The new lighting system: my dark view

Yea gleam lighting.

This has me wondering what the gleam exhibit in Finata looks like after the update. Im at work so cant go check.

just posted

"With the rendering update the shiny blocks now retain their natural colour. Dark remains dark, and black stays black. This does mean that if you have built with dark shiny blocks then the environment will be darker - as the whitening has been removed. All material variations (wood, stone, brick, etc) should retain their colour much more consistently. We don’t plan to change this. Blocks should present the correct colour independent of the shininess.

If you still find that you’re unhappy with your build and actually want the shiny blocks to be brighter then the easiest solution would be to use the new Goo farming system to create some lighter spray colours and redecorate your build . The advantage of this is that there is no need to rebuild. Just spray the blocks and the colours will change."

They are addressing some of the issues, but they are telling players who use dark blocks to “get over it” and use the rare and expensive goo/paint to recolor our builds. That’s not okay.

My full response to the devlog:

"This comes off as cold and is a deal breaker for me and that saddens me very much.

You make the goo system seem so easy to just go out and do, but it’s locked behind extreme rarity and cost. It’s not something we can just go out and do.

Why can’t we change the brightness of dark blocks like you propose with gleam? With a tool like a transformation chisel?

Why not give us that much more control instead of telling us to just get over it with all the work we’ve spent getting things just right with even more work and cost to fix something we had no control over?"

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Disclaimer: I love the new lighting.

I don’t know how to say what I feel needs saying without it sounding condescending so please, take my feedback on face value for the facts alone.

On my PC gaming rig with 2k wrap around moniter and all settings as high as possible, this new lighting is amazing. The depths of color and shadow are now on par with farcry 5. I play a LOT of graphically intense games and run a shader on most of my games because I am a graphics snob. I can tell you that from a high-end perspective, they have nailed it. I just wonder how much of this feedback is coming from gaming units that are literally half as powerful as what developers can meet the specs of. I see a lot of this complaining as ‘a person who needs glasses critisizing Monet because his “paintings are blurry.”’

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That might possibly be the case for some people, but it isn’t for me personally.

This is about lights not being as bright as they were (they were, the game was fine before, I didn’t just start playing when it was updated and say, graphics bad), it’s about a change that ruined some builds.

The devs themselves just admitted to some of the problems themselves, so this is an issue.

In regard to dark colored blocks, lighting has basically been removed intentionally from them, so they become dark voids basically.

You’re not the only one with a decent gaming rig. If you haven’t yet, read the devlog about what issues have been identified.

I respect that you’re happy with how the game looks now and the changes haven’t affected your build(s).

I acknowledge that there are aspects of it that have been deemed problematic. My intention was to provide a perspective that lighting is a subjective view and where darkness is off-putting to some, to at least me it is more immersive and more true to what I find enjoyable in lighting. I simply did not want to leave your view unchecked because the changes in this community truly seem to be who has the loudest voice and the opening statement to this thread was quite the rundown.

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I certainly welcome all possibilities being looked at and discussed.

I think you’re right about the loudest voice thing and that’s a problem with games in general. I normally feel like only YouTubers or high profile players get any notice and therefore they dictate changes in games.

I think the boundless community is very unique in it’s size and in how the game is one big community/universe in a sense.

I think it’s great that people were able to speak up and get the dev’s attention so quickly. So, I feel like in this case it’s about number of people instead of a loud voice.

I can’t say that I’m completely happy with the proposed “fixes” to the lighting system as it will still affect me, but I’m glad that the devs were quick to respond and were able to acknowledge legitimate and unintended issues.

Unfortunately the dark block issue seems to have been intended.

It really does come down to personal preference though at the end of the day.

I felt like the game looks a bit more realistic now in terms of colors, shadows, and lighting which I know many will like.

I personally preferred the colorful, vibrant, almost cartoony look before the update, but again that’s just me. I definitely do agree some aspects look better though like tools/weapons etc.

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I actually think that one piece of gleam went way to far in the old settings. The fact that even black gleam shone like white meant was a problem. The new system means you have to rethink your lighting. One or two strategic blocks of gleam should never have been enough.

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Don’t forget about the ps4 players. And there’s a lot the pro can do that boundless does not take advantage of.

I would not disagree with this but I get to replace thousands and they were literally in large strips above and below blocks and 6 blocks tall behind machines.

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Hey @Creegle I have a 4K screen with a pretty beefy system, so does my wife. If you have the time, take a look at my build on grovidias te, shameless. It’s insanely dark. I built that place with her and graph paper, I wasn’t no fool. I accounted for light emission, changes to blocks, false floors, etc.

Now that the changes are made, without a doubt, I think some things look better. But the lighting effect on “shiny” dark blocks is broke af.

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I will admit that my now shiny white marble staircase does not look as good. But of course surface scattering is something they haven’t really nailed down yet.

I suspect a big part of the problem is the mesh lighting issue, right? Which sounds like it will get fixed.

But then yeah, the rest of your builds will be tough, I’m sure. I definitely don’t love how much work folks will have to do to get their places lit how they want, but I do love the way the new lighting looks!

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I agree and that is why there is no point in doing anything until they fix the meshes. It might be enough for me to at least deal with it. If not as I have stated, I can store the good stuff and let the build regen. I can just have the machines I need and storage until I am more certain that the mechanics are more stable around lighting before investing in a build that might be changed by the developers needing or wanting to change the environment.

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A build i was currently working on, using lots of black and greys.



new lighting turned it into a hulking black cube. you can no longer see fine chiseling or differences in blocks.
i figured this would be enough gleam to allow me to see my pathways inside.

I hope they take some of the light absorption out of dark blocks.

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Yes to the more gleam types. This will give us the option to make everything bright and shiny, dark as night of anything in between.

The endless possibilities it creates is awesome.

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Oh gosh. I just logged in to a pretty dark room and for a split second wondered where I’d logged out. Then realised it was my little house…gamma 1, probably was about 5 (out of 10) before…
hmmmmmmmm

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I haven’t played Boundless for several months but I was notified of this topic when @Kirinvar quoted my old topic about Improving Graphics Rendering. So I decided to boot up Boundless again today and have a look for myself.

After wandering around for about an hour in a variety of locations, I must say that I think the new lighting is WAAAAAAAAAY better than it was last time I played.

@CrimDeity - looking at your comparison screenshot, I honestly prefer the darker screenshot from after the update. The screenshot from before is actually a pretty good example of what was wrong with the previous lighting system. The bluish environment map was adding far too much shininess and light into that scene.

When looking at that screenshot, you have to ask yourself: Where is that bluish lighting supposed to be coming from? Why are some of the surfaces so incredibly shiny? Just look at those Refined Metamorphic stones at the top of the screenshot. They look ridiculous. They look like they’re made of ice and they appear to be reflecting light from an invisible source behind the wall.

Sorry for disagreeing but I think the devs have made great improvements to the lighting and you should see this as an opportunity to have some fun building some new lighting features into your build.

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That previous post was easily one of the most (if not outright the most) well structured examples of constructive feedback this forum has ever seen, and I IMPLORE everyone to give that thread a read and learn from its example.

Honestly, if I could give you your own forum badge, I would have.

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