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Project settings

Settings compares the current renderer configuration with required and suggested values. These rows are a status report; the two Fix buttons apply their respective groups.

Fix Settings​

Writes the required renderer values to the project's Config/DefaultEngine.ini. Keep the file writable or checked out from source control. Restart the editor when settings change so the renderer and shader configuration can take effect.

The button is not a lighting bake, and it does not install shader hooks. On Windows, also verify DX12 and SM6 for baking.

Required settings​

Shadow Map Method: Shadow Maps​

Selects the conventional shadow-map path used by Spectral's shadow integration. Virtual Shadow Maps are not interchangeable with the conventional PCSS and fallback controls documented here.

Support Hardware Ray Tracing: enabled​

Enables the renderer support required by the hardware-ray-traced bake. The hardware and active rendering API must support the path too; the checkbox alone cannot provide missing GPU support.

Support Compute Skin Cache: enabled​

Enables the compute skin-cache support included in Spectral's required renderer configuration. Treat it as a renderer prerequisite, not a setting that increases lightmap or probe quality.

Allow Static Lighting: enabled​

Allows precomputed lighting in the project. Spectral's saved lightmaps and related bake workflow depend on static-lighting support. Enabling this does not itself generate that data.

Dynamic Global Illumination Method: None​

Turns off the selected dynamic GI method for Spectral's intended baked-lighting setup. This is not a command to remove baked illumination. Review the impact if the project previously relied on Lumen or another dynamic GI method.

Path Tracing: enabled​

Enables support needed by the baking path. It does not mean the game must use a path-traced viewport at runtime.

Renderer-wide configurationWarning

These settings affect the project, not just one selected level or volume. Review existing rendering dependencies, restart when requested, and allow shader compilation to finish before evaluating the result.

Fix Suggested Settings​

Applies the suggested renderer values and enables stationary area shadows on supported lights in loaded editing levels. The action can change both configuration and level assets.

If the configuration write fails, the action reports it and does not proceed to changing the light settings. After success, save affected levels, restart when requested, and rebake lighting affected by light changes.

Suggested settings​

Generate Mesh Distance Fields: disabled​

Disables this renderer feature in the suggested configuration. This avoids keeping that feature enabled solely by habit in a baked-lighting setup.

It is a suggestion, not evidence that all other project features can work without distance fields. Review any existing feature that depends on them before applying the group.

Stationary Area Shadows: all enabled​

Enables the area-shadow option for supported stationary lights in loaded levels. The status displays how many eligible lights have it enabled, or No lights when none are found.

This is not a project-wide edit to lights in every unopened map. Load the levels you intend to update. The lighting effect needs a new bake.

See Use Area Shadows for Stationary Light for what this option changes and how it differs from Spectral's PCSS controls.

Reflection Method: None​

Disables the selected dynamic reflection method while retaining baked reflection captures. It does not delete Spectral Box Capture actors or their intended baked-reflection workflow.

If the project relied on Lumen or screen-space reflections, compare representative materials before adopting this change.

Nanite: disabled​

Sets the project's suggested Nanite configuration to disabled. This is a renderer-wide choice, not a lightmap-resolution control.

Review content that relies on the existing rendering setup instead of assuming the Fix button is a neutral optimization for every project.

Substrate Materials: disabled​

Sets the suggested material-system configuration to disabled. Review existing material dependencies before changing it. Restart and shader work may be required.

Required versus suggested​

Required rows describe Spectral's expected renderer prerequisites. Suggested rows describe its recommended configuration and can have broader content implications.

For shader-file installation, see Shader hooks. For the complete order of a first setup, see First bake.