DirectionalLightComponent

A Component that emits directional light along an entity's local forward (-Z) axis.

This component creates light that behaves like a distant light source, where all light rays are parallel and the intensity does not diminish with distance, such as the sunlight.

Key Properties:

• Direction: Inherited from the entity's transform (uses -Z axis by convention).

• Uniform illumination: Affects all objects in the scene equally.

• Color & Intensity: Fully customizable light appearance with color and intensity.

• Shadow Casting: Configurable through castsShadowEnabled and related shadow properties.

To receive lighting effects, the Entity must use a Material that supports lighting. For example, PhysicallyBasedMaterial respond to lighting, while UnlitMaterial does not.

Code sample:

val sunEntity = Entity().apply {
    components.set(DirectionalLightComponent(
        color = Color4(1f, 0.95f, 0.9f, 1f),
        intensity = 2000f, // Measured in lux
        castsShadowEnabled = true
    ))
    components[DirectionalLightComponent::class.java]!!.apply {
        shadowDepthBias = 0.01f
        shadowFaceCullingMode = ShadowFaceCullingMode.BACK
        shadowProjectionType = ShadowProjectionType.Auto()
    }
}

Related components:

• PointLightComponent - For bulb-like omnidirectional lighting.

• SpotLightComponent - For directional cone lighting.