"Darkness Orbs" to Allow for the Dousing of Braziers, Lanterns

[Eunomiac]

I am not a modder, but I am an extensive user of them! I'm currently playing a Belua Sanguinare Revisited vampire assassin/illusionist who, obviously, likes to skulk around in the dark with his nightvision. Belua Sanguinare (a supremely excellent mod; Better Vampires players should definitely give it a try) provides a spell to extinguish torches, and I use the wonderful Dynamic Torches mod to transform ~700 in-game torches into "real" torches that can be extinguished.

 

So that covers torches. But damn those wily bandits and their inextinguishable candles! Ach, I am the most powerful "human" in the province, and the lowly candle is my nemesis! (Well, so are children: Children and candles, my nemeses!)

 

I suspect this is because candles, braziers and lanterns --- unlike torches --- do not have an easily-toggleable "On/Off" state. But I got to wondering... if these are point-sources of light (or close enough), would it be possible to simulate extinguishing them with a spell-like effect? Such an effect...

 

A) Shoots out a ball of dark blue energy (or it could be a craftable arrow, for less magically-inclined assassins)

B) At point of impact, the ball expands into an invisible, temporary sphere (about the size of one of those bowl-brazier things in Nord ruins), and sticks in place like Magelight

C) Light hitting the sphere from the inside is dampened, removed or filtered: The sphere itself casts a shadow in all directions, effectively snuffing any light source within.

 

Again, I'm no modder, but I thought through this logically and, unless I'm missing something, it sounds feasible. Boiled down, it would basically involve creating a spherical obstacle around a light source that casts a shadow in every direction.

[AnkhAscendant]

I might be able to help you with those nemeses ;)

 

http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/13104 - Realistic (and mortal) children

 

http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/19447 - Sneak Tools which includes putting out candles, torches, braziers, campfires... Of course, it's with frost and fire spells, so it's not very sneaky unless you have a high illusion, but I think it's realistic. Or you can use specially crafted water and fire arrows. (Also this mod adds some overpowered thief-type stuff, but I was just going to ignore all that)

 

 

Of course I know it's not exactly what you wanted, but it's a feasible workaround until and unless someone makes it ^^;

Edited September 10, 2012 by AnkhAscendant

[PlutoHimself]

I super super like this idea. Someone script this :) put it in the mod request forum!

[Eunomiac]

Thank you! I have installed killable ... err, I mean, "realistic" children, and have thereby secured myself a cozy spot in Hell. Nemesis #1, children, DOWN. As for Nemesis 2, candles (now promoted to Arch-Nemesis), read on:

 

Not two days after I beseeched your most generously-offered aid, I stumbled across not one, but two mods that appear to have been made specifically for me, then retroactively dated so I'd look dumb in front of y'all. They are both made by the same author, and I believe the differences are mostly cosmetic: One does it with a craftable arrow, the other with an Illusion spell:

 

Water Arrows: http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/12555

Banish Light (Apprentice Illusion Spell): http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/18788

 

According to the author: Upon impact, the arrow or spell-ball seeks out the nearest light-source and temporarily extinguishes it. If that light-source has an associated unlit version (like an unlit torch, or dimly smoldering brazier), the lit version is replaced, for a realistic dousing effect. Otherwise (and this is the case with my Arch-Nemesis, candles), though the light-source appears lit, the spell/arrow will stop it from emitting real light (so you'll see a flickering candle in a pitch-black room). The author continues to add his own unlit meshes to replace things like candles, so I expect these mods to continue to improve!

 

I've only tested out the "Banish Light" version (and the Water Arrows version is the one that looks more current), and it appears to work quite well! There are some hiccups that strike me as unlikely to be fixed without some MAJOR overhauling (of Skyrim) on the author's part---Skyrim levels weren't designed with the idea of extinguishing light-sources, so there are a few cases of lazy lighting design (e.g. pools of light without any associated light-source to extinguish). But these are few and far between: It's truly a great mod! (... and I'm sure Water Arrows is great too!)

 

Glad I was able to report back and help out!