I then took an aerial screenshot of my map, facing straight down in a bird's eye view. I created a simple black and white version of the top down image and put together the mood board containing the more specific lighting information, displaying lighting of different elements of the map.
Following the creation of these mood boards I transferred my information into UDK. I put a roof on my playable area and began laying out the lighting using point light actors in-engine. This was to communicate and relay the information shown in the second mood board into the engine itself.
Once lit, my map looked like this;
I feel the doors, entrances to the higher level, pickups and target areas have been lit up efficiently, without the use of too many light nodes and using effective brightness in accordance with my original concept for my deathmatch map.
On 29/01/15 another peer review stage was reached, through this I was to gain feedback on my lighting. I asked three questions and had various peers answer different questions each.
My questions and their respective answers were as follows;
Q1. Can the player navigate the map with ease using the lighting, making use of all lit elements (Doors, Pickups, Upper level access etc.)? Whether yes or no, how could this be improved for an optimal end-user experience.
Answer - The lighting is well lit and by the lightmass/radius I could automatically tell it was set inside a warehouse. The guidance for pickups, etc. was clear, maybe add more lights into certain areas that are darker?
Q2. Are the interactive elements within the map lit well enough to navigate on a regular basis, without having to think about where you are going on the map? Whether yes or no, how could this be improved for an optimal end-user experience.
Answer A -The lighting is excellent and requires very little improvement. The lighting navigation is very clear through the whole level.
Answer B - Loving the placement of the lighting on the doors, not
sure how you could improve it.
Question 3. Do
you feel the map as a whole is lit enough, encompassing both upper and lower
tiers, or is it too bright or too dim? How can this be altered for the best
in-game experience?
Answer - The map as a whole is very well lit guiding the player
through what appears to be a maze like level on the first floor, In my opinion
I’d say make the lower level a little dimmer so it’s harder to navigate.
Looking at my feedback I took on board both positive and negative points made, and worked on my lighting more to fit the feedback.
As according to the feedback given for question 1 ("Maybe add more lights into certain areas that are darker?") I lit some more areas. The entrances to the upper tier of my map were lacking emphasised light of their own so I added these in, I lit both corridors dividing rooms and also the corridors to the side of the target areas so that users know that both the east and west sided rooms can be accessed from both entrances/exits. This provides navigational lighting and also helps with enemy presentation, as any AI or player coming around the corner or out of one of the main corridors will be lit sufficiently enough to be seen by any other user, with a firefight ensuing.
I have still left some areas darker however, these are left darker for spawning reasons as they are in closed areas and contain player start nodes, and lighting the area may have a negative effect on possible spawn-killing patterns. If this does not appear to introduce problems as such through testing, I will be lighting the areas in question also.
In accordance with the answer given to question 3 ("Make the lower level a little dimmer so it’s harder to navigate.") I have since lowered the brightness of all lights in the level. Some lights were at brightness values as high as 4 and 6 in comparison to the drop to around 0.50-0.75 per light.
I have not lowered the lights any further as of yet as I feel the happy with the dimness of the overall level at this stage and that taking away more light may impact the end-user experience negatively, I don't want the map to be too hard to navigate as this could be detrimental to players using certain portions of my map.
These changes can be seen comparatively between both the below screen captures.
I will continue to edit the lighting as appropriate through both this process and further stages of development as it can undoubtedly yet be improved, particularly within aesthetics and visual touches yet to be added to the map, this may include another overall drop in brightness. However at this moment in time I am happy with the lighting scheme I have and am satisfied that I have lit my level appropriately with regards the layout and have built appropriately on feedback that I have been given by my peers.
