light entity brightness

[Ezekel]

so far i've always worked in the area of 100-250 for bright lights and <100 for dimmer lights/effects (e.g. to simulate the glow of the exit sign model)
however, when i was looking at the decompiled maps, i noticed valve's lights are usually in the region of 800-1400.
so what's the deal?
now i've never found the maps i've made to be dull/noticeably darker than the valve maps, but i'm curious as to what others use for brightness values.

as an example, here's a screen from cp_lumbermill:
the light entities in this room have brightnesses of 100 for the flourscent hanging lights and 80 for the wall lights.

similarly; reservoir's lighting - most are between 100-200.

 

[UKCS-Alias]

Valve mainly uses spot lights. Spot light require a much greater brightness to be visible (200 on those is barely visible)

 

[Sgt Frag]

Also, what is your ambient light value compared to Valves.

 

[Ezekel]

there it's identical to badland's ambient

 

[A Boojum Snark]

It's also important to note that immediate team recognition is important, which is easier with brighter maps. I think that's part of a the reason most of valve's maps are brighter overall and that it's better to err on the side of too bright than too dark. A lot of customs seem to overlook this fact. (I have not played yours personally, so couldn't say for it specifically)

 

[Ezekel]

well truth be told, i have quite a few areas on lumbermill where i was using lights with a value of 400 in interior areas... and it was pretty nasty.

to me it seems anything over 250 just makes all the textures around it get to glare'y

is there any advantage in using spots over lights? (except when you need a cone of light of course).
i use lights for shaded lamps too, and i think it gives a nicer effect personally (letting the shade of the lamp's model show up as a shadow on roof/walls).

 

[Nineaxis]

Well, lights usually shine downwards, even if not cone shape (like those fluorescents), and spot lights will produce a much more realistic and nicer looking lighting than normal light entities. For example, in that screenshot, the spherical shape of light has made you have a bright circular glow on the ceiling with a bar through it where the prop is- something you would never realistically get from that. With light_spot, you'd get near the same lighting in the room, but you would not get that ugly bright spot.

In conclusion, VALVe only uses "light" for soft glows (like faking ambient or for glowing signs), and uses "light_spot" for any kind of actual light.