Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
Figure 7.30
Results of light settings
listed in step 20.
Figure 7.31
Adding extra spotlight
to give light to overly dark areas.
Why?
Using little spotlights or even point lights to help paint in areas of needed
detail is a common tool for lighting designers in theatre, homes, film, TV,
and games. Especially when baking, take a moment and see if there is a
particular part of the scene that needs a little boost.
Tips and Tricks
If these “cheater lights” shouldn't be illuminating characters in the game
or casting shadows, there are a couple of easy fixes. First, after baking,
cheater lights can be deleted and they will no longer affect the scene or
game. Or (and this is better), the Inspector for a light includes a drop-
down menu called Lightmapping. Change this to Baked Only and it will
only be used in the baking process and not cause unwanted shadows in
game play if the game is using deferred lighting/rendering.
Ambient Occlusion
Ambient Occlusion has all sorts of fancy descriptions depending on where
you read. At its core (at least in how we are going to use it in Unity) ambient
occlusion (AO) is the dark regions where two surfaces meet. In broad strokes,
AO can simulate the blobby shadows on a foggy day. AO can also be thought
of as the dirt that collects in corners. Either way, AO does some very important
things in a scene and helps give definition to the objects in a scene.
