Will you fix this night lighting problem

1st Official Post

    Dear IPACS Team,

    As a player of Aerofly FS Global Mobile, I greatly appreciate its visual achievements. However, a consistent technical observation emerges: the entire nighttime environment – including aircraft exteriors, cockpit interiors, and all scenery – exhibits elevated brightness levels. Even under minimal illumination, the virtual world appears unnaturally lit, resembling daytime conditions. This contrasts distinctly with Aerofly FS 4’s authentic low-light rendering. Adjusting device settings or in-game options provides no resolution.

    To assist in troubleshooting, could you clarify:

    1. Is this globally bright nighttime presentation an intentional design choice in the current mobile version?

    2. Are there undisclosed rendering parameters (eg. HDR/Gamma calibration) accessible to users?

    3. If constrained by mobile hardware, is holistic nighttime environment optimization planned for future updates?

    Your technical insight into this rendering discrepancy would be immensely valuable. Thank you for your dedication. Here’s the contrast at the same time.

    Aerofly fs 4:

    Aerofly fs global:

  • shdkd June 2, 2025 at 12:59 PM

    Changed the title of the thread from “Will you fix the night lighting problem” to “Will you fix this night lighting problem”.

    I agree on this take. As far as I remember, Aerofly FS 2020 had darker nights as well.

    • Official Post

    @shdkd The current mobile version 'artificially' brightens the night lighting. This has numerous reasons, but the top two are, that mobile displays vary extremely how bright they are, especially if they heat up. Also another reason is that most users prefer an artificially bright night lighting so that they see more even if in reality you don't.

    That being said, we are evaluating an overall 'brightness' setting for users so everyone can adjust the brightness to their personal taste.

    Quote from admin

    @shdkd The current mobile version 'artificially' brightens the night lighting. This has numerous reasons, but the top two are, that mobile displays vary extremely how bright they are, especially if they heat up. Also another reason is that most users prefer an artificially bright night lighting so that they see more even if in reality you don't.

    That being said, we are evaluating an overall 'brightness' setting for users so everyone can adjust the brightness to their personal taste.

    That feature would be amazing! Being able to adjust Lightning in general would be perfect. I hope this will only adjust night lightning brightness because at the day time I don’t want to have it less bright:)

    Really happy to hear about the brightness adjustment coming! Just want to make sure I understand it correctly-when you say "overall brightness setting", does it mean making everything darker equally, like when we turn down phone brightness, or like physically accurate night lighting, which means modify the core lighting calculation? (eg. separate day/night material response). So cockpit instruments glow properly while outside gets truly dark.

    Would it be possible to have two separate lighting profiles, one for day and one for night?

    I ask because when I turn down my phone's own brightness, the aircraft still appear unnaturally bright at night.

    Whatever the answer is, I'm excited for any improvemnts! Really appreciate you guys taking player feedback into consideration!

    Edited 2 times, last by shdkd (June 4, 2025 at 5:50 AM).

    Quote from admin

    @shdkd The current mobile version 'artificially' brightens the night lighting. This has numerous reasons, but the top two are, that mobile displays vary extremely how bright they are, especially if they heat up. Also another reason is that most users prefer an artificially bright night lighting so that they see more even if in reality you don't.

    That being said, we are evaluating an overall 'brightness' setting for users so everyone can adjust the brightness to their personal taste.

    Sorry to jump onto the topic but is it possible for mobile players to pick if they want to opt in for the option to artificially brighten up the game as personally I find it quite annoying that it is still “bright” at night as if light pollution is everywhere

    Best,

    War

    Aerofly Global (IOS) Iphone 12 Mini

    That option would be very welcome Jan. Current cockpit illumination with the outside much darker is presumably what you have in mind?

    I remember doing the U.K. 'Night' Rating in the Eighties and Navigation was based on flying from or past lit towns in a sea of pitch black. Headings, times and obstacle avoidance pre-planning was the name of the game as well as lots of spare torch batteries. The instructor would know basic instrument flying and radio navigation (for just in case).

    Mastering that in the sim has to be far more rewarding.

    The issue isn't just "darkening the outside" – it's that:
    Aircraft materials use wrong reflections which makes them glow at night，but in the real world the aircraft should be darker when flying at night because there is no strong light source .（except for the moonlight）

  • Post by Gravitational lensing (June 8, 2025 at 6:43 AM).

    This post was deleted by the author themselves (June 8, 2025 at 1:20 PM).
    Quote from Jet-Pack (IPACS)

    We increased the brightness intentionally and based on customer feedback. On mobile you also have the option to reduce your screen brightness quite easily...

    When I lower my device's brightness, aircraft surfaces still appear unnaturally bright at night. This indicates the issue likely stems from:
    Material shaders not adapting to low-light conditions.
    Lighting parameters not calculating proper nighttime physics.

    In real world，Aircraft fuselage surfaces should be primarily dark during night operations, reflecting low ambient light conditions. Light sources create localized illumination. Areas immediately adjacent to these lights are visibly brighter, but this brightness fades gradually into the surrounding darkness over a short distance, creating a soft transition. These effects have been successfully achieved in aerofly fs 4.

    Quote from Jet-Pack (IPACS)

    Swipe down on the top right corner, there should be the iOS menu to toggle WiFi, Bluetooth and sliders to change the volume and screen brightness...

    Well that isn’t really the same thing. That just makes everything darker like the cockpit screens etc. why can’t a darker night be added? It isn’t something difficult to add, and it could easily be made optional for users.

    Regards,

    Mr.Krabbs Son