3d-lighting

3D Lighting for Summer Engine

Set up lighting and environment for 3D scenes. Follow these patterns for outdoor and indoor setups.

Light Types

Type	Use case
DirectionalLight3D	Sun, moon, outdoor primary light
OmniLight3D	Point lights (lamps, torches)
SpotLight3D	Flashlights, stage lights

Basic Outdoor Setup

1. Directional Light (Sun)

summer_add_node(parent="./World", type="DirectionalLight3D", name="Sun")
summer_set_prop(path="./World/Sun", key="rotation_degrees", value="Vector3(-45, 30, 0)")
summer_set_prop(path="./World/Sun", key="light_energy", value="1.0")
summer_set_prop(path="./World/Sun", key="shadow_enabled", value="true")
summer_set_prop(path="./World/Sun", key="light_color", value="Color(1, 0.95, 0.9, 1)")

Warm sunlight: Color(1, 0.95, 0.9, 1). Cool moonlight: Color(0.8, 0.85, 1, 1).

2. WorldEnvironment (Sky + Ambient)

summer_add_node(parent="./World", type="WorldEnvironment", name="WorldEnvironment")
summer_set_prop(path="./World/WorldEnvironment", key="environment", value="Environment")

Then configure the Environment's sub-properties. The Environment resource has:

• background_mode — 2 for sky, 1 for color, 3 for canvas
• sky — Sky resource (ProceduralSkyMaterial or PhysicalSkyMaterial)
• ambient_light_source — AMBIENT_SOURCE_SKY or AMBIENT_SOURCE_COLOR
• ambient_light_color
• tonemap_mode

For a simple procedural sky:

summer_set_resource_property(nodePath="./World/WorldEnvironment", resourceProperty="environment", subProperty="background_mode", value="2")

You may need to create a Sky resource and assign it. In the editor this is done via the inspector; via MCP, SetResourceProperty on nested resources may require the resource to exist first. If environment is "Environment", the engine creates a default. For sky, you might set sky to "ProceduralSkyMaterial" or similar—check Godot docs for the exact property chain.

Simpler path: Use the 3d-basic template which already has a sky. Copy that structure.

3. Fill Light (Optional)

A second, weaker directional or omni for shadow fill:

summer_add_node(parent="./World", type="DirectionalLight3D", name="FillLight")
summer_set_prop(path="./World/FillLight", key="rotation_degrees", value="Vector3(-30, -120, 0)")
summer_set_prop(path="./World/FillLight", key="light_energy", value="0.3")
summer_set_prop(path="./World/FillLight", key="shadow_enabled", value="false")
summer_set_prop(path="./World/FillLight", key="light_color", value="Color(0.7, 0.8, 1, 1)")

Indoor / Point Lights

summer_add_node(parent="./World", type="OmniLight3D", name="Lamp")
summer_set_prop(path="./World/Lamp", key="position", value="Vector3(2, 3, 2)")
summer_set_prop(path="./World/Lamp", key="light_energy", value="0.8")
summer_set_prop(path="./World/Lamp", key="light_color", value="Color(1, 0.9, 0.7, 1)")
summer_set_prop(path="./World/Lamp", key="omni_range", value="8")

Property Reference

Property	Type	Example
light_energy	float	1.0, 1.5
light_color	Color	"Color(1, 0.95, 0.9, 1)"
shadow_enabled	bool	true
rotation_degrees	Vector3	"Vector3(-45, 30, 0)"
position	Vector3	"Vector3(0, 10, 0)"
omni_range	float	10 (OmniLight3D)
spot_range	float	10 (SpotLight3D)
spot_angle	float	45 (degrees, SpotLight3D)

Color Format

Always use Color(r, g, b, a) with values 0.0–1.0:

• Warm white: Color(1, 0.95, 0.9, 1)
• Cool white: Color(0.9, 0.95, 1, 1)
• Orange (torch): Color(1, 0.6, 0.2, 1)
• Green (alien): Color(0.5, 1, 0.5, 1)

Fallback (no MCP — edit .tscn directly)

If Summer MCP isn't connected, append the lighting block to your scene file:

[node name="Sun" type="DirectionalLight3D" parent="World"]
transform = Transform3D(0.866, 0, -0.5, 0.354, 0.707, 0.612, 0.354, -0.707, 0.612, 0, 0, 0)
light_color = Color(1, 0.95, 0.9, 1)
light_energy = 1.0
shadow_enabled = true

[node name="WorldEnvironment" type="WorldEnvironment" parent="World"]

Then create Environment and Sky resources via the inspector or load from .tres.

Collaborative protocol

This skill mutates the scene (adds lights + WorldEnvironment + tunes Environment sub-properties). Always ask before applying: "May I add a DirectionalLight3D Sun with shadows + a WorldEnvironment with a procedural sky?". See ../../references/collaborative-protocol.md.