Red Engine Does Dawn and Dusk Lighting Weird

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This isn't exactly a Cyberpunk specific issue and i'm suspecting its more of an issue with the way the Red Engine handles outdoor lights. I've noticed in the Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk 2077 that around the time when the sun is rising or setting that its unrealistically bright at certain hours.

For instance, this screen cap was taken at 5am in game world time. I try to avoid it in real life, but I've been up at 5am before and its never been this sunny out. No matter what time of the year it is. This is what I would expect at 7 or 8am.
5am.jpg


The other end of the day/night cycle is just the same. This was taken at 8:42pm game world time. Unless this whole game takes place during the 1 day of the Summer solstice when the sun sets at 8:30pm this feels very bright for the time it is. I even made sure to get away from the city to avoid any city lights artificially brightening up the shot. This looks more like 7-7:42 to me.
842pm.jpg



Ultimately not the biggest issue, but I do get thrown off some times with what time it is in the game even though it really doesn't matter in terms of play. Its more of an immersion thing.

As I mentioned earlier I noticed this same issue in the Witcher 3 where it would be really bright for a time of day that should not be that bright.
 
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This isn't exactly a Cyberpunk specific issue and i'm suspecting its more of an issue with the way the Red Engine handles outdoor lights. I've noticed in the Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk 2077 that around the time when the sun is rising or setting that its unrealistically bright at certain hours.

For instance, this screen cap was taken at 5am in game world time. I try to avoid it in real life, but I've been up at 5am before and its never been this sunny out. No matter what time of the year it is. This is what I would expect at 7 or 8am.
View attachment 11214565

The other end of the day/night cycle is just the same. This was taken at 8:42pm game world time. Unless this whole game takes place during the 1 day of the Summer solstice when the sun sets at 8:30pm this feels very bright for the time it is. I even made sure to get away from the city to avoid any city lights artificially brightening up the shot. This looks more like 7-7:42 to me.
View attachment 11214568


Ultimately not the biggest issue, but I do get thrown off some times with what time it is in the game even though it ultimately doesn't matter in terms of play. Its more of an immersion thing.

As I mentioned earlier I noticed this same issue in the Witcher 3 where it would be really bright for a time of day that should not be that bright.
Doesn't it depend where you are and the time of year?
 
Doesn't it depend where you are and the time of year?
Yes and no, but we know the game takes place in what is/was Los Angeles and its surrounding area. The positioning of the sun is not that drasticly different in Los Angeles compared to where I live in the US. Regardless of where I live or the time of year it is in the game, it just doesnt look right to me.
 
You could try running gamma +12 or a double dose at +25. To make the game much darker. Though the bloom is going to do that when combined with the eye adaptation, or just bloom in general. If you wanted to just run a clean render of it you would need the configurator mod @ Nexus or any one of many mods that deal with that specifically.
 
Red Engine's lighting took a nosedive after TW2. It's not only inconsistent in quality - making some times of day look bland and washed out, there's very little variety to their time of day depiction. So 7:30 AM looks more or less like 2:00 pm. 8:00 pm looks like 12:00 am, etc. There's a reason one of the most popular type of mods for TW3 are lighting mods.
 
Yes and no, but we know the game takes place in what is/was Los Angeles and its surrounding area. The positioning of the sun is not that drasticly different in Los Angeles compared to where I live in the US. Regardless of where I live or the time of year it is in the game, it just doesnt look right to me.
So if you take literally this weekend (so not yet the longest days of the year) in LA, sunrise is 6ish, sunset 1940ish, so I dont think the game is actually that far out? (your screenshot shows 5.47am)

In fact, having looked that up I suspect they've modelled it on real world sunrise and sunset times. I've never been to LA in summer but the lighting looks pretty correct for a bright summer country like Italy (where I've lived). LA is further south so would get shorter sunsets.
 
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So if you take literally this weekend (so not yet the longest days of the year) in LA, sunrise is 6ish, sunset 1940ish, so I dont think the game is actually that far out? (your screenshot shows 5.47am)

In fact, having looked that up I suspect they've modelled it on real world sunrise and sunset times. I've never been to LA in summer but the lighting looks pretty correct for a bright summer country like Italy (where I've lived). LA is further south so would get shorter sunsets.
I did a test using some 3d and lighting software that lets you use real world locations, time of day, and time of the year to get accurate sun positions and lighting. Its often used for architectural renders which often use real world settings. I set the location to Los Angeles on June 21st 2021 at 5:40am, so the longest day of the year and even without taking into account the bloom on the sun and the reflectivity of surrounding surfaces its still too bright. Even the color of the sky is very blue for that time of day.

Notice the color of the sky and the intensity of the light.
530AM.jpg


I also did a test for 8:40pm and I couldn't even get a render worth saving out of it because it was so dark. The sun is below the horizon at that point and nothing would show without going into ludicrous numbers with the camera settings.

I'm all for blasting out some colors and getting hot spots if that's the feeling you're going for whether its in the desert or a sidewalk during mid-day but it lacks contrast from what the light is doing at 5am vs 12pm. Now you could argue some of it is a choice of artistic direction, but it seems the wee hours of the morning and the feeling that goes with it is either very short or non existent with the way the Red Engine does things.
 
I did a test using some 3d and lighting software that lets you use real world locations, time of day, and time of the year to get accurate sun positions and lighting. Its often used for architectural renders which often use real world settings. I set the location to Los Angeles on June 21st 2021 at 5:40am, so the longest day of the year and even without taking into account the bloom on the sun and the reflectivity of surrounding surfaces its still too bright. Even the color of the sky is very blue for that time of day.

Notice the color of the sky and the intensity of the light.
View attachment 11214901

I also did a test for 8:40pm and I couldn't even get a render worth saving out of it because it was so dark. The sun is below the horizon at that point and nothing would show without going into ludicrous numbers with the camera settings.

I'm all for blasting out some colors and getting hot spots if that's the feeling you're going for whether its in the desert or a sidewalk during mid-day but it lacks contrast from what the light is doing at 5am vs 12pm. Now you could argue some of it is a choice of artistic direction, but it seems the wee hours of the morning and the feeling that goes with it is either very short or non existent with the way the Red Engine does things.

When you're staring into the sun??

To state the obvious re night, if it was pitch black the game would be unplayable outside the city. It's possible our graphics settings differ because there are very clear differences in light for me as the day progresses, weather permitting. Middle of the day is flat and stark with cold light (direct overhead sun is in colour temperature pretty blue), early mornings long shadows and a subdued slightly yellow look mostly, sunsets the traditional long shadows and golden light.

I can't remember what setting is that amps up lens flare -- possibly screen reflections -- but it does increase blooming at light sources.
 
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I'm not an expert but i noticed somes details who could influence the perception :)

On my poor XBSX, all the lighting are particularly bright. Yes, at 5:30, when the sun rise, if you are in area affected by the sun, it seem too bright. But if you are in "shadow" area, it's seem relatively normal (for a sunrise at 5:30).
On PC with all graphic options activated (like Ray Tracing), i'm sure it will seem much more "natural" than me. Just on the screenshots I see it's "day and night" compared to mines :)

And for the schedules, no need to take it into account. If you are in Cape Town, Singapore or in Oslo, it will be exactly the other way around ;)
 
When you're staring into the sun??

To state the obvious re night, if it was pitch black the game would be unplayable outside the city. It's possible our graphics settings differ because there are very clear differences in light for me as the day progresses, weather permitting. Middle of the day is flat and stark with cold light (direct overhead sun is in colour temperature pretty blue), early mornings long shadows and a subdued slightly yellow look mostly, sunsets the traditional long shadows and golden light.

I can't remember what setting is that amps up lens flare -- possibly screen reflections -- but it does increase blooming at light sources.
Its not my graphics settings that's effecting it. Im not talking about the entire 24 hour cycle of Red Engine either, im just talking about certain times of the day/night cycle. The flare, bloom, light bleed is exaggerated in this game and while that's likely because of an artistic choice I think it takes away from the feeling various times of the day have. Of course it wouldn't make sense for everything to be pitch black to the point you couldn't see but other games do night time in a way that feels more believable for the time of night its supposed to be.
 
I agree, at 4am there's already sun light, feels like peak of the summer at all times. I'd like to see longer nights, Winter like and more rainy days.
 
Its not my graphics settings that's effecting it. Im not talking about the entire 24 hour cycle of Red Engine either, im just talking about certain times of the day/night cycle. The flare, bloom, light bleed is exaggerated in this game and while that's likely because of an artistic choice I think it takes away from the feeling various times of the day have. Of course it wouldn't make sense for everything to be pitch black to the point you couldn't see but other games do night time in a way that feels more believable for the time of night its supposed to be.
I think I know what you mean. Yes, it's definitely not aiming for naturalism in the time of day lighting and there are definite artistic choices in colour palette / colour toning. The idea seems to be a more cinematic approach to daylight.
 
I always though that nighttime seemed a bit lighter than I expected it would. But then again we live in a neon city.
I can agree it may be a bit lighter than one would expect, but its so neglieble that I hardly find it an issue.
 
This is something I've noticed, too...sunrise happens way too early, and both dawn and dusk look bright as high noon.
It's very, very strange.

And to those saying to adjust the gamma, it won't help; the sky itself--the map on the skybox--is clearly showing the sun being up at the wrong time.

Is this possibly an issue with being made in Poland rather than SoCal...?
Me, I live in San Diego, and it doesn't get very light out until about 7am; what time is sunrise in Poland, usually?
 
This is something I've noticed, too...sunrise happens way too early, and both dawn and dusk look bright as high noon.
It's very, very strange.

And to those saying to adjust the gamma, it won't help; the sky itself--the map on the skybox--is clearly showing the sun being up at the wrong time.

Is this possibly an issue with being made in Poland rather than SoCal...?
Me, I live in San Diego, and it doesn't get very light out until about 7am; what time is sunrise in Poland, usually?
In France (approximately at the same latitude), in summer, sunrise nearby 5h30 and sunset nearby 22h00. So me, I don't see anything strange in there :)
(if you go to Oslo, in summer, no night)
 
In France (approximately at the same latitude), in summer, sunrise nearby 5h30 and sunset nearby 22h00. So me, I don't see anything strange in there :)
(if you go to Oslo, in summer, no night)
Sunrise in San Diego is 5:55 right now, but it doesn't really get light out until just before 7.
Sunset is 19:35.
 
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