Adding transparency to a weapon

[ub3rman123]

I'm making some new weapons for a mod. Now, I want them to be at a very low alpha, as if they're merely shadows.

 

They appear as intended in the CS and NifSkope. However, in-game it's different. In third person and when viewed on the ground, it's transparent as I want it to be.

http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af356/ub3rman123/ScreenShot49.jpg?t=1279054650 http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af356/ub3rman123/ScreenShot53.jpg?t=1279054650

However, when viewed in first person or in the menu, it goes opaque.

http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af356/ub3rman123/ScreenShot51.jpg?t=1279054651 http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af356/ub3rman123/ScreenShot52.jpg?t=1279054651

 

 

The method I used was to create a new black texture in GIMP, make a normal map, and a glow map, then add an alpha property to the thing in NifSkope and lower the alpha.

 

So what am I doing wrong here?

[Vagrant0]

It might be something related to the alpha property on the .nif. It's a bit complicated and I really don't know enough to explain it, but you might be able to figure it out by playing around with it. Or, it could just be some graphical quirk with how it handles weapons, don't think this is the case, but can't recall seeing any transparent weapons in the past.

[ub3rman123]

From what I've seen, semi-transparent weapons are possible, for example, in the Amber Daggers mod. I sent the author a message to see if they know how to do so.

[ub3rman123]

Solution found! The problem was in relying on the lowering alpha thing. Instead, make the texture itself transparent, then add the alpha property.

 

http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af356/ub3rman123/ScreenShot19-1.jpg?t=1282824658

http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af356/ub3rman123/ScreenShot20-1.jpg?t=1282824658

http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af356/ub3rman123/ScreenShot21-1.jpg?t=1282824658

 

Only problem now is that the retexture of the glass warhammer is seriously too shiny. It's not a normal map problem, the other two use the same texture and don't shine like that. How can I make it so either all 3 shine or the warhammer stops shining?