Glare/reflection on optic lenses - Halp please

[WhiskeyRiver2]

Can anyone tell me where this bullshit is controlled (e.g the BGSM/BGEM, or somewhere in the .dds files) and how to get rid of or at least heavily reduce it?

 

Right now a lot of our optics (basically all of the red-dot/reflex sights) are literally impossible to use because the damned glare/reflection on the glass/lenses is just that damn bad. Pictures here: http://imgur.com/a/KgEZx Running ELFX for the interior shots, Darker Nights setting 1 for the exterior, you can see for yourself just how bad it is. It even happens on two of the actual scopes, at least before you zoom in (I'll be adding pictures of that in a few minutes).

[Perraine]

Either change the Environment Map texture to one of the "darker" ones, (such as an "indoor" one instead of an "outside" one) or play around with the Environment Map scale in the .bgem file. You can also try adjusting the Specular Colour in the .bgem file to something darker (i.e. 128,128,128 instead of 255,255,255 etc)

 

TheEnvironment Map .dds files are all "cubemaps" so they aren't as easily edited and saved as ordinary textures, you need special tools/plugins in order to save proper "cubemaps".

[WhiskeyRiver2]

Noted, thanks for the answers and tips. Guess I'll start experimenting then, should be fun.

 

The hell of it is this used to not be a problem with the old version(s) of the optics, but I can't remember when or how we changed it.

 

So, what would happen if I just outright remove the "Envmap Texture" file path from the .bgem?

[Perraine]

Well, nothing really serious.

 

Basically the Environment Map is the "image" that shows in the simulated "reflection". So for instance if it's one of the "outside" ones, it might be an out of focus or slightly distorted landscape or a building in bright sunshine, and that is the image that is "overlayed" on top of your glass texture to simulate a reflection (because the game doesn't actually create true reflections, because that would take a whole room full of super computers to render)

 

So if you use a darker one or one of the "indoor" ones, it's not so noticeable or you can alter the "scale" to adjust how many times the reflection overlay is repeated.

 

Without the Environment Map texture, the "glass" will still be transparent, but it won't look quite as "realistic" because it won't be reflecting anything (which glass does in real life from certain angles)

 

A good mesh to experiment with, so you can get an idea of how they work and what they look like is the "Clean Baby Bottle". Open that in Nifskope, and then start playing around with settings in the .bgem file, and changing the Environment Map Texture (note : you may need to "reload" the mesh in order to get Nifskope to WYSIWYG)

[WhiskeyRiver2]

I actually went ahead and compared the glare off the in-game optics to the glare/reflection off the red-dot on my 15-22 rifle (cheap little BSA RD30), and the reflection is damn near not even there, at least on the back end where you'd look if you're actually using the sight. To get something akin to the in-game screenshots I had to look at the front of the optic, which has some sort of polarized/reflective coating on it (ostensibly to prevent "lens flare" effects if you happen to look at a light source through the optic).

 

So screw it. For now I'll just remove the EnvMap from the .BGEMs entirely. Won't be realistic, but they'll be usable again.

 

Thanks again for the answers.