More Awesome Than You!

I've been meaning to post this question for a while, but kept putting it off. I currently have all expansions and I have no lighting mods in the game. The only place I've experienced this problem at all is downtown. Basically, light does not seem to work like it should. Everything is flat. Skintones, objects, etc. I have plenty of windows in the place and turning on the lights only effects it so much. It doesn't seem to be as bad at night when the lights are on, but it's still not good. Even their plumbobs look really wonky. Here's an example of the flatness I mean:

(http://ang.mux.net/simpics/downtownlighting.jpg)

In the above picture, there were chandeliers above her and at least six of the tall windows in the room with her. It was also daylight. I believe this picture was taken before Seasons came out.

The lighting is fine in the main hood and in the uni subhood (I've never added bluewater). The only place I've seen it happen is downtown, and not even in every lot. Is this something that is a known problem with downtown lots, specific windows in downtown lots, or just weirdness? Any advice would be appreciated. I like this lot and would rather not move them, though it may come down to that.

Is that the House of Fallen Trees? I had lighting issues with that particular lot. You could try the lot lighting cheat which fixed it for me.

From the Prima Guide


"setLotLightingFile [filename]: Change lighting by choosing an alternative lighting file. The original can be found in C:\Program Files\EA GAMES\The Sims 2 Nightlife\TSData\Res\Lights. Place your new lighting file in this folder and use the cheat to specify the file name for the open lot. To restore the lot back to the original lighting settings, input *setLotLightingFile clear*."

Is house of fallen trees that huge one with the really deep basement? It's not, but I think there were similar problems with the lighting in that house as well.

I'm honestly not quite sure how to use the cheat you're referencing. How do I find the appropriate file name to reference? Forgive me for being dense, but I don't quite follow how to get this to work.

If you have gunmod's lighting hack, it has lovely effects but tends to make the game dark overall.

Also, Seasons changed lighting a lot, so it's a bit outdated.

No, no lighting hacks. Just the base game. This has also been happening since before I installed Seasons. The lighting just sucks in this one house downtown. None of the other houses I play have this problem.

Does the house have covered porches or patios? This can affect lighting, just like in real life.

Orikes - I'm 99% sure Kochanski  is right.  I've seen several threads on this problem, and the cheat fixed it.

Enter "setLotLightingFile clear" in the cheat box.  This will return you to normal lighting.

Kochanski's quote said this, but I can see how you missed it. 

That did it!

Or at least, I'm pretty sure it did it. I haven't played the lot extensively, but after the cheat, the lighting seemed to be back to normal. I thought Kochanski was suggesting I use the version of the cheat where I set the file to something, which is what confused me. After doing the clear, it seemed to fix the problem.

As a side note, notveryawesome, there is a small covered porch on the house, but the lighting problem was actually throughout the entire thing, including rooms on the second floor.

Anyway, thanks folks.

I've been playing around with the setLotLightingFile cheat (thanks, Kochanski!!) and have discovered a few things.  I hate like hell that my houses in the neighborhood all are sunny in front, but when you go to the lot the front of the house is always in shade.  Ten lines of change in the Lights.txt file (swapping around minus signs various ways on "light sun" and "light sky") fixed it just fine.  Now I can have light coming from any direction I chose, at least when I'm on the lot.  Shadows and amount of light coming in windows is correct.  So now I have four custom lighting files.

Now, the problem with the downtown_lot.txt lighting file.  I'm not sure if it's completely or correctly implemented, but it's apparently intended for nighttime "mood lighting" that you might encounter downtown.  Overhead lights did not seem to affect the Sims, but wall lights and some table mounted lights did.  Overhead lights affected the furniture, etc, but not the Sims themselves.  The effect with the correct lighting is quite charming, actually.

Whether you use a custom lighting file, or downtown_lot.txt or "setLotLightingFile clear" it appears to be saved when you save the lot. 

Hook

I would love to see what that cheat can do, if its not too much trouble Hook, could you post exactly what you did in the Lights.txt file with the minus signs?

Thanks

I'd like that too.  What exactly did you change, and is it a file you can upload and share?  Please?

Yep, I'll add my voice to the chorus please mate. Basically, can I piggyback off your hard work and adventurous spirit?  ;D

Here ya go!  Instructions are in the LightingRTFM.txt file inside the zip.

Hook