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LotR - Saruman's Staff


heavywaters

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I saw a post asking for Saruman's staff in the Mod Requests thread and figured it would be fun to create, so I did.

 

Here it is in Blender:

http://tesnexus.com/imageshare/images/708891-1296377273.jpg

And in-game:

http://tesnexus.com/imageshare/images/708891-1296377328.jpg

 

My only problem now is figuring out what enchantment to put on it.

 

So, Lord of the Rings fans, what do you think?

 

1. What enchantment, if any, should it have?

2. How powerful should it be?

3. How much charge, or should it be infinite?

 

Your opinion would be most helpful.

- heavywaters

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Be sure to add details to the normal map. It looks like smooth plastic at the moment. Having a solid black texture is not a problem as long as the normal map breaks it up. I would use concrete as the source for the normal map.

 

As an example, I created this sword scabbard as a solid black diffuse texture but created the normal map based off a leather texture to give it added texture depth to avoid the smooth plastic look.

 

 

http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/images/35376-2-1287961953.jpg

 

 

As for the enchantment, a scripted effect that makes use of the push actor script (new to Oblivion 1.2 I think) would be cool. I single hit could send nearby actors flying several feet into the air. Telekinesis would be another option, however not very popular.

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I love the push actor idea. How cool. And totally appropriate.

 

As for how powerful... IMHO that depends entirely on the purpose of the mod. If the mod just gives you the staff instantly at log-in, designed for someone who wants to begin the game with a pre-imagined character who would already have such a staff, then I suppose it would depend on how powerful a wizard that character is supposed to be. Is it for someone who wants to play as Saruman in Oblivion, or someone who wants their Tamriel character to have a Tamriel staff that looks like that one simply because he\she likes the look?

 

If the staff is a prize for a quest or defeating a boss, just scale its power relative to how hard it is to acquire.

 

I'm all for infinite charge, since I don't really see a Saruman-type character suddenly running out of magical power at an inopportune moment and getting his ass kicked by a minotaur.

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Thanx for the enchantment suggestion.

 

Your right about normal maps, but I created it that way on purpose.

Usually I would never use a smooth normal map but, the staff is supposed to be made of Obsidian glass.

 

If I could get a mirror effect in-game, that would really create the glass effect.

I may try an environment map to see how that looks.

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I know about that article but the staff has to be black, so any environment mapping turns out looking chrome.

This is as close as the game can get to black glass, like it or not.

 

My question was about enchantment not appearance.

So where can I find an example of the push effect.

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I know about that article but the staff has to be black, so any environment mapping turns out looking chrome.

This is as close as the game can get to black glass, like it or not.

But did you try it with the material named "metal" instead of "EnvMap2"?

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Thanx for the enchantment suggestion.

 

Your right about normal maps, but I created it that way on purpose.

Usually I would never use a smooth normal map but, the staff is supposed to be made of Obsidian glass.

 

If I could get a mirror effect in-game, that would really create the glass effect.

I may try an environment map to see how that looks.

 

I have an obsidian texture on the Nexus if you would like to use it http://www.thenexusforums.com/public/style_emoticons/dark/thumbsup.gif

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But did you try it with the material named "metal" instead of "EnvMap2"?

No, I have not tried that, I will experiment with it.

Do you have a link that lists all of the preset material names?

 

I have an obsidian texture on the Nexus if you would like to use it

Thanx alonso, I will give it look.

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