Correct lighting

[darthdraken]

I have watched several vids mainly combat and have noticed one thing.
for example a fighter fires a laser beam directly at the hull of larger ship cutting a trench a continuous beam but i dont see the beam being a light source light up the area around it ie the hull of the attacked ship.
even explosions create a light source around itself in any environment creating a change in lighting and shadows for the duration of the light source, i feel it would be far better if they bring this in to any of the videos.

 

[Susimetsa]

for example a fighter fires a laser beam directly at the hull of larger ship cutting a trench a continuous beam but i dont see the beam being a light source light up the area around it ie the hull of the attacked ship.

Given that you should not be able to see lasers in any case (meaning that they do not shed light outside their path of travel), they really should not act as a light source either.

Of course, since they are visible in Elite...

 

[Aewarin Jameson]

they really should not act as a light source either.

I accept the argument of "you shouldn't see a laser beam when fired" as the direction of travel is not towards your eyes. However, if a laser beam was to hit a hull would not some of the light be refracted / reflected ?

 

[Slawkenbergius]

Whether it just hadn't got into code before that video was rendered, there was a 'meet the team' interview which talked about laser light shows (Ben Parry, I think). The lasers do emit light radially, so should behave in the way the OP wants. Maybe they should add a spherical light-source where the laser hits the hull though, to make it more distinct.

 

[Susimetsa]

I accept the argument of "you shouldn't see a laser beam when fired" as the direction of travel is not towards your eyes. However, if a laser beam was to hit a hull would not some of the light be refracted / reflected ?

Yes, the point of impact is another matter, as the light will be dispersed by the material that it hits (and be turned into heat etc.).

 

[SnowGhost]

It boils down to


The game isn't complete yet, and that is a minor detail to be added when possible.

 

[Kroy]

If you have time to sit and admire, compare and debate the light levels emitted by lasers when the game is finally launched, I posit you are probably doing it wrong ;-) I'm happy to wait and see, and if it doesn't happen, I'm not losing any sleep over it.

 

[jabokai]

I can hear just myself saying "damn, I was killed by an incorrectly lit laser effect".

 

[izzy]

I can hear just myself saying "damn, I was killed by an incorrectly lit laser effect".

I can also see you post the screenshot of your ship destroyed by this laser in the forum

 

[Oss133]

I can hear just myself saying "damn, I was killed by an incorrectly lit laser effect".

It's the ridiculous unscientific contrails on the missiles smashing into me that will stick firmly in my craw.

 

[Capt. Hook]

It's the ridiculous unscientific contrails on the missiles smashing into me that will stick firmly in my craw.

That sounds awfully like what the Alien in the Independence Day Film must of been thinking when a nuke got firmly blasted into his control room

 

[Jenner]

See, this is the kind of stuff we talk about when there's nothing to talk about!

 

[Oss133]

See, this is the kind of stuff we talk about when there's nothing to talk about!

To be fair, this is the kind of thing we talk about when there is something to talk about.

 

[Mobius]

there is no problem with the lighting of the lasers, or any other effect. you are assuming that the lasers being used are based on our current technology and understanding of lasers, being a futuristic scifi game set over a thousand years from now I would imagine that technology has changed to show laser beams aswell as vapour trails from engines that in our current time period appear odd.

 

[Oss133]

there is no problem with the lighting of the lasers, or any other effect. you are assuming that the lasers being used are based on our current technology and understanding of lasers, being a futuristic scifi game set over a thousand years from now I would imagine that technology has changed to show laser beams aswell as vapour trails from engines that in our current time period appear odd.

 

[Jenner]

there is no problem with the lighting of the lasers, or any other effect. you are assuming that the lasers being used are based on our current technology and understanding of lasers, being a futuristic scifi game set over a thousand years from now I would imagine that technology has changed to show laser beams aswell as vapour trails from engines that in our current time period appear odd.

Well, to be fair (and be Devil's Advocate), the laws of physics won't be changing in a thousand years.

That said, I don't have a problem with the lazors as shown, or the Highway to the Danger-Zone contrails. It's all good.

 

[ianw]

Might it also not be feasible that something would be added to make a laser beam visible so it's path could be tracked and assist in aim correction - a bit like tracer rounds in a belt of ammunition?

 

[Kerrash]

I will have to go back and check, but I thought David mentioned in Dev diary #6 that these effect were added in afterwards, I.e. Lasers are no rendered in engine yet.

 

[Ben Parry]

The lasers were already being rendered in engine but, as you astutely observed, aren't emitting light radially. They're definitely intended to work that way, the code's already in the game, but there's one equation in the lighting calculations that has to work differently and is just a little above my level :S.
I can't remember what was said in Dev Diary #6 but it's definitely true that some things, like the light flares at the impact points, may have been post-work.

 

[Nagual]

Only things I recall are the sun flares, HUD, a few particle effects etc.