Starfleet Academy (25th century) needs a lighting overhaul, and some other updates--has for a while

The beautiful new lighting on the 23rd century Starfleet Academy map just makes it more glaring. I understand that it's an older zone, but I feel like it needs a little help, considering it's a frequently visited map.

I'll be specific, this has really become an issue since Lighting 2.0 went live, it never quite looked right in the new lighting engine. The sun's position in the sky says it's just before or just after noon, but the lighting on the ground doesn't feel like it's matching up well. The characters are poorly and dimly lit, the rest of the world is really washed out, and the colors aren't very vivid.

As an aside, next to the city shown across the bay in the 23rd century version, the 25th century city is definitely showing its age, as it's fairly low resolution, and low detail, and it's just kind of bland next to the shiny, colorful 23rd century version. Another note, the city seen across the bay in the 25th century SF map is even older than that map is, and first appeared as a distance background on Defera in the battlezone. I don't know if it's still there but if you finagle yourself to the edges of the zones, you could definitely see it there. I don't really feel like it resembles SF, while the 23rd century one much more strongly matches what we've seen in the shows and movies (all of them, from Prime to JJ and beyond).

I think the lighting on this map needs to be a little brighter on the way it hits characters. I think the color space needs to be richer.. a bluer sky, a prettier ocean, a more colorful and vibrant city across the bay, that sort of thing. I don't think the solution is just to make it dusk like the 23rd century version (even though it's gorgeous), but it might be an idea to change the time of day so that the sun hits at a steeper angle, which would also help light characters and the environment more naturally in my opinion.

Also the sun itself doesn't feel very rich or vibrant when you look up at it--it feels small, cold, and far away. I think it should be brighter and warmer.

Those are my thoughts. I've had this opinion for a while, but after seeing the 23rd century version, I had to say something.

Here is an example:



Character is poorly lit, ground is bright, but the background is dull, lacks color, and seems dim compared to the ground. It's just a major mismatch. I would like to see everything lit evenly, I would like to see a more colorful city, a bluer sky, I want to see the red of the bridge, etc.

This isn't meant as some kind of scathing critique, I love the game and I love the art devs especially, but I feel like this old zone needs some love.

Other improvements that could be made to the zone would be better sound effects, such as rolling wave sounds when over by the rolling waves. Presently, it sounds like a peaceful pond, not an ocean.

EDIT: I'm also noticing very recently some shadow flickering on this map. I play on max graphics on an RX480.​​