Modding ENV and CSV files tutorial :)

[MonarchX]

Yes, I am aware of the tools, although they said on Discord the ones CDPR used to develop W3 were utter mess in 2015.

Here's what I am talking about - this fog moves in the cave, the kind of fog I wish I could care for the swamp area:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/15XRPK8cnmQqc3zBUxHUxJsKOkYBTW0Cc/view?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ByiBpzx3p82lhvucpKrzfW4dupXUiYP3/view?usp=sharing

 

[MonarchX]

I just spent hours trying to fix a bug in my mod that was not even a bug. During stormy weather, if you look up at dark cloudy stormy sky, the screen and Geralt become darker and when you move camera to look down, the screen and Geralt brighten up!

I tried vanilla and the effect was there too, but barely noticeable simply because artificial character light was always present in vanilla, making transition smoother.

WTH is this and how I disable it? I tried everything, but it is almost as if the stormy weather ENV blends in from the top, from the sky, and not all the way down, as if there are some kind of vertical borders...

 

[SigilFey]

I just spent hours trying to fix a bug in my mod that was not even a bug. During stormy weather, if you look up at dark cloudy stormy sky, the screen and Geralt become darker and when you move camera to look down, the screen and Geralt brighten up!

I tried vanilla and the effect was there too, but barely noticeable simply because artificial character light was always present in vanilla, making transition smoother.

WTH is this and how I disable it? I tried everything, but it is almost as if the stormy weather ENV blends in from the top, from the sky, and not all the way down, as if there are some kind of vertical borders...

It's called Eye Adaptation, and it's used to simulate the way the eye will transition between light and dark areas. As is the case with most things in games, it occurs far more quickly than in real life. I have no idea where it exists in the engine, but at least you know what to hunt for. (It's usually handled by manipulating either a universal gamma setting or ambient light settings.)

 

[MonarchX]

Thanks! It might be in globalLight 'Eye Blicks' parameter, but I guess it makes sense to implement it. With artificial light it is not noticeable on Geralt, only environment. If you reduce artificial light, then it becomes noticavle due to change in Geralt's skin tone and because it's a 3rd person game.

 

[MonarchX]

Holy hell, I finally figured out what makes the biggest differences between cutscene and non-cutscene lighting when it comes to dark cloudy stormy weather:

m_globalLight
- envProbeAmbientScaleLight
- envProbeBaseLightingAmbient
- envProbeBaseLightingReflection

Also these, but in a different way, not as invasive as the the ones above
- m_finalColorBalance
- m_toneMapping

Using a healthy combination of values I achieved good "cutscene=gameplay" lighting in bad weather with heavily reduced artificial light without making Geralt's face and other characters looking overly weird in cutscenes. No combination of existing lighting mods could deliver that because they would just disable the whole damn thing without looking at detail or the consequences, especially in bad weather.


I just have to tackle ssaoNV now. I can't figure out how to make it cover both distant terrain and close-up objects at the same time. It seems either one way or another...

 

[MonarchX]

OK, improved one region, but the other one got messed up. It is simply not possible to deliver accurate lighting during bad dark weathers. The lighting system in W3 is based on fake material, like sky, fake clouds, fake shadows, and particles, which, by themselves, do nothing for lighting. Almost all of lighting in W3 is artificial, with ground light sources being the only natural ones.

Unlike other games with better lighting systems, such as GTA V, Fallout 4, and even ancient Skyrim, W3 simply needed special cutscene lighting bc it could not deliver both accuracy and immersion at the same time.

This ruins the immersion for me completely and I can't enjoy the game... at all...

 

[GregorWladacz]

oh no.

 

[MonarchX]

This is really the best I can do that would make scene lighting and gameplay lighting look almost identical during stormy weather:

The first shot is pretty much inaccurate vanilla gameplay lighting that is quite fitting weather-wise, but looks awful in cutscenes. The second shot is the accurate heavily edited blended cutscene lighting that is less fitting weather-wise on a excessively staggering level, but Geralt looks way better in cutscenes.

Novigrad gameplay (drastic lighting difference):
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-sq...ew?usp=sharing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1CoF...ew?usp=sharing

White Orchard gameplay (epic-scale difference, gag-worthy):
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1cdH...ew?usp=sharing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1QM7...ew?usp=sharing

White Orchard cutscene (makes me hate the world...):
https://drive.google.com/file/d/12ZS...ew?usp=sharing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1S0-...ew?usp=sharing


If I pick gameplay-only lighting, I will think of how ugly and horrifying it will make cutscenes look during gameplay, feel doom + gloom during every cutscene, and cut every cutscene short.
If I pick heavily-edited cutscene lighting, I will think of how ugly horrifying it will make gameplay look during every cutscene, feel doom + gloom during gameplay, and just use god-mode + killall command all the time.
If I pick vanilla non-uniform transitions, then my feelings will represent a negative mix of the two statements above...


What do I do..?


EDIT: I replaced White Orchard storm weather with the one from Novigrad and it looks better for sure!

 

[GregorWladacz]

Just play it vanilla... First, but that's just my taste and my opinion, vanilla looks more fitting during bad weather than your edited lighting. Nit just during gameplay, but also during cutscenes. Brown is not more realistic than blue. Second, Gameplay > Cutscenes. You can skip cutscenes and still have some fun with gameplay. But if you use stupid commands and god mode to skip through the gameplay, that makes no sense to me. Go watch a movie instead, dont "play" a game. Just my two cents.

 

[MonarchX]

The Novigrad shot wasn't as bad as White Orchard and I changed some weathers around, made White Orchard not as bad as Novigrad. I actually think both gameplay and cutscenes are equally important, but with vanilla, I thought bad weathers look awful in both gameplay and cutscenes. This super-heavy blue fog-tint-crap during rain storms looks ridiculous. I have been in all kinds of weathers, but never one like that. The cloudy, clear, blizzard and fog weathers are acceptable, but rain storms look whacked. Vanilla White Orchard storm makes Geralt's hair shine like with some neon-white color if you reduce artificial lighting.

 

[GregorWladacz]

then.... don't reduce it? Is it possible to keep it for cutscnes/rainy weather only? ( I don't know shit about modding envs though )

 

[MonarchX]

Great idea! I will increase make slight mild rainy weather more frequent in Velen and reduce that one.

 

[dvirzigel1]

MonarchX any updates on E3 IGNI?

 

[Mishikedman]

New wlm xi is up on nexus.

 

[GregorWladacz]

Mishikedman I thought you quit working on it. Didn't you said on discord, that you are working now with Lexar to make his lighting deluxe 3 perfect? Didn't you say you really quit now? Maybe I remember it wrong. Anyways, I hope it's good

 

[Mishikedman]

You try it and judge, also there will be one more update tonight. Yes he share files with me but it is not what i tought it will be. Very large amount of problems i dont have that much time, also it is not what i serched in mod it is not gameplay friendly, it looks good in some tod and with some weathers but it is far from finish. I expected more from it.

 

[Mishikedman]

Also you know my motivation, it is to finaly play game

 

[GregorWladacz]

Yeah, to be honest, that doesn't surprise me at all. The videos looked good, but really didn't show anything at all. That's why we demanded actual gamplay with different weathers and stuff. It's good to see you back on your own mod. Maybe I will find some time and try it

 

[Mishikedman]

He achive some intersting things like one with caves, but again it have big downside, it does not look good and they have bad transitions.

 

[GregorWladacz]

I'm even more surprised. I mean, the idea is good. Still, even as a noob in modding, I know, that there will be problems with it. But balancing it should be possible nontheless, shouldn't it?