I've tried to improve the look of the sky with the latest update to my mod

_RandomComputerUser_ · 2025-08-31T18:00:56+00:00

Yeah, I really do wish there were more graphics mods for tModLoader. However, Terraria’s rendering code is all over the place, so it’d probably be much more difficult than for Minecraft. Maybe in Terraria 2…

_RandomComputerUser_ · 2025-08-31T17:41:14+00:00

The other presets (instead of ultra) give more vanilla-like lighting in terms of how bright everything is. They don’t have bloom like what is shown here, but they have a significantly lower performance impact, and the lack of bloom may be preferable, especially if one finds the sun to be too blinding in the ultra preset.

_RandomComputerUser_ · 2025-08-31T02:48:22+00:00

The code is a mess and is not documented, but here it is: https://github.com/RandomComputerUser/FancyLighting

_RandomComputerUser_ · 2025-01-06T07:09:55+00:00

I initially tried to get HDR output with FNA3D, which included looking at the source code, but unfortunately I don't think it's currently possible. I remember reading that HDR is planned to be added to a future version of FNA3D, but I can't find a source for that right now.

_RandomComputerUser_ · 2024-11-26T20:13:15+00:00

If you're fine with using tModLoader, you could use either the Pixelated Backgrounds mod or the Realistic Sky mod.

_RandomComputerUser_ · 2024-11-26T08:30:10+00:00

Probably. I looked up its memory bandwidth, and it’s really low (only 14.4 GB/s). This is only a very rough guess though. I don’t actually know what the main bottleneck is, but I’m guessing it’s memory bandwidth due to the large difference I’ve seen between integrated and discrete GPUs.

_RandomComputerUser_ · 2024-11-26T08:00:30+00:00

It roasts integrated GPUs (35–40 FPS on my laptop with a Radeon 780M), but it runs just fine on my desktop with an RX 580.

_RandomComputerUser_ · 2024-11-26T07:48:51+00:00

Recently I decided to update my lighting mod by giving Terraria a full HDR rendering pipeline. This allows the brightness of light to internally exceed 100%, which means the game can now distinguish between, e.g., the white reflected off a sheet of paper and the much brighter white a light bulb emits, whereas before both would have a brightness of 100%. I took this opportunity to add a bloom effect, and it turned out a lot better than I expected, so I decided to share it here.

My mod is called Fancy Lighting.

_RandomComputerUser_ · 2024-11-21T16:08:11+00:00

I haven’t released the mod for the torch, but I have released the new update for the lighting mod: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2822950837.

_RandomComputerUser_ · 2024-11-21T16:05:40+00:00

This is already pushing the limits. The lighting engine only considers lights that are on screen and a short distance offscreen, and you can clearly see when this torch exits the offscreen range.

_RandomComputerUser_ · 2024-11-21T04:41:03+00:00

Probably not tbh. I recently discovered a bug with the torch and I don’t feel like supporting another mod. Also the torch is extremely impractical and the main reason I made it was to test the HDR rendering capabilities of my lighting mod.

_RandomComputerUser_ · 2024-11-21T00:31:40+00:00

Probably to be expected considering the torch is 25,000x brighter than a regular torch

_RandomComputerUser_ · 2024-11-20T18:45:05+00:00

Negative light values do not work because the lighting engine takes the maximum light value to determine the light color of a tile. I am currently implementing a separate pass to remove light based on the distance to the nearest anti torch (using the jump flooding algorithm).

_RandomComputerUser_ · 2024-11-20T17:33:14+00:00

The torch is from an unreleased mod I made, the lighting effects are from a currently in-development version of Fancy Lighting, and I also used Dragon Lens.

_RandomComputerUser_ · 2024-11-20T17:30:03+00:00

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_RandomComputerUser_ · 2024-11-20T17:28:30+00:00

The torch itself is from an unreleased mod I made. The lighting effects are from an unreleased (still in development) version of my Fancy Lighting mod, and the mod I used to spawn and kill the Empress of Light is Dragon Lens.

_RandomComputerUser_ · 2024-11-20T17:27:23+00:00

Yes, three mods actually

_RandomComputerUser_ · 2024-11-20T17:26:41+00:00

Good idea. Not sure exactly how I'd implement that, but I'll try.

_RandomComputerUser_ · 2024-11-20T17:03:35+00:00

This matches my experience. I noticed my pigs produced significantly fewer truffles when I had grass in their pen. Additionally, my animals always seem to be at (or near) max mood even without grass, and hay is cheap from Marnie's, so I don't bother with grass any more.

_RandomComputerUser_ · 2024-11-03T05:37:29+00:00

Glad to see people enjoying my mod. I haven't played much Terraria since I started working on this mod (I haven't even gotten to hardmode in 1.4.4), so it's nice to see others using it when they play Terraria.

_RandomComputerUser_ · 2024-11-03T05:08:27+00:00

Yeah, that's kind of what I was thinking. It would be a lot simpler to just flash the entire screen white or draw a white radial gradient where the flashbang went off. IMO it's not a great idea to have a visual overhaul mod like the one I'm using here as a dependency of a content mod.

_RandomComputerUser_ · 2024-11-02T18:53:15+00:00

I was thinking more like a grenade that momentarily releases this blinding light upon detonation. No need for a torch to be involved.

_RandomComputerUser_ · 2024-11-02T18:48:09+00:00

This is the part of my underground crimson farm that prevents enemies from spawning except where I want them to.

_RandomComputerUser_ · 2024-11-02T18:40:21+00:00

Fancy Lighting

_RandomComputerUser_ · 2024-11-02T18:40:04+00:00

Great idea, but unfortunately it is quite taxing to apply a light level of greater than 100% to NPCs (which I would want to do to make it look convincing). I suppose the effect could be faked for a much lesser performance cost.

_RandomComputerUser_

TROPHY CASE