H FakeLights URP (Decal Lighting In Distance for Maximum Performance)

Performance-focused fake lighting for large URP scenes. Cheap decal lighting at distance, real-time lights only where they matter.

Large URP levels and dynamic lighting don't mix well. Big open maps with day/night cycles, or anything where lightmapping isn't an option, push you toward too many real-time lights, a massive CPU and GPU cost, and compromises in quality or scale. Turning lights on and off by hand doesn't scale, and lightmapping large, dynamic scenes often isn't viable.

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What it does

H_FakeLights replaces distant real-time lights with cheap, decal-based fake lighting, and only switches the expensive real-time lights on when the player or camera gets close. The scene still looks lit, performance stays under control, and real-time lighting is preserved where it actually matters. It's a lighting trick, but a production-friendly one built for real games.

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URP vs HDRP performance (important)

◆ URP (the primary target). Fully tested and production-ready. Instanced decal projectors cost a fraction of a real-time light, for significant savings across large scenes, open levels, interiors and dynamic lighting setups.

◆ HDRP. Fully functional and supported via scripting define symbols, but HDRP decal projectors are almost as expensive as real-time lights, so the performance gains are minimal. Best used for workflow consistency or visual control, not performance wins.

This asset is URP-first by design. Buy it for HDRP only if you want to experiment with it.

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Perfect use case

You have a URP project with large maps, dynamic lighting, or a day/night system, and you can't rely on lightmaps, still need lots of lights, and want real-time lights near the player. H_FakeLights is built for exactly that. You get:

◆ Fake lights in the distance at very low cost.

◆ Real-time lights close to the player.

◆ Full control over the final look.

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Key Features

◆ Decal-based fake lighting using DecalProjector.

◆ Camera-based trigger system to activate and deactivate lights by distance.

◆ Optional smooth fade in / fade out.

◆ Manual per-light tuning: color, intensity, size.

◆ URP and HDRP compatibility via scripting define symbols.

◆ Built for large scenes and performance-sensitive projects.

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Simple & Scalable Setup

1. One manager per scene.

2. A trigger handler attached to the camera.

3. One trigger per light you want controlled.

No complex lighting pipelines, and not much editor gymnastics.

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Battle-Tested in Production

Used and tested in production on an unreleased game, in real gameplay scenarios, not a tech demo. You can see it in the presentation video.

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See for yourself

Download the demo here.

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Support

Documentation: https://hworksinteractive.com/hassets/hfakelights

Support email: [email protected]

Discord: https://hworksinteractive.com/discordinvite