Gamma Nights

I'm aware of the bug on respawn setting the gamma to 2.2 if you left the game during dawn(1:00-5:00), and never allowing to auto adjust the gamma value after. A partial fix was forwarded with rev 4, fixing the static value. Proper fallback solutions and many new features will come in a couple of weeks with the new engine. You must do the following to properly apply the fix:

save the game preferably with the mod turned off(ALT+SHIFT+CTRL+F5)
exit the game and uninstall the mod, entirely quit the game to desktop
restart the game, join your world, save again
go to main menu, reinstall the mod and joiny our game again -> should be fixed

Notice the mod has to be manually activated via hotkey(ALT+SHIFT+CTRL+F5) since rev4 as it is default turned off on rejoin for debug reasons.

For servers, you can basically just remove the buff via console, see manifest file inside the mod package, id: 1267436, and restart the server.

A mod to bring back pitch the black nights we had in EVO, by using dynamic gamma adjustment. The mod comes with a configurable .ini, a mod activation toggle hotkey, and a hotkey to enable debug verbosity.

Project ID: 1267436

How exactly is it done?

By catching the Time of Day in real time format from the Ultra Dynamic Sky BP, and using its values to feed already existing functions in the game. The game considers "Nighttime" between 21:00 and 5:00 o'clock according to the UDS internal structure and I've taken exactly that time frame to forward my gamma adjusting code. Or in other words, I'm dynamically adjusting the gamma value as if you'd use the already existing, but, in Ascended, dysfunctional manual gamma setup(bound to keyboard keys).

You've mentioned Hotkeys?

Toggle Gamma Nights off/on: Alt+Shift+Ctrl+F5
Toggle debug verbosity: Alt+Shift+Ctrl+F4

Verbosity String Notification will provide: the game time in actual time format(based on 0:00-23:59:59), the time converted to its current float value, and the gamma adjustment value applied by the mod.

What about .ini settings?

[GammaNights]
GammaAdjustValue=0.0115
GammaNightsTickValue=10.0
DawnDelayDivisor=4.0
DuskDelayDivisor=1.0

Can we have more details?

What's happening under the hood is pretty much this:

Night Time start: 21:00 Night Time Median: 1:00 Night Time End: 5:00

The default tick value(GammaNightsTickValue=10.0) runs the graph structure every 10(realtime) seconds. Once the game time reaches 21:00(every day) it will gradually(based on customizable value GammaAdjustValue=0.0115) lower the gamma value. The value is clamped between 2.2(vanilla gamma) and my custom value of 1.75(the actual night time value in EVO).

Once it reaches the median, the gamma will be raised again until it's morning. Both gamma adjuster values have a customizable divisor(DuskDelayDivisor=1.0, DawnDelayDivisor=4.0) which will additionally control how fast the gamma is adjustet on dusk and dawn. The very reason for this is because I wanted to create what actually happens during night where I live. It's getting dark much faster than it actually takes to bring back daylight. I'm aware that the ARK is a disk. But my mod, my theory...:P

Why so many .ini options?

The whole thing is balanced against the default ASA time scale value(1.0 = 1 hour real time) and the default day/night time scale multiplier(1.0), which makes the night run twice as fast as the day(16/8 = 0.66/0.33). With the default values(0.0115x1.0/0.0115x4.0) you will have night time gamma adjustet to 1.75 in roundabout 1 hour 45 minutes(21:00-22:45) and the daylight gamma brought back over the whole span of 4 game hours(1:00-5:00).

From there you can either leave it running because it will continously apply the default value of 2.2, or manually toggle the mod tick off with the hotkey, if you are concerned about performance, given the mod functions are running server wide.

How would you customize the mod?

As an example of math, in my personal single player game I'm using a default timescale value of 0.12(slider does not allow =0.125), and the night running double as fast as default. So basically instead of 1.0=0.66/0.33, I have 0.12=0.1/0.02.

To get a close to the default balanced behaviour, I'd simply multiply my tick value by 8(0.12*8=0.96) or use the dusk/dawn-divisors if i wanted slower ticked, but more gradually distributed(smoother)transitions. You can actually do the same for the vanilla timescale, by simply using the mod default, or even lower tick rate, but using higher divisors for the dusk/dawn adjusters.

Take notice of two important facts if do you this, though: this will prolong the time for nights getting darker and vice versa, and high tick rates will eventually put suboptimal strain on your system/server.

You will need to test this for yourselves to find the right balance. On my i7-14700k, with 64GB@6.000mhz G.Skill RAM and a Nvidia 4090 RTX, I could go as high as 0.1 tick rate without any noticable difference. But you will most certainly feel it on a server, I'm sure. So keep it rational you will, right?

Why can we not customize the night/day value?

Because I don't want to go there. I'm afraid working against the default UDS/UDW/DCM system is going to end up in a miserable and uncontrollable mess, and I don't see no reason to open this Pandora's Box. Also, it does make sense to have a nighttime running between 21:00 and 5:00, given it's actually called "Nighttime".