Many moons ago, I did a lighting test for Crytek. I taught myself the lighting pipeline in Cryengine from scratch. The brief was to light the level in 3 different lighting scenarios of my choice for the exterior areas and 1 cave interior. To this day, I look back fondly on this test. Cryengine was def ahead of it's time with lighting at the time.

Before I start lighting any area, I always create a moodboard.

Here's my version of a foggy day.

Here's my version of an early morning.

Nighttime

Cave interior