood more realistic and interesting, but I just can't understand what's where, everything looks... Blurry, I think. 

[Lucaken]

While I can support this from an aesthethic sense, I am fully against it if it does affect Dionae. I'd rather not have to keep a constant extra source of light on nearby to not die. It wouldn't just be annoying, it would probably ruin whatever mood the reduced light was making anyway. And that's just if you are a stationary Geras - I can't imagine how terrible it will be for Coeus.

[Omicega]

41 minutes ago, Lucaken said:

While I can support this from an aesthethic sense, I am fully against it if it does affect Dionae. I'd rather not have to keep a constant extra source of light on nearby to not die. It wouldn't just be annoying, it would probably ruin whatever mood the reduced light was making anyway. And that's just if you are a stationary Geras - I can't imagine how terrible it will be for Coeus.

I imagine this can easily be tweaked by just upping the amount of nutrition per unit light mode that a Diona can absorb, or something. I haven't looked at the code, but it sounds as if it's just a numerical change waiting to happen.

Worries about Diona aside, I can't support this enough. I think it looks much better, and lays the groundwork for an atmosphere that isn't just "Source engine game on fullbright".

[MattAtlas]

Dionae should not be considered as a factor, neither should plants. I will personally tweak their numbers to be equal to before should this cause any issues.

[Boggle08]

15 hours ago, DanseMacabre said:

I feel like we need more colored lights, not less light over all. Most lights as-is are just plain white. It'd be nice to have many more tinted lights. On Bay, iirc, a random slight tint is assigned to the ship's lights at round start. It might be worth looking into.

The color pallet and composition of the station is ultimately what makes this look like a horribly muted ocean of grey to me. Our primary colors are grey, grey, and blue.

The station was desaturated to in order to reduce the eyesore of the tiles we used to have, but with a darker station, it becomes more apparent how little contrast there is in the environment to begin with. The few colors we have that aren't appended to lights and consoles are muted to shit. The picture of central primary hall illustrates the worst extent of what I'm talking about, especially the purple tiles. This isn't "moody", it's lifeless.

Contrast that with the picture of medical, where the color isn't murdered; the white tile contrasts against the dark, bringing out the green.

Using more colorful lights like what Danse said would be a great idea. You could use it to set the mood or function of rooms. Give console heavy rooms cooler, cyan colored lights, or even give Xenobotany bright violet ones to simulate UV lamps, etc.

The best example of color use in a dark environment currently exists on station in the engineering sublevel. We have the nice yellow of the lightbulbs compounded with the orangish yellow in the side tiling. The grilles in the center of the hallway even provide color by exposing the piping underneath, and there's caution tape interspersed throughout halls in front of engine doors and where fire alarm airlocks drop.

If this thing gets merged in, I don't really care enough about the current map to want for a visual overhaul to go with it. It's going away soon. I do care if it's going to get transposed into the NBT. The ship is already quite murky in places, and it could lead to a situation where we're way too desaturated again, or the ship becomes too damn dark.

Edited February 3, 2022 by Boggle08

[Marlon P.]

I pushed hard for the night lighting because i love the mood and feeling of time progression that it gives.

Im not sure about expanding the natural night-light as a permanent fixture across the entire station even as i love the concept itself.

How i think this can work for both groups is to make this the lighting in areas we want to appear moody or shady. The lighting can be used to compliment the mood of a department.

Engineering i feel could be dim.

RnD should be bright and sterile.

The security wing could be moody.

The hallway going to cargo and the Br can be moody.

Hallway around the holodeck and medbay could be bright .

Etc etc etc

 

On the ship it could also be used to denote high traffic hallways (bright) with low traffic hallways (moody)

That way we can have moodier lights jn areas without washing out the entire stations color pallete?

Edited February 3, 2022 by Marlon P.