Better lighting in MSFS now?

[F737MAX 5,639]

15 minutes ago, SAS443 said:

Not to be a devils advocate (context which forum this is). But XP12 has at times extremely believable "atmosphere", just as MSFS.

The XP12 colors are natural (neutral even?), While MSFS has this greenish tint

Correct.

I use Nvidia FreeStyle and ReShade to balance out MSFS' colours, tint and contrast to get a more realistic image (IMO).

Also, while I'm never going to use XP12, IMO, it can look very good. So I'm not sure why the need for my-sim-is-better-than-your-sim silliness.

 

[Krakin 5,781]

1 hour ago, Flightsky said:

If some of the people here at Avsim frequent the flightsim subreddit at Reddit, people frequently post pictures comparing MSFS pictures to real life pictures in that subreddit. Here is an example of such a picture comparing MSFS to real life from a thread there:

There are giveaways that this picture is not real life, but for most people, with a casual glance, it's not obvious. People post pictures of MSFS, comparing the pictures to real life, all the time in the flightsim subreddit. Few, if any people, will try to post the same pictures comparing XP 12 to real life pictures in that subreddit, because they will probably get laughed at for posting such pictures.

That's how good MSFS lighting is compared to XP 12 lighting. It's not even close.

 

 

You actually make a good point because we've seen a ton of these in Facebook groups too. Those, "Is it real or MSFS?" posts lol

 

26 minutes ago, SAS443 said:

Not to be a devils advocate (context which forum this is). But XP12 has at times extremely believable "atmosphere", just as MSFS.

The XP12 colors are natural (neutral even?), While MSFS has this greenish tint, or at least did have. There are plenty of nvidia freestyle presets out there which corrects this (YMMV). 

But in all honesty, accusing XP12 for having inferior colors, I simply don't agree with it. It's a very balanced palette imho. However the interior lighting (cockpits are usually way too dark, even in clear daylight) needs some work. Right now it's sort of mimicking the exposure behavior of my GoPro mounted in the cockpit (which is incorrect vs human eye, even while inverted)

This pic, like most of the examples used almost always involve an overcast environment. There's less light interacting with the environment so a lot of the detail is lost. Most games look better in overcast conditions for this very reason. But in the pic you've posted, the way light interacts with the clouds is the biggest giveaway. Reminds me of the opening of The Simpsons a lot.

[SAS443 1,727]

1 hour ago, Krakin said:

But in the pic you've posted, the way light interacts with the clouds is the biggest giveaway. Reminds me of the opening of The Simpsons a lot.

Not sure I understand. Biggest giveaway of what? X-plane?  That's not a screenshot from XP12. It's literally a real photo taken by my GoPro.

[Bobsk8 12,761]

5 hours ago, SAS443 said:

Not to be a devils advocate (context which forum this is). But XP12 has at times extremely believable "atmosphere", just as MSFS.

The XP12 colors are natural (neutral even?), While MSFS has this greenish tint, or at least did have. There are plenty of nvidia freestyle presets out there which corrects this (YMMV). 

But in all honesty, accusing XP12 for having inferior colors, I simply don't agree with it. It's a very balanced palette imho. However the interior lighting (cockpits are usually way too dark, even in clear daylight) needs some work. Right now it's sort of mimicking the exposure behavior of my GoPro mounted in the cockpit (which is incorrect vs human eye, even while inverted)

All the colors in the world wont make the fake looking scenery look anywhere near immersive. 

[robb13 22]

As a recent user of MSFS... (took a break from FSX for 3-4 yrs and came back in on MSFS), I dont like how MS has kept the rural highways at night looking like well-lit freeways. I would have thought it would be easy to associate roadways with scenery classifications and de-light roads out in the countryside, other than for occassional headlights.. Having every road lit up like a Christmas tree makes flying by IFR a bit redundant. Not having flown a lot in daylight hours, I cant comment on atmospheric subtletles etc.

[SierraDelta 1,346]

46 minutes ago, Bobsk8 said:

All the colors in the world wont make the fake looking scenery look anywhere near immersive. 

Bob,

That's a real photo from SAS443's GoPro - see post just above yours.

[Bobsk8 12,761]

20 minutes ago, SierraDelta said:

Bob,

That's a real photo from SAS443's GoPro - see post just above yours.

I know that, my comment was addressing the content of the post I quoted, not the photo. 

[captain420 3,099]

I prefer MSFS's night lighting, but they still have room for improvement. Especially with airport lighting and the default AI exterior lights definitely needs reworking. Those terrible square looking light's are a true eye sore and stand out like a sore thumb.

[DD_Arthur 1,068]

5 hours ago, robb13 said:

 I dont like how MS has kept the rural highways at night looking like well-lit freeways. I would have thought it would be easy to associate roadways with scenery classifications and de-light roads out in the countryside, other than for occassional headlights.. Having every road lit up like a Christmas tree makes flying by IFR a bit redundant.

Couldn’t agree more. It’s absurd and was made like this around SU3 iirc in the name of ‘realism’!

 

[Tuskin38 6,539]

Street lighting in the sim is based off population density. That was a change they made in an early sim update. Whatever that means, I guess places with less population have less lit roads?

Not sure how it was before, I'm guessing lights were uniform across the planet. I honestly didn't notice, or care.

Edited June 4, 2023 by Tuskin38

[Bobsk8 12,761]

25 minutes ago, Tuskin38 said:

Street lighting in the sim is based off population density. That was a change they made in an early sim update. Whatever that means, I guess places with less population have less lit roads?

Not sure how it was before, I'm guessing lights were uniform across the planet. I honestly didn't notice, or care.

That is the way it is in the real world.

 

[DD_Arthur 1,068]

4 hours ago, Tuskin38 said:

Street lighting in the sim is based off population density. That was a change they made in an early sim update. Whatever that means, I guess places with less population have less lit roads?

Not sure how it was before, I'm guessing lights were uniform across the planet. I honestly didn't notice, or care.

 

3 hours ago, Bobsk8 said:

That is the way it is in the real world.

Street lighting is based on population density?  That was their reason?  If so then thats a bizarre rule of thumb which bares no resemblance to any sort of reality.  

This is above the area where I live at @1 a.m. this morning, live weather.   

  All those strings of pearls drifting off into the distance, all that road lighting; none of it actually exists. Interchanges on our motorway network and  interchanges on some major road are lit at night but...thats it. Our roads are simply dark.,,,like most of the rest of Europe and I suspect most of North America too.  

I won't bother to complain that in the UK around eighty percent of all street lighting is turned off between midnight and 6 a.m. Nevertheless. what Asobo has given us is a figment of it's imagination.

[Noel 4,508]

1 hour ago, DD_Arthur said:

...Nevertheless. what Asobo has given us is a figment of it's imagination.

Poetic License?  Were they trying to make it more interesting to look at?   Doesn't sound real difficult to fix I wonder what was behind that to put lighting on long thoroughfares.  Some of it exists of course on the way in and out of metro areas but after that it dies down bigtime I agree.

[mrueedi 702]

Imho, even as somebody who does not miss anything in the MSFS camp, I can admit that the lighting in XP12 looks good enough that it is a matter of personal taste which one somebody prefers.

[Krakin 5,781]

12 hours ago, DD_Arthur said:

Nevertheless. what Asobo has given us is a figment of it's imagination.

How easy would it be for them to know which lights to keep on and which to turn off? It would be far easier for them to say, If road, lights on, as opposed to getting more granular about light placement. I guess there may be data out there but still, it might not be easy for them to implement. What they really need to do before anything else is get rid of those horrible orbs!. They suck and take away from the immersion. I'll take the fps hit for all of them to be converted into proper lamp poles that are only visible directly when viewed at low angles.

On a side note, it's crazy how MSFS seems to know the correct color of lights in the corresponding positions. Aside from stadiums and playing fields, it knows where white or amber lights are in use. The oil storage facility and the community college where I live mostly use white lights and that is represented in the sim! Anyone else noticed this?

On 6/4/2023 at 4:55 AM, SAS443 said:

Not sure I understand. Biggest giveaway of what? X-plane?  That's not a screenshot from XP12. It's literally a real photo taken by my GoPro.

Note the time. Drowsy attempt at making a joke about pretending your pic was from X-Plane lol