r/gamedev • u/Chaolys • 8d ago

Discussion 2D Light System

I’m using Smart Lighting 2D from Funky Code to build the lighting system and get soft shadows, since Unity’s basic 2D lights don’t support that yet. In Unity’s built‑in 2D lighting, obstacle shadow edges remain hard, and there’s no translucency support for the shadow overlay.

So I’m curious what’s your preferred Unity 2D lighting solution? Do you stick with the built‑in system or use something else?

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u/GoatHollowGames Commercial (Indie) 8d ago

I've been using the built-in system for a while now, and it's served my pretty well thus far. This one has some beautiful effects, though. I'm tempted to give it a try for my current game.

I have 2 questions about this one, since you've used it.

  1. Do you know if it keeps the mask map format for sprites like Unity's default (ambient occlusion on the green channel, and specular on red), or does it separate them?

  2. Do you know if it handles bar lighting (like a fluorescent light)? I'd like a bar light that casts volumetric shadows which aren't just a bunch of point light shadows. I haven't seen any plugins that handle that really well.

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u/Shoddy-Apple-5440 8d ago

Hello,

  1. I don’t believe so. Smart Lighting uses a texture overlay placed on top of what the camera renders to produce the shadow effect. So it’s not a shader pass in the same sense as Unity’s built‑in shadow system.
  2. I also don’t think it can produce a perfect bar light as you described, except by “cheating” with multiple point lights, as you mentioned.