Realistic water? (Fallout 3 GECK Help!)

[Is0phr0phyl]

Regarding the water in the grotto area

in the Fallout 3 Mod for PC

(Underground Hideout)

designed by: Danthegeek:

 

Okay... I'm a noob to modding, I'll admit it. There's a LOT I don't know about the GECK...and by "a lot" I mean... almost nothing. I'm trying to create a "Master Suite" for Tenpenny Tower. (I've felt for some time that it was too small for it being a "Suite".

 

I'm at a point now, where I've fashioned a VERY pretty bathtub/jacuzzi type area... but when I try to introduce water to the cell, all I get is a flat "water colored" plane...no ripples...no waves...nothing.

 

The way it's set up right now, I have two pillars standing on the corners of the tub that pour water into the square (so it looks as though it's being filled up)...I've got some little FX spout splashes and mist to look like it's hot water (sounds nice eh'?) but the water itself (for the tub) doesn't do anything. I've tried messing with the refraction/reflection on the pieces that make up the tub and that helps a little bit to sell the idea that it's water... but I just can't get it to look like the water in the grotto of the mod for the Underground Hideout (Danthegeek)

 

I opened up the Underground Hideout (Danthegeek) mod and tried to take note of all that was done in that particular area...but it might as well be written in Chinese (or java) lol

 

I've been through forum after forum on the Bethesda website for tutorials using the geck, and water texture/effects ARE covered, if only very briefly. Something to do with height-mapping? I dunno.

 

I ask, in hopes that SOMEONE out there knows what they're doing when it comes to creating water as aesthetically pleasing as that seen in the Mod... would someone be so kind as to write out a walk-through for the process?...Please?

 

SIDE NOTE: 1

The water I've tried to use (doesn't matter which) always turns up irradiated... what good is a long hot bath if you come out with an extra pair of limbs?!

I need it to be clean and clear (as the Mod demonstrates).

 

SIDE NOTE: 2

 

The placeable water in the GECK has a little Icon that looks like a puddle (Solid Blue)...these I can drag and drop into the cell...however, it's the bits with the icon that looks like little jagged waves I can't drag into the cell...when I try, nothing happens. What am I missing?

(These are the icons I'm talking about).

 

http://i.imgur.com/q7noO.jpg

 

I realize this is a long shot (as the topic of using water in mods is scarcely discussed)...if anyone is reading... I implore you, take pity upon this noob.

 

Sincerely.

-Is0phr0phyl

[caramellcube]

I've had the same problems making a swimming pool, and eventually found a solution (no pun intended).

 

First, the wavyness of the water. This isn't determined by the water itself, but the properies of the cell it's in. If you go to the cell name in the cell window, right click and select edit, you'll see the cell properties, including the water noise texture. If there's no texture in here, then any water you put in will be flat. This is where things get tricky, because you can't manually enter any information into that box, you can only browse for the texture file, but the file is packaged inside a BSA file so you can't select it without extracting it and moving it to an identical folder in the data folder, and even if you do that, I'm still checking if it would work or not.

 

The only way I've been able to get a cell with wavy water is to start by copying a cell that already has a texture set, like the oasis caves. Then delete everything in the copy and use that as the base for the cell. If you use this method you'll have to either start the cell again from scratch, or highlight everything and cut paste into the new cell. You might loose reference ID's if you do that. Also, if you copy a cell that has navmesh, there seems to be a bug that only I get where 2 doors in the cell get changed. There's a way to fix it using FO3 edit but it seems likely that someone will point out an easier way to set a noise texture than this 2 paragraph mess so I won't go into that at the moment.

 

Second, the radiation. you'll need to create a new water type with no radiation, and no spell effect (you can try adding an effect later if this works). make sure it looks the way you want, I find starting with megatonbombwater and cleaning it up makes for a nice clear look, at least from above. Once you have the clean, non radioactive water, go into the cell properties and change the cell's water to that type. Make sure both the placable water tile and the water type listed in the cell properties, are non radioactive, as it's the cell properties that controlls how many rads you take from wading through water. Once you've got that done and tested, you can experiment with adding effects to your custom water type.

 

Oh, a quick side note, those 2 icons you've mentioned. Fallout 3 has placeable water, which is a physical object that can be put into the game, and water types, which is a description of how the water acts. Each placeable water has a water type controlling it, but you can't place a water type directly into the game as it has no size or shape.

 

TLDR - you need to change the properties of the cell itself to get clean water. Hope this saves you a bit of the trouble I had.

[Is0phr0phyl]

:blink:

 

:wallbash:

[Is0phr0phyl]

Though I couldn't follow the part about Water Noise in the cell properties window, I was able to get what I wanted when cut/copying my layout and objects into a cell that already had the water and texture set.

Deleting everything from the Underground Hideout mod (Danthegeek) and keeping just the water and water texture and placing all my stuff into the cell worked like a charm. I appreciate the short cut. Why it escaped me to think of doing that is beyond me. Much obliged.

Though, if you or anyone else can scribble down a more thorough walkthrough for the process I'd appreciate that as well.

Short cuts can only get us so far. hahaha I dread the day I don't have a cell with water textures already set and I'm then left to do it myself.

:facepalm:

 

Thanks again.

 

 

[still open to suggestions]

:thumbsup:

[caramellcube]

I'm probably making it sound more complex than it is, I'll try and get some screenshots next time I have GECK loaded up. I think Underground Hideout uses a custom water texture, so it might not work for people who don't have it installed. Not sure if mini-Hideout is any different, but that has a jaccuzi area and a water cave IIRC.

 

There's a test you could do if you if you want to try copying a cell from the vanilla game, since it only seems to be me that gets the 2 doors glitch.

1) backup your esp file and load a disposable copy in GECK (IE- you can replace it with the backup copy and not loose anything important)

2) Find a cell with water noise, like the oasis caves, and copy it

3) Select the copy, rename it to something starting with your initials or prefix

4) Highlight everything in the cell and delete it. Clear the navmesh using the navmesh menu at the top, essentially the procedure from the GECK tutorial for making a new cell

5) when you have a clear cell, take a look at the origonal, and make sure none of the items have an * after them. If none of them do, then you now have a cell you can copy and use for every cell that needs noisy water. If there are any *s after the names of any items in the origonal cell though, you've changed something. If it's 2 doors, let me know.

[Is0phr0phyl]

HAH! That worked!

No glitching or asterisks!

THANK YOU SOO MUCH!

:)

 

I'm a happy camper. My bathroom building can continue. hahaha.