Volumetric Lightmaps no longer work in 5.5

Development Rendering
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10

Hey all,

I also ran into this issue and was losing my mind trying to figure out what was going on, until I realized it’s specific to UE 5.5.

Here’s what I tested:

  • I created a new default VR template project.
  • I enabled Volumetric Lightmap visualization via Show > Visualize > Volumetric Lightmap.
  • I changed the Directional Light from Stationary to Static.
  • Then I clicked Build All Levels.

After that, as shown in the first screenshot below, all the volumetric spheres disappeared, and dynamic objects like the guns are clearly not receiving baked indirect lighting anymore:

UHLP13-LightingIssue-E
UHLP13-LightingIssue-E1718×1440 167 KB

Workaround:
If I instead click Build Lighting Only, the spheres come back, and dynamic objects are properly lit again:

UHLP13-LightingIssue-D
UHLP13-LightingIssue-D1718×1436 177 KB

This seems to confirm that “Build All Levels” breaks the Volumetric Lightmap baking in UE 5.5, even in a single-level project.

If anyone finds a proper fix or if Epic is already tracking this bug, please let us know!

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