Hi everyone 
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I’ve been working on a personal project using Unreal Engine 5.3 — a large open-world environment with dynamic time-of-day lighting. While I’ve made good progress on the terrain, foliage, and basic gameplay systems, I’m starting to run into performance issues related to lighting, especially when using Lumen.
I’ve followed some tutorials and adjusted the Lumen settings, but I’m still getting inconsistent lighting results during certain times of day (dawn and dusk seem to be the worst). I’m also a bit confused about when to rely on Lumen versus Distance Field Lighting, especially with heavy foliage.
A few quick questions:
- Are there recommended practices for dynamic lighting in open worlds without destroying performance?
- Should I be baking some lights even if I’m using Lumen?
- Is there a reliable way to test and debug performance across large areas?
If anyone has tips, resources, or examples from their own projects, I’d really appreciate it. I’m not working in a studio — just learning by doing — so any help or clarification would be amazing.
Thanks in advance!
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P.S. I’d be happy to share screenshots or settings if needed.