Light probes
Contents
General
Light probes are the Larian Engine's system for indirect lighting and reflections. A pre-calculated approximation to global illumination.
In short, a light probe is an object you place in the level. It looks at the surrounding lighting and objects and uses that information to calculate realistic indirect lighting.
This includes light bouncing off of objects, causing colors to carry over to nearby objects (this effect is called color bleeding).
It also provides accurate reflections of surrounding objects.
Probe Types
There are 2 types of light probes, used for different parts of the overall lighting: distant and local light probes.
Distant
Distant probes are used to account for far away lighting information: the sun and sky.
It uses the information of the surrounding atmosphere to apply an approximation of sun and sky light bouncing and color bleeding to everything in that atmosphere.
Since the probe contains atmosphere information, it applies to everything in that atmosphere. So in editor terms, you only need one distant probe per atmosphere trigger.
| For more information on atmospheres, look here: Atmosphere panel |
| More information on atmosphere triggers can be found here: Triggers |
Local
Local probes are used to simulate color bleeding and reflections related to nearby lights and objects.
Local probes only gather information within a defined area around them and thus, only apply to objects in that same area.
Contrary to distant probes, you can place as many local probes as you want. Even probes inside other probe areas are allowed.
The lighting of the smallest probes always gets priority over the lighting of a larger probe that covers the same area.
With local probes, you fine-tune illumination and reflections where the distant probe, or a larger local probe proves to be insufficient.
Usage
Light probes make a scene's lighting feel more natural.
To optimally make use of light probes, try to follow these guidelines:
- Always 1 distant probe per atmosphere. Always place one distant probe to capture far off lighting and apply it to everything in that atmosphere. This is your base layer of natural lighting.
- Folow geometry when placing local probes. Try to align the probe's influence area as closely as possible to its surrounding. F.e. shape a probe like the room the probe is in.
- Start big. Too many probes can be bad for performance. Start with the distant probe and large/rough local probes. Only place a smaller probe where necessary.
Shapes
Probe influence areas can be approximated by 2 shape types: spheres and boxes.
This only applies to local probes. Distant probes capture all information visible, without being limited within a specific area.
Lighting Types
Atmospheres
