#ts3 lightingmod

I’m excited to share my first-ever lighting mod, named "Dive into Sky". True to its name, it aims to create a vivid, immersive atmosphere where intense sunlight merges sky and sea into one seamless view. After nearly a month of development and about 70 revisions, I’m finally happy with how it looks. Feel free to share your feedback or screenshots if you try it out!

This mod is a rework based on @boringbones ’s V2-Brighter-Lighting mod, specifically adopting his "Left-side Lighting" parameters,which is truly a brilliant innovation—it dramatically improves in-game shadows and contrast, adding depth and realism. It makes The Sims 3 look almost as visually stunning as The Sims 4! A huge thanks to Boringbone for generously allowing me to use his lighting settings.

Building on his left-side lighting, I customized the sky and water colors to better suit tropical/island maps. I also edited sunrise and sunset transitions: golden shines at dawn, shifting into dreamy pink-purple twilight. The mod includes a dynamic weather system—sky color, cloud shapes, and light intensity change in real time with the weather.

This mod comes in 13 variants for you to mix and match:

Water Colors (3 options):

Light Blue

Default Blue

Emerald Green Light Blue and Default Blue work well for coastal maps, while Emerald Green looks great on islands or lakes.

Night Sky (3 options):

Dark Blue Night: Brighter evenings

Black Night: Denser stars

Aurora Night: Black Night version with a 30% chance of aurora displays.

Recommend use with vaddish's star replacement (click here download)

Day Length Options:

Long Days (6:00–19:00)

Short Days (7:00–18:00) *Aurora versions simulate higher-latitude lighting with even shorter days (6:00–17:00).*

⚠️ Important: Only one lighting mod can be active at a time—whether it’s different versions of this mod or other creators’ work. They are not compatible with each other.

Installation: Place the .package file in: Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3\Mods\Overrides\

Not sure which sky, water, or night version you prefer? I’ve included a quick reference chart to help you pick the right file.

Download Info:

V1 (Default Blue water + Black Night, no aurora) is public version to Download here