Darker night time?

senjax · May 2013

Simple issue really. I am making a nighttime forest element and I can't keep the area immediately around the pc from being super bright. Are all outdoors areas bright at night? No matter what background elements I put in, I can't seem to get the scene dark enough. Any ideas?

sabo630 · May 2013

yea hopefully they will add some better lighting parameters, because its not really practical atm to have everything lit up so much. Much more drama can be made with darker areas/options. However being so new to it, there may be ways, I just havent figured them out yet.

I wish foundry would not kick you off line when the server goes down, just keep people in the creator & tell they they cant test atm.

eroghx · May 2013

I have found that specially the dungeon areas can be immensly darkened to a way that it is hard to see your own character at times.
But sadly, I haven't seen any outside area that is not covered with lights.

tonttu · May 2013

Black fog worked for me.

kamaliicious · May 2013

senjax wrote: »

I am making a nighttime forest element and I can't keep the area immediately around the pc from being super bright.

The pc automatically generates light around them, this is by design per Cryptic.

angrysprite · May 2013

Use sky settings to stack different fogs and visual effects. You can only get it so dark - the best you can hope for is a level consistent with Blacklake District - and even that's the darkest I've seen in game to date. The point being that Cryptic does NOT want you to create areas that are too dark as it can make game play more difficult (in a visceral, not literal sense).

In short: the player must be able to see things even if their computer is in a brightly-lit room at noon (when things are most difficult to see on a computer display).

staalkbh · May 2013

Search for Skyfade under details, you can use one 500ft by 500ft etc, there are a bunch of different ones.
I usually use Light black to make the distance pitch dark.
Works really well.

Would love to throw in a comparison, but apparently I can't login to the Foundry.

moondawg13 · May 2013

On outdoor maps on the Map Tab view, click the Edit Backdrop button. There are five Sky Override selections as well as the Default, and one Background sound Override. You can also use a Detail FX called "Skyfade - ...." which gives different intensities and colors to choose from.

sabo630 · May 2013

skyfade work indoors?

tilt42 · May 2013

Be very careful with darkness. What you see on your own screen might not be representative of what another player sees. Try playing your map with glare from the sun in a bright room for example. If your map is too dark, you won't be able to see anything. What you're looking for is contrast with the brighter areas in the game. Try going to a bright daytime map and then immediately to your dark map. This is how you'll see just how dark it really is.

In any case, heavy black fog is your best bet for darkness. You shouldn't try to make it any darker than that in most cases.

senjax · May 2013

Thanks for the replies folks. As always you all rock! I had been using black fog up to writing this post. I can see your point about it being noonday and whatnot. I just hope the player gets the "feel" for what I am trying to do with what I come up with. Thanks again everyone. Happy authoring :-)

staalkbh · May 2013

Managed to get in..

Here's with and without effect.

And just in case you are wondering, here's a shot with Dynamic Lights

So while it might be dark, getting good use out of dynamic lights is awesome

Darker night time?

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