CROWD AND ARENA LIGHTING 101. TIPS/GUIDE/TUTORIAL

CROWD AND ARENA LIGHTING 101. TIPS/GUIDE/TUTORIAL
Its long overdue, since 2k20 a lot of people asking how to make the crowd brighter or darker or the whole arena itself.. We don't have a New-Gen gameplay and graphics on PC, but at least we can replicate or imitate the looks of New-Gen graphic wise or a Realistic approach. as PC is capable enough to handle what the New-Gen consoles can. I made a small tips/pointers on how to edit the arena, especially the crowds for lighting modders and this part are always overlooked.

Here are 3 samples/scenarios of edited crowds (and arena).

scenario 1:
crowd_lighting.FxTweakables only

American Airlines Center - Dallas Mavericks

use Hex editor can edit the crowdfx
big thanks to Santicruyff for the pointers.

000001ec - overall brightness multiplier
00000180 - lower section (near court) brightness/darkness
0000027c - overall color balance (hue)
000001a4 - color balance
000001c8 - shadow

(this method will work on a lot of arenas including retros)

crowd fx and lightmap download: https://www.mediafire.com/file/eo47es9y ... p.rar/file

scenario 2:
crowd_lighting.FxTweakables and crowd_seats_pixel.***.dds

Crypto.Com Arena - LA Lakers

Lakers "Lights Out" is known since 2006, were lights were out at seating areas.
this "lights out "effects cant be achieve thru crowdfx. only, even you set the hex value to the lowest or darkest, the crowds on 3-level suites are still well lit . You need to edit the crowd_seats_pixel.***.dds to solve the issue. here is the sample of edited crowd_seats_pixel.***.dds I made last year which still work on 2k20-23.

same as crowdfx you can use Hex editor to edit the crowd_seats_pixel.***.dds
As you notice, to compare with 2k default seatpixel the difference between modded on 00000000 until 00063260, as this area controls the upper sections until the lower suite sections of the arena. (note: all crowd_seats_pixels are unique in every arena, they have different configurations/arrangements)

Lakers seats_ pixel download: https://www.mediafire.com/file/38l9oiit ... s.rar/file

scenario 3:
crowd_seats_pixel.***.dds only
(you can edit the crowd_lighting.FxTweakables to balance the color etc.)

Chase Center - Golden State Warriors

As we notice on default 2k Chase Center has dark crowd starts on mid of lower section (100 level in general).. Again, the crowd_lighting.FxTweakables is not enough to edit this.
I edit the crowd_seats_pixel.***.dds of s019.iff for the entire crowds to look more realistic.

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how to edit crowd_seats_pixel.***.dds
to make crowd brighter, you can copy the float values from the bright parts of crowd, and paste in the darker parts and the other way round, or use the seats_pixel file from other arena as a reference.

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all Arena lighting (walls, steps etc.) can be done through lightmaps. the darker the lightmap, it creates the lighter effects, vice-versa.

fog effects can be added thru PostEffect.FxTweakables..
you can see the tutorial here viewtopic.php?f=267&t=111557&p=2033629&hilit=fog#p2033629 by Santicruyff

Player lightings can be done in 3 ways, 1. PostEffect.FxTweakables 2. arena.scne VC_spotlights setting 3. minion ibl specular
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No Reshade on all screenshots

Last edited by rtomb_03 on Wed Sep 28, 2022 11:47 pm, edited 5 times in total.

Thank you for droppin' knowledge, rtomb. Threads like these are what make this forum so useful.

How do you edit crowd_seats_pixel dds? i used PS but it's either crashes or just bunch of colors glowing on the crowd

great guide

for the "crowd_seats_pixel.***.dds" which options do you use to save the dds file ?

great guide

for the "crowd_seats_pixel.***.dds" which options do you use to save the dds file ?

How do you edit crowd_seats_pixel dds? i used PS but it's either crashes or just bunch of colors glowing on the crowd

don't use Photoshop, use Hex Editor, it is not a normal texture file..
to make crowd brighter, you can copy the float values from the bright parts of crowd, and paste in the darker parts and the other way round, or use the seats_pixel file from other arena as a reference.

I’m wondering if you can answer this question, for older 2ks like 17 there is a very bright specular file which handles most of the player lighting, however the newer games have a dimmer gru specular, are shaders responsible for the difference between the two? Or is it primarily the Vc spotlight.

I’m wondering if you can answer this question, for older 2ks like 17 there is a very bright specular file which handles most of the player lighting, however the newer games have a dimmer gru specular, are shaders responsible for the difference between the two? Or is it primarily the Vc spotlight.

I'm not an IT nor a programmer, my answer is based on my observation only. Back in the days, I use HDRI's on the environment of my 3dsMax scene, it helps me to create a more realistic and detailed output and simulate a real-life lighting. HDRI's is type IBL, and it is self-illuminating material/shader, and the direct light such as VC_spotlight didn't affect much on how the light reflects. VC_spotlight affects mostly on the diffuse light reflections not the specular, that's why the normal maps & roughness plays a big role. to answer to your question, Yes, shader are responsible for the difference. PostEffect.Fx affects more on IBL. I remember back in 2k16, even the crowd is well lit. 2k improve the level of details especially on player textures and models on succeeding years, they also change the shaders..

Thank you very much for the answer and all your contribution to the community.

I made some tries on ... 2K16 with satisfying results

Any tip to improve led/dornas lighting too ?

I made some tries on ... 2K16 with satisfying results

Any tip to improve led/dornas lighting too ?

Do you still have tutorial how i can edit Crowd lightings and fog in 2K16 files?

I made some tries on ... 2K16 with satisfying results

Any tip to improve led/dornas lighting too ?

Do you still have tutorial how i can edit Crowd lightings and fog in 2K16 files?

there's no tutorial for 2K16, but the basics are the same than here or bongo88's guide for 2K18/19

hey guy，I would like to ask how to modify the brightness of the bench? For example, when the lights are off in the Lakers crowd, the bench is on. Do you know how to solve this problem? Look forward to your reply。Thank！

000001ec
0000027c
000001a4
000001c8 i can't find these

000001ec
0000027c
000001a4
000001c8 i can't find these
[ Image ]

Pls read again the OP. this points are for crowd_lighting.FxTweakables only, and i didn't mention to use Photoshop as stated in your 1st question.

I made some tries on ... 2K16 with satisfying results

Any tip to improve led/dornas lighting too ?

afaik you can turn off the LED effects on crowd, I did that on 2k20, I forgot the location in crowdfx.. I dont know how how to increase or decrease the LED effects of crowd, but you can do that in crowdcard_effect..script

000001ec
0000027c
000001a4
000001c8 i can't find these
[ Image ]

Pls read again the OP. this points are for crowd_lighting.FxTweakables only, and i didn't mention to use Photoshop as stated in your 1st question.

i used hex editor, they're not in the crowd_lighting.FxTweakables either

or does it work like this? sorry im not really familiar with hex editing

or does it work like this? sorry im not really familiar with hex editing
[ Image ]

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hey guy，I would like to ask how to modify the brightness of the bench? For example, when the lights are off in the Lakers crowd, the bench is on. Do you know how to solve this problem? Look forward to your reply。Thank！

this happen on modded arena.. (in arena scne) when using lightmapped_environment.fx, there should be always a LightmapTextureMerged or else, it will lit same as LED. unlike the vertexlit_environment.fx, it is related to shader lighting orientation.. I notice this in some modded arenas that this part is always neglected by the modder.

What do I hex edit in the crowd_seats_pixel?

These are very good. It would be great if we can brighten retro stadiums.

How can i make the crowd seats brighter? I was able to mess with hex editor to make the crowd brighter but the seats wont change.