Lighting Updates & Starship Bridge Issues

alphahydri

So, while I was trekking across the galaxy on Tribble to see how everything looks with the new lighting improvements, I got the idea to check out my ships' bridges/interiors. As the title probably suggests, I was less than impressed.

I fully understand that the lighting updates are a WIP, but some of these starship bridges/interiors need some major loving. During my time on Tribble I tested out a lot of these bridges. A lot of the standard Fed/KDF/Rom bridges/interiors looked very well done, but it was the lock box/lobi/promo ship bridges that seemed to be most affected by the lighting updates. More specifically, the ones that needed the most work are as follows: Tholian, Tal Shiar, Na'kuhl, Herald, Elachi, Vaadwaur, Vorgon, and all 4 Xindi bridges.

• The Tholian bridge suffers from being way too dark, both with the bridge consoles active and inactive. When the bridge consoles are active, none of the monitors/screens/floating orb displays glow.
• The Tal Shiar bridge is okay for the most part, but there are issues with some of the glowy Borg bits not actually emitting light. Same goes for some of the monitors.
• The Na'kuhl bridge is really bright now, and combined with the rather vivid colors present in this bridge, it makes the whole interior setup look ridiculously cartoony and Candy Land-esque. I would suggest toning down the lighting in here a bit to make it like how it was pre-update.
• Out of all the bridges I looked at, the Herald bridge is the one least affected by the lighting changes. That said, the floor of this bridge is no longer shiny and reflective like it is on Holodeck, and the whole part under the floor where there's a sort of fissure that goes pretty far down looks washed out and less dynamic than it does on Holodeck as well.
• Like the Tholian bridge, the Elachi bridge is very dark. Actually I would say its extremely dark. My screen brightness was at 100% and I could barely see anything on this bridge. None of the consoles/glowy bits emit light and the big bubble screen thing in the middle of the bridge does nothing to brighten the place either, unlike how it was pre-update.
• The Vaadwaur bridge suffers from the same issue as the Na'kuhl bridge, and that is a substantial increase in brightness. As is standard fare here, none of the consoles/displays/glowy bits emit ambient light, and the brightness increase makes everything look washed out. Also, since you can now see the ceiling of this bridge, it has become very apparent how low res the textures are for the panels on the bridge's ceiling. On Holodeck the ceiling is mostly hidden in shadow, but now that you can see everything it just looks awful from a texture standpoint. I would recommend bringing those shadows back and making the bridge darker like it is on Holodeck.
• Out of all the bridges I checked on Tribble, the Vorgon bridge looked the worst by far. On Holodeck this bridge is absolutely stunning, with every metal surface showing the reflection of the data orbs on the ceiling and the shiny crystal inlays on the floor panels. On Tribble, the textures for those crystal inlays have disappeared, leaving only the moving colors underneath visible. None of the metal surfaces are reflective anymore, and none of the data orbs/consoles/glowy bits emit light. It really just looks washed out and very bland on Tribble compared to Holodeck, which is a shame considering how good this bridge looks.
• The four Xindi bridges seem to suffer from the same ill effects as the other bridges I checked. None of the consoles/displays emit light or glow, and the lighting seems very washed out and monotonous. There are no shadows being cast anymore, and on the Xindi-Aquatic bridge, the water doesn't catch the light so you can't tell it's moving. The white water ripple effects on the ceiling of the the Xindi-Aquatic bridge are also gone.

The main things to take away from what I've noticed is that surfaces, including water, aren't reflective anymore; there's no ambient light from any consoles/panels/monitors/random glowy bits; special lighting effects like the water ripples on the Xindi-A ceiling and shadows cast from objects and grates on the floors/walls/ceilings are no longer present; certain bridges have gotten much darker, while others much brighter.

I know this was a pretty lengthy post of what could be seen as nitpicky stuff, but even though these starship bridges aren't used much for gameplay, they still add to the character of a ship. All these bridges look amazing in their own ways on Holodeck, and to see them in their current state on Tribble makes me a bit sad. I hope my feedback on these lighting issues can be put to good work while tweaks continue to be made to STO's lighting improvements! Thanks!

zionet

alphahydri wrote: »

[*] The Tal Shiar bridge is okay for the most part, but there are issues with some of the glowy Borg bits not actually emitting light. Same goes for some of the monitors.

I find the Tal Shiar bridge way to bright exept for the captains ready room, which is to dark for my taste.

Edit: I just found out that there is no lighting on the Voth bridge at all. It's pitch black in there.