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Just some advice on lifts (moveable statics) and roombounds.


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Hi.

 

Just a note to let you know something that took me by surprise...

 

I have a Dwemer lift platform. Push a button and it moves you up and down (or across and rotating. Any kind of movement, really). I've used them successfully a few times, but this one turned invisible part way through lifting the player. It was still there, and so was its collision mesh, but it just couldn't be seen.

 

I quickly realised that it was turning invisible each time it crossed through a portal between roombounds. I expanded the portal size with no luck. I now have to re-design the upper docking station to have a set of stairs descending to the lift platform and position the roombound and portal so that the lift stays visible all the time, or make the two room bounds into one, at the cost of optimization.

 

If you have this issue, the reason appears to be that the editor location of the original lift position is in one roombound and the fact that it moves from one to another is not accounted for by the game engine.

 

Cheers.

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The real culprit is the / all "Translate Functions".


Once an object starts 'Translating' the translating function will prevent the object from using any light source (shadow or non shadow lights) except from the cell's 'Lighting Template'.


Once an object starts 'Translating' the translating function will use / inherit the 'Lighting Template' of the 'Roombound" it is in (if using Roombouns), while the object passes through the roombound portal it is in to an other, no matter if the other roombound uses the same lighting template, the translating object will disapear, if you leave the cell and return the object will use the lighting template of the roombound it is in at that moment.


* If you disable/enable the object once it has passed to the other roombound it will refresh / inherit the roombound's lighting template it is in at that moment.


Unfortunately this is one of the many papyrus/game engine flaws.

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Ah.

 

That's good to know. I think I'll be okay with one roombound here. Now that you mention it, that rings a bell. In my cell, it isn't a great issue that the lift only uses the lighting template because the template is not too dark and there are only 2 fairly dim lights in that area. the upshot is that the lift looks almost identical once it starts to translate.

 

I now recall someone having just this issue except that their cell was very dark and they wanted bright lights only on their lift. As soon as the lift started moving, it went from glaring bright to almost pitch black, like the rest of the cell.

 

I suppose Beth didn't take this into account, since they never really used translate and rotate much in the vanilla game.

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Bethesda would have a fit if they saw my mod. I've got numerous lifts of all shapes and sizes, some enormous, rotating moveable statics, multi-translation moveable statics with player riding along, very fast (800 translate speed) and very high in the sky translations. I f-ing love it.

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Ah.

 

That's good to know. I think I'll be okay with one roombound here. Now that you mention it, that rings a bell. In my cell, it isn't a great issue that the lift only uses the lighting template because the template is not too dark and there are only 2 fairly dim lights in that area. the upshot is that the lift looks almost identical once it starts to translate.

 

I now recall someone having just this issue except that their cell was very dark and they wanted bright lights only on their lift. As soon as the lift started moving, it went from glaring bright to almost pitch black, like the rest of the cell.

 

I suppose Beth didn't take this into account, since they never really used translate and rotate much in the vanilla game.

 

That was me around more than 6 month ago, we've had this conversation before.
I managed back then to make it work exactly how i wanted to, but... it's way too much work for something so simple as a translating platform !.
Edited by maxarturo
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antstubell, I like the sound of that, too. Mine only move at 100 but they don't have to go too far. One just descends down a Dwemer shaft into a mine below and the other transports the player over a lava trap once they find a control cube to unlock it.

 

Maxarturo, I had to laugh when I read that I'd posted about you! I'd totally forgotten that. I agree that it does seem a bit lazy not to accomodate this. I mean, they added the function to use translate, but couldn't be bothered to make it work right?

 

How did you get around it in the end? I wondered about using room bounds to your advantage by having a small room bound around the lift itself with a bright lighting template and using lights dimmed down in that area to look realistic.That way the lights don't really illuminate the lift much. The rest of the cell has the dark lighting template on it. Of course that wouldn't work unless those lights at the lift are on all the time.

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The 'Translating Platforms' are not used for lifts (you can step on of 2 them if you want, they play the role of the "Exorcist".) and they are all gather in the same room at a specific geometry arrangement and angle, so the:

"by having a small room bound around the lift itself with a bright lighting template..."

can't work here.



The hard work was more to "not deviate" from my original idea and keep the cell with the same exact atmosphere - mood - lighting - functions... etc.


To achieve that i had to do a lot of "Fine Tuning" involving the use of imagespaces, smooth transition of imagespaces through portals, small adjustments to ambient + directional lighting to emphasize the edited textures + edited BSLightingShaderProperty of the translating platforms to match the one of the 'Permanent' platforms when they finish translating and they will be fully expose to the light bulbs, and to match the 'Imagespaces' transition sequence.

"Fine Tuning" to the millisecond (literally) to the 'Master Controller Script' that it's handling the whole fight - cell - quest - scene in that particular cell, and a bunch of other things...


As you might have understand by now, this is not a "Global Solution" but a "Targeted" one, to work alongside with my cell's atmosphere - quest - scene set up.


* I couldn't deviate from it because this cell is 1 of the 5 most important cells from all 40, and it's actually where the main quest finishes, well... there is one more stage but there is where everything involving the "Main Story" ends.

Those 5 cells were the first created and they are the SPINE of the whole mod, so i had to make it work no matter what !.


* Not to brag.. but i did an excellent work, even though i know exactly when/where everything is happening, i still can not distinguish the original flaw / bug / bethesda F***** U*..., and the cell looks exactly the same and fully functional.

Edited by maxarturo
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I'm only getting to grips with basic things like adding FXcameraAttach effects, altering lighting templates between roombounds, sound FX etc.

 

Everything you've talked about sounds appealing and tempting but I've searched 'maxarturo' under users on Nexus SSE and drawn a blank. Is this a mod we are going to see shortly? I'd love to give it a go!

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Monday 15/6/20 6.30 in the morning i finished the mod after working everyday for more than 2 years. (basically is way more but after some point i just lost track of time...).


Right now i'm in the process of testing a few things here and there, searching for any visual "holes" that might have escaped my attention here and there, and mainly taking screenshots for the mod's page, and preparing 4 cells for a "Hearthfire multiple adoptions" edition, a separate esp.


So, i'll be uploading the mod the next few hours to a couple of days.


As for a SSE version, i don't know if you will ever see one, since a year ago my i7 died on a fire and right now and at least for one more year... i can't afford 3 - 5 thousand euros to build me a new PC.


The current pc that i'm using is quite powerful, but its old and can't be upgraded any further and is impossible to run smoothly CK SSE & SSE for all the necessary in game testings, and the mod is 2GB in size (uncompressed)...

Edited by maxarturo
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