Game is too dark with new patch

[devil_505]

With the new patch brightness is so low I can´t see anything while underwater. Even with maxmium brightness set in the options it is still too dark. I am in the first secret level and already spent all my flares and now have to use the blaster. :(

regards

[Quietman]

Yeah I am having trouble in some areas where it was somewhat lit up before and is now really dark...

[ltron]

I have the same problem in SDR with this patch, I'm glad I'm not the only one who noticed this. I compared this version to a video I made of the game with an old patch and certain areas (like under the stairs in the first level) are now pitch black to the point where I can't see anything, unlike that previous version. The brightness setting hasn't changed.

I am lucky to have an HDR TV (LG C1 48") and playing in HDR it seems fine, but something seems to be broken in SDR.

I have an RTX 3080 FE with the latest 511.23 driver.

[Cannonaire]

It seems like some lights got removed in the newest patch.

[devil_505]

I noticed a light increase in framerates with my antique 2060 Super. Hit almost anywhere 50 FPS with 1440p and 80% scaling. Before the last patch that was only possible with 1440p at 70 - 75% scaling. So maybe they removed some light sources to increase the framerate.

[dml!]

Yeah I'm not sure what they did, but areas without sunlight were already pretty dark in previous versions, so in 1.6.0 it's kind of unplayable in some locations. And that grey vignette underwater really doesn't help. Maybe they made changes to help the HDR implementation, but it's definitely hurt SDR whatever the case.

Originally posted by devil_505:

I noticed a light increase in framerates with my antique 2060 Super. Hit almost anywhere 50 FPS with 1440p and 80% scaling. Before the last patch that was only possible with 1440p at 70 - 75% scaling. So maybe they removed some light sources to increase the framerate.

That's interesting since for me on a 3070 Ti performance has definitely reduced a small amount. Running the first demo it's consistently a few frames down on 1.5.0, and when switching to dynamic resolution scaling, my percentages have dropped a little bit. I tried the different ray tracing APIs rather than leaving it on auto, but didn't gain any performance.

[devil_505]

Played Outlands today and that level is in dire need of some light sources. Half of it is pitch black and if you are unfortunate like me and fall into the water you are doomed. So many hungry fish and you can´t see them. ^^

[MASTAN]

Originally posted by devil_505:

Played Outlands today and that level is in dire need of some light sources. Half of it is pitch black and if you are unfortunate like me and fall into the water you are doomed. So many hungry fish and you can´t see them. ^^

Set different time of day - use "/" shortcut to do it quickly.

[devil_505]

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2731265949

(noon)

Is helping, but in parts of the map it is still so dark you can only see the enemy grunts because of their red light. I get lots of hits because of that.

We need a flashlight mod. ^^

[dml!]

Originally posted by devil_505:

Played Outlands today and that level is in dire need of some light sources. Half of it is pitch black and if you are unfortunate like me and fall into the water you are doomed. So many hungry fish and you can´t see them. ^^

You can help the water situation somewhat with the command pt_water_density of which the default is 0.5, and lower values will reduce the amount of water fog when under the surface (I use 0.25, but even lower values like 0.1 could be handy, though be aware that the lower the value the clearer water appears from above too). Where there's very little light it will only help so much though, as clear water doesn't help where there's nothing visible already.

[Cannonaire]

Originally posted by devil_505:

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2731265949

(noon)

Is helping, but in parts of the map it is still so dark you can only see the enemy grunts because of their red light. I get lots of hits because of that.

We need a flashlight mod. ^^

You are experiencing a bug. The sun should be out and it should be one of the most well-lit maps in the game.

[Cannonaire]

This is what the level should look like at noon.
https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/1839159157683621861/810570C161FECCAEC5570C09D2814157D98BFA93/?imw=5000&imh=5000&ima=fit&impolicy=Letterbox&imcolor=%23000000&letterbox=false

[Quietman]

It does look like this outside, it's some of the inside/water parts that are almost completely black.

[MASTAN]

That level has some areas with no direct sunlight which are pretty dark even during daytime like that tunnel before airstrike zone. OpenGL version has prebaked fake lights there.
RTX does not use fake lights so it's dark as it should. Use flare gun there.

[Cannonaire]

I usually just blast everyone with rockets, or a single BFG shot to clear it out.

[Quietman]

Originally posted by MASTAN:

That level has some areas with no direct sunlight which are pretty dark even during daytime like that tunnel before airstrike zone. OpenGL version has prebaked fake lights there.
RTX does not use fake lights so it's dark as it should. Use flare gun there.

I am aware that the game has been changed to look like this, I just don't think it's better than the original. There should be just enough light to see something...