I wasn't sure if you had found the normal map plugin for GIMP it's http://registry.gimp.org/node/69 just in case you haven't

I've been reading the valve community tutorial a few times on using the GIMP for normal maps and it can be found http://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/Normal_Map_Creation_in_The_GIMP

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Have you tried your own suggestions? Upgrade to latest MCP, no glow, and so on?

I think your question is something about how the enchant effect is messing up the bump effect? What exactly is the problem?

Well any bump-mapped enchanted items(weapons at least) will have the magic plastic wrap glow along with the bump mapping. You know, Paralyze items glow green, fire red, etc. Don't you have the same situation?

So the bump map works?

If you don't like how the enchant effect looks then either try one that fits your fancy or get rid of it all together.

Ah but you see, therein lies the dilema- the enchant effect is a gloss map, so to disable enchant effect is also to disable gloss and therefore bump. That is with traditional methods at least, but there must be a way to stop the game from applying the effect without affecting the gloss map.

I am not so good when it comes to technical junk.... (I seem to say this a lot :whisper: ) However, I am pretty sure that the enchant effect is just that, an effect, that is applied to the model. Any mod that disables the effect is only disabling it on the given model(s), not the ability of the engine to render the effect all together. When you apply a reflection or gloss map to a model you are enabling it on that model not in the engine itself.


Again I may be wrong about some aspects. Just go and tinker, its the only way to learn what to do, or not to do, sometimes.

I just tested it out with "improved no-glow". Like I said, no-glow and bump maps are mutually exclusive at this stage.

AnOldFriend, that is not how they work. If I remember correctly, one of the methods, done through the cs, was to set the enchant glow to black, which eliminates sepcularity. The other method, used by "pluginless no glows" was to modify the nif that is applied to enchanted items. I think it removes the glossmap or gives it one that doesn't work. Currently none of them actually stop the enchant effect FROM being applied, they are all tricky ways to cheat the effect that it's not there, while it is, albeit invisible.

I was under the impression that Pluginless NooGlow (by Plangkye) edited the textures used by the enchantment effect rather than the model, so is there any reason why that wouldn't solve your problem? Alternately, I know there's a mod on PES that changes the enchantment effect to more of a lightning/static effect, so it's like the enchanted item is crackling with energy. For now, that might be a good compromise. :shrug:

Hit the nail on the head. It ought to work just fine to solve this problem - indeed, every bump mapped enchanted item in my game looks just fine. The sheen on the items is the color of whatever school of magic the item's enchantment is, but there's no horrid plastic wrap!

That's kinda what I meant by "gives it one that doesn't work". You've given me an idea though, I'm going to try replacing the enchant glossmap with the one I'm trying to use. If it works it'll mean all enchanted items will have to use the same gloss map, but I can live with that for now. It worries me though, that Plangkye mentions the coloured sheen is still present...

Alternately, there's a mod (again on PES) that changes the enchantment colors to less washed out/ugly colors (more vivid reds, yellows, blues, etc.). If you combine that with Plangkye's suggestion, I imagine it would look fairly good in-game.

Just to clarify, the sheen I refer to is the glossiness that would have to be on the weapon anyway in order for the bump mapping to show. It's not overpowering at all, and in fact I quite like it as a flavor enhancer for enchanted weapons - it kind of winds up being like how it works in Oblivion, only even less obvious.

Can you show me a screenshot of what your problem is? I haven't the faintest clue what you are talking about. :shrug:

Wait, hold on a second - is this a gloss map we're talking about, or an environment map? Because enchant glow is an animated environment map, not a gloss map. The "default gloss map" (read: none) is equivalent to a blank white texture, that is, no dimming, removal, or color alteration of whatever environment map creates an item's shine.

Opps my bad, yes I meant the environment/light/reflection map(bah so many names). I'm not actually using a seperate gloss map as I'm manipulating the blue channel of the bump to control the specularity. Sorry everyone it was late, no wonder y'all seem a bit confused. You somehow seemed to have understood me before this though Plangkye

Anyway yea like you said the colour is still there, and there seems to be no way to get rid of it outside of the cs and without ruining the bump map.

I was hoping Hrnchamd could whip something up to stop the game from actually applying the effect :shrug: For now I'll just hold on to that hope.

Old friend, I could take a screenshot if you want, but don't you have any enchanted, bump-mapped items in your game? I'm sure it's no different on your side.

Jiub, no thanks to "more vivid" colours! They are plenty vivid as it is, which really ruins the details when you have a nice texture.

So, I have a question. I've gone to work adding reflections to the High Ordinator armor, and everything works fine except for the gauntlets (and I'm using the MCP's fix for skinned models). When I added the bump/normal map to the gauntlets and went to test it in-game, they caused my game to crash. I've copied AOF's other bumpmapped models pretty much exactly as far as I can tell (in terms of where the reflection map goes within the NIF file, etc.) Would anybody be willing to take a look at the model and see what I'm doing wrong?

I have had similar problems in the past. If i remember correctly it was due to a misplaced effect or certain erroneous effects details being deleted, in which case I think I had to simply start over. :brokencomputer:

If you wanna send the model to me I can have a look.

Okay, I'd like to try just redoing the model first, and if it's still a no-go I'll send it your way. Thanks

I had it couple of time's there must be some kind of bronen/uncorrect link in some node to texture effect node

Okay, so I redid the model and it no longer crashes the game, but the reflections on the gauntlets are stubbornly refusing to show up. Everything else on the model (chest/boots) seems to work fine, it's just those damn gauntlets! :swear:

If anyone wants to take a look, here's the file: http://www.4shared.com/file/uF7M0HXx/a_almindoril_skins.html

Right/Left Hand nodes dont have parented texture effect node

You may be able to go into the Construction Set and make a supplemental .esp for my enchant glow textures, then: in the Gameplay menu, go to Magic Effects and change the color in the box labeled "Lighting Effects" to white for all spell effects. The original NoGlow used this to get rid of the glow entirely (by choosing black instead of white) and you can use it to simply remove the color.

I'm having a really hard time figuring out how to add these maps to meshes.

I've been reading about nifscope for days now but I still don't get it.

I've been trying to add a normal map as a bump map to a static mesh in Balmora, just like Draigr did on the first page, But I don't know what to do to make it show up.

Can someone please tell me what needs to be done regarding the normal map and regarding the mesh setup in NifScope?

I checked all the information I could find but apparently, I'm just too stupid :blush: