Port the lights used in the SoH/PG map over to other maps

[Northstar98]

Hi everyone,

Since the initial release of 2.5.6 over 2 years ago, the Straits of Hormuz/Persian Gulf map has sported drastically improved lights and lightning system compared other maps.

The majority of maps typically use low-resolution 2D sprites that don't naturally bloom, often don't account for line of sight, are sometimes fixed (so when viewed from the side they clearly appear 2D), while having poor visibility at distance.

The SoH/PG map by comparison looks much more natural, with lights that appear to bloom much more naturally, typically account for line of sight, with drastically improved visibility at a distance.

It's also worth pointing out that many of the sprites seen (in particular those used for aircraft warning lights) seem to be used as the default exterior lights for many aircraft and modules, including recent ones (though in the case of the Apache and Hind, they're much smaller), it's also used for flares.

While the lights of the SoH/PG map aren't perfect (though the issues they have a more minor: size, positioning, lack of illumination, some bulbs aren't illuminated), they are far superior compared to other maps, there really is no contest.

 

I'll post an absolute load of screenshots comparing 2 maps (see here for the Imgur album)  - the SoH/PG map and the latest map, the Marianas. The lights used in the Marianas are common to all other maps (but have increased size in Syria and reduced size in the Caucasus).

For both the SoH/PG map and the Marianas, the date and time was set to the 21st of June 2016 (full moon), at midnight. Default weather conditions were used, just with the no clouds preset set.

 

Aircraft Warning Lights:

Spoiler

Marianas:

Fairly low-resolution sprites, note that these are also used (though with different colours) on plenty of modules, including some of the most recent ones (though at least there they're made smaller), I'm fairly sure these are also used for flares.

SoH/PG:

Much more natural - only problems is that the actual bulb isn't illuminated and the positioning is off.

Marianas:

SoH/PG:

Approach Lighting System:

Spoiler

Marianas:

Soh/PG:

Marianas:

Distinct, flying-saucer shaped sprites, that don't bloom naturally (clearly looks like concentric circles).

SoH/PG:

Much more natural blooming (I think the effect is created by an orb (they're obviously not dynamic lights), but it looks way better.

Marianas:

Sprites are fixed and clearly 2D.

SoH/PG:

Marianas:

SoH/PG:

Marianas:

SoH/PG:

Marianas:

What's interesting here is that the white, saucer-shaped sprite rotates to always face the camera (so doesn't account for LOS at all), but they red ones are static and can be clearly seen as 2D.

SoH/PG:

One thing I'll mention here with the SoH/PG map is notice how the bulbs for the red lights aren't illuminated, whereas the white ones and the same red lights on the Marianas are. Though note how the bloom accounts for LOS more appropriately.

Marianas:

SoH/PG:

Built-up Area:

Spoiler

Marianas:

Note how the building in the centre of the screenshot is completely light up.

Marianas:

Notice how the same building is now dark, save for the bottom 1/6th

Marianas:

Ditto, from further away - notice how many of the larger buildings on the coast have now almost completely gone dark.

 

By comparison:

SoH/PG:

SoH/PG:

While Dubai is obviously a bigger city, notice how all the lights that were visible still are (at least there doesn't seem to be a noticeable degradation in visibility for any of the buildings), as opposed to the Marianas, where some lights have noticeably disappeared.

Flood Lights:

Spoiler

Marianas:

The bloom (which we'll see closer up) is oversized, so it looks like a blob of light that doesn't really look all that natural.

SoH/PG:

The SoH/PG map on the other hand looks much more natural. Also note the difference in the illumination of the ground (again, a baked in texture, but it's brighter and has a more appropriate footprint - it looks much more like what you'd expect this from these types of flood lights).

Marianas:

From closer up, we can see that the bloom is oversized, pretty low-quality and has a noticeable, sharp boundary to it. Also note the rather lackluster illumination of the ground (which is both dim and too narrow for these flood lights).

SoH/PG:

The same lights on the SoH/PG map looks far more natural, with far more appropriate illumination of the ground (again, a baked in texture).

Only thing I will say is that the bloom kinda seems a little bit too small and the red warning light looks like it's bleeding through the light in front of it, when it should be obscured from view.

Marianas:

From close up, you can see just how low quality these lights are on the Marianas map (again this same sprite is used as the flares and in some cases the lights on aircraft, but with them scaled up the resolution just makes them look pretty awful IMO and not at all natural), you can also see that hard boundary of the sprites.

SoH/PG:

While it doesn't look perfect (IMO the bloom from the flood lights should be at least as large as the bloom on the red warning light) it looks way more natural (the Caucasus map kinda has the same deal going on with its lights).

Marianas:

From the side, you can see that the sprites are clearly 2D and IMO looks fairly awful.

Also note the illuminated ground texture below each flood light - it looks like the sort of thing I'd expect from a portable lamp (like this) or an aircraft taxi light. It's both very dim (especially for the massive amounts of fake sprite blooming) and too narrow for the footprint these flood lights should have.

SoH/PG map:

The SoH/PG map looks much better IMO (only problem is that the bulb of the warning light isn't actually illuminated).

Marianas:

Here we can see the same lack of accounting for line of sight, as well as the low quality of the sprites used.

SoH/PG:

The SoH/PG map on the other hand does (only real problem is the bloom of the warning light is clipping through the pole it's mounted on and the bulb isn't actually illuminated, giving it a darker centre).

Though notice how the footprint and brightness of the ground texture for these lights much better resemble what would be expected for these flood lights.

Marianas:

Again, notice how the sprites clearly appear 2D and the ground texture is both too narrow and dim, making it look unnatural.

SoH/PG:

Which isn't something the SoH/PG map suffers from (it's maybe a little too narrow, but not by much).

Marianas:

SoH/PG:

Just to really hammer this home.

Hangar Lights:

Spoiler

Marianas:

Again, same low resolution, oversized, 2D sprites that IMO look pretty awful. Though note how there appears to be no illumination of the ground at all - making it doubly unnatural.

SoH/PG map:

While not the same lights, this is the closest I could find. I think you'll agree that these look much better (both the lights themselves and the ground texture).

Lights at Distance:

Spoiler

Marianas:

I've mentioned that the sprites/orbs used on the Marianas (which are also used on other maps) are oversized - but despite that, they disappear from view much faster. The only lights I can see here are Saipan's flashing REILs and a light by the terminal. The rest of the island is dark.

SoH/PG:

At the same distance away though, most of the lights (or in some cases, the textures representing illuminated areas) are still visible on the SoH/PG map.

Marianas:

Go even further away and all lights are gone.

SoH/PG:

But at the same distance, lights (namely the runway end lights and street lights - or at least the baked in illumination of the ground for them) is still visible.

PAPI Lights:

Spoiler

Marianas:

PAPIs look maybe a little dim.

SoH/PG:

The same lights on the SoH/PG map on the other hand are brighter and in general look more like what you'd expect to see IRL.

Marianas:

IMO, this doesn't look particularly natural. I also don't know why they've tried to model diffraction sprites by making it look like a flying-saucer.

SoH/PG:

The SoH/PG map looks more natural and is way more diffuse. The only problem I can see here is that actual bulb isn't illuminated.

Marianas:

These are again fixed, so from the side you can clearly see these are 2D sprites.

SoH/PG:

Here you can see how the orb is misaligned (but does at least account for LOS more appropriately). The main issue I see here is that the actual bulb isn't illuminated and there's no illumination of the ground (which should be red).

Runway Edge Lights:

Spoiler

Marianas:

Here we see the same flying-saucer shaped sprite, though note how the rear one is also visible, when it should be obscured - unlike the PAPIs the same sprite here rotates so it appears the same regardless of camera angle.

SoH/PG:

The same light on the SoH/PG map looks much more natural, also note how the rearward facing light isn't blooming, as in, it accurately accounts for line of sight such that only things that are visible are what should be visible.

Marianas:

From the top, the blooming is more obvious. The real lights have the bulb that's ever so slightly recessed such that it is covered when viewed from this angle the only thing that should be illuminated on the actual light are the angled pieces of glass in front of the bulbs, plus whatever is in front of it. The only bloom that should be present is from the nearside bulb.

SoH/PG:

On the SoH/PG map, only the things that would be illuminated IRL are illuminated and the only blooming you see is from the bulb that we actually have a line of sight to - which is a much better representation of the real thing.

Runway Threshold/End Lights:

Spoiler

Marianas:

Similar thing going on with the edge lighting - same sprite (though a different colour and this time it's fixed). Also note that there's bloom from the lights that are facing away from us.

SoH/PG map:

The lights on the SoH/PG map look much more natural and we only see what we would see IRL (no blooming visible from the lights facing away from us).

Marianas:

From the side, we can see that the sprites don't account for LOS properly and are clearly 2D.

SoH/PG:

From roughly the same angle, the same lights on the SoH/PG map look far more natural and the orb accounts for LOS (though looks like it's ever so slightly misaligned).

Runway on approach:

Spoiler

Marianas:

While most of the issues are less present from further away, I'd still say the lights look a little unnatural.

SoH/PG:

Whereas the lights on the SoH/PG map do look more natural.

Marianas:

SoH/PG:

 

Street Lights:

Spoiler

Marianas:

Again, same sprite as the flood lights, but at least the bulb is illuminated. This time the sprite rotates so to always face the camera (though results in it clipping through the actual light). The sprite doesn't account for LOS, and so it's visible despite the actual light source not being visible.

From further away though, I'd say these lights ever so slightly come on top apart from range (which is massively diminished compared to the SoH/PG map).

SoH/PG:

This is an example where I feel like the SoH/PG map does ever so slightly less well.

While the orb looks a bit more natural, I feel it's definitely oversized at this distance and it noticeably bleeds through the actual light and it doesn't adjust for angle like other lights.

This might have be done for increased visibility at range, but smarter scaling or simply a LOD (which is what the Su-25/25T uses) would make it look appropriate from far away, without compromising how it looks close up.

Taxiway Lights:

Spoiler

Marianas:

Here, this just looks like a big blue blob, with a clear boundary. The brightness (both of the sprite and the ground texture) doesn't fall off naturally.

Despite its large size, it also looks fairly dim.

SoH/PG:

Here the lights look much more natural - there is some weirdness going on with the bulb (particularly at the top) and is brighter. The orb is also much smaller than the sprite used in the Marianas and other maps, without compromising on range.

Edited November 15, 2022 by Northstar98
grammar

[Rudel_chw]

Great post, wasnt aware of it until I read about it today at Hoggit 

[Northstar98]

Just now, Rudel_chw said:

Great post, wasnt aware of it until I read about it today at Hoggit 

Thank you! I appreciate it!

However, it looks like it'll be redundant given the recent news.