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Question about glow maps and chrome reflection


Murielkai

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I am experimenting with making glow maps for the first time and I can get them to work fairly well in game (I used the NAVI pilot suit as an example) but I have to turn off environment mapping in the material file. This seems works fine with gear that has no "chrome" appearance in game but it doesn't work so well with gear that has the chrome effect going on. Is there a way to set up glow maps and still preserve a very shiny chrome look?

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@murielkai

a great question!

recently, tilarta had a similar question on their nuka-cola thread here;

https://forums.nexusmods.com/index.php?/topic/4861445-how-do-i-make-a-glow-specular/

 

it appears, you duplicate the mesh map -

one for the glow profile, one for the non-glow.

though, tilarta may be able to better explain.

 

you can then also apply anistropic effects to that glow map,

to achieve the 'oil opalescent/pearlescent' effect of the chrome you're looking for hehe.

 

you can manually encode the 'normal' map,

using say GIMP, and a 2 color spectrum for each layer.

you composite each layer R G B etc...

and set the opacity,

then merge down.

each can be phase shifted, lens distort and embossed, in addition to other mapping pluggins or CS6 unwrapping etc.

each of the lengths or distorts can be different,

and it will produce weird patterns or results.

say you wanted a different reflection based on viewing angle,

or a 'lenticular' effect on a plastic surface... those could be how you achieve it.

you could make the shadow be 'leibniz gasket' or a fractal or whatever,

based on the light shone on it.

lots of sequences based on OEIS or EJC (online journal of combinatorics) sequences make for

great patterns.

 

luminescent effects such as that, can make a nice looking

'lava' or 'burn' effect, which changes a little depending on viewing angle.

case in point - 'lava lamps' in FO4 don't look too lava-y...

 

you can also have the object reflect different things depending on the color of the light source shone at it...

see the 'pipboy shadow' on some things in mod, from the lamp...

 

i hope this helps somewhat,

and good luck modding!

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Thanks a lot for the explanation. Some of that sounds fairly complex, however. I am kinda entry level except for using PS. It seems simple enough to duplicate the mesh map, maybe. I have limited knowledge of nifskope. I will try to find and ask tilarta which way would be easiest. Thanks again!

 

Edit: Nevermind, derp.

Edited by Murielkai
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@murielkai

derp?

does that mean you found a way to complete your task hehe?

do share senpai hehe.

Your past mods are inspirational, and these retexture could be great for

low-rez options for folks running FO4 on older machines.

 

it would be great and instructive to apprenta

if you share some shots of your experiments -

a magician never reveal their secret, that is true and fair enough

though you could maybe point some people in the direction of

some nice effects you find by trial and error hehe.

 

by the by,

did you get the CS6 anistropic holographic embosser pluggin,

or the GIMP anistropic embosser pluggin .py ?

enjoy trying to recreate that holgraphic/'lenticular' tazo effect.

 

I saw here not too long ago,

a re-skin for the PipBoy - the screen look lenticular over a vacuum tube/nixie tubes...

it looked so weird when running in third person, or when back-lit.

that was weird, and I cannot find it again...

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Oh, the derp was because I couldn't find the guy you mentioned but then I clicked on the link. =P

 

I am just a novice, really. I like messing around and painting in PS and that's about it. Most of the advanced work in Nifskope and 3d Max is beyond my reach. There are a couple of things I would happily have commissioned if I could find someone experienced in Nifskope, but I don't know many experienced modders. =/

 

"Your past mods are inspirational, and these retexture could be great for low-rez options for folks running FO4 on older machines."

 

I should probably make some 4K textures... I guess. I play in 1080p and they look fine to me. When I play in 4K I only get about 30-35 FPS on Fallout 4 and honestly I can't deal with that. Most of the textures in Jetpacks FAO are solid colors with few intricate details, do you think I should make some 4096 textures?

Edited by Murielkai
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