[WIP] Distant "Lights" for MGE XE

Post » Tue May 08, 2012 10:44 am

This is a small immersion adding "mod" aimed specifically for players who play with really dark night settings.

By using an override list, and some alternative meshes, I've got MGE XE to show lights in the distance. Note, this DOES NOT light the distant landscape, it just shows bright spots where CS placed light sources are.

Here are some screenshots, note, being night shots, you might not see much on your screens, depending on your screen settings :biggrin: These screenshots are taking using my lighting mod, so some things are a little different from normal.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/46396473/MGE%20Screenshot%20062.jpg
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/46396473/MGE%20Screenshot%20063.jpg
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/46396473/MGE%20Screenshot%20064.jpg
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/46396473/MGE%20Screenshot%20065.jpg
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/46396473/MGE%20Screenshot%20066.jpg
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/46396473/MGE%20Screenshot%20051.jpg

In the distance, you will see windows, lamps, torches and campfires. As a result, it may even help you find things you've never spotted before.

Because it's making MGE XE render more smaller objects, there will be a minor performance hit.

There's a couple of lights I've missed, so almost ready for release.
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Hannah Whitlock
 
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Post » Tue May 08, 2012 3:13 am

Nice one!
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Nicole M
 
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Post » Tue May 08, 2012 6:15 am

Very nice !
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Eduardo Rosas
 
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Post » Tue May 08, 2012 8:26 am

I look forward to this one - are they all separate lights or have you managed to get an overall city glow? It looks like just individual lights?
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ONLY ME!!!!
 
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Post » Mon May 07, 2012 11:14 pm

I'd love if it actually light up the small area around each light, but since that would probably hurt performance quite a bit, this is a happy medium.
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Kara Payne
 
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Post » Tue May 08, 2012 7:57 am

As mentioned, it's purely just individual lights. MGE would need a lot of work to use in game light sources to light up the distant land, making for a much bigger fps hit.

So, this is a halfway solution, saves towns being black at night, with lights only appearing as you get right onto them.
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Keeley Stevens
 
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Post » Mon May 07, 2012 6:54 pm

This would be a nice addition to MSGO. :)
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Brandon Bernardi
 
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Post » Tue May 08, 2012 1:13 am

Clever, clever. It's not perfect sure, but I'm surprised that nobody has thought of this before! :)
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Harry-James Payne
 
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Post » Tue May 08, 2012 4:33 am

Clever, clever. It's not perfect sure, but I'm surprised that nobody has thought of this before! :smile:

I've wanted this for ages! It's a grand step forward for the MGEXE thingy.
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Verity Hurding
 
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Post » Mon May 07, 2012 8:53 pm

Really cool idea. I like the look of it. Also surprised no-one thought of it before.
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jodie
 
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Post » Mon May 07, 2012 11:22 pm

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/46396473/Distant%20Lights.zip

From Readme:
DISTANT LIGHTSMGE XE RequiredThe files in this download will cause MGE XE to render light sources in the distant land.It does not affect the lighting of the distant land, but increases immersion by showing abright point in the distance, especially at night.Do not use if your system is struggling with distant land, as this "mod" forces MGE torender small objects in distant land.To install, place the (l)ight and e(x)terior meshes into the correct folder in datafiles,and in the MGE XE distant land setup, add the Distant Lights Override.txt file to thestatic overrides file list. This file is found in the mge3 folder.The common paper lanterns use your game textures for their distant light colour/texture.The glass lanterns, torches and fire pits use simple textures Ive made calledPLX_Light_2.bmp and PLX_Light_3.bmp (PLX_Light_1.bmp is currently unused).The colours used for these are based on the colours I use in my personal lighting mod,but they should be suitable for everyone.Thanks to:Hrnchamd for MGE XEBethesda

Added in the two missing light sources, and as an experiment, the bitter coast mushrooms. Worked well, but easy to exclude from distant land if you wish.
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Micah Judaeah
 
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Post » Mon May 07, 2012 11:38 pm

Definitely trying this one!
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Eilidh Brian
 
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Post » Mon May 07, 2012 10:46 pm

Why don't you have put the *_dist at somes of the nifs includes in your package?
Because they now conflict with Windows Glow.
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Miss K
 
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Post » Mon May 07, 2012 10:39 pm

Some of the vanilla nifs didn't need adjusting to be seen in the distance, so don't have _dist files.

The small handful of mesh replacers (windows mainly) have had their mesh adjusted to cause them to appear in the distance.
The _dist meshes are my hashed up versions of distance land versions of meshes.


If the windows are a conflict, don't replace the meshes, and see what happens. I bet in the windows glow mod the meshes have been changed in a similar way to what I have done, and so will still work in distant land.
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Zualett
 
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Post » Tue May 08, 2012 3:54 am

I tried this out with some of our lands, shamelessly shown under here:

http://img849.imageshack.us/img849/4549/morrowind20120126200327.jpg
http://img820.imageshack.us/img820/4871/morrowind20120126200416.jpg
http://img221.imageshack.us/img221/3487/morrowind20120126200550f.jpg
http://img252.imageshack.us/img252/8789/morrowind20120126200609.jpg
http://img839.imageshack.us/img839/320/morrowind20120126200802.jpg
http://img822.imageshack.us/img822/8369/morrowind20120126200822.jpg
http://img850.imageshack.us/img850/2962/morrowind20120126200909.jpg
http://img692.imageshack.us/img692/7572/morrowind20120126201017i.jpg
http://img685.imageshack.us/img685/7169/morrowind20120126201028.jpg
http://img810.imageshack.us/img810/4928/morrowind20120126201038.jpg
http://img831.imageshack.us/img831/4562/morrowind20120126201228.jpg
http://img651.imageshack.us/img651/5467/morrowind20120126201252.jpg
http://img853.imageshack.us/img853/7941/morrowind20120126201311.jpg
http://img18.imageshack.us/img18/5764/morrowind20120126201423.jpg
http://img846.imageshack.us/img846/2272/morrowind20120126201436.jpg
http://img40.imageshack.us/img40/396/morrowind20120126201444.jpg

Great mod!
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lolli
 
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Post » Tue May 08, 2012 7:47 am

Very nice. Works well. One of those simple mods that surprisingly no one thought about before.

I didn't include every lightsource, just the major ones that appear in normal Morrowind. If there are any others you'd like added to the list so they render, just post them.
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Fanny Rouyé
 
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Post » Tue May 08, 2012 5:15 am

May i ask you to add in plugin:
L/light_logpile10.nif
L/Light_Fire.nif
It's using on lighthouse
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Tyrone Haywood
 
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Post » Mon May 07, 2012 10:56 pm

Updated the download to include 4 addtional lights, including those two you asked for Apel.
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Amanda Furtado
 
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Post » Tue May 08, 2012 1:15 am

Great concept PirateLord!

FYI: _dist designator was introduced by MGE before hnchamd started developing MGEXE, and your distant lights mod will safely work with mge3.8.2-rev178. I'll have to check when _dist got introduced - it definitely isn't part of v3.8.0.

I had tested the _dist designator when we introduced it to MGE, but didn't think to use it with lights. Terrific!
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jennie xhx
 
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Post » Tue May 08, 2012 1:29 am

These are spectacular, especially when scenic travelling using abot's boats and siltstriders. Coming into a town at night is really special. Interestingly, Using MGE XE (latest as of this date), I really don't get any FPS hit.

Between distant lights, MGE XE, and SWG's skies, I really enjoy travelling at night. Thanks for making this idea into a reality and for doing it so quickly!
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City Swagga
 
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Post » Tue May 08, 2012 6:42 am

It's one of those little things that makes you wonder why no one thought of it earlier, but then, it doesn't seem a good idea to render small objects in distant land.

Interestly, what made me think of it wasn't anything to do with lights, but the random neon pixels at night I get on vurts trees in the distance, AA bug or something, then it got me thinking, so I popped a question in the MGE XE thread, and here we go, one simple mod.
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Mr. Ray
 
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