Lighting in House Broken

xaraan · January 2022

I don't know if this is always the case, but in large builds (I noticed this on my Hall of the Lunar Champion) where you have the main room and then the three wings: All of that is on the same "area" and just really far apart on the map. So sometimes the distance is so great that light sources don't render and never retry to render when you go from one area to the next unless you remove and restore them in the build menu.

I know this would happen to me in HoLC when I went into the right wing, then out and into center wing - some flames would be flickering weird and some constant light sources like the glowing gemstones were totally off unless I removed and restored them. I'm sure turning load distances and effects distances to max might help in some cases, but depending on how far the different parts of the home are on the map from each other it might not always help.

I see though that many seem to be having the issue in homes that aren't very large, so there could be more than one issue causing the problem. Though I guess it could depend on how far away the interior is set away from the exterior.

Soulshine · January 2022

appreciate the speculation, but there is literally no rhyme or reason to any of what

xaraan wrote: »

I don't know if this is always the case, but in large builds (I noticed this on my Hall of the Lunar Champion) where you have the main room and then the three wings: All of that is on the same "area" and just really far apart on the map. So sometimes the distance is so great that light sources don't render and never retry to render when you go from one area to the next unless you remove and restore them in the build menu.

I know this would happen to me in HoLC when I went into the right wing, then out and into center wing - some flames would be flickering weird and some constant light sources like the glowing gemstones were totally off unless I removed and restored them. I'm sure turning load distances and effects distances to max might help in some cases, but depending on how far the different parts of the home are on the map from each other it might not always help.

I see though that many seem to be having the issue in homes that aren't very large, so there could be more than one issue causing the problem. Though I guess it could depend on how far away the interior is set away from the exterior.

Let me put it this way: I have over 30 homes just on NA server. Another bunch on EU.

Some are huge houses like Psijic Villa, Varlaisevea Ruin, Erstwhile Sanctuary, Princely Dawnlight, etc.

They all have the same problem as the one room ones. Flame sources in particular just do not give surrounding light as before. I really don't feel inclined to post screen shot after screen shot --- though I WOULD if only someone from ZOS would condescend to acknowledge this issue and say they want to look into it.

The lights are categorically wonky in all of them now, since the last update. No changes whatsoever to my system, or game settings. Just the update. Something broke the way the lights are working, whereas before this may have been happening sporadically in only certain homes, they are now happening in all of them and clearly not just on PC platform as others are reporting this is also happening in console.

katanagirl1 · January 2022

Can we PLEASE get an acknowledgement on this issue???

I don’t even go to my houses anymore because they are so dark and I cannot see my furnishings. Almost all of my notable houses are ruined.

Since they look fine on PS4 Pro but not PS5 could someone please look at the 4K rendering of lighting furnishings to see if something got messed up?

Elvenheart · January 2022

I’ve recently noticed this too. I’m on pc and something has definitely happened to cause the light given our by fire sources to sometimes just not be there. The fire is definitely burning, but the light it gives off is gone. And sometimes the fire just sputters until you put the item back into your inventory and then replace it too, possibly a different issue.

Soulshine · February 2022

So apparently this got dropped in the patch notes for Playstation, but there was no mention of it for other platforms.

@ZOS_GinaBruno @ZOS_Kevin
It would have been nice let us know about this by popping into the thread here, since we have been asking for a long time for acknowledgment of what was happening.

It still doesn't clarify if this was only on Playstation or if it was addressed across all platforms since other notes don't mention it. Will be testing later this evening to see if PC issue is resolved.

Thank you @katanagirl1 for pointing this out.

Screenshot_2022-02-02_at_10-58-04_PlayStation_Patch_Notes_v2_28_1_10.png

EDIT: after logging on to PC NA and EU houses, absolutely no change whatsoever in any of them. Lights still not giving any light, flames on healthfire there but still totally dark, etc. Still have to manually remove them all and then put back for the light to be restored.

I give up.

katanagirl1 · February 2022

I am pleased to see that this indeed does seem to be fixed for us on PS, and as far as I know it was only PS5 that was affected. I visited the four problem houses today (twice each) and all lighting furnishings were working, even the enchanted lights.

I am hopeful that it means that PC will get the same bug fix in their next patch, but it would be nice to hear from someone for sure. It is rare that we get the fix first but perhaps the problem was solved just in time and they decided to push it out for us first since we don’t get as frequent patching as PC.

Marcusorion1 · February 2022

Did the fix in today's patch solve these issues on PC for everyone?

ShinyBacon · February 2022

katanagirl1 wrote: »

I am pleased to see that this indeed does seem to be fixed for us on PS, and as far as I know it was only PS5 that was affected. I visited the four problem houses today (twice each) and all lighting furnishings were working, even the enchanted lights.

it was an issue on Xbox too and it seems also been fixed.
Very glad. My housing spritit is back

SilverBride · February 2022

My newest house, Old Mistveil Manor has a lighting problem, even though most of my other houses don't seem to. But some areas are very dark unless I put few light sources around them.

For example I put a shelf unit up to hold glassware and dishes and just a few feet away I put a counter for preparing food. I put a wall sconce between them but they are still so dark that you can't see what's on the shelves. Even though there is also a large chandelier just a short distance away.

I've taken to hiding tea candles on shelves just so I can see what's on them but it really shouldn't require this much lighting in such a small area.

katanagirl1 · February 2022

SilverBride wrote: »

My newest house, Old Mistveil Manor has a lighting problem, even though most of my other houses don't seem to. But some areas are very dark unless I put few light sources around them.

For example I put a shelf unit up to hold glassware and dishes and just a few feet away I put a counter for preparing food. I put a wall sconce between them but they are still so dark that you can't see what's on the shelves. Even though there is also a large chandelier just a short distance away.

I've taken to hiding tea candles on shelves just so I can see what's on them but it really shouldn't require this much lighting in such a small area.

Some of the lighting furnishings have a smaller radius of light than others. Also as I think you hinted some of the houses, especially the older base game houses, are darker than the houses in the later dlc and chapters.

That is where I would put one of those Clockwork Solitary Capsules either up into the ceiling or down into the floor to give overall ambient lighting in addition to the decorative accent lighting.

EDIT: typos

SilverBride · February 2022

I ended up using the Clockwork Illuminator, Compact to light the shelves and counter in my kitchen by sinking it in the floor in front of them.

I also discovered that this works well as a spotlight for illuminating statues when sunk in the ground in front of them. They also look good if left sticking out of the ground part way, too.

katanagirl1 · February 2022

SilverBride wrote: »

I ended up using the Clockwork Illuminator, Compact to light the shelves and counter in my kitchen by sinking it in the floor in front of them.

I also discovered that this works well as a spotlight for illuminating statues when sunk in the ground in front of them. They also look good if left sticking out of the ground part way, too.

Ah, undercabinet lighting for Tamriel!

Brilliant!

chillfirepup · March 2022

To update on my post:
Since the PC/Mac Patch Notes v7.2.10, the issue I described seems to have been resolved for me on PC NA.

The3sFinest · January 2023

Still unfixed. [snip]

[edited for bashing]

SilverBride · January 2023

I'm going to try the hourglass in my darker homes and see if I can find a time of day that is brighter. I hate the idea of disrupting the normal day and night cycle just for that reason but it would be great if I could remove the multiple light sources sunk into the walls and floors.

merevie · November 2023

event house -until today, the windows cast a light pattern

and now zippo