fix(LL): pbr specular brightness with dalc#1695
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… using Linear Lighting without IBL. The Problem: When using Linear Lighting with PBR materials and DALC instead of IBL, surfaces appeared too shiny/glossy - especially metals. Everything had an excessive "wet look" or mirror-like sheen. Solution: 1) ReflectionNormalisationScale is now always 0.65 instead of switching between 1.0 (with Linear Lighting) and 0.65 (without). Turns down the overall reflection brightness from 100% to 65% with DALC. 2) Added Color::Ambient() around the DALC (Directional Ambient Lighting Color) calculation. Made sure the ambient light feeding into reflections goes through the same "dimming filter" that other parts of the lighting system use.
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📝 WalkthroughWalkthroughTwo shader files are modified: a constant in the Color namespace is changed from a conditional value to a fixed value of 0.65, and the directional ambient color specular computation is wrapped with a Color::Ambient function before luminance calculation. Changes
Estimated code review effort🎯 2 (Simple) | ⏱️ ~10 minutes Possibly related PRs
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🧹 Nitpick comments (1)
package/Shaders/DeferredCompositeCS.hlsl (1)
174-174: Logic is correct – specular DALC now matches diffuse handling.Wrapping with
Color::Ambient()ensures specular reflections receive the same gamma/dimming treatment as the diffuse ambient calculation on line 121. This should resolve the excessive shininess issue.Minor nit: this line uses spaces for indentation while surrounding code uses tabs.
🔧 Suggested fix for indentation consistency
- float directionalAmbientColorSpecular = Color::RGBToLuminance(Color::Ambient(max(0, mul(SharedData::DirectionalAmbient, float4(R, 1.0))))) * Color::ReflectionNormalisationScale; + float directionalAmbientColorSpecular = Color::RGBToLuminance(Color::Ambient(max(0, mul(SharedData::DirectionalAmbient, float4(R, 1.0))))) * Color::ReflectionNormalisationScale;
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🧠 Learnings (7)
📓 Common learnings
Learnt from: jiayev
Repo: doodlum/skyrim-community-shaders PR: 0
File: :0-0
Timestamp: 2025-08-03T18:37:19.690Z
Learning: ISReflectionsRayTracing.hlsl and ISWorldMap.hlsl in the skyrim-community-shaders repository are image-space post-processing shaders that perform color sampling and blending operations that need proper linear color space handling for the linear lighting system. ISReflectionsRayTracing handles screen-space reflections and should use conditional Color::IrradianceToLinear/Gamma conversions similar to ISCompositeLensFlareVolumetricLighting.hlsl. ISWorldMap performs 7x7 color accumulation that should be done in linear space similar to the pattern used in ISSAOComposite.hlsl.
Learnt from: ThePagi
Repo: doodlum/skyrim-community-shaders PR: 1369
File: src/Features/SnowCover.cpp:515-515
Timestamp: 2025-10-02T14:20:33.454Z
Learning: In the Community Shaders codebase (skyrim-community-shaders repository), hardcoded shader resource slot numbers are used directly in code rather than being defined as named constants. This is the established convention and should not be flagged as an issue.
Learnt from: alandtse
Repo: doodlum/skyrim-community-shaders PR: 0
File: :0-0
Timestamp: 2025-07-01T18:01:07.079Z
Learning: In the skyrim-community-shaders project, simple scalar constants in HLSL shaders use #define (e.g., #define NTHREADS 128), while more complex constants use static const within namespaces (e.g., Math namespace in Math.hlsli). For epsilon standardization, #define is the appropriate choice since epsilon values are simple scalar constants.
Learnt from: alandtse
Repo: doodlum/skyrim-community-shaders PR: 577
File: features/Wetness Effects/Shaders/WetnessEffects/WetnessEffects.hlsli:57-61
Timestamp: 2025-06-17T05:40:22.785Z
Learning: Default parameter values are supported in the HLSL compiler used by the skyrim-community-shaders project, contrary to standard HLSL (FXC/DXC) limitations.
Learnt from: alandtse
Repo: doodlum/skyrim-community-shaders PR: 577
File: src/Features/WetnessEffects.h:36-36
Timestamp: 2025-06-08T11:25:14.536Z
Learning: In the skyrim-community-shaders project, boolean flags in C++ structs that interface with HLSL shaders use `uint` type instead of `bool` for compatibility reasons. This ensures consistent 4-byte size, proper 16-byte alignment in constant buffers, and cross-platform compatibility when passing data between C++ and HLSL shaders.
Learnt from: alandtse
Repo: doodlum/skyrim-community-shaders PR: 0
File: :0-0
Timestamp: 2025-07-05T05:20:45.823Z
Learning: In the skyrim-community-shaders repository, file deletion error handling improvements that replace existence checks and try-catch blocks with std::filesystem::remove error-code-based approaches are considered bug fixes rather than refactoring, as they address inadequate error handling and misleading log messages.
Learnt from: alandtse
Repo: doodlum/skyrim-community-shaders PR: 577
File: src/Features/WetnessEffects.h:36-36
Timestamp: 2025-06-08T11:25:14.536Z
Learning: In the skyrim-community-shaders project, boolean flags in C++ structs that interface with HLSL shaders use `uint` type instead of `bool` for compatibility reasons. This ensures consistent size, alignment, and cross-platform compatibility when passing data to shader constant buffers.
Learnt from: ThePagi
Repo: doodlum/skyrim-community-shaders PR: 1369
File: src/Features/SnowCover.cpp:260-260
Timestamp: 2025-08-05T18:13:03.123Z
Learning: In the skyrim-community-shaders SnowCover feature, the time calculation uses division by 61.0 instead of 60.0 for seconds conversion in the perFrame.Month calculation. The original author ThePagi indicated this was intentional and makes no discernible difference to the snow cover functionality, suggesting it may be related to game-specific timing mechanics or balance considerations.
Learnt from: jiayev
Repo: doodlum/skyrim-community-shaders PR: 0
File: :0-0
Timestamp: 2025-07-18T15:21:03.641Z
Learning: In the skyrim-community-shaders rendering pipeline, materials with alpha < 1 or alpha blending enabled are rendered in non-deferred mode rather than deferred mode. This means issues with dynamic cubemaps on transparent materials are actually non-deferred rendering issues.
📚 Learning: 2025-08-03T18:37:19.690Z
Learnt from: jiayev
Repo: doodlum/skyrim-community-shaders PR: 0
File: :0-0
Timestamp: 2025-08-03T18:37:19.690Z
Learning: ISReflectionsRayTracing.hlsl and ISWorldMap.hlsl in the skyrim-community-shaders repository are image-space post-processing shaders that perform color sampling and blending operations that need proper linear color space handling for the linear lighting system. ISReflectionsRayTracing handles screen-space reflections and should use conditional Color::IrradianceToLinear/Gamma conversions similar to ISCompositeLensFlareVolumetricLighting.hlsl. ISWorldMap performs 7x7 color accumulation that should be done in linear space similar to the pattern used in ISSAOComposite.hlsl.
Applied to files:
package/Shaders/Common/Color.hlslipackage/Shaders/DeferredCompositeCS.hlsl
📚 Learning: 2025-07-01T18:01:07.079Z
Learnt from: alandtse
Repo: doodlum/skyrim-community-shaders PR: 0
File: :0-0
Timestamp: 2025-07-01T18:01:07.079Z
Learning: In the skyrim-community-shaders project, simple scalar constants in HLSL shaders use #define (e.g., #define NTHREADS 128), while more complex constants use static const within namespaces (e.g., Math namespace in Math.hlsli). For epsilon standardization, #define is the appropriate choice since epsilon values are simple scalar constants.
Applied to files:
package/Shaders/Common/Color.hlsli
📚 Learning: 2025-10-02T14:20:33.454Z
Learnt from: ThePagi
Repo: doodlum/skyrim-community-shaders PR: 1369
File: src/Features/SnowCover.cpp:515-515
Timestamp: 2025-10-02T14:20:33.454Z
Learning: In the Community Shaders codebase (skyrim-community-shaders repository), hardcoded shader resource slot numbers are used directly in code rather than being defined as named constants. This is the established convention and should not be flagged as an issue.
Applied to files:
package/Shaders/Common/Color.hlslipackage/Shaders/DeferredCompositeCS.hlsl
📚 Learning: 2025-06-17T05:40:22.785Z
Learnt from: alandtse
Repo: doodlum/skyrim-community-shaders PR: 577
File: features/Wetness Effects/Shaders/WetnessEffects/WetnessEffects.hlsli:57-61
Timestamp: 2025-06-17T05:40:22.785Z
Learning: Default parameter values are supported in the HLSL compiler used by the skyrim-community-shaders project, contrary to standard HLSL (FXC/DXC) limitations.
Applied to files:
package/Shaders/DeferredCompositeCS.hlsl
📚 Learning: 2025-08-17T18:37:35.839Z
Learnt from: CR
Repo: doodlum/skyrim-community-shaders PR: 0
File: .github/copilot-instructions.md:0-0
Timestamp: 2025-08-17T18:37:35.839Z
Learning: Applies to features/*/Shaders/**/*.{hlsl,hlsli,fx,fxh} : Avoid GPU register/buffer conflicts in HLSL; verify register usage (e.g., with hlslkit buffer scanning)
Applied to files:
package/Shaders/DeferredCompositeCS.hlsl
📚 Learning: 2025-07-18T15:21:03.641Z
Learnt from: jiayev
Repo: doodlum/skyrim-community-shaders PR: 0
File: :0-0
Timestamp: 2025-07-18T15:21:03.641Z
Learning: In the skyrim-community-shaders rendering pipeline, materials with alpha < 1 or alpha blending enabled are rendered in non-deferred mode rather than deferred mode. This means issues with dynamic cubemaps on transparent materials are actually non-deferred rendering issues.
Applied to files:
package/Shaders/DeferredCompositeCS.hlsl
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🔇 Additional comments (1)
package/Shaders/Common/Color.hlsli (1)
113-114: LGTM – unified reflection scale regardless of Linear Lighting mode.The simplification from a conditional to a fixed 0.65 ensures consistent reflection normalization when using DALC. This aligns with the PR objective to reduce the excessive shininess on metallic surfaces.
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jiayev
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Jan 12, 2026
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The Problem:
When using Linear Lighting with PBR materials and DALC instead of IBL, surfaces appeared too shiny/glossy - especially metals. Everything had an excessive "wet look" or mirror-like sheen.
Solution:
Turns down the overall reflection brightness from 100% to 65% with DALC.
Made sure the ambient light feeding into reflections goes through the same "dimming filter" that other parts of the lighting system use.
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