I was having the same issue with the previous version of the lighting system that is in the scriptorium so I removed it - the insides of my houses were pitch black no matter how many windows I put in and I had even double checked to make sure that my lighting was set to high.

Thanks baggy..

woah....everythings alot darker and more....realistic. But yup...maxis lights dont give off alot of light. But i love the way it makes right radiate around and the way light comes through the windows to the outside. Although that line around the lot bugs me. Its gonna take som time to get used to.

Very dramatic!

One little question though:

What happens when apartment life comes out? Will this be updated or will it be fine using it like this or should i uninstall it before installing AL?

Thanks

Maxis bug:
I’ve noticed that all OFB wall lights are not using their own diffusion lighting source. Instead, they’re some other light object, which I have no idea what it is at the moment. For now they all will have a soft white light coming from them.

@Numenor
Yes, I think it’s great to include it in the Scriptorium.

The shaders will work whether or not you have Nightlife and with useshaders true or false. It should work with any combination of EP/SP including just the base game. I find that the waves don't move sometimes with it on false. Using this with seasons will overwrite its pool shader. Although, It can be used with if your useshaders is false.

EDIT: I noticed that I've said that it can be used with only nightlife in the description. Its been changed

@HystericalParoxysm
Ok, I’ll be looking into those outside lights. Thanks.

@Zither
I don’t know why this would happen. This accrues usually when your lighting and shadow settings are not on high. It could also be video card related.

@baggycast
I’ll see if I can do something about that.

@middlemore16
This will be updated when AL is released. You don’t have to uninstall it before installing AL.

oh ok...but whilst building the rooms are pitch black/really dark. Is there any chance this could be changed so we can see where to place our windows clearly?

I installed this mod, and I noticed something weird with my sims. I made a sim in CAS, and I kept getting dark flickers on her face that made her face look dirty. I tried using all different skintones and makeup, and the same effect happened with every sim. Then when I played the sim, there were still really dark shadows on her face, but they weren't moving on her face on the lot. What happened?

DDDDDUUUUUUDDDEEEE!!!!!!!!

This is INCREDIBLE!

I'm pretty sad because this mod doesn't seem to work for me. I've extracted all of the lights folders into the right EP/SP folders. I have also extracted the userStarup cheat file into the Documents Sims 2 Config folder. I have all EPs, as well as H&M. Could you help me get it working? Please.

Guys like GunMod and dDefinder and Numenor should seriously get jobs with Maxis. This stuff is incredible.

One thing I absolutely LOVE about this mod is the way the outdoor flood lights actually work how they're supposed to! In the screencap there you can see the red lines where the floodlights hit Huge Bill, and the blue lines where they hit the Breadfruit Tree in the background. Previously when I tried to light something big like this up I could light up the knees and not much else no matter how far back I put the light. And the other thing that shocked me is how this mod stops the light from shining BEHIND the light when its pointed in a given direction. Before now it had a normal flood effect like a table lamp but now its really realistic.



One thing I'd like to know is if you could make a mod of these lights (not a global one) so that the light's brightness and intesity stays constant (i.e., lighting up a wall on the third floor from the ground) Not that you have to but I think if you can get this done that's probably just a hop and a skip away.

I think that GunMod talked about this in his in one of the older threads he used to post to. As far as I remember, he complained about the game keeping completely separated the vertical levels, as if there was a solid floor between the levels (even when there was no floor at all).
Unless something relevant has changed about the inter-level light management, I guess this is impossible. After all, the horizontal light propagation (e.g. the light flowing through an open arch) relies on light portals; but there is no vertical light portal, afaik; and therefore, the light shouldn't be able to flow up to higher levels.

This is lovely, but I'm guessing my computer can't take it. It has caused the random blue loading screen that lasts 1 minute every 2 minutes. It'll do it specifically when turning on a ceiling light that contains 3+ candles/lightbulbs on it.
Is this confirmed to be a graphics card problem or something along those lines?

This looks amazing, and I'm seriously about to try it.
I was wondering what exactly the userStartup was, as I've never installed a lighting hack, and was wondering if it's completely necessary. Thanks!

Kerinauu - That is probably due specifically to the use of the useShaders cheat. Some graphics cards, especially nVidia ones, have trouble with that. Try turning it off (boolProp useShaders false) in the userstartup.cheat as recommended in the first post.

I had the same issue daydream_queen described with the faces of sims having dark flickers. It looked like they weren't getting smoothed, so each polygon side showing was being lit up separately. It went away when I removed the userstartup cheat file. I'd love to know what exactly each little cheat in there does and which specific one causes that to happen.

The windows seem to throw MORE light than is actually outside. At least, multiple windows at once will. One or two windows gives the right amount of light, but if I try to add four windows for decorative reasons, it gives about twice as much light on the objects as I'd get if I just stuck the object outside.

Basically, it looks ok on darker objects but makes any light colored objects look really washed out.

If I put lights within three or so squares of each other, it seems to do the same thing. I tested most of the cheap floor and ceiling lamps, and they do it. It doesn't seem to work with the garden/fence lamps, though, which are the only ones I can see having a reason to put that closely.

No help?

I'm having a strange glitch, during daytime and during dawn or dusk, the lights in the house are appropriate, but at night time the rooms are lit like it was dusk and also, I don't get the appropriate lightning at night time on vacation lots. Could these be because of my video card?

I tried this mod out but decided I didn't like it, so I tried to remove it. I followed the directions in the BACKUP_Maxis_lighting.zip readme, and replaced all of the files in the lights folders for each EP and SP I have. I never installed the rls shaders package so I didn't need to remove that, and then I changed the userstartupcheat file to how it had been before (I used the first method of copying and pasting into the cheat file, so to remove it I deleted the text I had pasted).
But... rooms with no windows are still pitch black. I have repeated the procedure of replacing the backup files in this download twice but the effects remain. Anyone know what might be the problem?

I was looking for my userstartup.cheat file and it doesn't seem to exist in the folder specified.

help?

@daydream_queen
Are you using a custom CAS or the default?

@Lillz.
Double check and see if the files were properly replaced. More specifically The Sims 2 folder and that you are able to run the game with lighting and shadow on high.

@RedLipGlossLies
It’s necessary, as it changes the way partial lighting is done. If it’s not there, incorrect lighting may accrue.

@EpicCheese
As what Numenor said it is a limitation with the game engine.

@Cati
I’ve seemed to have gotten the window issue sorted out and maybe for the indoor.

@baggycat
The dawn/dusk comes from the lighting.txt

@crowgirl
It’s a known issue that dawn and dusk can’t be set for vacation lots. I’m still attempting to fix this.

@gwenpan
Did you remove all files from “\The Sims 2\TSData\Res\Lights” first? As that folder contains the RLS files.

EDIT

@uchikigirl
You can move the mod's userstartup into your config folder.

Yes, I can run everything on high lighting settings and on high shadow settings. Maybe it's installed and I don't know it. But in the house I play, the lighting is still the Maxis lighting.

OMG. LOOKS SOOO GOOOOD!!
Amazing. Absolutely amazing.

thanks heaps!

Yeah, I was using the default CAS screen - I also had all my graphics settings at the maximum.

Amazing ! Thanks a lot for sharing this ! My films's became realistics with the RLS !
But... there's a little problem : if The Sims 2 Store Edition is installed, it won't works... can you add support for that game ?

The Sims 2 Store Edition comes with the EA Download Manager when download an object of the Sims 2 Store. I download two objects, and the EA Download Manager download The Sims 2 Store Edition who comes with new lights, and, of course, disabled the RLS because it's the "newest" "expansion pack".

I've read the FAQ page @ EA site and I think the "Store Edition" is just a downloader/installer (and money grabber, of course ). I may be mistaken (EA loves breaking things that we modders rely on, such as the game structure), but it shouldn't be seen as an EP...

Have you tried reinstalling the RLS *after* installing the Store Edition? Maybe the Store installer reverts some files to original, and you just need to overwrite them again with the RLS ones...

However, I'm about to post the update of the Scriptorium, containing the RLS 2.3 beta 1.3: you could try it to easily install/remove/reinstall the Radiance.


EDIT: @dDefender
I've noticed an odd behaviour of the outdoor shadows: look at the position of the shadows in the two attached screenshot (RSL and Maxis). The direction of the shadow, in the RLS, changes depending on the season (it points in the wrong direction during Fall and Spring. With the Maxis lighting system, they always point in the same direction (only the darkness of theshadow changes).

FYI: The snow texture at night doesn't seem to extend beyond the lot. It does during the day and transition times, well at least in my game. I also get "gradients" on the outside the windows at night not a big deal. Great job and your hard work is appreciated!

Thanks for your response. I wanted to let you know I think you have done great work, it's just not for me.
I replaced all of the files in the folder The Sims 2\TSData\Res\Lights with the ones included in your backup maxis lights zip, if that is what you mean. I will try again though.

Or do you mean to delete the files altogether and don't replace them with the backup files?