What is a sensible brightness range to use?

[Klear]

So I've decided to test the maps I'm working on both in GZDoom and PrBoom+ The thing is, GZDoom seems to render everything way darker. It might be something on my end, or a matter of settings (though I don't think I've messed with brightness until now). Plus I can't seem to convince GZDoom to let me use weapons as a flashlight.

 

Anyway, I've settled on a compromise where certain rooms are so dark in GZDoom that you can barely see a thing and light enough in PrBoom to ruin the mood I was going for and... that's not ideal. Sure, players can change the brightness to whatever suits them, but I'm usually aiming at the default values, though that approach is failing me right now.

 

So, how dark is too dark? How bright is too bright? What's the range of brightness you usually use for your maps?

[Kappes Buur]

I usually use 128 to 176.

That leave enough room for either darker or brighter sectors.

[ViolentBeetle]

Broadly speaking

 

256 - direct light source (Indentation with light texture or similar) or sector with effect 9

192 - Brightly lit sector (Cone of light from the light source, area around a lamp or torch)

176 - Daylight

160 - Dim light at night or overcast daylight, shadow from daylight

144 - Night or more pronounced shadows

128 - Unlit indoors at night

<128 - I'm blind!

[NoOne]

2 hours ago, Klear said:

So, how dark is too dark? How bright is too bright? What's the range of brightness you usually use for your maps?

Outside 255, 1st sector in shade 192, darkest usually 128.

 

It's all about personal preference, and do what suits the map. Make your OWN decision :)

[slugger]

0-255. Those light goggles are looking pretty good now, aren't they?

[SMG_Man]

On 3/20/2023 at 3:45 PM, Klear said:

What's the range of brightness you usually use for your maps?

 

I'm not perfectly consistent with this (especially when GZDoom maps allow for more granulated light intervals), but this is how I usually approach certain landmark light levels:

 

255 / Strong, concentrated lights (LITE3, LITE5, TLITEs in a small sector, etc.)

192 / Outdoors (daytime), soft lights (CEIL3_4, GRNLITE1, LITEBLU1, etc.), rooms being lit by many powerful light sources

160 / Indoor sectors with fewer/weaker light sources

128 / Shadows in indoor sectors that have light sources, ambient light level for indoor areas without lighting that I don't want to have visibility issues

96-80 / Outdoors (nighttime), harsher shadows, indoor areas where the visibility is a deliberate obstacle (there may be Lite-Amp Goggles somewhere)

64 and below / Essentially "pitch-black"; if it's a playable area, the player should come back if/when they find Lite-Amp Goggles

 

Lighting unfortunately varies heavily across sourceports/user settings/monitors/monitor settings, so trying to make it perfect for everyone is impossible. I just go with what looks right to me, with my settings.

[Bauul]

On 3/20/2023 at 1:45 PM, Klear said:

So I've decided to test the maps I'm working on both in GZDoom and PrBoom+ The thing is, GZDoom seems to render everything way darker. It might be something on my end, or a matter of settings (though I don't think I've messed with brightness until now).

 

GZDoom supports a variety of "lightmodes" that dramatically change how a level looks.  Not just brighter or darker, but how light falloff functions and how different light levels interact.

 

I would strongly recommend trying all of them out and picking the one that you think most accurately portrays the feel of the map you want to go for.  You can change them in Display options.  Once you've picked your preferred lightmode, you can lock it in place using ZMAPINFO so it appears the same for everyone.  Details are on the ZDoom wiki here.

 

Personally I find lightmode 16, "Vanilla", the most accurate.  It's a relatively recent addition that more closely mimics the unique way lighting looks in software than previous lightmode attempts like "Software" and "Doom".

[Dopaminecloud]

My light for general areas hovers around 80-144, only highlights and light sources exceeding these. I like darkness and I think it's better to have everything be dark before deciding where to brighten up than vice versa.

[exl]

255 - reserved exclusively for direct light sources

208 - 244 for bright daytime outdoor areas, or very well lit indoor areas

160 - 192 - outdoor areas from evening to daytime

112 - 144 - dimly lit to dark indoor areas

Anything below is rare as most of it is near invisible with vanilla style lighting. Sometimes used for contrast or gameplay effects, or for distant terrain shading. I sometimes wonder if Doom's light levels were adjusted for an sRGB gamma ramp or not. Because the values at the low and high end are not very distinct from each other.

[indigotyrian]

When speaking about ambient light levels for a given room I have three workhorses. Generally speaking I tend to use 192 for areas I want to be bright and open, 128 for areas I want dingier and more cramped-feeling, and 160 for areas in-between. I might play with these however.

 

I use 96 if I want a secret area or a tucked-away alcove to feel especially forgotten, or anything above 192 if I need something to feel bathed in light for a particular reason. Anything below 96 is only really used if I want something to actually fade-to-black (a hallway or cavern for example), and anything above 192 is usually reserved for light fixtures or light detailing.

 

It's important to recognize that ambient lighting is only one part of the story when it comes to setting up mood and atmosphere for a level. Here's two screenshots from my entry in DBP50: Emerald City:

 

 

Notice how the above picture looks noticeably brighter than the below image? They're both the same ambient light level of 112, but the hallway feels brighter due to the use of more detail lighting and brighter textures and flats. The hanging flora midtextures make the room feel more scrunched up and claustrophobic, which adds to the dark feeling.

 

Moral of the story: use light levels in conjunction with different colors and values in textures, detail lighting, and geometry to get where you want to go.

[Noiser]

On 3/22/2023 at 1:13 AM, Bauul said:

I would strongly recommend trying all of them out and picking the one that you think most accurately portrays the feel of the map you want to go for.  You can change them in Display options.  Once you've picked your preferred lightmode, you can lock it in place using ZMAPINFO so it appears the same for everyone.  Details are on the ZDoom wiki here.

I would love to use this to keep the software palette. Color banding and hue shifts from COLORMAP can dictate the atmosphere of the map sometimes.

Edited March 25, 2023 by Noiser

[Arrowhead]

For deathmatch, (and this is just personally what I do) I go no lower than 160. Unless I'm darkening an otherwise inaccessible area, then I lower brightness further.

 

Darkness in a deathmatch can be miserable to play.

 

Also:

 

Lighting of a natural origin, (the sun, skylights, glowing fire) I usually do as 192.

Lighting of an artificial origin, (lights, lamps, computer monitors, etc) is 240/255. I'll also often make a ring around an artificial light at brightness 192.

 

I'm not rigidly adherent to this, sometimes I do go darker.

[Naarok0fkor]

I always go for 96-112 brightness with well placed lights to take full advantage of the OpenGL system...with the possibility of adjusting the general brightness in the config, players who need a brighter or darker display can have a good time. I'm still looking for a good torchlight.pk3 that fits with my WAD to get full tilt on this...Brutal doom black edition is always nice for dark play...

[Steve D]

It was my impression that 256 is the highest brightness setting in Doom, and that 255 is the same as 240. Any Doom gurus here to solve this one?

 

I only use 256 on those occasions when I need a splash of Fullbright for vivid contrast, though I most often use it in gradient lighting, especially in 8-unit sections to achieve a glowy effect, so then it goes 256/240/224/208/192/176/160/144/128. I seldom go below 128.

 

I used to set the default lighting in my maps at 144. As I may have mentioned before, I used to play Doom on a 27-inch ASUS monitor set to Theater Mode, which added extra brightness and more vibrant color. It looked fabulous, but since I bought a new 4K monitor lacking a Theater Mode, I learned what a mistake I made. A lot of my maps are too dark. Now, if I want areas to have good visibility, I put them at 192. 144 is reserved for areas meant to radiate a sinister/ominous feeling. 176 and 160 is a solid choice for an in-between feel. Every now and then, I'll need to make a 1-unit strip of 96 or so to separate a couple sectors, say at 160/256, in order to make the brighter sector have the Light Glows (+1 second) effect. There has to be one dark sector to make that happen. Otherwise, I might use levels below 128 for extremely deep shadows.  

[IcarusOfDaggers]

Something about light settings:

 

Prboom can use GL-boom in one of the visual settings (at work at the moment, don't remember which one). However, unlike Open GL that Zdoom uses, GL Boom causes a lot of overbrightness for some reason.

 

I reccomend using software sector light mode on both boom and zdoom family ports. This makes the testing environment most stable.

 

As for light values, mine range between 64 (i'm blind) and 240. I rarely use 256 anywhere else but the doors.

[Rykzeon]

I usually use values between 128-192 for normal lighting, 96 is starting to get darker, 64 and below is way too dark, and 255 is too bright.

I had experience using 3 gradient lighting effect (brightest^{(let's say its 160, for demonstration)}, bright⁽¹⁴⁴⁾, less bright⁽¹²⁸⁾, and default area light⁽⁹⁶⁾) in a outside of gray building at night to capture the atmosphere of cold, unnerving feeling I had back then. Another room has similar setup but only use 2 gradient lighting (brightest⁽¹⁶⁰⁾, bright⁽¹⁴⁴⁾, and default area light⁽¹²⁸⁾) because Visplane Overflow, with bunch of monsters, and it has kinda warmer feel than previous area.