The Basics
The first thing I want to teach about lighting is differential lighting. This technique is crucial for making maps look good, and it can really make or break a map.
The marathon engine don't have any dynamic lighting, which means your map won't be lighted realistically if you don't do it yourself.
What is differential lighting then?
Take a break from the computer and imagine for a while that the room you sit in is a room in forge. God is the mapper and he has textured the sides and applied the lighting.
What do you notice if you compare the different sides of the walls, the ceiling and the floor?
Yes, they do have different lighting. (hence the name differential lighting)
If you would model your room in forge what lighting would you apply to the sides of it. What lighting does the ceiling have? Try to translate the real world lighting into forge lighting.
Back in the days when I learned this, I observed buildings and all objects around me. I looked how they were shaded. The ceiling was darker, and wow, the corner was even daker. I learned differntial lighting everywhere I looked.
After a couple of days doing this I started to become good at lighting, and everytime I got stuck and didn't know how to light an area, I'd look around me for the answers.
After a month I didn't need to think anymore, the skill run on auto pilot.
You might want to try this if you have problems learning differential lighting.
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Contrast
I think contrast is a beautiful thing, it catches the eye and gives areas a clean look. I often choose to go beyond reality and create some more contrast. I think as mapper, you should experiement a little with it.
For me, I get a sense that materials are harder if they're lighted with contrast. Make a square pillar in forge, and light one side with 0 and one side with 7. Make another pillar and light it with 0 and 15.
Notice the different feeling these two pillars give.
0-15 : Hard and strong and sucks energi
0-7 : Soft and expand energi outward
Areas lighted with contrast gives me a tense feeling, "there's movement"
Areas lighted with anti-contrast gives me a calm feeling, "there's no movement"
Try this out for yourself and see what you get for feelings.
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Exercises for learning lighting:
1. Study light 0-20 in forge and learn each one's intensity
2. Study real world lighting and apply it to your levels
3. Experiment with contrast
-goran
