Is a Wall Mounted Light not supposed to be bright?

[Furio]

It appears to be a bit dark

https://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198021298408/screenshot/2306469907103775434/

The description promises "wide illumination"

[КрендельФигов]

To be honest, your screenshot is so dark that i can’t see anything at all.
If you are talking about this lamp, then it doesn’t shine well on the wall. It shines well when directed from top to bottom.
https://icarus.fandom.com/wiki/Basic_Wall_Light

But this one shines better if you hang it on the ceiling.
https://icarus.fandom.com/wiki/Basic_Ceiling_Light

[Zero]

Wall lights/torches are terrible in this game to illuminate anything close to them, but they light stuff pretty farther away.
Similar to how the flashlight kind of sucks and you're better off with the lantern (lights a large area around you). If you want to light things in front of you, go for the lamp and avoid wasting ressources on the flash light (the flash light in your L slot really sucks).

Comparing ceiling vs wall lights, i'd recommend ceiling lights to light up the inside of your base, though the cables will require a LOT of work to hide the disgusting ugly mess they always create (and avoid messing up too much as erasing cables is a pain)

[Furio]

Well, the point of the dark screenshot is to illustrate that it doesn't really light up its surroundings :)

I'll see if I get more out of the Ceiling Light. Thanks.

[Zero]

Originally posted by Furio:

Well, the point of the dark screenshot is to illustrate that it doesn't really light up its surroundings :)

I'll see if I get more out of the Ceiling Light. Thanks.

Yeah, the point came across pretty well (for me at least), having a light so dark just because you are close to it is hilarious ;)

[ChaosSound]

I found the wall mounted ones were pretty ♥♥♥♥♥♥, I use either the ceiling mounted or the omni-directional lamps. Or I use the wall torches which are really good for some reason.

[Furio]

Originally posted by ChaosSound:

Or I use the wall torches which are really good for some reason.

Indeed. I've also been a fan of those (and braziers) for indoor use. I don't like to use them outdoors since they go out when there's a storm. But the light they give is great.

[Rekal]

The wall lights are by no means bright, but they can still light up a room if there's actually reflective stuff to light up. Remember you can't see light lighting up a room unless it bounces off something reflective in the room. Some building pieces are less reflective than others.

From your picture you're on Prometheus which has a perpetual haze that changes lighting to a more purple dimmer sheen. Then you have a storm occurring in the yellow medium phase which also changes the lighting to dimmer grey. And finally you're at nearly midnight which also effects the lighting by absorbing any incidental ambient light. Pretty much every effect possible to dim your lighting except being in a cave.

The only thing we can see in the picture is the reflection (cause the light is working) off your Chad Firewacker, out your steel barred window, and some bush off to the right. So changing to a different light source still may not brighten things up the way you would like in that situation.

My suggestions - Interior wood floors are much brighter reflecting than any of the other building pieces in my experience. They almost glow by themselves, but stick a light source on them and they are great. The walls of the building need to weather the storm, the floor inside does not.

Standing torches are probably the cheapest, easiest to make and fit in place light sources in the game. Their footprint is so small they can fit between lengths of railings. There's little chance of setting yourself on fire with them, even standing directly next to one. Only if you some how manage to land on top of one. Throw in 50 coal and the torch will burn for more than 3 days of play time.

Electric lights do better in smaller rooms where their light will reach the opposite walls or from the ceiling to the floor. Keep them up toward the top of the wall so any shadows fall to the ground. The wall lights can be placed on the ceiling if you want to try that - or at the very least it was the support beams run horizontal that they will attach to the bottom of.

[WillePlay]

Next Tier LED's Please

[Furio]

Originally posted by Rekal:

From your picture you're on Prometheus which has a perpetual haze that changes lighting to a more purple dimmer sheen. Then you have a storm occurring in the yellow medium phase which also changes the lighting to dimmer grey. And finally you're at nearly midnight which also effects the lighting by absorbing any incidental ambient light. Pretty much every effect possible to dim your lighting except being in a cave.

The only thing we can see in the picture is the reflection (cause the light is working) off your Chad Firewacker, out your steel barred window, and some bush off to the right. So changing to a different light source still may not brighten things up the way you would like in that situation.

Amazing observation :) (Except that it's not a bush to the right. It's an Oxite cluster lamp. - same shot, in daylight here

https://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198021298408/screenshot/2306469988453841329/

Yes, the conditions were proper for darkness. But, unlike light, darkness can't be "intense". When you produce light it should displace darkness regardless of the conditions that created it.

Darkness itself is not a problem as such. I was just a bit disappointed that the "highest tier lamp" produced so little light. But I'll just regard it as building pieces for home design.

Thanks for the tips. I'll try different floors.

[Furio]

Some really good answers in this thread. Cleared things up a lot for me.

It appears the wall mounted lamp must hit a close surface to actually produce light. It also produce light in a "cone" shape, which is why there's not any light around the lamp itself.

So it's usable as a spotlight. This is how it looks when it's angled and actually points to a floor and not straight into a room.

https://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198021298408/screenshot/2306469988453895787/

[Rekal]

Originally posted by Furio:

Yes, the conditions were proper for darkness. But, unlike light, darkness can't be "intense". When you produce light it should displace darkness regardless of the conditions that created it.

Ah there you're trying to apply real physics to the game's simulation of physics. Like I said, those different conditions that were in effect kind of sap the light out of everything so you were witnessing the light at the weakest the game could make it. Changing to a different light won't change that.

I see the effect most often when I'm in a cave during a storm. Normally the lantern casts off a nice wide glow but as soon as the wind starts howling outside the lantern somehow seems dimmer and the light doesn't reach as far. There's no reason that matches with physical reality that would cause it. It's only because the game settings say the darkness needs to win a bit harder.

Like I said, Prometheus has a general purple haze that does this to lights, storms have an effect too, and finally the night has an effect as well. There's no realistic reason that blue gas giant in the sky wouldn't light up Icarus 10 times brighter than the Earth's moon does but dark nights are more atmospheric.

[Tanyon]

Was also underwhelmed with wall lights.. thankfully ceiling lights seem to be really efficient as long as your roof isn't more then 2 blocks high.. then it might be a bit dim but I'm sure you could just add more.

[superman30528]

Just to add my 2 cents worth...... The wall light STINKS & is not worth anything, let alone the resources to craft them!

[Youch!]

Sadly you have to buy the Art Deco DLC to get useful lights. The Art deco chandelier and wall lamp both give off good light. Oddly enough the single element wall light gives nearly as much light as the chandelier.