At night - a way for it to be darker, but not darker?

[zanzibar]

It would be nice if at night, the sky was almost pitch black.  The problem though is that no one could see where they\'re going.


Would it be possible for the sky to be pitch black, but for objects (terrain, character models) to still be lit in a blue light?  So basically, the sky looks darker at night, but everything else looks the same?


I think this would satisfy both ends of the equation... being able to see, versus having a night which looks very much like night.  I know that it adds another layer of complexity to things though - having the sky lit differently than everything else.

[Belark]

A similar thread has been around, concerning night. Read through the thread and you might find the answer;)

This thread you know!?

[zanzibar]

Originally posted by Belark
A similar thread has been around, concerning night. Read through the thread and you might find the answer;)

This thread you know!?

I know that thread.  That thread delt more with functional aspects - the location and availability of NPCs and quests etc.  My thread is merely about one aspect of the aesthetics of day versus night in PS.  To my memory, this suggestion was not made in that earlier thread.  Since they\'re distinct from one another, I thought a new thread wouldn\'t be inapropriate.


Edit:  And for the record, many of the things that were said in that thread were things that I poked at months ago anyway.

[Belark]

Haha, ok. Just checking. guess you got it all under control as always. Just thought you\'d gone a bit haywire since i didn\'t understand how it could differ from the other thread.
/me gives Zanzibar a cookie

[Wired_Crawler]

One of possibilities gives the following effect:
Day
Night

I\'m sure there are (or will be) better ways though.
On the other hand - nights SHOULD be dark (not only sky), and in the future we will be equipped with torches, lanterns, magical balls of light etc... (eh... wishes...)

[Karyuu]

Dark nights would be absolutely awesome. In the Night screenshot Wired_Crawler posted however, the land itself still looks like it\'s glowing from within, and it\'s a rather odd effect. Though other games have done it as well, I suppose:



<3 Ryzom

Things are very dark in the wilderness - go camping somewhere and wander away from the fires for a bit. Pitchblack, with only the starlight and moonlight. This will be frustrating for any in-game environment however, so no-go. Why not have a sort of light command that lights up the area around your character just a bit, in a small radius? This can be activated or deactivated at will, and only the light around your character shows up - so everyone else sneaks up in darkness, as you are to them. Example

I kinda liked the system.

[zanzibar]

Originally posted by Karyuu
Dark nights would be absolutely awesome. In the Night screenshot Wired_Crawler posted however, the land itself still looks like it\'s glowing from within, and it\'s a rather odd effect.

I agree... I think that it can work though, if the \"glowing from within\" is more of a dark grey-blue colour that still shows the shading of objects and slopes.


If torches were in the game, then yeah.... maybe things could be pitch black.  Who knows how far off into the future that will be though?  To my understanding, there\'s some fancy code surrounding light sources associated with movable objects.

[defender43]

Originally posted by Karyuu
Things are very dark in the wilderness - go camping somewhere and wander away from the fires for a bit. Pitchblack, with only the starlight and moonlight. This will be frustrating for any in-game environment however, so no-go. Why not have a sort of light command that lights up the area around your character just a bit, in a small radius? This can be activated or deactivated at will, and only the light around your character shows up - so everyone else sneaks up in darkness, as you are to them. Example

I kinda liked the system.

Shouldn\'t nights be absolutely PITCH black in Yliakum? No stars, no moon. A cave. You get it.

And you can\'t roleplay and do stuff at night at the same time, unless you are a rogue or hunting a nocturnal beast.

[Karyuu]

They should be, technically, but look at how many complaints we\'re getting already about maps being dark and people not being able to see anything :P Turning bugs into features isn\'t the usual procedure. Players have to be able to see things around them, that\'s definite - no one should have to strain their eyes more than absolutely necessary in an in-game night, so some sort of soft ambience rising from the land as Zanzibar suggested or... or you know, just torches. Heck, people shouldn\'t go outside without torches unless they\'ve Nightvision anyway.

I\'ve lost my train of thought \\o/

[Baldur]

Well, the stars could always be \"small\" crystals, acting like the \"sun\" but the opposite way: Recharging in the day, glowing in the night.

The nights should be a bit like WoW. You have a grey ground, emanating little light. Maybe a greyscale.

[Arka]

Patches of phospherescent lichens on the roof of the cave  would look like star clusters - maybe different colours?