What makes a glowing lanterns and other objects glow and how can I change it?

[Jarkon]

I am trying to figure out how to change the color of flames in oil lanterns (the ones in the railroads flag) for a mod I'm working on. So far I've torn apart Fallout 4's BSA files in Bethesda Archive Extractor and have found no material that simply has the name "OilLamp.BGSM" or something of the like. After searching some more I found that no items that naturally have a glow to them in-game have a material I can extract.

 

Finally I've come to the conclusion that the answer may lie somewhere in the objects .nif file. Although I have found a linked greyscale texture that is used in the lanterns flame, I still have no clue what, in the creation kit or otherwise, manages to link this texture to the lantern, or just what it is that makes it glow. Does anybody have any input on what is going on or what I should do? Any help you can give would be immensely appreciated, as I am completely stuck on what I should do to simply find out:

 

What makes glowing lanterns glow?!

[N7R]

Physical lights in Fallout 4 are created though a link in the nif of the model to a light in the ck it references.

 

AddOnNode is added in the nif with an index number. This index number is then created in the creation kit where you set up the light properties.

 

For more info this page has more details how they can be set up: http://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/articles/127/?

 

One thing to keep in mind is lights can be any index number you want but it is good to check and see what other mods have 'used' an index number so no conflicts occur if both mods were installed by a user. If two mods use the same index number then the lighting for whichever one gets overwritten with conflict.

[Jarkon]

Physical lights in Fallout 4 are created though a link in the nif of the model to a light in the ck it references.

 

AddOnNode is added in the nif with an index number. This index number is then created in the creation kit where you set up the light properties.

 

For more info this page has more details how they can be set up: http://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/articles/127/?

 

One thing to keep in mind is lights can be any index number you want but it is good to check and see what other mods have 'used' an index number so no conflicts occur if both mods were installed by a user. If two mods use the same index number then the lighting for whichever one gets overwritten with conflict.

 

Thank you SO much for the response, but I'm afraid I'm still a little stuck. I've been following the tutorial and have found no "BSAAddonNodes" attached to the lit lanterns. I've found the model has a "BSOrderedNode" which seems to hold everything related to the flame, which in turn has a "BSEffectShaderProperty" as a child that links to flame textures, though I am totally unsure what any of it does and what I should change to simply change the color of the flame. Do you or anyone else have any ideas?

[kitcat81]

Somewhere in the nif there are links to these textures : textures\Effects\Gradients\FireFlameBasic01Grad.dds and textures\Effects\Gradients\FireFlame.dds

Might be more, but this is what I`ve noticed. These textures are not grey , they are coloured as fire... probably they are responsible for the colour. Not sure about that.

Edited August 3, 2017 by kitcat81

[skubblebubble]

For the Oillamp they are are the various BSTriShapes. Expand them, and some link to textures, some are flat out emittance.

 

Fireflamebasic01grad.dds is under the first ninode (Low_Lantern005), BSOrderedNode-BSTrishape LampGLow001:2[5] - BSEffectShaderProperty

 

 

BSTriShape txt flame001:0 [10] has the FireFlame.dds but as a greyscale texture.

 

The "simple" lantern is anything but simple when looking at for the lighting.

 

and no, nary a .bgsm to be used. The textures in this case, are hard coded into the nif. (bstrishape txt Low_Lantern005:0 [14]

 

 

This is for LightOilLampON.nif btw

LightOilLamp.nif has none of this. uses the same base textures hard coded though.

LightOilLampOn_HandleUp.nif is just the lighton above, but with the handle up.

 

Changing the lighting .... have fun. The emittance values are in the varous trishapes, and there are several.

You're going to have to test to see which one does what.

 

So nope, not as simple as just editing a .bgsm

 

(btw, I just checked all of this in nifskope right now as I typed) :smile:

 

 

EDIT: try changing the color for the various emittance values. As you go through nifskope you'll see them.

I'll fiddle with them later myself (as I'm now curious)

Edited August 3, 2017 by skubblebubble

[Jarkon]

For the Oillamp they are are the various BSTriShapes. Expand them, and some link to textures, some are flat out emittance.

 

Fireflamebasic01grad.dds is under the first ninode (Low_Lantern005), BSOrderedNode-BSTrishape LampGLow001:2[5] - BSEffectShaderProperty

 

 

BSTriShape txt flame001:0 [10] has the FireFlame.dds but as a greyscale texture.

 

The "simple" lantern is anything but simple when looking at for the lighting.

 

and no, nary a .bgsm to be used. The textures in this case, are hard coded into the nif. (bstrishape txt Low_Lantern005:0 [14]

 

 

This is for LightOilLampON.nif btw

LightOilLamp.nif has none of this. uses the same base textures hard coded though.

LightOilLampOn_HandleUp.nif is just the lighton above, but with the handle up.

 

Changing the lighting .... have fun. The emittance values are in the varous trishapes, and there are several.

You're going to have to test to see which one does what.

 

So nope, not as simple as just editing a .bgsm

 

(btw, I just checked all of this in nifskope right now as I typed) :smile:

 

 

EDIT: try changing the color for the various emittance values. As you go through nifskope you'll see them.

I'll fiddle with them later myself (as I'm now curious)

Thank you for all this information! I had seen all this but had no idea what to do to which! I guess I'll try just experimenting a bit for now and see what happens. I'll update any progress I make. Thanks for the help!

[Jarkon]

Ok so it was a slightly tedious process but I went through all the effect nodes and changed any texture with the word "glow" or "flame" in it to a special green version I made and it WORKED! I opened a preview of the model in the CK and it looks AMAZING! I'm so pleased with the results! Thanks everyone for all the help! Now to make about 3 more versions of different colors...

[skubblebubble]

Glad you got it to work.

:)