Light Sources on Weapons

[Natterforme]

I have a couple of questions that I cant seem to answer myself. I want to add two light sources to a single weapon and give those light sources different color lights. One would make the blade light up and the other would make the pommel glow. My questions are as follows: Does a glow map have the ability to do this? If so how and why? If not, then why not? If not, do I need to attach another item to the weapon that has a light source and modify that light source seperately (i.e put a mini torch in the pommel jewel to cheat a similiar effect)? Can only non weapons and misc items like torches and candles hold a light source? Is there another quick and easier way to do this that I did not know about? Can this even be done? If not, is it a limitation of the game engine? If so how?

 

I know its a lot of questions, but I am just trying to cover all the bases by thinking out loud. If any of you who read this has some useful information, I would be most appreciative for your help.

 

Also, I would like to make at least one of the light sources pulse periodically(i.e not so slow that you dont realize it pulses but also not so fast as to cause annoyance to players or lag in the game).

 

Thanks in advance!

[Natterforme]

*Bump*

:happy:

[fg109]

I don't think glow maps will do that. For example, both daedric and glass armor sets have glow maps, but they don't actually light anything up.

 

I think I've read on the forums that some glowing weapons have been made by scripting a light source to follow the weapon around.

[MarkInMKUK]

fg109 has pretty much summed up what has to be done. Weapons were never designed to be light sources, or vice versa - torches are pretty tough to turn into weapons. Apparently, scripting a light to follow the weapon is the only way to do it as far as anyone has worked out.

[Natterforme]

So basically the only way to give a weapon a light source at this point is to "cheat" in a way to have a light constantly follow it in a particular place? I can understand that vanilla candles do not give off a light source and that mods like Real Lights have to move and dim the actual light sources to those candles to give the illusion that it works. Is that how a torch works? As in, is the torch just an item that is scripted to have a light follow it around? Is that why it was so hard for them to be turned into weapons? I sort of figured that the glow map only made the weapon shiny or give off a red enchantment aura without actually being a light source, but I wasnt sure and wanted more to clarify my suspicions rather than manipulate a glow map to be a light source. Since weapons cant do this without changing game code, is there a way to fake the intended effect by having an actual light follow the weapon as you guys mentioned? Can the weapon have more than one light? Or would this lag the game? Can the light textures be retextured to glow different colors? Thanks for your help so far^^.

[fg109]

OBSE has some commands that will let you manipulate a light source.

 

I imagine you can make the light seem to pulse by changing the light's radius or the RGB values. I've never tried scripting a light source to follow a weapon though, and I can't imagine that it'd look good...

[Natterforme]

Well ok, is it possible to give the weapon an aura that does not emit light? If so, can the weapon have more than one aura? It would be nice if it was an actual light, but Id settle for a non light emiting aura. Gotta start somewhere you know, even if it is small^^.

[fg109]

I tried scripting a sword to continuously play a magic shader with PlayMagicShaderVisuals, but it was kind of hard to see, and my game kept crashing if I put it in my inventory.

[Natterforme]

Was it the weapon that was hard to see or just in general? Did it give a desired effect?

[fg109]

It was the effect that was hard to see. I used "effectEnchantFireDamage" so it might look better with something else.