Hey all!
The Operations update came with some adjustments to stellar lighting which is now noticable on brown dwarfs (Y,T,L-class) and blue stars (B and O-class).
The problem is that majority of the stellar classes didn't receive the same treatment. This includes M,K,G,F,A-class main sequence stars, white dwarfs and neutron stars.
In addition, the color temperature of the light emitted by O-class stars is wrong, as it's just blue instead of blue-violet.
To address these, I took some time to make comparisons between legacy Horizons and the current version of Odyssey to highlight what I think this "fix" could've done better, and if the issue actually gets adressed, to provide visual reference.
My criteria when taking these pictures:
On the left column you can see the Horizons images, while on the right are the current Odyssey-Operations ones.
Starting with brown dwarfs
[Y-class brown dwarfs]
These emit much more visible light now, even at a distance.
[T-class brown dwarfs]
Not much different than Y-class, I didn't notice a change in brightness between the two.
[L-class brown dwarfs]
I feel like the Odyssey version of these now better represents their reddish light
[M-class red dwarfs]
Basically where the problems start, the pure white phenomena starts with this stellar class.
In this picture we can also see one of the main features of the Horizons 3.3 update, which was this rendering effect that colored the entire scene in the color of the main star.
It and the red-orange color emitted by the star are completely missing in the current version, only showing up when in fuel-scooping range (minus the rendering effect).
[K-class orange stars]
I was surprised to see that in Horizons these stars actually show a more washed-out, less intense shade of yellow-orange.
[G-class yellow-white stars]
These seem to glow in the shade most people associate with sunlight, even if sunlight itself isn't yellow during the majority of the day.
It is around 2400K and gives a warm tone to the scene.
As expected, it is pure white in Odyssey.
[F-class yellow-white stars]
The last class before A and its associated pure-white light.
A bright shade of yellow-white.
[A-class white stars]
These stars can sometimes appear almost like a B class with blue light starting to show, but for this showcase I chose a more regular looking example.
Even in this case it appears the light it produces in Horizons has a very tiny amount of blue in it to make it look even more white to the human eye (Same way whitening works with clothes btw).
[B-class blue-white stars]
One of the main beneficiaries of the Operations lighting adjustments, these have been brought back almost to how they looked before.
Again, the 3.3 Horizons rendering effect is missing which gives a less vibrant scene.
[O-class blue-white stars]
Another beneficiary of the Operations update, or so I thought until I entered a system with one.
Yes, it now projects colored light across the whole system its in, it just doesn't project the correct color temperature one.
O-class is supposed to be this overpowering blue-violet color, quite visible in the corona lens flare effect of them when looking at them from afar.
Instead, it projects a slightly darker shade of blue light similar to B-class.
These were my observations regarding the Operations lighting adjustments.
I decided to make this thread because the others I've seen seem to have only mentioned the changes to B-class and O-class stars, and I felt it was important to shine some light (heh) on the other classes that remained unadressed.
I am not a game dev so I don't know how the backend works with these kinds of changes, but it would be really good to see these issues fixed once and for all.
There is a confirmed Issue Tracker thread about this as well that has become highly upvoted yet again:
https://issues.frontierstore.net/issue-detail/85552
Otherwise, the changes to the galactic dust clouds are something I liked a lot and it seems like the conscensus on that suggests most people did as well
Thank you for reading or just glancing through!
The Operations update came with some adjustments to stellar lighting which is now noticable on brown dwarfs (Y,T,L-class) and blue stars (B and O-class).
The problem is that majority of the stellar classes didn't receive the same treatment. This includes M,K,G,F,A-class main sequence stars, white dwarfs and neutron stars.
In addition, the color temperature of the light emitted by O-class stars is wrong, as it's just blue instead of blue-violet.
To address these, I took some time to make comparisons between legacy Horizons and the current version of Odyssey to highlight what I think this "fix" could've done better, and if the issue actually gets adressed, to provide visual reference.
My criteria when taking these pictures:
- Every category of star except WR, black holes and carbon stars are represented
- Pictures taken 35ls from the main star, facing the star
- Same ship, same paint between versions (Anaconda, "White Pharaoh")
- A picture of light hitting the outside of the ship at a ~20° angle
- A picture of light hitting the dashboard with HUD off at ~40° angle
- Each picture taken at the same exact star per class between versions
On the left column you can see the Horizons images, while on the right are the current Odyssey-Operations ones.
Starting with brown dwarfs
[Y-class brown dwarfs]
These emit much more visible light now, even at a distance.
[T-class brown dwarfs]
Not much different than Y-class, I didn't notice a change in brightness between the two.
[L-class brown dwarfs]
I feel like the Odyssey version of these now better represents their reddish light
[M-class red dwarfs]
Basically where the problems start, the pure white phenomena starts with this stellar class.
In this picture we can also see one of the main features of the Horizons 3.3 update, which was this rendering effect that colored the entire scene in the color of the main star.
It and the red-orange color emitted by the star are completely missing in the current version, only showing up when in fuel-scooping range (minus the rendering effect).
[K-class orange stars]
I was surprised to see that in Horizons these stars actually show a more washed-out, less intense shade of yellow-orange.
[G-class yellow-white stars]
These seem to glow in the shade most people associate with sunlight, even if sunlight itself isn't yellow during the majority of the day.
It is around 2400K and gives a warm tone to the scene.
As expected, it is pure white in Odyssey.
[F-class yellow-white stars]
The last class before A and its associated pure-white light.
A bright shade of yellow-white.
[A-class white stars]
These stars can sometimes appear almost like a B class with blue light starting to show, but for this showcase I chose a more regular looking example.
Even in this case it appears the light it produces in Horizons has a very tiny amount of blue in it to make it look even more white to the human eye (Same way whitening works with clothes btw).
[B-class blue-white stars]
One of the main beneficiaries of the Operations lighting adjustments, these have been brought back almost to how they looked before.
Again, the 3.3 Horizons rendering effect is missing which gives a less vibrant scene.
[O-class blue-white stars]
Another beneficiary of the Operations update, or so I thought until I entered a system with one.
Yes, it now projects colored light across the whole system its in, it just doesn't project the correct color temperature one.
O-class is supposed to be this overpowering blue-violet color, quite visible in the corona lens flare effect of them when looking at them from afar.
Instead, it projects a slightly darker shade of blue light similar to B-class.
These were my observations regarding the Operations lighting adjustments.
I decided to make this thread because the others I've seen seem to have only mentioned the changes to B-class and O-class stars, and I felt it was important to shine some light (heh) on the other classes that remained unadressed.
I am not a game dev so I don't know how the backend works with these kinds of changes, but it would be really good to see these issues fixed once and for all.
There is a confirmed Issue Tracker thread about this as well that has become highly upvoted yet again:
https://issues.frontierstore.net/issue-detail/85552
Otherwise, the changes to the galactic dust clouds are something I liked a lot and it seems like the conscensus on that suggests most people did as well
Thank you for reading or just glancing through!
