Lighting in Moria problem not sure if it is a bug or what

[alibutterfly82]

So good news for everyone in this thread: the team is looking into this issue. I have no ETA at this point, but expect to see a fix to the ambient light slider in an upcoming patch.

Thanks for keeping us in the loop I was really dreading the next char I'd get to Moria levels, if it was going to be a longstanding issue. Glad to hear that should not be the case!

[RustyRat]

Just an FYI you can just edit the UserPreferences.ini file and change the

AmbientLightBoost

Setting to something else. i.e. the UI only lets you go upto 1.0, but you can put it to anything you want in the UserPreferences file.

Tried that some time ago. The lotro client silently changed the AmbientLightBoost back down to 1.0 upon startup, with no effect visually in-game.

So good news for everyone in this thread: the team is looking into this issue. I have no ETA at this point, but expect to see a fix to the ambient light slider in an upcoming patch.

Woohoo! Three Cheers! Hip Hip Ho-ray! Best news I've had in a long time.

Is there any way we can continue to feed data back to the devs? I found the lake just outside (past) moria (Mirrormere?, in Loth.) was flashing bright CYAN at a horrid epileptic-fit-inducing erratic frequency. (I've /bugged this too.) Turns out, enabling post-processing effects clears this up. (Similarly in the Fords Skirmish instance, where the water would light up for several seconds, with the same fix. Though the Fords instance is too dark right now to actually play.)

Catch is, of course, that post-processing effects were disabled to avoid that horrid blurring/fogging of the screen when dread-effects kick in, or in certain zones such as the dwarven housing area.

I have to admit the water effects are much nicer with post-processing enabled. But not worth putting up with the fogging effect.

Thanks in advance for anything you can do...

[Hurin]

Those who want to adjust away the gloom/mood/darnkess, rejoice!

Though it's not mentioned in the patch notes, it appears that they fixed the ambient light slider in today's patch.

Screenshots taken today (post-patch). . .

Ambient Lighting Set to 0.0


Ambient Lighting Set to 1.0
(Notice especially the darkness in the corner and along the back wall goes away)


I chose these as the example shots since we'd used this room as an example before and it's also the place I used to document the problem in the youtube video. I also checked out that corner of Dolven View and it is working there as well. On Toddler Watch Duty today though so don't have any time to confirm further. But so far great news!

--H

P.S. Just one more time for the record, I still prefer it dark/gloomy. But to each their own. And now that's really the case since the ability to adjust it to taste has apparently been restored.

[Skaldi]

The ambient light slider does not work the way it used to. However, it does appear to work better than it did before the patch.

- Pre-RoI, ambient at 1.0 was very very bright. I used it at about 0.20 for dark areas, as much as 0.50 for the darkest areas when I didn't want atmosphere, I just wanted to see.

- With RoI, ambient at 1.0 was about where 0.05 was on the slider previously. Hardly worked at all.

- With this new patch (RoI+1) I'd guess that ambient at 1.0 is about where 0.20 was on the slider previously. So it's definitely an improvement over where we were last week, but not back to what it was pre-RoI. I don't understand what the trouble is, but I guess I'll take some rather than none...

[Lowj]

I concur. They've certainly increased its effect, but it's not even close to being as it was pre-RoI. I find myself still squinting at the screen, perched on the edge of my chair, when I'm in dark-ish areas or it's night time in-game - and that's not even enough... I just rode off a cliff in Moria. NO FUN AT ALL!!

It's better, but we're definitely not there yet. Give it another nudge, guys! My estimation is that it's now at about 20-30% of its previous effect, when turned all the way up. That is to say... just like Skaldi I'm used to having to set it to 0.2 for 'dark-ish' areas/night time, and sometimes (when it's particularly sunny and bright out in the real world) as high as 0.5, and currently, when I set it to the max of 1.0, the effect is comparable to what I'd expect from a setting of 0.2 to 0.3 tops.

[Cefely]

Well, it has grown on me & I actually like it darker than I used to now! But I never had it as bright as either of your bright examples below, yuck!

Edit: changed 'examples above' to 'examples below', as my post somehow jumped ahead of yours lol!

[Ailedra]

Confirm the same effects post-patch that have been reported. AL slider at 1.0 gives me approximately what I had previously at .20.

For me personally, this moves the impact from "borderline unplayable" to "potentially irritating someday". During the period of complete AL slider broken-ness, I got used to the murkier effect, and after the fix, I'm finding more than .20 on the current slider (so, maybe .05 pre-RoI) to be jarringly bright.

But, that's me...as observed, some people find that level difficult to see.

[Hurin]

I thought maybe this was the case too. But wasn't sure it was worth mentioning. Apparently, it is. So, here's confirmation that the ambient light slider, while now working (after RoI Patch 1), isn't as effective as it used to be prior to RoI. I'll let you guys debate whether further tweaking of it is actually necessary. Personally, I always cringed a bit for the world designers and art team whenever I saw how Moria looked with ambient boosted all the way. . . because it completely mangled all their hard work in developing mood/atmosphere. Maybe this is the dev team throwing their art team a bone? (heh)

Anyways, I had a set of shots I took a long time ago when Moria was first released showing ambient light boosted to max. . . can't remember why I took them. I think there was a forum thread about it or something. . .

Two Years ago. . .

Two Years Ago - Moria - Ambient Light at Zero.


Two Years Ago - Moria - Ambient Light at Max.



Today. . .

Today (Post RoI Patch 1) - Ambient Light at Zero.


Today (Post RoI Patch 1) - Ambient Light at Max.


So. . . there you go. It's not where it was. But it's definitely improved. As someone who doesn't use the ambient light slider, I'd probably consider that "good enough". . . but then again, I think you're all nuts for using it in the first place. So, that opinion will probably not hold much weight!

--H

[greendarner]

*yanking this thread back to topic*

Thank you Hurin for posting those pictures of the differences in using the ambient light slider.

I have noticed a slight improvement since the latest update. However, it is not enough.

Turbine folks, please consider that you have players whose eyesight is not the best. The efforts are appreciated but its still not enough. Thanks!