Only one light source at a time?

[BradHann]

For reference, my GPU is a radeon HD 7900 and my graphics settings are on Ultra (which I haven't changed from default).

Now, this is something I stumbled upon completely by accident. I was supercrozzing between stars in a binary system, about 150k ls. So to pass the time, I was randomly flipping to the external cam to see if my paint was visibly degrading. And I happened to notice that it didn't seem to matter how far I left the primary star behind me or how close I got to the secondary, the rear of my ship was still brightly illuminated and the front was in darkness. Until, at some point (not halfway, it's almost certainly based on the relative luminosities of the stars in question) suddenly I saw shadows swing across the interior of my cockpit. Checking the external cam, sure enough now the rear of the ship was shadowed and the front was lit up.

So I decided to do a little test. Finding a binary pair that was close - within a few tens of ls - I plopped my ship down in the middle of the two. Sure enough, despite both stars being close enough to take up a substantial percentage of the view, only one side of my ship was actually illuminated, and the other was dark.

Is this a facet of the lighting engine in the game? Only the brightest object relative to your current position casts any illumination? Or is it because my graphics card and/or drivers are... getting kinda old. (Side note - I do plan on upgrading at some point, but first I need to get a monitor capable of fully utilising it.) I don't know anything about game engine coding stuff, but I would've thought that a more gradual transition from one light source to the next would look better. Maybe it's too hard to do without melting my GPU, I really dunno.

I don't claim this to be a bug or anything like that. It's just something moderately interesting that I noticed and wondered if anyone had any insights.

Oh, and in case anyone is really curious, my paint was down to 54% when I got back to port and still only had a few small chips in it (default skin on an Orca).

 

[duckofdeath]

Yeah, that was a deliberate performance saving choice they made, you only get light from the most dominant star. You do get reflected light off planets, though, with their colours. Some extreme (bugged) systems you get so much reflection off planets that your ship is lit up like a blinding torch.

 

[Marc_Hicks]

For reference, my GPU is a radeon HD 7900 and my graphics settings are on Ultra (which I haven't changed from default).

Now, this is something I stumbled upon completely by accident. I was supercrozzing between stars in a binary system, about 150k ls. So to pass the time, I was randomly flipping to the external cam to see if my paint was visibly degrading. And I happened to notice that it didn't seem to matter how far I left the primary star behind me or how close I got to the secondary, the rear of my ship was still brightly illuminated and the front was in darkness. Until, at some point (not halfway, it's almost certainly based on the relative luminosities of the stars in question) suddenly I saw shadows swing across the interior of my cockpit. Checking the external cam, sure enough now the rear of the ship was shadowed and the front was lit up.

So I decided to do a little test. Finding a binary pair that was close - within a few tens of ls - I plopped my ship down in the middle of the two. Sure enough, despite both stars being close enough to take up a substantial percentage of the view, only one side of my ship was actually illuminated, and the other was dark.

Is this a facet of the lighting engine in the game? Only the brightest object relative to your current position casts any illumination? Or is it because my graphics card and/or drivers are... getting kinda old. (Side note - I do plan on upgrading at some point, but first I need to get a monitor capable of fully utilising it.) I don't know anything about game engine coding stuff, but I would've thought that a more gradual transition from one light source to the next would look better. Maybe it's too hard to do without melting my GPU, I really dunno.

I don't claim this to be a bug or anything like that. It's just something moderately interesting that I noticed and wondered if anyone had any insights.

Oh, and in case anyone is really curious, my paint was down to 54% when I got back to port and still only had a few small chips in it (default skin on an Orca).

A lot of that design decision was IIRC, due to the need to support 32 bit systems, that support ends with 2.4, so maybe we will see them start "opening up the throttle" in future.

 

[soddish]

A lot of that design decision was IIRC, due to the need to support 32 bit systems, that support ends with 2.4, so maybe we will see them start "opening up the throttle" in future.

I hope so. The lack of MSAA options implies that the game uses deferred rendering, which makes adding multiple light sources really cheap.

 

[Kubicide]

Yep, one whole light source is it. Amazing huh? This is the wonderful "Cobra" game engine at work, and it still drops to it's knees on barren featureless roids. It will never handle foliage, dense towns with structures, etc. Looks great especially with multiple stars /sarcasm.

A lot of that design decision was IIRC, due to the need to support 32 bit systems, that support ends with 2.4, so maybe we will see them start "opening up the throttle" in future.

This is not a 32-bit limitation. It's either bad planning/bad decision or lack of experience - take your pick.

 

[Valethar]

Wait until you see the moving shadows inside the space stations. From the opposite side of the station from the mail slot. While you're below decks in the hangar.

Yup. The sunlight is so strong that it shines through the hull of the station, through the various decks, and the shadows from various parts of the station can be seen moving along the walls while you're parked in the hangar.

Gives 'dynamic lighting' a whole new meaning. LOL

 

[Arthur Shappey]

...

This is not a 32-bit limitation. It's either bad planning/bad decision or lack of experience - take your pick.

Well - technically, 32-bit limits nothing - you can work around everything - just inefficiently. But how are you so certain that a 32-bit implementation would have been performant with this (including reflection from planets) and that no compromise was necessary?

 

[Hadarmil]

I didn't play around the beta too much, but from what I've seen the graphics are very much improved both visually and performance wise. Did anyone playing the beta notice anything for OP?

 

[Ben Sevil]

I hope so. The lack of MSAA options implies that the game uses deferred rendering, which makes adding multiple light sources really cheap.

In English?

 

[soddish]

In English?

It means they can have lots of light sources (stars, ship headlights, explosions etc) without the murdering the frame rate. Why supercruise is currently limited to a single star as light source is a little odd to say the least.

 

[Ben Sevil]

It means they can have lots of light sources (stars, ship headlights, explosions etc) without the murdering the frame rate. Why supercruise is currently limited to a single star as light source is a little odd to say the least.

Thanks! o7

 

[CMDR Cosmic Spacehead]

I'd love it if they upgraded the lighting and shadows.


Multiple light sources. And rings casting shadows.. mmmmmmm.

Of course, my PC would melt. But it would be worth it.

CMDR Cosmic Spacehead

 

[nanite2000]

Yep, one whole light source is it. Amazing huh? This is the wonderful "Cobra" game engine at work, and it still drops to it's knees on barren featureless roids.

I barely see a frame dropped on my fairly moderate rig. Sounds like you have dodgy hardware.

It will never handle foliage, dense towns with structures, etc. Looks great especially with multiple stars /sarcasm.

This would be the same Cobra engine that handles foliage, dense towns with structures, etc... just fine in Planet Coaster, and will no doubt handle it just fine in the upcoming Jurassic World game they're developing?

This is not a 32-bit limitation. It's either bad planning/bad decision or lack of experience - take your pick.

You missed out the 4th option: you don't know.

I pick (4) since, based on your posting history, you sound like a whiner with an axe to grind.

Show me your credentials as a 3D games developer, and then maybe we'll take your post a bit more seriously.

 

[zorbaq]

Show me your credentials as a 3D games developer, and then maybe we'll take your post a bit more seriously.

Does taking computer science classes count?

 

[dannysquid]

I have no idea how it all works (!) but is there maybe an issue with the gigantic scales we're dealing with that makes off-the-shelf lighting algorithms a bit tricky? Staggeringly huge things casting shadows on tiny things and vice versa.

 

[Marc_Hicks]

I barely see a frame dropped on my fairly moderate rig. Sounds like you have dodgy hardware.



This would be the same Cobra engine that handles foliage, dense towns with structures, etc... just fine in Planet Coaster, and will no doubt handle it just fine in the upcoming Jurassic World game they're developing?



You missed out the 4th option: you don't know.

I pick (4) since, based on your posting history, you sound like a whiner with an axe to grind.

Show me your credentials as a 3D games developer, and then maybe we'll take your post a bit more seriously.

....and probably the same engine being used for Jurrasic World: Evolution.

 

[Shadowdancer]

I hope so. The lack of MSAA options implies that the game uses deferred rendering, which makes adding multiple light sources really cheap.

Multiple light sources, yes. Multiple shadows, no.

 

[Shadowdancer]

but is there maybe an issue with the gigantic scales we're dealing with that makes off-the-shelf lighting algorithms a bit tricky?

It's less about scale (if anything, that may make some things easier by just assuming you're dealing with points at infinite distance) and more about being generally applicable. There's a very wide variety of scenarios that a "universally correct" solution would have to cater to.

 

[EUS]

It's unfortunate that it's this way, multiple light sources should be something baked into the higher graphic settings.
Then again, many other things should be too.

 

[bitstorm]

It's unfortunate that it's this way, multiple light sources should be something baked into the higher graphic settings.
Then again, many other things should be too.

Yes that has always been my feeling.

The interplay of light from various star types would probably add a tremendous amount to the look of the game.