Dear Metas,
Welcome to the latest edition of Dev Talk! Since the launch of Once Human, we've been working hard at refining various aspects of the game. Today, we're going to discuss Once Human's lighting system.
01
Dual-Track Strategy: Balancing Performance and Visuals
To deliver smooth performance while maintaining high visual quality, we use a hybrid global illumination (GI) solution that combines static and dynamic lighting.
Static GI is employed in wilderness areas, realistically modeling how light bounces across multiple surfaces. Being precomputed, it ensures minimal GPU workload while delivering consistent visuals during combat and exploration.
During territory construction, real-time GI dynamically adapts to your creative choices. When you place a lamp or a window, the ambiance changes immediately, offering unparalleled freedom in shaping your space.
Indoor lighting changes when adding a window.
Indoor lighting changes when adding a light source.
02
Vivid Global Illumination (VVGI): Bringing Light to Life
Traditional static GI tends to struggle with dynamically changing scenes. VVGI technology calculates lighting in real time, bringing natural light and shadow transitions to dynamic environments.
When you build, demolish, or relocate structures, VVGI will promptly recalculate the lighting interactions. For example, removing a wall will cause sunlight to stream indoors, while rearranging furniture will change how lighting fixtures illuminate the space.
Lighting changes after demolishing a wall.
GI disabled.
GI enabled.
VVGI also simulates the interplay of directional light (e.g., sunlight), ambient light (e.g., skybox light), and multiple local light sources (e.g., lamps) in real time. From dawn's golden rays to midnight's dramatic shadows, VVGI delivers nuanced lighting effects that bring Once Human's world to life.
03
24-Hour TOD and Weather GI:
An Ever-Changing World
Once Human's time of day (TOD) system does more than just swap textures. It features real-time transitions in light intensity, color temperature, and shadow direction throughout each in-game day.
Using neural network compression technology, we've dramatically reduced the size of the 24-hour GI data—from 45 GB to just 800 MB (to be released in the April 24 update). This breakthrough delivers maximum fidelity in a lightweight package.
Beyond simple visual effects, weather changes are now dynamic phenomena that integrate Once Human's lighting and physics systems. Rain results in cooler daylight with increased diffusion, while sandstorms scatter light into a diffuse haze that makes local light sources more pronounced. Experience the perfect fusion of weather and lighting in a vibrant, ever-changing world!
Light effects on a rainy day.
04
Cutting-Edge Automation: More Efficient Lighting Optimization
Soon, we will implement an automated solution to address indoor/outdoor light leaks. Traditional GI requires the manual tagging of indoor and outdoor areas, a labor-intensive process prone to immersion-breaking issues such as sunlight seeping into basements. Our new machine learning algorithm automatically identifies and labels these areas, reducing our artists' workload by 90% while eliminating errors.
Indoor light leak effect.
We've also achieved a significant breakthrough with dynamic lighting in static scenes. Currently, we're developing an effect where flashlight beams striking a wall will reflect onto your character, realistically illuminating them.
Flashlight reflection effect.
Realistic light bouncing—once abandoned industry-wide due to performance constraints—now runs smoothly in static scenes thanks to our GPU probe technology, making the game more immersive than ever.、
These lighting optimizations are more than just technical upgrades—they are genuine responses to your requests. Every light and shadow in Once Human exists for your sake, so we will continue to improve the game based on your feedback.
If you enjoyed the technical insights in this Dev Talk, you don't want to miss our next edition! You may have wondered why Once Human's stunning characters sometimes clash with the wilderness's simpler visuals. This stems from complex technical issues—but we've cracked the code! Want to find out how we're bringing the wilderness up to par with your character's good looks?
Stay tuned for our next article, where we'll unveil the secrets behind our character creator and showcase the next step in Once Human's evolution!
Once Human Development Team
