Why is GZDoom's default Sector Light Mode set to Dark?

For the longest time I've been frustrated by this otherwise superb source port. Many wads & maps were just too dark under GZDoom and since I didn't want to constantly fiddle with manual Gamma correction, I just started using GLBoom which has bright maps by default. Now I realize that some maps like City of The Damned require darkness for a creepy atmosphere but why is GZDoom's Sector Light Mode set to dark as default? I only recently discovered that setting it to Standard makes wads so much more enjoyable. Only wish I had discovered it earlier. Now GZDoom has gone back to being my favorite source port since I discovered GLBoom doesn't appear to have any console to help get me out of literal tight spots with the noclipping command. But for users like myself who generally don't do a lot of fussing in the Options menu of source ports and usually just go with default settings, I'm surprised sector light mode isn't set to standard by default. I'm even able to run Grove now under GZDoom and actually see what the fuck I'm doing, and with decent speed thanks to my i5. :D

I am pretty sure GLBoom has the IDCLIP cheat code.

cacomonkey said:

but why is GZDoom's Sector Light Mode set to dark as default?

It's only on older graphics cards. On newer ones there's an additional one which brightens the area around the player like the software renderer.

The reason 'why dark'? Simple: Because it's closer to how the software renderer calculates light levels. The brightness distribution in 'standard' mode is completely different and makes many levels look quite bad.

Graf Zahl said:

It's only on older graphics cards. On newer ones there's an additional one which brightens the area around the player like the software renderer.

The reason 'why dark'? Simple: Because it's closer to how the software renderer calculates light levels. The brightness distribution in 'standard' mode is completely different and makes many levels look quite bad.

My graphics card is an MSI GTX 660 Ti, which was only just released a few months ago but GZDoom's light sector mode always sets it to Dark by default. So what's a good compromise for sector light mode? The Doom Setting? Legacy? It's just too dark with certain wads using Dark. It's interesting that you said that LSM Dark setting is much closer to how software mode renders light because when I played Happy Time Circus II using software mode in regular Zdoom, it was much brighter than when I tried to play it with Light Sector Mode Dark in GZDoom. In fact, I was going to bite the bullet & just play in the incredibly ugly pixilated old school style but then discovered the light sector mode option in GZDoom.

Quasar said:

I am pretty sure GLBoom has the IDCLIP cheat code.

How do I enter cheats with the latest GLBoom+ since it doesn't seem to have a console (or at least none I can find by pressing the tilde)?

cacomonkey said:

How do I enter cheats with the latest GLBoom+ since it doesn't seem to have a console (or at least none I can find by pressing the tilde)?

You just type the code straight in during normal gameplay. All doom ports work this way, it even works in ZDoom ports (although they have a console too).

Something else you can do is increase the ambient light level in the OpenGL preferences, as well as the Brightness setting in Display options.

Gez said:

Something else you can do is increase the ambient light level in the OpenGL preferences, as well as the Brightness setting in Display options.

The only problem is that when I do this it tends to give it a washed out look. Does anyone know what settings GLBoom uses for their default brightness levels? Seems to strike exactly the right brightness levels to my eye.

Melon said:

You just type the code straight in during normal gameplay. All doom ports work this way, it even works in ZDoom ports (although they have a console too).

Thanks. I always assumed that if you tried to do that any key mapping or customized keys would take first precedence over any other input, but no it works fine.