# Gameplay lighting differs from preview lighting

**URL:** <https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/gameplay-lighting-differs-from-preview-lighting/488977>\
**Category:** Rendering\
**Tags:** lighting-build, unreal-engine, bug-report, editor, lighting-problem, Lighting, question\
**Created:** [September 19, 2021, 6:16pm UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/gameplay-lighting-differs-from-preview-lighting/488977 "2021-09-19T18:16:23Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Virtual\_Bones](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/2/8/5/28502927f1d97ba1051b3b47ccfe17233bf41ef0.png) [@Virtual\_Bones](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/Virtual_Bones)\
**Post date:** [September 19, 2021, 6:16pm UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/gameplay-lighting-differs-from-preview-lighting/488977/1 "2021-09-19T18:16:23Z")

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Hey, so I’ve been having a problem that has risen lately, making me feel like I may have caused the problem to occur.  
Whenever I play/simulate the game in the editor, it appears to suddenly change the lighting. It seems to be much more emissive, and I can’t pin down the reason why.

Here is the scene in the preview :

 ![349006-highresscreenshot00081.jpg](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/9/4/2/942b76a527c4410bb8d6df80a13824ea4aa0f126.jpeg)

Here is the scene once I play/ simulate the game

 ![349007-highresscreenshot00082.jpg](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/8/c/c/8cc74c2a88ddd51acefc26d2a1cf94938309bdf5.jpeg)

I’ve used ue4 for years now, and I’ve never stumbled across a problem so random and unpredictable as this. Sometimes, the editor shows the simulated preview instead; which I decided to remove all lighting and post-processing - and it still showed signs of being lit.

Any ideas and suggestions would be appreciated. Cheers!

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Virtual\_Bones](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/2/8/5/28502927f1d97ba1051b3b47ccfe17233bf41ef0.png) [@Virtual\_Bones](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/Virtual_Bones)\
**Post date:** [September 19, 2021, 7:00pm UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/gameplay-lighting-differs-from-preview-lighting/488977/2 "2021-09-19T19:00:11Z")

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I’ve turned down the intensity of the skylight, which gives the same lighting effect as the preview (the darker tone which I prefer).

However, it’s still odd how Unreal Engine 4 decides to change lighting between P.I.E and preview at which seems at random intervals.