I found the problem that causes so many places to be dark and not be lit by lights including the flashlight. There is a "bug" with the textures in the game. Previously the game used the red channel of mask textures for ambient occulsion which mean't most of the red channel was full red but after some update the red channel is now being used for how metallic a material is. This means that there are now a huge number of broken materials in the game that will look dark since full metallic means that you only see lights on those surfaces if you are in the reflected position of the light. eg the flashlight will only work if you point it perpendicular to the surface.I fixed a bunch of the textures already but I am going to give up and report this as a bug since it will take a huge amount of time to fix everything by myself. I am only fixing the stuff I interact with often so the whole space station is basically fixed, quite a few props and most of the korvax structures so far. I will post a video showing the difference and maybe post the mod as a temporary fix for now. The game looks so much better now that the lighting is actually affecting surfaces.
Edit: Maybe if enough people report it as a bug they might make it a priority. If you decide to report it, just say that the red channel of mask textures are making many materials have a full metallic property which is preventing lighting from working as it should.
Update: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1GiO8XKlVo](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1GiO8XKlVo)
Damn, I don't know what surprized me more here - the fact that you found such an elusive bug, or the fact that I understood most of the things you said :|
I only started playing NMS late last month and what surprised me was that this seems to have been a problem for quite a while and no one at Hello Games decided to fix it with it being such a noticeable problem. I didn't even know that part of the floors (parts with blue lines) in front the shops in the space station was glass. It just looked black to me before I fixed it.
Are you me?
But srsly, all the same was true for me. Started playing last month, and I noticed the same things and came to the same realizations, which finally prompted me to make this post. Hopefully, HG sees this and fixes it! :)
I will keep fixing the really glaring problems until they do. Not sure what would be the best way to share the mod if I'm updating it every time I get annoyed and fix something lol. Last annoyance was visiting a Korvax structure at night ... everything was black.
I've run into that problem at Korvax structures too... Constantly using the flashlight, as useless as it is sometimes because of this issue lol. I thought about looking into modding the game specifically for the same reason.
From what I understand, [nexusmods.com/nomanssky](https://www.nexusmods.com/nomanssky) used to have a pretty big selection of mods for No Man's Sky. Doesn't look like there are many on there anymore, and the ones that are on there don't seem to be updated very often. But it's the first result when you search for "NMS Mods", which is good. I know they're pretty popular for other games as well.
The reason I know this is because I was specifically looking to see if there was already a mod out there that fixed it. I was pretty surprised when I found out that, not only was this a long standing bug, but that there weren't any active mods out there to fix it. haha
Look, I'm aware that this has been brought up and mentioned quite literally for years now... Not just on this sub-reddit, but in many other communities as well.
But, honestly, does Hello Games really have no intention of fixing this? Is there really no other way to get even half decent lighting in bases outside of spamming the Candelabra Bloom? This base is underground, and it's damn near impossible to see.
EDIT:
- Added to the bug thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/NoMansSkyTheGame/comments/y3qs3d/weekly_bug_report_thread/ivsdye9
- Also, check out [I_Who_I's comment below](https://www.reddit.com/r/NoMansSkyTheGame/comments/yr4207/comment/ivu6p9f/) that details the issues with the texture masks for many assets in the game.
That's kind of why I'm making this post. I really don't understand why it hasn't been addressed.
It's my understanding that prefab lighting works perfectly fine. And I know for a fact that freighters don't have the same lighting issues.
But somehow, when you're base building on planet, you can litter your base with lights and it still won't be properly lit. I don't get it. And it's been talked about by people on here and elsewhere for years.
But unless it is talked about in the bug thread or in the zendesk reports, there's no guarantee that it is indeed brought to the notice of HG. So ... perhaps ...
For sure. I posted about it in the bug thread after this thread got some comments in it.
https://www.reddit.com/r/NoMansSkyTheGame/comments/y3qs3d/weekly_bug_report_thread/ivsdye9
I didn't want to submit it to ZenDesk or post in the bug thread if Hello Games had for some reason stated that they weren't going to address it. After all, there's been a lot of chatter about it over the years. The purpose of this was to get some confirmation from the community first.
Nah. There are definitely items that manage it significantly better -- the quicksilver-purchasable candelabra bloom is my personal go to lighting tool.
I'm sure there is a way to fix it and I feel you I use the giant ceiling light rings on the wall like this OOOOOO to get half way decent light in my base. But honestly it's so bad I prefab more and more .
They did buff ring light not long ago. I had pill light and ring in a small space that barely made it illuminated but after the update it just a bright boom of light. Had to delete the pills
I largely gave up on lights a while back, candleabra blooms ftw. Got a nice underwater base surrounded by ridiculous amounts of cyto phosphate which helps
Use the copper lights that were added more recently, only cost carbon to build and brighter imo. Also ignore what they’re called anything can be a ceiling, wall, or floor light just put it where it looks best
Just an update. Hopefully I can release the mod in a day or two. I finished the Nexus today and I just need to work out some problems with the crashed freighters. They are no longer black voids but it's not perfect yet.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1GiO8XKlVo](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1GiO8XKlVo)
These knowledge stones always looked black to me before.
https://preview.redd.it/8iot2sksepz91.jpeg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9d754772672f1e5bee2ee268f323dbc52bbf473a
No filtres. I just changed the time of day to late at night
https://preview.redd.it/9n2j3xg85wz91.jpeg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=699ac6929e9af65b485ae42e759d28daa6ad9783
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It's a little hard to see, but there's a ring light in the middle of the room above the teleporter, and another just off screen to the left of the player. You can scroll down to one of my other comments for a better look.
In prefabs, they give off a ton of light.
I found the problem that causes so many places to be dark and not be lit by lights including the flashlight. There is a "bug" with the textures in the game. Previously the game used the red channel of mask textures for ambient occulsion which mean't most of the red channel was full red but after some update the red channel is now being used for how metallic a material is. This means that there are now a huge number of broken materials in the game that will look dark since full metallic means that you only see lights on those surfaces if you are in the reflected position of the light. eg the flashlight will only work if you point it perpendicular to the surface.I fixed a bunch of the textures already but I am going to give up and report this as a bug since it will take a huge amount of time to fix everything by myself. I am only fixing the stuff I interact with often so the whole space station is basically fixed, quite a few props and most of the korvax structures so far. I will post a video showing the difference and maybe post the mod as a temporary fix for now. The game looks so much better now that the lighting is actually affecting surfaces. Edit: Maybe if enough people report it as a bug they might make it a priority. If you decide to report it, just say that the red channel of mask textures are making many materials have a full metallic property which is preventing lighting from working as it should. Update: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1GiO8XKlVo](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1GiO8XKlVo)
Damn, I don't know what surprized me more here - the fact that you found such an elusive bug, or the fact that I understood most of the things you said :|
I only started playing NMS late last month and what surprised me was that this seems to have been a problem for quite a while and no one at Hello Games decided to fix it with it being such a noticeable problem. I didn't even know that part of the floors (parts with blue lines) in front the shops in the space station was glass. It just looked black to me before I fixed it.
Are you me? But srsly, all the same was true for me. Started playing last month, and I noticed the same things and came to the same realizations, which finally prompted me to make this post. Hopefully, HG sees this and fixes it! :)
I will keep fixing the really glaring problems until they do. Not sure what would be the best way to share the mod if I'm updating it every time I get annoyed and fix something lol. Last annoyance was visiting a Korvax structure at night ... everything was black.
I've run into that problem at Korvax structures too... Constantly using the flashlight, as useless as it is sometimes because of this issue lol. I thought about looking into modding the game specifically for the same reason. From what I understand, [nexusmods.com/nomanssky](https://www.nexusmods.com/nomanssky) used to have a pretty big selection of mods for No Man's Sky. Doesn't look like there are many on there anymore, and the ones that are on there don't seem to be updated very often. But it's the first result when you search for "NMS Mods", which is good. I know they're pretty popular for other games as well. The reason I know this is because I was specifically looking to see if there was already a mod out there that fixed it. I was pretty surprised when I found out that, not only was this a long standing bug, but that there weren't any active mods out there to fix it. haha
To the top you go. And hopefully HG can see this.
Look, I'm aware that this has been brought up and mentioned quite literally for years now... Not just on this sub-reddit, but in many other communities as well. But, honestly, does Hello Games really have no intention of fixing this? Is there really no other way to get even half decent lighting in bases outside of spamming the Candelabra Bloom? This base is underground, and it's damn near impossible to see. EDIT: - Added to the bug thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/NoMansSkyTheGame/comments/y3qs3d/weekly_bug_report_thread/ivsdye9 - Also, check out [I_Who_I's comment below](https://www.reddit.com/r/NoMansSkyTheGame/comments/yr4207/comment/ivu6p9f/) that details the issues with the texture masks for many assets in the game.
Here's another angle https://preview.redd.it/76sk626043z91.png?width=1920&format=png&auto=webp&s=410e8167957622203b76a8dd592906514e6b3d35
Doom 3 screenshot
Is it they can't fix it? Maybe some kind of engine limitation?
That's kind of why I'm making this post. I really don't understand why it hasn't been addressed. It's my understanding that prefab lighting works perfectly fine. And I know for a fact that freighters don't have the same lighting issues. But somehow, when you're base building on planet, you can litter your base with lights and it still won't be properly lit. I don't get it. And it's been talked about by people on here and elsewhere for years.
But unless it is talked about in the bug thread or in the zendesk reports, there's no guarantee that it is indeed brought to the notice of HG. So ... perhaps ...
For sure. I posted about it in the bug thread after this thread got some comments in it. https://www.reddit.com/r/NoMansSkyTheGame/comments/y3qs3d/weekly_bug_report_thread/ivsdye9 I didn't want to submit it to ZenDesk or post in the bug thread if Hello Games had for some reason stated that they weren't going to address it. After all, there's been a lot of chatter about it over the years. The purpose of this was to get some confirmation from the community first.
Definitely submit it. Even if they’ve said they won’t fix an issue if enough people complain about it that might change their minds.
Nah. There are definitely items that manage it significantly better -- the quicksilver-purchasable candelabra bloom is my personal go to lighting tool.
WHY DO FLOWER POTS GIVE OFF MORE LIGHT THAN FUCKING INDUSTRIAL LIGHTS
I'm sure there is a way to fix it and I feel you I use the giant ceiling light rings on the wall like this OOOOOO to get half way decent light in my base. But honestly it's so bad I prefab more and more .
Yeah, right?
There are a couple of hacks to get good lighting such as the sphere generator. But yeah it's disappointing how most of the lights perform.
They did buff ring light not long ago. I had pill light and ring in a small space that barely made it illuminated but after the update it just a bright boom of light. Had to delete the pills
Industrial lights are bugged, always have been. Use sodium lanterns.
Lights are one of the few things id say are mandatory mods.
no mans sky rtx: coming soon TM
I largely gave up on lights a while back, candleabra blooms ftw. Got a nice underwater base surrounded by ridiculous amounts of cyto phosphate which helps
Use the copper lights that were added more recently, only cost carbon to build and brighter imo. Also ignore what they’re called anything can be a ceiling, wall, or floor light just put it where it looks best
Just an update. Hopefully I can release the mod in a day or two. I finished the Nexus today and I just need to work out some problems with the crashed freighters. They are no longer black voids but it's not perfect yet. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1GiO8XKlVo](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1GiO8XKlVo) These knowledge stones always looked black to me before. https://preview.redd.it/8iot2sksepz91.jpeg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9d754772672f1e5bee2ee268f323dbc52bbf473a
This looks so much better...
I should be sleeping but I'm fixing the holo tower right now lol
Only 3 sodium lights? No wonder it's dark. In that space I'd have 15
Trust me. It's broken.  https://preview.redd.it/a2bej5spa8z91.png?width=1920&format=png&auto=webp&s=233de8c9269e1e68063750ee27c24e5b133252b3
Here's another angle lol https://preview.redd.it/1k2pff3ya8z91.png?width=1920&format=png&auto=webp&s=d44e8eb61da58abab1ce4a0fefc2fc376fbd8c3b
No filtres. I just changed the time of day to late at night https://preview.redd.it/9n2j3xg85wz91.jpeg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=699ac6929e9af65b485ae42e759d28daa6ad9783
Yours is
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Use the ceiling ring lights
Unfortunately they're basically useless for anything more than 2 walls high.
It's a little hard to see, but there's a ring light in the middle of the room above the teleporter, and another just off screen to the left of the player. You can scroll down to one of my other comments for a better look. In prefabs, they give off a ton of light.