Light Sources - Which Ones Actually Make Light

[Raevyn_Darke]

In conversations on the base building Discord channel, folks (myself included) have often wished for a list of which items produce light, since there doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to which ones do or don't. Since (to my knowledge) no such list existed, I decided to make one.  :)

 

All lights were tested in a dark area, in an above-the-base build, with indoor lighting turned on. I tested when placed normally and when buried beneath a surface (in this case, a grass plate), as well as noting any that change with day/night cycle. I basically went by whether I could discern a difference in the brightness of the area when the light was present; as such, it is possible that certain items (like desk lamps) emit very small, focused amounts of light, but not enough that I could tell. YMMV; if you have any corrections/adjustments, just let me know. :)

 

Items are listed in the order they appear in the base builder (...as much as it pains me to leave them disorganized...).  ;)

 

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Makes	Light	||	When	Buried
Yes	No	||	Yes	No	||	Item
x		||		x	||	Wall Torch
x		||		x	||	Bonfire
x		||	x		||	Floor Torch
	x	||		x	||	Hanging Fixture
x		||	x		||	Hanging Fluorescent
x		||	x		||	Medium Light Column
x		||	x		||	Recessed Fluorescent 1
x		||	x		||	Recessed Fluorescent 2
	x	||		x	||	Recessed Tech Lights
x		||	x		||	Small Light Column
	x	||		x	||	Small Recessed Fluorescent
x		||	x		||	Tech Lamp 2
	x	||		x	||	Torch (Unlit)
x		||		x	||	Accent Lamp
	x	||		x	||	Accent Lamp (Off)
x		||		x	||	Adjustable Floor Lamp
	x	||		x	||	Adj. Floor Lamp (Off)
	x	||		x	||	Banker's Lamp
	x	||		x	||	Banker's Lamp (Off)
	x	||		x	||	Candle 1
	x	||		x	||	Candle 1 (Lit)
	x	||		x	||	Candle 2
	x	||		x	||	Candle 2 (Lit)
	x	||		x	||	Candle 3
	x	||		x	||	Candle 3 (Lit)
	x	||		x	||	Red Candle
x		||	x		||	Ceiling Spot 1
	x	||		x	||	Ceiling Spot 1 (Off)
x		||	x		||	Ceiling Spot 2
	x	||		x	||	Ceiling Spot 2 (Off)
	x	||		x	||	Chandelier 1
	x	||		x	||	Chandelier 2
x		||		x	||	Desk Lamp 1
	x	||		x	||	Desk Lamp 1 (Off)
x		||		x	||	Desk Lamp 2
	x	||		x	||	Desk Lamp 2 (off)
	x	||		x	||	Firepit
	x	||		x	||	Firepit (Lit)
	x	||		x	||	Floating Cauldron
	x	||		x	||	Floating Cauldron (Lit)
x		||	x		||	Floodlight
x		||		x	||	Floor Lamp
	x	||		x	||	Floor Lamp (Off)
x		||	x		||	Fluorescent Light
	x	||		x	||	Fluorescent Light (Off)
x*		||	x*		||	Gas Lamp 1
x*		||	x*		||	Gas Lamp 2
	x	||		x	||	Ground Torch
	x	||		x	||	Ground Torch (Lit)
x		||	x		||	Hanging Lamp
	x	||		x	||	Hanging Lamp (Off)
x		||		x	||	Large Accent Lamp
	x	||		x	||	Large Accent Lamp (Off)
x		||		x	||	Large Adjustable Lamp
	x	||		x	||	Large Adj. Lamp (Off)
	x	||		x	||	Large Banker's Lamp
	x	||		x	||	Large Banker's Lamp (Off)
x		||	x		||	Large Ceiling Spot 1
	x	||		x	||	Large Ceiling Spot 1 (Off)
x		||	x		||	Large Ceiling Spot 2
x		||	x		||	Large Ceiling Spot 2 (Off)
	x	||		x	||	Large Desk Lamp 1
	x	||		x	||	Large Desk Lamp 1 (Off)
	x	||		x	||	Large Desk Lamp 2
	x	||		x	||	Large Desk Lamp 2 (Off)
	x	||		x	||	Large Floodlight
	x	||		x	||	Floodlight (Off)
	x	||		x	||	Large Floodlight (Off)
x		||		x	||	Large Floor Lamp
	x	||		x	||	Large Floor Lamp (Off)
x		||	x		||	Large Fluorescent Light
	x	||		x	||	Large Fluorescent Light (Off)
x		||	x		||	Large Hanging Lamp
	x	||		x	||	Large Hanging Lamp (Off)
x		||		x	||	Large Reading Lamp
	x	||		x	||	Large Reading Lamp (Off)
x		||	x		||	Large Shoji Lamp
	x	||		x	||	Large Shoji Lamp (Off)
x		||	x		||	Large Shoji Wall Lamp
	x	||		x	||	Large Shoji Wall Lamp (Off)
x		||	x		||	Large Wall Light
	x	||		x	||	Wall Light (Off)
	x	||		x	||	Large Wall Light (Off)
	x	||		x	||	Large Wall Sconce
	x	||		x	||	Wall Sconce (Off)
	x	||		x	||	Large Wall Sconce (Off)
	x	||		x	||	Reading Lamp
	x	||		x	||	Reading Lamp (Off)
x^		||	x^		||	Shoji Lamp
	x	||		x	||	Shoji Lamp (Off)
	x	||		x	||	Shoji Wall Lamp
	x	||		x	||	Shoji Wall Lamp (Off)
	x	||		x	||	Wall Light
	x	||		x	||	Paper Lantern 1
	x	||		x	||	Paper Lantern 2
	x	||		x	||	Standing Candelabra
x*		||	x*		||	Street Light 1
x*		||	x*		||	Street Light 2
	x	||		x	||	Stop Light
	x	||		x	||	Small Light Panel
	x	||		x	||	Large Light Panel
	x	||		x	||	Large Curved Light Panel
	x	||		x	||	Mansion Wall Sconce 1
	x	||		x	||	Club Lamp 1
	x	||		x	||	Club Lamp 2
	x	||		x	||	Metal Torch
	x	||		x	||	Light Pillar
	x	||		x	||	Casino Chandelier (Lit)
	x	||		x	||	Casino Chandelier
x*		||	x*		||	Gas Lamp
x~		||	x~		||	Red Light
x~		||	x~		||	Red Hanging Light 1
x~		||	x~		||	Red Hanging Light 2
x~		||	x~		||	Green Light
x~		||	x~		||	Green Hanging Light 1
x~		||	x~		||	Green Hanging Light 2
x~		||	x~		||	Blue Light
x~		||	x~		||	Blue Hanging Light 2
x~		||	x~		||	Blue Hanging Light 1
	x	||		x	||	Ceiling Light 1
	x	||		x	||	Wall Sconce 1
	x	||		x	||	Wall Sconce 2
	x	||		x	||	Running Light
x~		||	x~		||	CoT Light Crystal
	x	||		x	||	Casino Light
x~+		||	x~+		||	Docklight 1
x~+		||	x~+		||	Docklight 2
	x	||		x	||	Tech Light 1
	x	||		x	||	ToV Candle Skull Cluster
	x	||		x	||	ToV Candle Cluster Lit
	x	||		x	||	ToV Candle Large
	x	||		x	||	ToV Candle Tall 1
	x	||		x	||	ToV Candle Tall 2
	x	||		x	||	ToV Candle Tall 3
	x	||		x	||	Large Square Light
	x	||		x	||	Large Cylinder Light
	x	||		x	||	Large Round Light

 

Key:

*: Only lit at night

^: Produces light in an unexpected way (dark near the lamp, but lit further out)

~: Doesn't produce radiant light, but has a colored light effect that extends past the fixture

+: Flashing light

 

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Notes:

 

Eva Destruction's testing (thanks!) indicates that Shoji Wall Lamp, Large Wall Sconce, Banker's Lamps, Large Desk Lamps, Large Floodlight, Reading Lamp, and Wall Light do produce some light, though it may vary based on the surface they are placed upon. When I get a chance, I'll see if I can do some more testing to figure out what things affect the light output. :)

 

Eva also notes, "By the way, while the glass wall panels don't play nice with effects, the glass floor tiles seem to be fine.  So if you really need a window with some effects behind it, you can flip those sideways.  For some strange reason they're also hidden by glass walls and most water, so if you want to swim without your feet clipping through the floor of your pool, put your water on a glass floor with the visible floor below it."

 

Hope this is helpful for everyone. I'm currently working on a list of what items are tintable, so hopefully I'll have that posted soon. :)

 

(PS: BBCode and tables do not mix. :P)

[Impish Kat]

Thank you for doing this! 

[WanderingAries]

Nice reference, but I'd like to point out there's some sort of bug where sometimes placement near other items will somehow disable the light. I still haven't figured it out, but it annoys me as it leaves dark spots I can't get rid of while keeping my aesthetics.

[Raevyn_Darke]

Nice reference, but I'd like to point out there's some sort of bug where sometimes placement near other items will somehow disable the light. I still haven't figured it out, but it annoys me as it leaves dark spots I can't get rid of while keeping my aesthetics.

 

Yeah, it's tricky to make a definitive list because of that. I know certain items (glass for instance) tend to play havoc with nearby effects, which would be a whole other thing to test, lol. But at least this (hopefully) provides a baseline to start with. If people find out which materials/lights are affected in strange ways, I'd be more than happy to add that to the original post. :)

 

And Kat, you're welcome! :D

[klokwerkaos]

Nice reference, but I'd like to point out there's some sort of bug where sometimes placement near other items will somehow disable the light. I still haven't figured it out, but it annoys me as it leaves dark spots I can't get rid of while keeping my aesthetics.

 

Yeah, it's tricky to make a definitive list because of that. I know certain items (glass for instance) tend to play havoc with nearby effects, which would be a whole other thing to test, lol. But at least this (hopefully) provides a baseline to start with. If people find out which materials/lights are affected in strange ways, I'd be more than happy to add that to the original post. :)

 

And Kat, you're welcome! :D

 

Glass is Satan.  I want to love it for it's transparency, but I want to murder it's entire family while it watches for it's havoc on effects.

[Eva Destruction]

So, some of these items that don't produce light according to the list do produce definite, noticeable light at least in some circumstances.  Shoji wall lamp, Large wall sconce, the two Banker's lamps, the two Large Desk lamps, the Large Floodlight (produces light at the spiky yellow ball graphic, not at the lamp itself, so you can bury the lamp completely inside an object and still get light, as long as the yellow ball is in the clear), reading lamp, and wall light.  So pretty much all the light sources from live that should produce light, do produce light, although it might not be very bright. 

 

My testing method was to place them in my above-the-base build, next to the arcane teleport beacons, because I want to have some light on them and looked at your list and I was pretty sure the large wall sconce and shoji wall lamp did produce light on live, and yep, they still do.  I took the shoji wall lamp inside to see what it did, and it produces a noticeable light even with the default lighting when placed on a light-colored wall, but nothing when placed on a dark-colored wall.  So maybe your grass plates were eating all the light from some of the sources.

 

By the way, while the glass wall panels don't play nice with effects, the glass floor tiles seem to be fine.  So if you really need a window with some effects behind it, you can flip those sideways.  For some strange reason they're also hidden by glass walls and most water, so if you want to swim without your feet clipping through the floor of your pool, put your water on a glass floor with the visible floor below it. 

[Raevyn_Darke]

Yeah, the base builder is a finicky beast, lol. Perhaps some light sources are affected by your sky setting...or surface...or by other factors we don't know about...or fx were acting weird because I kept adding and taking away a zillion different lights, for that matter! Anything's possible; the builder is fun that way. :P

 

There were also a number of sources that had light as part of their graphic, but did not actually seem to light up the area around them. If I recall (I'm not in the builder at the moment), I felt like the banker's lamps were like that. They have the appearance of light directly beneath them as if they are shedding light on a desk surface, but the area around them doesn't actually get brighter. My main purpose in making this list was to help folks trying to find ways to light above/below the base builds that can still use indoor lighting without being super-dark, so any lights that didn't make the area any brighter went in the "no" category. If I get a chance to do some more testing and nail this down, I'll add another symbol to the key to indicate what ones are like that.

 

I'll note your observations in the original post, though; thanks! :) My current project (in between, you know, actually building, lol) is making a full list of which items are tintable, and that one's a lot easier to identify; either the color palette picker is there or it isn't!

[Garble]

On 7/9/2019 at 3:12 PM, Raevyn_Darke said:

Makes	Light	||	When	Buried
Yes	No	||	Yes	No	||	Item
x		||		x	||	Wall Torch
x		||		x	||	Bonfire
x		||	x		||	Floor Torch
x		||	x		||	Hanging Fluorescent
x		||	x		||	Medium Light Column
x		||	x		||	Recessed Fluorescent 1
x		||	x		||	Recessed Fluorescent 2
x		||	x		||	Small Light Column
x		||	x		||	Tech Lamp 2
x		||		x	||	Accent Lamp
x		||		x	||	Adjustable Floor Lamp
x		||	x		||	Ceiling Spot 1
x		||	x		||	Ceiling Spot 2
x		||		x	||	Desk Lamp 1
x		||		x	||	Desk Lamp 2
x		||	x		||	Floodlight
x		||		x	||	Floor Lamp
x		||	x		||	Fluorescent Light
x*		||	x*		||	Gas Lamp 1
x*		||	x*		||	Gas Lamp 2
x		||	x		||	Hanging Lamp
x		||		x	||	Large Accent Lamp
x		||		x	||	Large Adjustable Lamp
x		||	x		||	Large Ceiling Spot 1
x		||	x		||	Large Ceiling Spot 2
x		||	x		||	Large Ceiling Spot 2 (Off)
x		||		x	||	Large Floor Lamp
x		||	x		||	Large Fluorescent Light
x		||	x		||	Large Hanging Lamp
x		||		x	||	Large Reading Lamp
x		||	x		||	Large Shoji Lamp
x		||	x		||	Large Shoji Wall Lamp
x		||	x		||	Large Wall Light
x^		||	x^		||	Shoji Lamp
x*		||	x*		||	Street Light 1
x*		||	x*		||	Street Light 2
x*		||	x*		||	Gas Lamp
x~		||	x~		||	Red Light
x~		||	x~		||	Red Hanging Light 1
x~		||	x~		||	Red Hanging Light 2
x~		||	x~		||	Green Light
x~		||	x~		||	Green Hanging Light 1
x~		||	x~		||	Green Hanging Light 2
x~		||	x~		||	Blue Light
x~		||	x~		||	Blue Hanging Light 2
x~		||	x~		||	Blue Hanging Light 1
x~		||	x~		||	CoT Light Crystal
x~+		||	x~+		||	Docklight 1
x~+		||	x~+		||	Docklight 2

Thank you for this. Here's a version without the items that never produce light.

[JumpingSpider]

I've been hiding Floor Torches inside Ground Torches (lit) to make them cast light.  center them on the post then lift the Floor torch up 1 grid and it pretty much hides it.

 

[Erydanus]

I happen to have a penchant for using the Shoji items for lighting my bases and I recently took some screenshots so I have the perfect thing for showing how shoji wall lights work, along with Large Shoji lanterns.

 

https://photos.app.goo.gl/2r9ed7grgGEvXf3M9

 

If you look on the left side of the picture the 1 square wide wall is actually a doorway room and as you know those tend to be quite dark. The regular shoji wall lamp is casting a marked diamond shaped pattern of illumination on the wall, consistently the upper right has a shadowy bar that shows where the light cast ends.  You'll see the dark bar a few more times across the side and back wall of the room as well.

 

Directly below the supergroup banner tip you can see another one shoji lamp. What's there is actually 2 planter boxes side by side with a small wall in front. The shoji wall lamp is up against the wall centered right over the seam of the two boxes, having it there washes both planter boxes in illumination just like the typical outdoor garden light. Without it, that area inside the planter would be pitch dark; since it's where it is, you don't see the typical light cast dark bar that you see again in the back of the room and it suffuses the area. The ambience stacks too so if you put one in the middle and one on each end it's bright enough it just seems like ambient room light. Likewise in the hallway/doorway square, one lamp in the middle there creates light cast, if I had one on each side the whole area would just be lit up without any definition. You can kind of see that in the right hand wall of the room behind the inspiration storage. There's no light cast bar from the shoji wall lamp because there's a large shoji lantern on the right side of the stairs just outside the frame of the screenshot.

 

 

 

[Lorraine of Pinnacle]

Is there a light source that allows you to change the color of the light it produces?  I would like a small light source that I can hide inside of other objects, but tint its light so as to mark similar items, salvage bins, along a long row of bins.

[Lorraine of Pinnacle]

Temporarily, I have used the green CoT crystal as a light source, green ball of light and a shoji floor lamp, which is bright white.  I pushed the objects into the salvage bins so as to hide them.

 

Edited May 29, 2020 by Lorraine of Pinnacle
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