Looking For Lighting GuideLines For Ayleid Ruins...

[pkmcgowan]

I'm working on a world mod that will include several Ayleid ruins. Some of these will use Zenman's superb Ayleid Ruins Renewed texture pack which make for some breathtaking interiors. I would like to know if there are any guidelines on how to best light up a custom Ayleid interior. I know how to get the motivators (those light bulb markers) into the mod but I'm having a mental block on what color or radius to use in any given corner or section.

There is a tutorial in the CS Wiki on how to light up a cave but nothing on an Ayleid dungeon. Any help would be appreciated.

 

P. McGowan

[David Brasher]

I don't know if I could give you good advice, because lighting is more of an art than a science. Don't use too many lights too close together or you will cause lag. Sometimes intolerable lag. I have theorized that it might possible to cause a freeze-up or even a CTD. If you need it to be brighter, just use a few lights that are more intense and that have larger radii. Do not just use numerous small lights to make it bright.

 

I don't really like cells that have all their light come from the cell light-level setting. They look fake. If you adjust this setting, be careful, and be sure to add a few lights to provide a rational for all this visibility.

 

I suggest that unless you have some unique master plan or artistic vision, you should only use the lights found in vanilla Oblivion Ayleid Ruins. You might also benefit from opening up a few vanilla Oblivion Ayleid ruins to look at what lights they use and how they are spaced. It makes most sense for the lights to be near light sources such as Welkynd stones. It is okay to have a few really dark places without light. In Vanilla Oblivion dungeons, they usually set it up so you can always see at least one light, but it might be far away and dim. This allows people to slowly make their way out of the dungeon if their last torch burns out, or allows them to try to use a two-handed weapon in the darkness with a little bit of a chance of hurting something.

 

In the CS, it is really nice that you can have either bright lighting for object placement, or game lighting so you can see how the light looks in an area. Use this feature often to analyze how your lighting is turning out. Don't forget to play-test. Things look different in person. And don't worry too much about getting the lighting absolutely perfect. Adventurers will just mess up your carefully-planned lighting scheme with torches, light spells, and night-eye spells.

 

Have fun!

[pkmcgowan]

I don't know if I could give you good advice, because lighting is more of an art than a science. Don't use too many lights too close together or you will cause lag. Sometimes intolerable lag. I have theorized that it might possible to cause a freeze-up or even a CTD. If you need it to be brighter, just use a few lights that are more intense and that have larger radii. Do not just use numerous small lights to make it bright.

 

I don't really like cells that have all their light come from the cell light-level setting. They look fake. If you adjust this setting, be careful, and be sure to add a few lights to provide a rational for all this visibility.

 

I suggest that unless you have some unique master plan or artistic vision, you should only use the lights found in vanilla Oblivion Ayleid Ruins. You might also benefit from opening up a few vanilla Oblivion Ayleid ruins to look at what lights they use and how they are spaced. It makes most sense for the lights to be near light sources such as Welkynd stones. It is okay to have a few really dark places without light. In Vanilla Oblivion dungeons, they usually set it up so you can always see at least one light, but it might be far away and dim. This allows people to slowly make their way out of the dungeon if their last torch burns out, or allows them to try to use a two-handed weapon in the darkness with a little bit of a chance of hurting something.

 

In the CS, it is really nice that you can have either bright lighting for object placement, or game lighting so you can see how the light looks in an area. Use this feature often to analyze how your lighting is turning out. Don't forget to play-test. Things look different in person. And don't worry too much about getting the lighting absolutely perfect. Adventurers will just mess up your carefully-planned lighting scheme with torches, light spells, and night-eye spells.

 

Have fun!

 

Thank you for the help, Mr. Brasher. I did take your advice about opening up the vanilla ruins and studied them extensively (all of them). I was able to create an Excel spreadsheet with worksheets for ambient, blue/green and intense lights. I categorized general areas and objects like doors, corridors, etc. and flagged each blue & blue/green light I encountered in each ruin. From there I extrapolated for silver, evil, creepy, white, etc. I now see where I'm going wrong with my own plug-in. I assumed (based on real-world logic) that each light must have a corresponding source. During my study of the 'vanilla' ruins, I noticed several instances of intense lights over rubble piles with Welkynd stones interspersed. It appears that the Bethesda/Zenimax design team lit up the Ayleid ruins based on the premise that the stone was manufactured on site like concrete block with Welkynd stones mixed in as an aggregate. The presence of numerous ambient light sources in these ruins would indicate that the walls and other structural elements would have glowed with a soft magical light and the exposed welkynd stones would add more intense accent light for workspaces. With this in mind, I'll rework my lighting plan accordingly. Once again, thank you.

 

P.K. McGowan

[SpacemanSpIiff]

Coming from a players point of view:

 

Only add lights where they would logically have a source. I for one cannot stand it when an area is lit up but there's no reason why it should be, other then to make the room not pitch black. Personally I love having dark dungeons (which is why i play with real lights and dark dungeons combined).