Night Gets Brighter?

Discussion in 'TSW General Discussion' started by thatsn0moon, Apr 10, 2021.

  1. thatsn0moon

    thatsn0moon Member

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    Hi all :)

    I was enjoying a lovely sunset service when it slowly faded to night. It looked absolutely fantastic. The night lighting was flawless. As the night went on though (from 1730 to 1830) the sky became darker but everything else got brighter. It was weird. See the screenshots below.

    Is this a setting I have wrong, light brightness or gamma? Is this just a quirk of the game engine?

    Thanks,

    Tyler
     

    Attached Files:

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  2. LeadCatcher

    LeadCatcher Well-Known Member

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    Matt mentioned something about the night lighting in his stream on the Clinchfield, since most freight is run at night, he stated he shifted some to day runs and something about making the night darkness like a night with a full moon so the night runs could be easier to run than in total darkness this rural running would become because of the low amount of artificial lighting along the route.
     
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  3. thatsn0moon

    thatsn0moon Member

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    Oh that's really interesting to hear! Was that the steam put out on release day? I'll have to go back and watch it.

    It certainly makes sense what he did as I can imagine people would complain however I really enjoyed how dark it was. Reminded me of being in the proper bush and how challenging things can be with no ambient light.
     
  4. Monder

    Monder Well-Known Member

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    The problem I have with this is that the night light snaps in and out pretty weirdly, I wouldn't mind seeing vaguely the route even during the night, but I still think this effect is overdone at some points. And it definitely would be a better solution to have the route properly illuminated by the headlights. US headlights can basically "create a day".
     
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  5. Oli R C

    Oli R C Member

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    Yeah, I don't mind being able to make out shapes and near details, but for me it's just way too bright.
    When you have realistic nights, it looks so much nicer when you come across pockets of habitation that are illuminated by street lights, outdoor lights, windows, etc.
    Obviously, night time light levels will differ depending on location, but I would have thought this would be a dark area.
    Fully agree re: headlights. If we had 'proper' headlights, this would be the perfect solution.
     
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  6. solicitr

    solicitr Well-Known Member

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    But only in the snow. In any other season at night, it's so black that the only way you can tell you've entered or left a tunnel is by the sound!

    This is one place the underpowered US headlights are really a problem: you should have at least a quarter-mile illuminated down the line
     
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  7. ralphy_porter2000

    ralphy_porter2000 Active Member

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    I also like the sunset/dusk runs but think the transitions are unnatural at times. There should be more gradual feel as atm there are distinct transitions and it is far too noticeable, i.e. one minute you have the sun reflecting off your train at a standstill then poof its gone and it is the same with the ambient lighting ie conspicuous due to lack of transition.
    One of my fave routes for lighting has to be TVL. I love the way the low sun lights the cab as you are passing trees and the 'god rays' through the exhaust are spectacular BUT play when the station lights come on and the cab is saturated with light at the smaller stations more than a sunny day. Oddly enough the stations with canopies that would reflect more light back in are perfect, its just the smaller stations. :( The lights look correct for luminosity on the platform but it looks like you have achieved cold fusion in the cab its so bright inside, even the ceiling of the cab is lit by the platform lights and not in shade contrast as it should be...Very immersion-breaking :(
     
    Last edited: Apr 12, 2021
  8. cp1400

    cp1400 Member

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    That is because the daylight moves "incrementally" and not in a smooth manner as it does in reality. I don't know what DTG have done but time and day light seems to shift every second as in a stop motion animation. If you stand still and observe shadows and how they move you will see what I mean. Hence why the transitions to nighttime aren't smooth either. This is one of the things that really bug me (and I don't know if this was always like this or if this has been implemented with some update).

    And I agree! I love dark nights where you see glimpses of what is there and you otherwise would see differently if it was day time. That's the beauty of day and night, isn't it? That sometimes you pass through places and notice things you probably wouldn't have noticed during the daytime or nighttime.
     
    Last edited: Apr 12, 2021
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  9. Oli R C

    Oli R C Member

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    I'm slightly confused, now (doesn't take much). Maybe I hadn't run a cloudy night service already (although I thought I had), but I've just done the Southbound Manifest service which starts at around 8pm. I hadn't changed the default season, and to be honest, I was expecting there still to be plenty of light still in the sky, but to my surprise, it was dark. VERY dark. I nearly always run cloudy at night, and maybe all previous night running on CRR had been scenarios, with clear sky.

    Anyway, I've got to say, it did look bloody nice. Here's a few screenies...

    Me, setting up the cab, at the yard.
    setting-up-the-cab.jpg

    Plenty of side illumination. Possibly the brightest headlights of the game??
    pockets-of-light-1.jpg

    Lovely pockets of light...
    pockets-of-light-2.jpg

    pockets-of-light-3.jpg

    The experience is only slightly marred by...

    In cab luminance is a bit random. Occasionally it's pitch dark, other times, slight illumination. Not too bad. I like ever so slight in cab light. Consider it a glow from the gauges.

    We have some radiant rocks, and glowing grass. Again, only slight, and doesn't spoil things too much.

    Radiant rocks (headlights off). You're probably going to enlarge this one, as the forum glare hinders viewing. Certainly more noticeable in game....
    radiant-rocks.jpg

    So this was actually a good experience. I can only imagine how more amazing it would look if that headlight was pointing down the track and illuminating the way. Would be gorgeous.

    There's no doubt there are instances/conditions where it's way too bright to the point it's a huge turn off, but darkness can be achieved.

    And damn, first outing in the F7 and that thing is ace to drive, and the engine sounds are pretty damn nice with that deep rumble. I don't recall that kind of sound on any other TSW loco. A new favourite. :D
     
    Last edited: Apr 12, 2021
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  10. londonmidland

    londonmidland Well-Known Member

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    TSW has always had this issue with its night lighting from day one. You'll notice it'll actually get brighter as the night progresses. Particularly after dusk, it can get quite significantly brighter.

    Ironically early morning services, just before the sun rises, is when it can look the most dark.
     
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  11. appledates#4945

    appledates#4945 Well-Known Member

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    Running a night service on Clinchfield I was pleasantly surprised how well I could see and really loved the atmosphere. I don’t know if the TSW2 update that added 4K or for instance the Series X auto HDR feature but it’s definitely not as black as it used to be!
     
  12. OldVern

    OldVern Well-Known Member

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    Personally I still think the nights need to be brighter, as a matter of personal preference at any rate. How this would be achieved I can't really say - maybe some kind of gamma control added to the display settings? It's not a huge issue running one of the "bridger" freights but I wouldn't want to attempt a loading or shunting task at night.
     
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  13. Oli R C

    Oli R C Member

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    Well the service I ran in my above post was truly black. As londonmidland aludes, the night lighting is pretty fubar'd, but it at least appears there is something for everyone's tastes. It's just a matter of knowing which sliders to slide, and which time of day to go for.

    Not the most ideal, because it mat limit which services you can run, but at least it's something.

    I personally love the pitch dark nights as long as I can make something out with the headlights, but I also accept that an inner city, or near city route wouldn't typically be pitch black. But localised lighting would play much more a part in those cases. Street lights, and stuff.

    I'll certainly be experimenting more, although each route has it's own characteristics. RSN is another favourite of mine for night driving (and day). :)
     
  14. Oli R C

    Oli R C Member

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    Yeah, well if there were some good lighting controls, then people would be able to set things up how they like. Certainly would be a good thing.
     
  15. LeadCatcher

    LeadCatcher Well-Known Member

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    as they say, “It is always darkest before the dawn”. Which when out to sea, was quite true. Sort of the same with sunsets as well... since the sun goes below the horizon rapidly, it gets dark fast. On land masses you usually have hills, mountains etc that makes for more gradual darkening. Of course we ran darken ship most times and it would take about 30 minutes before watch to acclimatize your eyes, but was always amazed how bright a star lite night could be....
     
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  16. Crosstie

    Crosstie Well-Known Member

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    On US routes, I think it goes back to the headlight problem. Unlike British locomotives, American locos have high beam headlights day or night, partly for safety and also for lighting the way ahead at night. That headlight on the F7 should be illuminating the road about 4-500 yards ahead. MP explained the problem in an earlier stream and so far there's no solution. I'm always a little startled when I drive one of the UK trains, because you're expected to drive in near total darkness, or, if you're fortunate, by the light of the silvery moon.
     
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  17. Lightspeed

    Lightspeed Well-Known Member

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    Man! BR drivers doing night runs must have had near perfect night vision before headlights on trains became a thing. Driving at night for me, adds more of an immersive experience. As long as the cab textures don’t randomly lighting up a tad, gets a bit annoying...
     
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  18. Ravi

    Ravi Well-Known Member

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    It is definitely jarring at times. Running CRR 126 journey, noticed that the headlights of the passing train was not lit but the trailing locos were and then the pitch black lighting suddenly became too bright. Like I couldn't see anything but then it was almost like driving in full daylight. Hope it gets fixed soon.
     
  19. Blu

    Blu Active Member

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    Farming Simulator 2019 has the same issue. I wonder if they, in a future update get the sunrise and sunset times realistically aligned with the routes Lat and Lon for each time of the year.
     

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