Lights on the Ground (Taxi, Turn-Off and Landing)

[Jazz]

Especially taxi lights. Is there any way to make these bright enough so I can see where I'm going? It's like having a Davey lamp strapped to the nose oleo. Please, no discussions about real or not, it's simply not bright enough and I can't see where I'm going. In fact, in order to know they are on at all, I have to sit up with Track IR and lean forward and look directly down and I can just about see that it's is lighting up about four feet in front of the plane. Barely. Landing lights are more obvious but still not bright enough. If the lights were really this poor in reality there would be no point in installing them.

I realise that I can buy something like "Immersion" but surely I shouldn't have to.

They seem to light things up much better in external view for some reason but in the cockpit, they are essentially useless.

[Jazz]

Well, I bought "Immersion" but it actually doesn't fix this issue and the lights remain utterly pathetic and I gotta tell you it's spoiling the feel of operating this thing at night. I have read a few threads here regarding this issue and it seems this can be fixed but you don't appear to be willing to fix it. I realise Lockheed keep changing things about but this aircraft was expensive and the 748 even more so and I would like the lights to function. It appears that this has been a problem for years now. I really hate to say this, and I do hate to say this but I expect more from PMDG.

When the 737 originally came out on FSX I fell in love with it but do you know what absolutely blew my mind after a few flights? It was the night lighting. I had done many day flights and was in love with the detail and complexity. It was utterly convincing to me but my first night flight took that to a new level. When I turned on all the lights and saw those strobes and beacons flashing out of the window and bouncing off the surface the illusion was utterly convincing and the taxi lights showed me the way. The atmosphere it created was incredible and it was one of those "WOW" sim moments I will never forget but the lights on the 747 simply are not there. Obviously, the thing is so big I don't expect to see beacons and strobes flashing on the surface from the cockpit as I did in the 737 back in the day but I do expect to see where I'm going with the taxi and landing and turn off lights on. And I can't.

From some of the threads I have read some people have tinkered and fixed this for themselves quickly so I'm at a loss as to why you have not done this. As I have said, this aircraft is expensive and if Lockheed make changes then I expect you good people to make the changes to remedy the problem. It's because of this dedication to accuracy and quality that I'm happy to pay PMDG prices.

I understand that you are trying to find a balance with the lights but I implore you to take another look at them because they are simply not good enough. You just can't see a thing.

[Captain Kevin]

James, I must have missed it, but what are you using for a simulator. I can't say I've noticed any issues, but I'm running P3D V4.5. At 10:48 here, I only have the taxi lights on, and a few seconds later, I throw the landing lights on.

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1234903847

14:52 here, I only have the taxi lights on, and a few seconds later, I throw the landing lights on.

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1236322786

In both cases at two different airports, I can see just fine. This is with default lights, no modifications or anything.

[Jazz]

Hello again, Kevin. You didn't miss it, I forgot to mention it. I'm on P3Dv5.3 and from what I have read this is an issue caused by Lockheed changing the way lighting works in version 5 and PMDG not adapting the aircraft to those specific changes. In my version, I don't have illumination on the ground like that. It's there but it's pathetic. As if the ground is a black hole sucking all the light into it. It's just way too dark. Now maybe they don't want to change it because it will make yours too bright on version 4 but that's pure speculation on my part. However, if that is the case the solution is to have a different light version for the differing sim versions. It's not to make me fumble around in the dark. But like I said, I'm speculating.

The lights in P3Dv5.3 are dire. I would see more if I had a psychic medium in the jump seat.

[Captain Kevin]

Have you tried submitting a support ticket about it.

[Jazz]

Have you tried submitting a support ticket about it.

Not yet. I will sometime this week, though. The point of posting it here was to get a conversation started about it but I suppose Christmas may not have been the best time given everyone is arguing with their families over who is cheating at the Monopoly board. However, this place does seem much quieter than it used to be. It feels as though the only people in this pub are you, me and Mr Makris most of the time 😂

[Captain Kevin]

Not yet. I will sometime this week, though. The point of posting it here was to get a conversation started about it but I suppose Christmas may not have been the best time given everyone is arguing with their families over who is cheating at the Monopoly board. However, this place does seem much quieter than it used to be. It feels as though the only people in this pub are you, me and Mr Makris most of the time 😂

I mean, there isn't anything wrong with posting here to see if anybody has the same issue, but if you need support from PMDG, the support ticket is the way to go since they can track issues there. I definitely do the best I can to help people out, but I'm obviously limited in what I'm able to do. As for the holidays, I suppose that could be an issue. I'm a truck driver and work during the holidays, so nothing too spectacular up here.

[AirBadger]

Not yet. I will sometime this week, though. The point of posting it here was to get a conversation started about it but I suppose Christmas may not have been the best time given everyone is arguing with their families over who is cheating at the Monopoly board. However, this place does seem much quieter than it used to be. It feels as though the only people in this pub are you, me and Mr Makris most of the time 😂

FYI submitting a ticket on this issue is a waste of your time. The chances of PMDG revisiting PBR and lighting in P3D is slim to none. I would try searching this forum for tweaks to .fx files that people have made to make the lights more effective.

[Jazz]

FYI submitting a ticket on this issue is a waste of your time. The chances of PMDG revisiting PBR and lighting in P3D is slim to none. I would try searching this forum for tweaks to .fx files that people have made to make the lights more effective.

Yes, I have the feeling that if I do submit a ticket I'm going to get the same response I have read before on the issue but I will do it regardless. I'm happy to be proved wrong and you know what they say about assumptions and all that. I have found a few tweaks that relate to the 737 and I have tried to apply them to the 747 but it appeared to make no difference. Could you point me in the direction of some regarding the 747?

To be honest I'm a little annoyed that this is a thing and I have to go about trying to fix it. This should just work. I believe in all the years this is the first time I've really had cause to be annoyed with my PMDG product. I'm not sure what to make of that.

[Jazz]

I suspect this is a balancing issue for them to be honest. I wonder if they make them bright enough at default airports that they would look ridiculous at some payware airports and other versions of the sim.

[VHOJT]

Considering P3D v5 has been out for ages, it does seem a bit sloppy not to do something about it for this long.

[anthonyss89]

I suspect this is a balancing issue for them to be honest. I wonder if they make them bright enough at default airports that they would look ridiculous at some payware airports and other versions of the sim.

Did you ever figure this out?


Thanks,
Mya Namerz

[Jazz]

Did you ever figure this out?


Thanks,
Mya Namerz

No, unfortunately, life is getting in the way of such things at the moment.

[Michael Codd]

Jazz There could be several reasons why your aircraft’s ground lighting intensity is disappointing for you; not least because this type of PC simulation issue can be very subjective and therefore difficult to troubleshoot. A picture usually says a thousand words, but unfortunately you haven’t posted a screen shot or said what aircraft livery you were using to support what you have been saying, because this information would definitely have been more helpful.

Have you refreshed your P3D shaders and checked its display settings as well as your graphics card and its driver configuration, because they could be the issue here? So could your monitor’s calibration and its brightness and contrast settings etc. Even your room’s ambient lighting and the P3D/ASN weather and forward visibility etc will have a bearing on what you are seeing from within the cockpit when taxiiing; especially when using a night scenario.

I know you said you didn’t want a discussion about realism or not, but if I may say so you should also keep an open mind about this. For example, all of the main exterior lights (I.e. taxi, turnoff, landing and wing) on the B744 are situated much further back from the front of the fuselage when compared to the much smaller B737. In addition, the B744 pilot’s seating position and eye height above the ground also means that the forward fuselage area has a noticeable impact on the forward visibility and exterior lighting’s effectiveness when viewed from the flight deck. The B744’s lights are therefore bound to be less visually effective at illuminating the ground ahead of the aircraft than those fitted to the B737. If you are aiming for realism then you should try taxiing at night using the outboard landing lights and runway turnoff lights, as appropriate, keeping the groundspeed <20 kts on a straight taxiway and think of them primarily as ‘carpet’ lights to help you to focus on the taxiway edges and centreline lights.

I know from my own experience that PMDG take all user issues raised in these forums and especially objective requests received via a support ticket seriously. That’s why I think you really should submit a support ticket so that they can investigate your concerns properly and help you to resolve them.

[Extra300driver]

To add to Michael's point - Cathay FCOM mandates use of outer landing lights, BA didn't even have taxi lights on their 744s, they were considered as useful as a cigarette!

Not denying your issue Jazz - if you get time else post a photo, also at some airports (certainly in v4.5) they don't work at all due to a scenery issue - Flightbeam being one that springs to mind

[IanHarr]

Not to help but to add. I also have that problem, the lights are basically useless. I took off in a thunderstorm last night and only when the lightning flashed could I see the taxiway. Also under 5.3.

[Timma]

+1 i have no landing lights and taxi lights ,im blinded in the dark! At the moment just doin daytime flights.
Its a shame that all other add-on devs have tweaked their AC according to each update, yet pmdg just didnt bother.

[VHOJT]

Is anyone finding a nasty FPS hit with PMDG dynamic lights in v5? No problems in v4.

In FSLabs I can run the landing lights without FPS hit, but with PMDG 747, I get a large FPS hit (down to 15 fps or so). MSAA x2 or off - doesn't make much difference.

[Ephedrin]

Is anyone finding a nasty FPS hit with PMDG dynamic lights in v5? No problems in v4.

In FSLabs I can run the landing lights without FPS hit, but with PMDG 747, I get a large FPS hit (down to 15 fps or so). MSAA x2 or off - doesn't make much difference.

Rudy,

I found that I can‘t use the NGXu at some older airport‘s by ORBX like PAKT or PAJN anymore. I can‘t tell exactly which 5.x update caused this but with my old quad core system I was down to 5-7 FPS there at night. I haven‘t tried other developers and with my new system I haven‘t flown there either yet but the issues were quite seif-explaining: the dynamic lighting is still a problem like it was in the beginning. If it‘s not done correctly by the version you use you‘ll have issues.

[Christo]

I had the same problem.

I have modified the taxi, runway turnoff and inboard and outboard landing lights. They are MUCH brighter and extend farther out.

I am using P3DV5.3.

My display is an LG C1 Oled TV, I am not running the TV in HDR mode (too much gradient banding).

In game settings are HDR lighting on with auto exposure off, dynamic reflections set to low, dynamic lighting is on.

Please backup your files before overwriting them.

If they are too bright for you, or too dim, just edit the numbers I show you in the code block below.

A lower "Falloff Exponent" will extend the light and cover more ground and a higher "Falloff Exponent" will shorten the light and cover less ground.

A higher "Intensity Night" will brighten the light and a lower "Intensity Night" will dim the light.

The edits were easy once I figured out what to do. Just a few hours of trial and error. I will show you what I did below so you can adjust the files yourself to your preference.

For the NGXu and 777 just edit the same lines in their fx files (similarly named).


My first post ever so just want to thank PMDG for many, MANY years of enjoyment. My favorite aircraft :-).
I hope I am not breaking any rules by posting this.

Cheers everyone. Happy flying!

What has been edited... This example is from the taxi light file.

File: fx_PMDG_747_taxi.fx

[ParticleAttributes.0]
Color Start=0, 0, 0, 0
Color End=245, 245, 215, 15
Bounce=0.00
X Scale Goal=0.00
Y Scale Goal=0.00
Z Scale Goal=0.00
Falloff Exponent=0.25 <---- This Parameter has been lowered
Inner Cone Angle=1.00
Outer Cone Angle=120.00
Intensity Day=0.00
Intensity Night=515.00 <---- This parameter has been increased

[ParticleAttributes.1]
Color Start=0, 0, 0, 0
Color End=245, 245, 215, 30
Bounce=0.00
X Scale Goal=0.00
Y Scale Goal=0.00
Z Scale Goal=0.00
Falloff Exponent=1.00 <---- This Parameter has been lowered
Inner Cone Angle=10.00
Outer Cone Angle=30.00
Intensity Day=0.00
Intensity Night=540.00 <---- This parameter has been increased

<Prepar3D v5 install folder>\Effects

https://drive.google.com/file/d/11KANVUjE-efJG5na_yfw8yw97i9t_6i2/view?usp=sharing

[Kevin Hall]

I can understand increasing the brightness to compensate for P3Dv5 lighting but extending the light lobes isn't realistic.

[alsenaidy]

He there

Thanks you so much for the add. I fix the taxi, inboard, outboard, logo, and nav light too.
Here is the link if you like to see it and let me know what you think about it.

Link: https://youtu.be/lM1v7vI4v00