Graphics - Let the sunlight in!

(Year 229) I can't believe I did not up the light settings much earlier! I had them at medium, because my graphics card is integrated (which normally means low quality with no dedicated video RAM), so I thought my computer could not handle the better settings, but I was so wrong!

From my new Chateau Peak - still in progress - a mini series from the building coming soon!

I set the lighting to max, and compensated by reducing sim details. I'd love those details, too, but to be honest I don't see much of a difference. And - the sunlight coming into the rooms makes up for it a million times! I love how the light effects creates depth, direction and sometimes quite spectacular effects. And they change all the time depending on the hour, giving a totally new reason to plan your layout - what rooms should get daylight effects at what time of the day?

I'm ready ro start a new rotation of my 120+ households, most of them I did not yet play with the improved lighting. Here are just a few pictures for quickly showing some effected rooms.

At Rossie Palace - in a drawing room with no sims, so the electricity is off.

The weather makes a difference, too, meaning residents of say Brindleton might see this as a rather rare thing, while people in Oasis Springs might hardly notice because they normally have sunny weather. And then there is the community lots - I will probably need to play forever to see nearly all possible effects, because it is rather random what hour and weather rules during my travels there.

Detail from a filthy kitchen featured in my video series "The Simmerville Show".

So - if your computer is a low-scale one, like mine, don't hesitate experiment with graphical settings. You might get surprised! I don't have more lag after the lot has been loaded, at least not in average houses. In the huge palaces and castles there is some lag, but the light effects are even better, so it is still worth it :)