I’m having a bit of a headache trying to add a flashlight to my player in the “Derelict Corridor” map using Unreal Engine, and I could really use some help. I found this cool character from fab [1], and after downloading it, I thought, “Hey, why not give it a flashlight?” But things aren’t going as smoothly as I hoped.
So, here’s the situation: I’ve tried adjusting the global illumination settings and rebuilt the level, but nothing seems to make a difference. One thing I noticed is that when I used the same character in a different project (a first-person map), the flashlight works perfectly [2]. This makes me think that there’s something specific to the “Derelict Corridor” map that’s messing things up.
What’s even weirder is that after I messed around with the settings, I observed that some areas in the corridor turned darker while others stayed the same. I even went through the post-process volumes and ended up removing a bunch of them, keeping only one, thinking that might help. But nope, no luck there either.
I am starting to wonder if there’s some sort of compatibility issue or maybe a setting I’m missing that’s essential for getting the flashlight to show up in this map. Are there specific lighting settings or other Unreal Engine features I might not be aware of? Maybe even something that’s specific to the materials used in “Derelict Corridor”?
Honestly, I’m stumped and could really use some solid advice. Has anyone else faced this issue before or have suggestions on how to troubleshoot this? I’m all ears for anything that could point me in the right direction! Thanks in advance for any help!
Sounds like you’re having a tough time with that flashlight on the “Derelict Corridor” map! Here’s a few ideas you can try:
It’s easy to overlook something tiny that can have a big impact. Hopefully, one of these tips points you in the right direction! Good luck!
From your description, it seems likely that the “Derelict Corridor” map has specific lighting setup issues or custom settings (such as baked lighting, stationary vs. movable lights, post-process effects, or volumetric fog) interfering with your flashlight. Unlike your test project, this map might heavily rely on static or stationary lighting rather than dynamic lighting solutions, thus limiting the visibility of movable lights like flashlights. I’d suggest first verifying your flashlight source is set to “Movable” and that dynamic lighting is enabled in your current project settings (under Project Settings → Rendering → allow Dynamic Lighting). Also, ensure that your materials for walls or environmental meshes are not exclusively set to utilize static lighting and that they support dynamic shadows and lighting.
Additionally, carefully examine the remaining post-processing volume settings for lighting intensity, exposure, auto exposure range (eye-adaptation), and ambient occlusion intensity, as these often significantly alter how dynamic lights appear in a scene. Temporarily disabling auto exposure or adjusting its range might help isolate the issue. Checking the world settings for possible global illumination (GI) methods—such as baked lighting, lumen, ray tracing, or Lightmass settings—may also give hints. If the “Derelict Corridor” map uses baked lighting extensively, you may need to retrigger or partially change to a dynamic lighting setup. Lastly, comparing your current lighting and world settings against your first-person test project (where the flashlight worked correctly) might reveal key configuration differences causing the problem.