Although this was originally written for my gameplay overhaul--Revised Oblivion Mod (ROM)--I think it is useful enough to benefit other players as a stand-alone minimod even if they don't play ROM. Note that, unlike ROM, you do not need Oscuro's Oblivion Overhaul to play.

So why the need for a new DLT (Drop Lit Torches) mod? ROM's version has some distinct advantages, which I am pleased to share with you:

- It is shorter. One well-known DLT mod contains a total of 246 lines! ROM contains nearly all the functionality of other DLT mods, while only using 158 lines of code (excluding commentary lines).

- It needs only two scripts (as opposed to the four or five scripts in alternate versions).

- It uses no global variables

- It does not post any messages (such as "You cannot equip this item.")

- Its main script has only three conditional gamemode blocks to check each cycle, and one conditional gamemode block in the other script. This is opposed to the dozens of gamemode blocks that are running in other versions of DLT, which also assign variables each cycle as well (which ROM does not do). Furthermore, ROM's gamemode cycle runs every 0.25 seconds (a necessary speed to ensure prompt response to the hotkey press), while other DLT mods usually run at 0.05 to 0.1 seconds: that means that ROM runs only four efficient, sparse cycles per second, as opposed to twenty! All of which adds up to less CPU strain and a smoother gameplay experience.

- I do everything with the standard Torch02, and a torch light source. I do not need multiple torch objects (Torch03, Torch04, etc).

- It does not need a "Torch Hotkey" button in your inventory, nor will you need to use one of your existing hotkey slots to use your torch.

- Dropped torches will always appear gently right in front of you, rather than bouncing around the room and falling randomly

- Dropped torches will never have their light blocked if they roll into a crack, or underneath debris. ROM torches always emit a uniformly bright radiance, which helps a lot with mods such as "Let there be Darkness."

- Most importantly, it does not use the //PlaceAtMe// function! As I also wrote in the ROM Manual, that command is well-known for causing your savegame files to bloat, and it is best for modders to avoid it entirely. However, if that is not feasible, then at the very least, they ought to warn their players if their mod contains that function.
(cs.elderscrolls.com/constwiki/index.php/PlaceAtMe)

There are only two aspects of DLT that ROM does not mimic from other versions. First is the extinguishing of torches when they roll, or are dropped into, water. Your torch will be worthless if you drop it while swimming, but any other water contact will not affect it, and there is nothing I can do about that for now. Second, the light source does not follow the torch on the ground; this is intentional for two reasons. One, it provides *much* better lighting, and two, it saves valuable CPU power by not having to move the light source to the torch each frame of a gamemode script. It is not noticeable except under circumstances when you accidentally kick a torch far away, or down some stairs.

ROM Drop Lit Torches works very simply: the designated hotkey to use or drop your torch is the button << V >>, although players may set the hotkey to any key they wish in the ROMDLT.ini batch script file, which comes with this download. Furthermore, if the player is using a torch and combat begins, pressing the hotkey will simultaneously drop your current torch and pull out your weapon.

As in other DLT mods, your dropped torches are pegged to a timer that extinguishes them after five minutes, rendering them unusable for the rest of the game.

I have attached a PDF version of my scripts, so you can easily browse them if you'd like. Those who play my main work know that I prize efficiency and organization in scripts, and I am sure you will not be disappointed by mine.

If you like my work, you might want to check out my main project, from which this file was extracted:
http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=33114

PS: I am always open to comments and suggestions!


ROM Drop Lit Torches:
http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=34644

I read the first manual released with ROM and found your comments about optimizing some parts of mods you where using interesting.

I dl this and will try it out instead of SM-drop lit torch that I have now. As an immersive player I hope I can set the torch timer in the Construction Set to something low without breaking this mod?

Will try

Cheers and thnaks!

Are you including the OBSE DLT in your comparison?

90% of your post is Altarian to me (too mod-ese technical).

I found a quirk interaction with that, Inventory is a Backpack, and torches in the backpack. I don't know if some other mod is interacting with the torches.
When I drop the bp, and pick it up, torches in the inventory are duplicated, eventually overburdening you.

Appears to work fine.
I have been using http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=16282 for quite some time. The one thing I miss from that, with this one, is that drawing one's weapon when holding a torch, dropped that torch on the ground automatically.
(Adjusting the light radius from the .ini was nice too.)

I'll make a more customizable version, and put it up soon

any chance of making a version for nehrim? im messing around with nehrim for now, tried ROM DLT and while the game ran, i couldnt drop my torch so...

Yes, I was including the OBSE version in my comparisons. Regarding your backpack mod--that sounds like a crazy interaction! Maybe I'll take a look at it, but for now it sounds like they are not compatible.



Great question--I have not opened Nehrim yet, so I am not sure why it would not work.

To be clear, I was talking about my use of kuertee's bp mod and the OBSE mod.
I don't know if it is those two working together, or some other mod causing it.
It is just something to watch out for on that bp mod and yours.

Coolness!

Version 1.1 is now available. It allows for customization of light radius and drop duration timer. More importantly, it allows for customization of the processing speed of the script (for modders, the fQuestDelayTime), for those who want a slightly more precise hotkey response at the cost of a larger CPU workload.

this is awesome.

Looks like you are building this to be the replacement for all DLT.
I use the OBSE version where I can set the weight and radius.
If you can have a superior DLT version including weight, radius, brightness, timer...can't think of anything else yet, then that would be great.

Wonderful! That is my aspiration I know that some players might still opt for SM's OBSE version, which includes torches that burn out in water and don't ever fall into walls. But I think that the trade-off I am offering in terms of more efficient coding and no PlaceAtMe cloning might be a key selling point for some players. That's the hope, anyhow

The only option not configurable is weight, as one of my design philosophies in all my work is not to let players cheat--in this case, giving them access to 0 weight torches.

Now if people wanted heavier torches...

I wasn't aware that OBSE DLT used PlaceAtMe - are there reports of significant game bloat?

[edit] what is the master for this pluggin - Looking to port mods to Nehrim.

I didn't know the SM torches went out in water, and didn't have a problem going into walls. I haven't experienced using them in such a way for these situations.
I just chose it because it was one of the more recent/updated ones and combined previous versions into a package I liked.
Going out in water just adds to the immersion/realism which is what I have been shooting for. A weight of 1 is what my torches are at.
I don't know if there is a standard for weight in Oblivion, as I find things like bedrolls being set at default of 10 (changed that to 5 myself until I found the portable campsite package which I like better), when I see
watermelons weighing at 5. I don't know about you but I think watermelons IRL weigh much more than a sleeping bag.

As I understand it in Oblivion 4 feathers is the equivalent to 1 pound. Or, it is something to that effect.

And yay this is stand alone - so I can probably port to Nehrim.

[edit] to correct weight thing

Hi Psymon, I've heard no complaints about it, but that might be because I think most people (myself included) regularly do not check their savegame files in Wrye Bash to see what kind of baggage they are accumulating. But considering that PlaceAtMe was used with each torch drop (possibly more than once, if I recall correctly), I could see it adding up over the course of a character. Admittedly, it is probably not a big deal, but for game performance, I figure it can only be a good thing to avoid it, right? At the end of the day, most people probably play with dozens of mods on their system, and I imagine that all those scripts add up after a while. Anything that can help counteract that tendency means smoother gameplay and more mods you can load on your computer

Let me know if this works in Nehrim!




That's true, but I have always thought of Encumbrance as a mixture of both weight and mass. I don't think a sleeping bag is much heavier than a watermelon, but both would be very cumbersome to carry--actually the watermelon would be more so, since you can hitch the sleeping bag to your back! In my overhaul mod, I reweight many things to make them heavier, but I still did not make them as heavy as I could have. If I were a total game design fascist, I would have made watermelons 25 encumbrance

So a ~6 pound watermelon

How do I go about checking my saved games' health in WB?

Statistics comes up with unreadable game mod techno-babble for me at this stage. I'm afraid to use the Remove Bloat feature due to the warning given.

Well I've been testing this mod out and it seems that it does not drop the torch when I draw a weapon. It will, however, drop a torch if I click the button (v) after my weapon is drawn.

The caveat being I'm testing this with Nehrim conversion, so there may be issues with that (several other seemingly script driven mods are not porting as well as hoped). Anyway, thought it worth posting about as perhaps that is what others find with Oblivion proper.

Yes that is true, as I point in the Read Me. By setting the drop torch hotkey to also pull out your weapon, it saves a potentially energy-consuming test every frame to see if the player is attacking, and if so, has he dropped his torch, etc. But I can see how it might take getting used to if you are switching from another DLT version. I hope it's not too much trouble!

I think that is the only thing; something to get used to.