Having trouble with lighting

[wehave1problem]

First stats:
Snow Leopard 10.6.4
iMac5,1 Intel Core 2 Duo
2 GB RAM
ATY,RadeonX1600 256mb vram
1650x1050 display

So I know the game is supposed to be dark. However, after watching the trailers Frictional puts out, and several videos on youtube, I've come to the conclusion that my game is unusually dark. More particularly the ambient lighting for me is essentially non-existent.

I've adjusted by gamma and quality settings several times to see if that makes a difference: it doesn't.The gamma in these pictures is probably 1.5. I Made sure I could clearly see the right gray box. It didn't help, all is did was raise my darkness from a nice black to a gray. Things weren't more visible.

Picture 1 is of the room "Study" of Beck Hall

Picture 2 is of the room "Guest Room" of Beck Hall


Beck Hall


This person on youtube has seen more light in one room than I have the entire game. Things like the details in carpets and tiny items on the ground are things I've never seen, even at the highest gamma and quality settings.


So now the question is how did I get this far, right? Slowly....very, very slowly. I've run out of oil more times then I should, it's getting frustrating. I hardly bother using tinderboxes because the light from the candles isn't enough to help me see anything.
On a side note, I didn't notice this till I saw a video, but those frames I see sometimes are actually supposed to have pictures in them. Mine are black canvases.

Why is it so dark? What's the reason for it? The darkness, that is.