Help with shininess

[Dlesang]

I made a bottle but I can't make the glass shine like glass. I made a head that included eyes, but I can't make the eyes shine like they're wet.

 

How do I make this work?

 

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/22554025/games/oblivion/forthread2.jpg

Here's the bottle in Blender.

 

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/22554025/games/oblivion/bottleingame.jpg

Here's the bottle in game.

 

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/22554025/games/oblivion/largerbottle.jpg

Here's a much larger version of the same bottle so I could get a better look at the normals.

 

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/22554025/games/oblivion/pics/fluttershyheadwipingame.jpg

Here's the head.

[Nephenee13]

Find existing examples of what you want them to look like, open them up in NIFSkope and check the material properties. See what the specular and emissive colors are, as well as the gloss setting.

 

Set yours to the same or similar.

[DrakeTheDragon]

Don't forget the "Apply Mode" of the NiTexturingProperty. "APPLY_HIGHLIGHT" makes objects look like sealed in a layer of plastic. Maybe one of those achieves the wanted effect.

 

Nephenee is right, look how it's done in other NIFs and copy the properties you need... just don't forget to also copy the Apply Mode. :thumbsup:

[Dlesang]

I already tried that, Nephenee. Nothing changed It still looked like plastic.

 

Drake, I tried your idea about changing the APPLY_HIGHLIGHT thing and it worked....sort of. It still has that plasticy shine from before, but not it also has that glassy sheen I wanted.

 

50% victory?

[DrakeTheDragon]

Hmm, maybe check the transparency, i.e. Alpha Channel, of the normalmap ("..._n.dds") for this texture. The alpha channel of the normalmap serves as a map for specularity, and it seems to more or less "control" all of the above mentioned factors and settings. The more transparent an area is the less it shines/reflects/etc., the more solid the more shine/reflection/etc. A black alpha channel means none of those effects. A file format without alpha channel means either a black one or a solid white one, as in glossyness overkill.

 

Again you can check normalmaps of existing game bottles to find an alpha value suitable for your needs.

[theuseless]

also you can try to modify the glossiness amount in NifSkope (when you click on the little pallet). Sometimes I forget that. But drake is also correct, making the normal map transparent will reduce gloss.

[Euripedus]

Got me a black helmet, has gold trim. Doesn't shine with any specularity. I gots me a normal map, no transperancy. Still no shine. The poor thing looks great in Blender but once it gets into the game it's flat black. Also have another helmet, finally managed to get it to display the texture instead of flat black. It too does not shine. I set the spec in Blender up, nothing. In NifSkope I see a NiSpecProp node but there's no way to adjust it or add a value (if I knew what value it required I still don't think that node from Blender is adjustable).

 

Any ideas? Are you guys sure the more solid a normal the shinier it is?

 

Euri

 

p.s. Jusy played with the transperancy on the normal map. I got some shine. It would seem that the MORE transperant the color on the normal, the more the material underneath the texture image can "shine" through, if it is black. I was trying to get black to shine and it wouldn't. Seems that black is the opposite of a normal, so you want more transperancy. Answered my own question.

Edited November 11, 2012 by Euripedus