A hypothetical question (and I hope it could work.)

[DarthNyriss]

Hey guys. I have to admit I've been skulking around for years but really was never one for posting, but with all the absolutely magnificent mods around now, I had an idea. Here it is.

 

How hard would it be to light somethng on fire? Here's an example. I toss a fireball at a tree. The tree catches fire and the fire spreads. Let's not go crazy nd say I started an entire forest fire, but the tree takes damage. Blackened trunk, dead leaves, that sort of thing. Skyrim being Skyrim, the tree can eventually heal (or perhaps ice spells can put out the fire, ice being water of course. Or simply say trees sre too rugged for mere mortals to harm). Now crates and wooden items....

Another scenario (if it hasn't been done already) would be, say shattering a crate, a display case, etc. by a lightning spell. I go zap, it goes boom sort of thing. I know there is a destructable object mod I use and, by the nine I love cargange (as long as I survive.) Maybe someone could link 'sparks' or something more to whatever triggers that thng to fall apart?

 

That would be something...hit someone with fire or lightning, screams of pain and torment ensue...but I digress.

 

A fundamental truth is thatI have zero talent when it comes to modelling. I'm lucky to make a cube in Blender. Same for texturing, scripting, and whatever else goes into a really good mod. Ideas, I got 'em. A staggering lot of 'em. I could even write dialogue (if anyone is looking for a volunteer writer, I'll give it a shot.)

 

So gang, there's the idea. Linking a destructive spell to real 'co-lateral damage'. It always amused me when NPCs catch fire and still come at you, seemingly unaware they're burnning to death. How complex an undertaking would it be? Would the end be WORTH the means or is just one of those "Can't do it, suspend your disbelief" things. Please, let me know.

 

Nyriss

[thumbincubation]

Based on things like Dead NPC Body Cleaner Remover and Frozen Electrocuted Combustion, I am sure it can be done. Unfortunately, I don't know how to do it because I don't understand scripting.

 

What I think would happen is your fire spell would hit in a specific spot and affect x amount of units around it, like firestorm and fireball, except with the 'keep burning' properties of wall of flames. As with vanilla and enemies, any items within that area would be changed to a burning version of the same mesh, and then eventually to a scorched, burnt version. This would probably involve something more complicated than the object destruction function used in fort barricades, to avoid having to triplicate the entire world in case it may burn. As each stage progresses, affected objects would be disabled and the next stage spawned in their place.

 

What Dead Body NPC Cleaner Remover does, among other things, is allow you to set corpses on fire and burn them away completely. Frozen Electrocuted Combustion, on the other hand, makes your enemies' corpses look like they were actually killed by fire, ice, or electricity. In the case of fire, it can be set to mildly scorch, to burn into an unrecognizable lump, or to char to a blacked husk with ribs poking out, by changing the corpse as it burns.

 

I would recommend checking them both out, to get an idea what they do, and why I think the same concept could be applied to objects. I suspect it would be a very large undertaking, though, and require a lot of skill to do. As well, there would most likely be a lot of conflict with other mods, as there are a LOT of mods that change static clutter, architecture, etc.

[DarthNyriss]

I'll check that out right now. Thanks for the nudge in the right direction. I hadn't considered so many object meshes that would have to be modified. I suppose I'm skating the line between modding and post-production CGI. Still, it'd be a great visual. Enemies run to the trees. Don't kill the enemy...light up the forest, blackened carnage everywhere. By the Nine, when did I become so bloody-minded?

 

Thanks again, my friend.

 

Nyriss

(not what you're expecting.)

[DarthNyriss]

Ah ha! How about this? Firethingy hits NPC. Fire blooms to completely obscure actor. Actor meanwhile disappears, cue the blood curdling scream, actor is replaced by charred body. Or is that what Frozen Electrocuted Combustion does? Damn, I really need to get my head out of CGI and into models and scripts.

 

(Oh by the way, this is all due to a modlist I'm working on for all the really chilling horror mods out there and I needed a good reason for screams. It's all Sinitar's fault.)

 

I feel a questline coming on...one reply to one message and already I have the germ of an idea. I love this place.

 

(I wonder how much voice actors charge. Hmm.)

 

Nyriss

(clears throat)

[thumbincubation]

Or is that what Frozen Electrocuted Combustion does?

 

 

It's been a while since I've used it because I have other mods that wouldn't play nicely with it, but if I recall correctly, they do burn brightly along with dark smoke, but they're not 100% obscured. You can still watch the mesh change.