[3] Re: [CF-Devel] Light and Darkness

[kevin at ank.com]

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      > I've been testing the darkness code on some of the sample maps and
     
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      > find that it doesn't work nearly as well as I would have hoped.
     
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      > When casting light from a light source, the light should stop at
     
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      > any walls I think.  As it is, the code makes it very difficult to
     
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      > throw shadows across the floor of the dungeon, and light on a wall
     
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      > lights up that wall even if you are on the opposite side from the
     
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      > light source.
     
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       This is largely because the way the game is designed - everything is based on
     
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      square spaces.  For example, for line of sight, we can know if you can see that
     
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      square, and not that you see half a square or whatever.  In the case of walls,
     
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      this often means you see the small strip of floor/ground on the far side of the
     
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      wall.
     
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       Similarly, for light, we know the light level for the entire space.  Trying to
     
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      know that the right half the square and not the left is illuminated (Because of
     
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      a wall) is not done, and in any case, that information would then have to get
     
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      communicated to the client.
     
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       If the problem is that you see an illuminated wall because the next room over
     
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      is illuminating it, the simple solution is to just make the walls double thick. 
     
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      Then, if the next room is full bright but the room you are in is dark, the walls
     
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      will still be dark.
     
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Take a look at my server on avalon.ank.com then go to the towers/tower map
and take a walk around to the north-east corner.  As you get close to the
corner inside the tower, you'll notice that it suddenly gets bright.  This
is from a light that is actually on the other side of the wall.  

Perhaps it is an error in the way I have the light source configured -- I'll
take a look and see if settings are out of range.  At the time I was trying
to get the outside of the building to be bright as day, so I think I upped
the light level to a hundred or so.

Cheers,
-kls