Lighthouses!

[Lei 346]

So, with people getting very creative with multistory, many things have become a common sight with major deeds. One of the most notable things I've seen (at least on Pristine) is lighthouses! There are several within sight of Blossom (the starter deed) and all of them have failed my nighttime expectations while sailing!

The Problem: Lighting. Indoor lighting's render distance is far too short, even with arched walls at the very top of said lighthouse, to even reach five tiles away from the base. This essentially makes a lighthouse pointless (other than for your daylight aesthetics) I've tried several things, including removing the top floor, and just making a flat floor, as well as simply bashing the walls of the top floor, which, because it still exists within the structure, the lights still pertain to the original lighting guidelines for indoors.

Solution 1: Create a new item for this. It could be called a "Brazier". In past suggestions, I've seen ideas including "Bonfires". Something similar to that could even work. Simply put: The light would pass through certain wall types which technically would (or I should say should) pass through... I.E.: Windows or arched walls. The light would also extend a further distance than lamps, and of course would require a far greater fuel source to do so. Crafting materials could include metals as well as pottery, and could come in various sizes, shapes, and designs. Obviously it would be a bit more difficult to create than lamps, and would require a lot more materials to craft. (as it would be of a size relative to a bulk storage bin.

Solution 2: Fix arched walls. Arched walls could allow light to pass through from within as though there was no wall there, or as though the lamp was planted outside of a building. This would make it so you would be able to plant lamps on a higher story of a building, with surrounding arched walls, and the light would escape and render at a distance which a boat would be able to aim for, even in the foggiest weather or darkest night.

I understand that lighthouses may not be on everyone's agenda, but they're just a small outlet of creativity for people owning port or harbor deeds. If the issue is resolved via the brazier idea, it could even add a creative lighting source outside of lighthouses, and allow deed owners new options for their deed lighting.

What do you think, Wurmians?

[Dorian 865]

+1 I popped in a rather high ql streetlamp on the 3rd floor of my light house hoping it would be seen from far away, and the lower quality ones on the ground can be seen from further away. =(

[Arson 19]

I like this idea. As a possible way of implementing this without too much trouble you may consider making it so these braziers have a spot of light that is visible at a great distance (sort of like how the sun works) but does not extend the actual expanse of the light source beyond what normal light sources do.

[Mebourne 13]

+1 We want to do a lighthouse on our point.

[Wraithglow 787]

There was a post recently (i'll see if i can find it) from a client developer saying that this is a fundamental problem with the lighting code. Essentially the brightness of lights is determined by what "cell" you are stood in. If lighthouses were made an exception that was always visible in render distance (for example) you could have some serious performance issues if several were built near each other.

Either way, they said the lighting code was being totally reworked to be better which seems better than creating something like this imo. Though I do agree arched windows should certainly let light through regardless

Edit: here it was:

/>http://forum.wurmonline.com/index.php?/topic/71682-multi-story-house-pics/page__st__100

Re Lights turning off when you move away: This is just the current way to get around the light count limit. Each 16x16 area has a set list of lights, when you're closer to the cell, it'll order that list to take lights closer to you, as you move off, itll order them differently.

New light code coming soon which will (hopefully) magically solve all problems.

Edited January 5, 2013 by Wraithglow

[Arson 19]

There was a post recently (i'll see if i can find it) from a client developer saying that this is a fundamental problem with the lighting code. Essentially the brightness of lights is determined by what "cell" you are stood in. If lighthouses were made an exception that was always visible in render distance (for example) you could have some serious performance issues if several were built near each other.

Either way, they said the lighting code was being totally reworked to be better which seems better than creating something like this imo. Though I do agree arched windows should certainly let light through regardless

Hence my previous suggestion. You can avoid the issue by not having the lighthouse project actual light outside the normal range of a lamp, but still show as a point of bright light in the distance.

[Iulianx 90]

+1

[Miretta 1,415]

i wonder how far we can push lamps on the border of a lighttower.....maybe there is a way to make the server think its outside

but other than that, if they cant find another solution for it I would like a very bright light source like this bowl on the picture

[ReaverKane 363]

Another solution, but a bit trickier would be to add braziers, but they'd be more or less like a normal campfire, but with the decay settings of a lamp (like guards repairing them and such)...

Then, add a new FLOOR type to houses, ("Lighthouse") that would require a brazier as materials. Also this floor type would automatically plan arched walls (or a new more aesthetically relevant wall type) around it and a roof.

The auto-wall plans is just so that people don't have a house with 6 of those floor types in a room..

Edited January 23, 2013 by ReaverKane