Updating GunMod's Radiance Lighting System

[Chesspieceface]

Hi all.  Been lurking a bit, first post here, figured I'd make myself useful. 

So as the topic indicates I've been working on creating files to update the last version released of Gunmods Radiance lighting to incorporate the new lights and windows in OFB and FFS.  As you probably are aware he stopped working on this about 5 months ago and left his last build to the public domain to be 'completed'.  The last released unofficial beta (posted on MTS2 by Chocolate Pi here) included a 'shader wrapper' he had coded that apparently performs specular highlights in realtime on all surfaces except walls and floors.  I was using that last build for a bit, but realised I wasnt getting any bumpmapping at all.  It turned out, as some of you know, this was because in order for his 'wrapper' to have any effect the 'boolprop useshaders false' cheat has to be set in game.  His wrapper however does not perform bumpmapping and by disabling shaders one disables the game's native capacity to do so.

So I went ahead and eliminated the wrapper and the cheat.  What happened next surprised me though.  I was only getting bumpmapping on Sims in CAS and in the game only when a sim was outdoors.  Inside any closed room, there was none whatsoever.  So this led me into an investigation of everyone of these files to see exactly what was happening in the mod.  It seems that for some reason Gunmod globally changed indoor lighting to be ambient only, where the games default is ambient+2 directional sources.  This wouldnt be immediately apparent because he literally adjusted every single light and window through NL to suit this.  The hole in this is that for whatever reason the game engine cannot render bumpmapping unless there is at least one source of directional light.

So anyhow... I went ahead and created files for the OFB and FFS /tsdata/res/lights folders (which are just nulls anyway) and ported Maxis' settings for the OFB/FFS lights and windows into Gunmods framework.  I have zipped up two versions: One with Gunmod's shadder wrapper (and awesome realtime specular) , and another without that and with my variable tweak to add directional light (and bumpmapping) back in.  I am planning to upload this to MTS2 as 2.2.beta2 but well... I have never publically submitted any kinda of mod, even though I am a seasoned PC gamer I've always been more of a 'consumer' of mods.

This forum is relatively private and is frequented by some of the most clever and talented modders in the community and I was hoping I could get some input/feedback from you all before I throw this out there where I may have to answer questions from totally inexperienced newbs.  So I'm gonna go ahead and attach these .ZIPs here and hope you all are interested in this. 

A few things:

1)  BACKUP YOUR LIGHTS FOLDERS... for all your installs before overwriting with these.  I have all the original files in case of total emergency but I'd rather not be the bandaid.

2)  After you backup, cause you did, these files go right in the paths they are archived with.  My reccomendation would be simply renaming your original 'Lights' folders and then letting these files make new ones.

3) If you try these please leave feedback here.  I brought these here as a MATY exclusive because I need to be sure it works well, and so I could get some thoughtful responses. 

4)  Don't share these or repost them.  They are almost entirely gunmod's work and I intend to let MTS2 continue to be the public host & distributor of that.

Thanks very much for your help.

-Chesspieceface

[BlueSoup]

Hrm...I'll definitely check this out tonight and get back to you if I see any problems.  Thanks. 

[jrd]

It seems that for some reason Gunmod globally changed indoor lighting to be ambient only, where the games default is ambient+2 directional sources.

A-ha! Can this be the cause of the incredible darkness inside which Gunmod's release (and the 2.1 beta) suffers from?

I will definitely test your update later and come back with results.

[Argon]

Actually the shader modifications he did didn't enable the specular highlights. That's why he was using the 'boolprop useshaders false' cheat; he had gotten a cease and desist letter from EA and he was using that cheat as a way around that (he never released his specular enabled shader to anyone, including me while I was working on it with him).

From what I remember, the letter said something about releasing a special Xbox 360 version with that feature enabled (at least that's what GunMod told me, he didn't elaborate very much and I kind of doubt it), but from looking at OFB and FFS, it looks like it's already been enabled by Maxis. I don't know if you removed it or not, but that shader package has an optimized censor remover (it prevents the game from even making the call, so it runs faster than other mods that hide it) because he never got around to updating the package.

A lot of the information is gone now though, since he deleted his forums. I still have some of our chats though (it was pretty early stuff, may not even be relevant anymore).

Edit: I found all the beta's he did on my hard drive (most not made public)... beta5.rar though RLS_2.2_Beta_Version_78.zip

[jsalemi]

I'll definitely give both of these a try.  I'll try the native one on my main game and the other on my laptop.

[Chesspieceface]

Actually the shader modifications he did didn't enable the specular highlights...he never released his specular enabled shader to anyone... but from looking at OFB and FFS, it looks like it's already been enabled by Maxis. I don't know if you removed it or not, but that shader package has an optimized censor remover (it prevents the game from even making the call, so it runs faster than other mods that hide it)... I still have some of our chats though (it was pretty early stuff, may not even be relevant anymore).

Edit: I found all the beta's he did on my hard drive (most not made public)... beta5.rar though RLS_2.2_Beta_Version_78.zip

Well that's great information Argon.  I've been posting in the beta thread at MTS2 asking for anyone who worked with him to please respond and well... that line is dead. 

I've not in anyway modified his shader package.  I did remove it from the bumpmap version as for all I knew it did nothing otherwise and I have Quaxi's censor remover, as does most everyone I'd imagine.  His package must be doing something more than just that though, as something must be causing those pool effects, right?  Yes, I'd agree that the engine does indeed appear to be doing spec highlights on its own now;  I particularly seem to notice it on kitchen countertops and such. 

So you are suggesting that regardless of its other functions, even with 'useshaders true', that package can replace Quaxi's?  I'll try that out, but it's kind of hard for me too imagine that large of a fps boost except for on very low end machines or someone running a nudist colony.    Plus if whatever else it does is overriden by the game's native shader effect wouldn't that waste just as many cycles as the censor improvement saved?  My machine is far from high-end but even with AA & AF cranked I only get real slowdown when I have WAY too many Sims on a lot (like 12-14 lol) or when I have fewer but lots of hacks/scripts are active (macros, clothes changing, controller objects, service NPC's etc.) 

Of course part of that is because it seems the game LOD's textures as a last ditch effort no matter what.  Even after completely modifying the graphicsrules.sgr in every folder it still seems to 'optimize' textures trying to regulate performance after it reaches critical mass on custom textures and VRAM....As an aside if anyone knows how to absolutely block that, I'd love to know how. 

Thanks for the input Argon, please let me know what else you've got on the subject.  And thanks to those of you who've already checked this out.  I look forward to a discussion of how best to do this. 

EDIT: Well unless I have some file which I am unaware of, it does indeed appear that Gunmods package removes the censor blur.  If you test it for that, and still want bumpmapping be sure to delete the userstartup.cheat file that is in the Gunmodshader version.

EDIT2: It occurs to me that the above may be unclear.  The Gunmodshader version above does not have the adjusted variable to reenable indoor bumpmapping.  So if you wanted to use the no censor/water effect package WITH bumpmapping, you'd need to use the nativeshader version but replace Quaxi's censor.package (if you are using it already) with the RLSshader.package in the Gunmod version.   I will get that sorted out though, especially as it would seem that if Argon is correct there is no reason to be disabling shaders at all; I will unify them as a single package shortly.

[jsalemi]

I played for a couple of hours last night with the native version installed, so here's a couple of observations for you:

1) Be sure to warn folks installing this to re-install CEP afterwards -- otherwise any object that relies on CEP appears dark, almost black in the game. 

I did, however, have a problem with one object (the 'toddler blanket' that lets toddlers sleep on the floor -- I think I found it over on MTS 2, but I'll have to check).  It's always dark, even with CEP re-installed. The pattern is visible, but the object itself is gray-black.  I'll try to get a picture and post it so you can see what I'm talking about.

2) The morning twilight period is either very short or non-existent -- it just goes from dark to light.  The evening twilight is ok, except that the transition to dark seems more abrupt than it did under Gunmod's 2.1 version (I never tried the 2.2 beta). It seems to just suddenly change from twilight to dark, rather than twilight fading out.

3) On the plus side, the lighting does seem better than 2.1 -- not as dark. This is particularly apparent in rooms with windows or wall lights.  Other than what I mention in item #2, I'm overall very impressed.  This does seem a lot better than the last 'official' Gunmod version, and I look forward to testing it out some more.


As more info, the only mods I have that affect lighting that I'm aware of are Dizzy2's Smart Lights and JMP's 'commlightson'.  I also have all three EPs on my main computer.

[jrd]

I mostly agree with jsalemi's post. A great improvement on 2.1, with some small issues.

As a side-note, do you know of a way to change smart-lights2 by dizzy2 so lights are turned on in rooms without windows even during daytime? With the light mod installed these rooms become too dark.

[jsalemi]

here's a shot of what I'm talking about with the toddler rug; it's on the bottom of the picture. In the daylight, it's the same color as the crib and changing table, but under the lights, it becomes very dark.



Not a big deal, but I figure it's worth mentioning.

[Argon]

Well that's great information Argon.  I've been posting in the beta thread at MTS2 asking for anyone who worked with him to please respond and well... that line is dead. 

Sorry about that, feel free to pelt me with rocks since neither Daan nor JadeElliot really did anything on the project (I suspect they just wanted an early release of the files) and I've been pretty quiet...

I've not in anyway modified his shader package.  I did remove it from the bumpmap version as for all I knew it did nothing otherwise and I have Quaxi's censor remover, as does most everyone I'd imagine.  His package must be doing something more than just that though, as something must be causing those pool effects, right?  Yes, I'd agree that the engine does indeed appear to be doing spec highlights on its own now;  I particularly seem to notice it on kitchen countertops and such. 

So you are suggesting that regardless of its other functions, even with 'useshaders true', that package can replace Quaxi's?  I'll try that out, but it's kind of hard for me too imagine that large of a fps boost except for on very low end machines or someone running a nudist colony.    Plus if whatever else it does is overriden by the game's native shader effect wouldn't that waste just as many cycles as the censor improvement saved?  My machine is far from high-end but even with AA & AF cranked I only get real slowdown when I have WAY too many Sims on a lot (like 12-14 lol) or when I have fewer but lots of hacks/scripts are active (macros, clothes changing, controller objects, service NPC's etc.)

Yes you are correct, it does the pool effects (he was planning to change the texture on the pool walls to make it match a little better). It's been a while and I don't have any of the text for that file, but I think it does something with soft shadows as well? I can't remember if he got that working or not...

The fps boost isn't all that great, it'd run the same speed as if the Sim was in normal clothes. The game is actually pretty limited by the cpu as it is, you can have a great video card but it will never be used to it's full potential (the fps will never go above a certain number because the cpu has to run all the instructions). The useshaders false cheat actually forces the game into DirectX 7 mode (the reason this cheat was made; to provide backwards compatibility with older cards) instead of DirectX 9 like it normally is with more modern video cards. I don't think GunMod ever realized that, so the bumpmapping pixel shader would never work anyway since DirectX 7 doesn't support Pixel Shaders 2.x (only 1.x).

Of course part of that is because it seems the game LOD's textures as a last ditch effort no matter what.  Even after completely modifying the graphicsrules.sgr in every folder it still seems to 'optimize' textures trying to regulate performance after it reaches critical mass on custom textures and VRAM....As an aside if anyone knows how to absolutely block that, I'd love to know how. 

It uses LOD textures because of all the TXTR files (10-11 zoom levels, the last 2 largest point to LIFO files). It would be possible to force these larger textures by recreating every TXTR inside the packages, but it wouldn't be very smart and you'd have no real way of distributing it.

EDIT: Just so everyone knows, the daytime lighting was never worked on during this beta. He was trying to get the night lighting correct before he did anything else, so Windows and doorways will be too bright during the day. There were a few issues with getting the right light definitions for some lamps as well (one of the candle things was too bright last time I looked at it).

[witch]

2) The morning twilight period is either very short or non-existent -- it just goes from dark to light.  The evening twilight is ok, except that the transition to dark seems more abrupt than it did under Gunmod's 2.1 version (I never tried the 2.2 beta). It seems to just suddenly change from twilight to dark, rather than twilight fading out.

Found this snippet in my notes, I don't think I've ever tried it...

the sims2\tsdata\res\lights\lighting.txt

change day-night transition duration : change the 2 instances of
"transitionTimes 2 100" to "transitionTimes 30 100"

Note: the day/night transition button in build/buy mode will be affected as well as room lights.

The above quote is straight from my notes but I don't know who first posted it or which site.

There's more lighting info here: http://www.tnlc.com/eep/sims/sims2.html

[Chesspieceface]

Thanks to all of you who've posted thus far!

@jsalemi:  This modification makes no change at all to the CEP, in fact it even has the proper line in the lighting.txt to enable the optional *.nlo's.  The only thing might be that if you're flat replacing your lights folder you'd be moving away the \CEP3_CustomLights\ folder as well.  Mine is empty, but if you had stuff in there and didnt recreate that then you'd lose those effects yes.

I do not have that blanket object, if you'd link to it I'll check it out.  But as I've not observed this behavior on any other object (yet),  I'd wonder if it were not some property of that object set improperly?

The morning twilight works fine in my game; It lasts the full hour between 6 and 7am.  Perhaps you have your gamma set too low to see the difference, but I can post screenies if necessary.

@jsalemi & jordi: Regarding smartlights-nl... Gunmod initially had recommended this and then retracted and insisted it not be used at all. I can't figure out why as it seems to work.  The only time I observe it acting oddly is if a Sim both enters and leaves a room under the influence of an action.  For example JMP's macrotastic cleaning.  For good meagure though I have renamed it to "z-smartlights-nl.package" to be certain it loads after any other hacks to avoid conflict.  Of course all my hacks are in one folder, if yours arent you need to make sure its in the last folder as well.

@Argon:  I appreciate the feedback.  My following observations indicate that the RLS-shader.package does not remove the censor blur on lots thats have not first been loaded with Quaxi's.  It does strangely seem to maintain it, but on a fresh lot it does not work.  Any thoughts?  Also regarding the LOD issue please see my other new thread in Peasantry and tell me what you think.

[jsalemi]

@jsalemi:  This modification makes no change at all to the CEP, in fact it even has the proper line in the lighting.txt to enable the optional *.nlo's.  The only thing might be that if you're flat replacing your lights folder you'd be moving away the \CEP3_CustomLights\ folder as well.  Mine is empty, but if you had stuff in there and didnt recreate that then you'd lose those effects yes.

I do not have that blanket object, if you'd link to it I'll check it out.  But as I've not observed this behavior on any other object (yet),  I'd wonder if it were not some property of that object set improperly?

The morning twilight works fine in my game; It lasts the full hour between 6 and 7am.  Perhaps you have your gamma set too low to see the difference, but I can post screenies if necessary.

Hmm, I didn't move the lights folder, just put the existing files into a .zip for backup before installing this.  Yet most custom objects (especially paintings) were very dark, like the blanket in my picture, until I re-installed CEP -- then the paintings were fine.  Only the blanket had problems that I've noticed so far.

Here's the link to the toddler blanket: http://www.modthesims2.com/showthread.php?t=144547&c=1&page=9&pp=25  It's supposed to use the same mesh as the standard crib, so there's no reason it should be dark like that while the crib is properly lit.  Maybe you can  find something in the file itself that's causing the problem.

As for the am twilight, I'll keep a closer eye on it, but I have no problems with the evening one, and had no problems with the morning one under Gunmod's 2.1 version on the same computer with the same settings. The am twilight just seems to 'blip' by.  I'll pay more attention and see if maybe there's something I need to adjust on this end.

[Argon]

Hmm, I know we were having problems with the transition time, but now I can't remember what it was... something to do with buy mode and the neighborhood area around the lot and the inside of the lot not changing like they should... I do remember having problems with it taking forever.

The toddler blanket does not use the same mesh, it uses the same textures. There is a major difference there.

That's weird about the censor thing... it worked right away on fresh lots when we were testing it. Maybe Maxis made some changes since Nighlife that would cause this?

[jsalemi]

Hmm, I know we were having problems with the transition time, but now I can't remember what it was... something to do with buy mode and the neighborhood area around the lot and the inside of the lot not changing like they should... I do remember having problems with it taking forever.

I paid close attention to it last night and today while I was playing for a while, and it seems to be somewhat lot-dependent. On most residential lots, the morning twilight seemed to be functioning, though it's much more subtle than the evening one (which is why I probably missed it).  But when I went to Sim State, it didn't work at all at the dorms.  Haven't tried at a house on campus yet, but it was obvious there was no AM twilight in the dorms.

And I also noticed most of the overhead lights in the dorms were way too bright -- they almost washed out the details, especially if there's anything white in the room (like tables in the cafeteria). If there's no white objects around, or the lighting comes from wall lights, the level is fine.

The toddler blanket does not use the same mesh, it uses the same textures. There is a major difference there.

Thanks -- my bad.  I'm still sorting out this mesh/texture thing (which is why *I* don't try to make any of these wonderful CC objects ).

[Chesspieceface]

Well.. at least 26 people have downloaded a version I posted,  and 5 have posted here, 3 with impressions.  I guess I'm not surprised, but I suppose no news is good news. 

[jrd]

After some more testing I have gone back to the default lighting files with regret. The game is just too dark with the lighting mod installed (any version), unless I play with all lights on all the time… which breaks the illusion.

[SIMplyLisa]

I can confirm the problem with the toddler blanket, in one house it worked ok, in another it is dark inside the house no matter what lights it is near, but is fine outside on the deck!

I really love some of the lighting effects you get with this and the details that show up on some objects is fantastic.

However, I think I will have to agree with Jordi, even when I get the lights figured out and looking good in a room, I go to take a picture and have to move the lights around to get the sims face light enough to make a decent picture.

Maybe I just suck at using this, does anyone have helpfull tips on light placement and which lights work better where?

[Simsbaby]

I am getting an odd blue tint on some objects depending on the camera angle.

[jsalemi]

However, I think I will have to agree with Jordi, even when I get the lights figured out and looking good in a room, I go to take a picture and have to move the lights around to get the sims face light enough to make a decent picture.

I don't have that problem, but it may be because of the video card (ATI X700 Pro) or the system (1Gb RAM, 3Ghz processor). Except for dark bathrooms in the daytime (still can't quite seem to get Dizzy's smart-lights-nl working right, though it may not be all that compatible with OFB), the lighting looks mostly OK to me. The only real problem I have left is the washed out/too bright night lighting with certain light/furniture combinations.  It's particularly apparent in dorm cafeterias, with the cheapest overhead lights. In some dorms the light washes out so much detail that I can't see an empty white plate on a white table.  I'll try and get a screen shot of this and add it here.

[jsalemi]

Ok, here's an image of what I'm talking about with the washed-out lights.  This is in a sorta quickie mart I built for my game a while back.  It's the most extreme example, which seems to occur with the 'orbs of whatever' lights.



As you can see, the detail is so washed out I have to hover the pointer over a sim to figure out who it is.

[Chesspieceface]

Thats pretty wild, Gonna check a few things out and be back. Thanks.

[Ellatrue]

Jordi, I haven't tested these beta versions yet, but have you tried increasing your lighting settings in the game? I found it made a huge difference in how bright everything was, you don't really get the light coming through windows when it is set to low. I had this problem when I installed it on a friend's computer, and once I increased the lighting, it pretty much solved it.

[Chesspieceface]

Jordi, I haven't tested these beta versions yet, but have you tried increasing your lighting settings in the game? I found it made a huge difference in how bright everything was, you don't really get the light coming through windows when it is set to low. I had this problem when I installed it on a friend's computer, and once I increased the lighting, it pretty much solved it.

This is true, as well as adjusting your video card's gamma setting for the 'overlay'.  TS2 is sorely lacking a brightness/gamma slider so you need to do it on the hardware side.  I can't say I find things too dark at all, and well jsalemi's screenie above is just whoa.

[jsalemi]

I can't say I find things too dark at all, and well jsalemi's screenie above is just whoa.

The bitch of it is, it only seems to happen with certain overhead lights, and the occasional wall light (i.e., the new vanity lights introduced in OFB and the really cheap wall lights).  Pretty much anything that's just one or two steps above a bare bulb, or contains bare bulbs.  I haven't noticed similar issues with table or floor lamps. And most of the wall and overhead lights are ok if they have some kind of lamp shade on them.

And since you mentioned it, I haven't played with the gamma on my video card/monitor  -- that's pretty much at the default ATI settings, with all the graphics options (except shadows) in the game set at high. Screen is 1024x768.