VaPER (Vacuity's Particle Effect Resources) currently consists of a stupendous three resources. Ooh!

http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=35526 v2.0

This is an effects mesh which provides a vertical stream of bubbles, emanating from a point at the base of the mesh and rising to the top of the mesh (nominally the fluid surface) where the bubbles remain and bob around before dissapearing. Pretty neat, but being essentially an animated effect it doesn't screenshot well. Should I ever get around to sorting out video capture on my rig, I'll probably make a video.

Screens: http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/ll61/Revanchism/Particle%20Effect%20Resources/BubblesAtSurface.jpg, http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/ll61/Revanchism/Particle%20Effect%20Resources/DispersedBubblesAtSurfaceAbove.jpg, http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/ll61/Revanchism/Particle%20Effect%20Resources/DispersedBubblesAtSurface.jpg.

Currently includes 4 meshes, 1 texture.


http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=35545 v1.0

This is an effects mesh which provides a steady blood drip that you can place below corpses or other blood sources. The file is an extremely lightweight 5KB mesh, so you're not going to be straining anyone's machine with it even if you use it in large numbers. I suggest using one of the game's blood decals to place on the floor below the effect mesh.

Screens:
http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/ll61/Revanchism/Particle%20Effect%20Resources/Blooddripsource.jpg, http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/ll61/Revanchism/Particle%20Effect%20Resources/Blooddripdestination.jpg, http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/ll61/Revanchism/Particle%20Effect%20Resources/Ingameeffect.jpg.

Contains 1 mesh and 1 texture.


http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=35590 v2.0

Provides effect meshes simulating falling leaves. The leaves tumble and spin randomly and sometimes even float around somewhat (again, randomly).

Currently contains 292 nifs and 44 textures, providing three levels of effect for most tree and shrub types available in the CS.

Example species include (these are from v1): http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/ll61/Revanchism/Particle%20Effect%20Resources/QuakingAspen.jpg, http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/ll61/Revanchism/Particle%20Effect%20Resources/Oak.jpg, http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/ll61/Revanchism/Particle%20Effect%20Resources/Silverbirch.jpg, http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/ll61/Revanchism/Particle%20Effect%20Resources/Dogwood.jpg, http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/ll61/Revanchism/Particle%20Effect%20Resources/Japanesemaple.jpg and http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/ll61/Revanchism/Particle%20Effect%20Resources/Sugarmaple.jpg.
Video available http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51Jba4ua09I.

http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=35652 v1.1

Currently contains six nifs and one texture, providing three weather effects at two sizes for convenient placement.

The three weather types supported are: http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/ll61/Revanchism/Particle%20Effect%20Resources/LightRain.jpg, http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/ll61/Revanchism/Particle%20Effect%20Resources/HeavyRain.jpg, and http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/ll61/Revanchism/Particle%20Effect%20Resources/Mediumsnow.jpg.


Currently in progress:

Testing the new Falling leaf boxes (over 300 of the blighters, could take a little time).

Technical/proof of concept testing.

Swamp lights (no pics yet). Wavering, wandering glowing effects for use in marshland. Similar to the light trails in SI, but not following a set path (so not boring) and not using SI assets (convenient).

Why so few resources for a release?
Because I don't really make the kinds of mods that need these kinds of effects. I am assuming that there are more people out there interested in having these kinds of things but don't know how to work with particle effects. Make your request and I'll see what I can do.

Polite suggestions for making requests:

• Be polite.
  
• Don't ask for simple retextures.
  
• Try to explain very clearly what you want (or for that matter, want tweaked), even better, show me a video clip (like from a movie or another game) or pictures. Anything that helps me understand what you're asking for.
  
• Be polite?
  
• Be patient. This one's quite important as I've had a *lot* of requests made. Some of them are very challenging. If you're in a hurry for something, you could always consider doing it yourself.
  
• If you think you're being ignored, it could be true: I have an ignore list. Deal with it as best you can.

Just to be clear, I've got no particular problem with making adjustments to resources I've already made as long as you explain clearly what you would like changed.

Also, I am willing to provide general assistance in the process of actually getting the meshes into your mod if you've got questions or problems.

VaPER is a modders' resource, not a mod. Please credit me for any of my work included in your own mod.

Credits and further information are included in the readmes for the resources (but I'd like to thank Koniption here for fiving me an editor marker mesh I could work with, thanks!)

Vac

Grabbed! I may just have a use for those. Thanks Vac

Absolutely my pleasure. If you'd like them tweaked in any way, just tell me what you want. Faster/slower bubble movement, wider/narrower dispersal (or for that matter, more chaotic dispersal), larger/smaller bubbles and so forth. I can do some fairly funky stuff (if anyone doubts that, have a look at VASE).

I think I should also have mentioned that I've got my eyes set on the following things as much out of pure curiousity as anything else:

Specific:
A dust-devil.
A blood drip effect.

General:
Weather/environment effects. (Would anyone actually have a use for these?)
Magic effects.

If anyone comes along and specifically requests something I think I can do then it'll automatically go above these, though I also have other mod commitments and am sorely lacking spare time for modding in any case.

Vac

That depends on what kind of weather and environment effects you have in mind.

I know at least one that would be nice to have - a rain particle generator that can be hung outside a window or something and is able to be turned on and off via scripting.

The bubbles look great! Now if only I learned how to mod Oblivion...

Below: only food for thought/ideas for others, feel free to skip over this.



Yes!

Specifically, to make places such as oblivion gates more immersive. Something like http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/dynamic/graphics/lava_fountains.gif, waves of billowing ash near where the player would be walking, and perhaps, as you mentioned, dripping blood, which could fall from those large thorn/claw-like structures. It would also be perfect for the bloodworks, which isn't quite as gruesome as it's name implies.

Falling/windborne leaves, green spores from the shivering isles mushrooms....could be interesting.

I need bubbles! Thank you.

This. For snow and rain.

Brilliant work as always Vac!! I will definitely find a use for this!


A big ole' twister? LOL Mind you I can't even imagine how that would work in game but it certainly would look cool as hell.

Woohoo! Now Blackmarsh mod can have bubbles here and there!

Thanks bunches, Vacuity!

I second (or third) the falling leaves and dust devils.

I was also wondering about a "black hole" effect - where outer gas and particles are swirled around and eventually svcked inward? I made a similar particle nif, acccidentally, when I was trying to understand particle effects...but the effect is very underdeveloped, though the clouds swirl inwards. I still have the nif, and can send it to you if you're interested in developing it. Just tell me if you wanna take a look at it. If nothing else, a particle nif with a black hole effect will make for a good portal choice in some mods.

Koniption

Excellent resource, Vacuity! Happy you could share it with the rest of us.

My polite request would be for an Air Atronach or something similar. Kinda like these:
http://fc05.deviantart.net/fs48/i/2009/201/c/d/Sand_Elemental_by_Vij_8.jpg
http://fc02.deviantart.net/fs11/i/2006/242/7/5/Air_Elemental_by_nukito.jpg
http://www.santharia.com/pictures/quellion/quellion_pics/air_elemental.jpg
http://www.markeedragon.com/screenshots/data/571/medium/2airElemental.jpg
http://fc01.deviantart.net/fs71/i/2010/228/9/9/Golems_of_Athasian_by_DaveAllsop.jpg

Basically I see them as dust devils but with a little more form. They could attack the player by throwing them around. And, of course, they'd be devilishly quick. (I guess I'm requesting a critter because I immensely enjoyed your VASE mod. I would like to see more of this!)

I quadruple dust devils, btw.
http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/122736main_dust_devil_june_8_twin.jpg


I would second this strongly. Perhaps it could help get that old Unique Oblivion Realms project back up and running by generating interest.

Geisers would also be an excellent idea.
http://www.champlinenergy.com/i/geiser.jpg


Running this same theme, how about frost that appears on the windows? Would that be doable with particle effects?

[quote name='crippknottick' date='05 November 2010 - 07:57 AM' timestamp='1288915042' post='16631414']I need bubbles! Thank you.[/quote]Not a problem. Remember that if you'd like the system tweaked and are not sure how to do it yourself just tell me what you want. I can either make (an)other version(s) of the mesh to your requirements or tell you how to do it yourself.[quote name='Arthmoor' date='05 November 2010 - 06:12 AM' timestamp='1288908741' post='16630914']That depends on what kind of weather and environment effects you have in mind.

I know at least one that would be nice to have - a rain particle generator that can be hung outside a window or something and is able to be turned on and off via scripting.[/quote]and[quote name='Smooth' date='05 November 2010 - 08:28 AM' timestamp='1288916900' post='16631566']This. For snow and rain.[/quote]Ahh, this is the kind of thing I was looking for: an idea I didn't have, but think is really awesome and useful. In principle that should be fairly easy, that would be for some kind of Immersive Interiors-idea, right? I'll have to look at how to set that up and also make sure it stays in the right place and turn it on/off by animation (the last part shouldn't be too hard, I had to turn off all the VASE particle systems when the creatures died). Sounds like it would be quite cool and useful too. Hmm, then how large would you want each effect mesh? After all, if you scaled one up to cover multiple windows you'd get giant snow flakes. Which could be cool, *but*... I guess I'd be better making one proof of concept mesh and then we can work from there for the details.

Added later: wouldn't it be acceptable to simply enable or disable the mesh via the script? What exactly needs "animated" beyond a simple on/off?
[quote name='Ashiraniir' date='05 November 2010 - 07:52 AM' timestamp='1288914770' post='16631387']The bubbles look great! Now if only I learned how to mod Oblivion...

Below: only food for thought/ideas for others, feel free to skip over this.

Yes!

Specifically, to make places such as oblivion gates more immersive. Something like [url=http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/dynamic/graphics/lava_fountains.gif]diverse lava bursts[/url], waves of billowing ash near where the player would be walking, and perhaps, as you mentioned, dripping blood, which could fall from those large thorn/claw-like structures. It would also be perfect for the bloodworks, which isn't quite as gruesome as it's name implies.

Falling/windborne leaves, green spores from the shivering isles mushrooms....could be interesting.
[/quote]These are quite funky ideas, for sure, but I'm not making mods like this (not right now anyway). Unless someone comes along with a WIP mod (or a track record) requesting them, that's all they are. The (relatively minor) issue with working with systems for things like blood and lava is that they have a fairly clear and obvious interaction with their environment, which particle systems don't. For example, the blood drip will need the modder to place a blood source and some kind of blood stain decal on the floor to look really good, otherwise it's going to look wierd or out of place.[quote name='WhoGuru' date='05 November 2010 - 08:51 AM' timestamp='1288918277' post='16631674']Brilliant work as always Vac!! I will definitely find a use for this!

A big ole' twister? LOL Mind you I can't even imagine how that would work in game but it certainly would look cool as hell.
[/quote]Well, that's going to be a hard one, but actually, I already got primitive rotating cone system working with the [src="http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/ll61/Revanchism/WilloftheWisps/GodontheRoad.jpg"]Small God[/url]. Scale it up onto multiple stacked systems, with appropriate textures, tweak it ad infinitum and Bob's my uncle. Hopefully.[quote name='Koniption' date='05 November 2010 - 09:31 AM' timestamp='1288920710' post='16631837']Woohoo! Now Blackmarsh mod can have bubbles here and there!

Thanks bunches, Vacuity!

I second (or third) the falling leaves and dust devils. [/quote]Falling leaves? That should be pretty easy to make. You're wanting something similar to what was used in [src="http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=17229"]Amaterasu no Yume[/url]? The modder there stuck an effect box around each and every tree. It should be easy enough for me to make, but that's quite hard going for the modder who has to place dozens/hundreds of effect boxes.[quote name='Koniption' date='05 November 2010 - 09:31 AM' timestamp='1288920710' post='16631837']I was also wondering about a "black hole" effect - where outer gas and particles are swirled around and eventually svcked inward? I made a similar particle nif, acccidentally, when I was trying to understand particle effects...but the effect is very underdeveloped, though the clouds swirl inwards. I still have the nif, and can send it to you if you're interested in developing it. Just tell me if you wanna take a look at it. If nothing else, a particle nif with a black hole effect will make for a good portal choice in some mods.[/quote]Mmm, if you want it, I can make it. [src="http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/ll61/Revanchism/WilloftheWisps/VafurlogiRuinExt.jpg"]I've got swirling effects long since worked out[/url], [src="http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/ll61/Revanchism/WilloftheWisps/BalefulAndAngry.jpg"]I've got the shadows too[/url]. Putting something together shouldn't be too hard.

I think I've got a little time coming up, I'll see about implementing the ones that should be easiest first; things like the dust devil will definitely take a lot of time to get right.

Any more ideas/requests?

Vac

Edit: Fiore posted just as I started making my reply:

[quote name='Fiore1300' date='05 November 2010 - 12:55 PM' timestamp='1288932921' post='16632721']
Excellent resource, Vacuity! Happy you could share it with the rest of us.

My polite request would be for an Air Atronach or something similar. Kinda like these:
http://fc05.deviantart.net/fs48/i/2009/201/c/d/Sand_Elemental_by_Vij_8.jpg
http://fc02.deviantart.net/fs11/i/2006/242/7/5/Air_Elemental_by_nukito.jpg
http://www.santharia.com/pictures/quellion/quellion_pics/air_elemental.jpg
http://www.markeedragon.com/screenshots/data/571/medium/2airElemental.jpg
http://fc01.deviantart.net/fs71/i/2010/228/9/9/Golems_of_Athasian_by_DaveAllsop.jpg[/quote]Aggh! They're very structured! They would be better put together like the game's shost and wraith are made: with copious use of alpha channels on a regular mesh and then particle effects attached. And there's simply no way I can make that mesh.[quote name='Fiore1300' date='05 November 2010 - 12:55 PM' timestamp='1288932921' post='16632721']Basically I see them as dust devils but with a little more form. They could attack the player by throwing them around. And, of course, they'd be devilishly quick. (I guess I'm requesting a critter because I immensely enjoyed your VASE mod. I would like to see more of this!)

I quadruple dust devils, btw.
http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/122736main_dust_devil_june_8_twin.jpg[/quote]Nice pic. I've got to try and replicate that kind of shadowing at the lowest point... Dealing with the in-game implementation will be up to the modder this time though.

[too many quotes]Geisers would also be an excellent idea.
http://www.champlinenergy.com/i/geiser.jpg[/quote]
Interesting. Does anyone have a use for this?

[still too many quotes]Running this same theme, how about frost that appears on the windows? Would that be doable with particle effects?[/quote]
I was about to type "not really", but then realised that in principle, yes it could. It would have to be built directly onto the window mesh itself in order to attach it to the glass, which makes it a lot more work from my point of view. I'm also not entirely sure how to make it realistic looking inside the game in all honesty...

It wouldn't need to be much bigger than most windows on interiors. Yes, the idea would be to hang them immediately outside of a transparent window and have it possible to enable/disable as appropriate for the weather type. You can probably already guess it's something I'd like to add to All Natural. I figure it doesn't need to be too deep either, enough depth to look good through a window.

Do these things generate particles that fall until they hit the ground or would a complete 3D set of dimensions be needed?

I can try and make a reasonably sizable one that should cover most windows (maybe not French windows). It'll be unnecessarily large for some cases, but I hope that shouldn't be too big a hassle. If needs be I can always make additional meshes for specific cases. As far as the depth goes... That's all a matter of tweaking, my major concern is to make sure nothing comes "through" the window.

Particles have no interaction with the game world (or at least the ones I'm working with don't), any kind of game world interaction has to be faked. The bubble stream above doesn't actually rise to the water surface: you need to align the top of the editor marker with the surface of your liquid inside the CS so that the meshes internal nodes match up with the fluid surface. Damn, I didn't really describe that, did I?

Actually, the thing(s) I do need help with is getting different shaped editor markers. All I've got that works at present is the tall thin box that Koniption's provided me with. I should try and have another go at getting Blender to work someday. Anyone who can help with that would be a star.

Vac

Piece of cake. Just PM me with the sizes (W,H,D) or any shape (object) references.

EDIT:
Though after some thought my work may be unnecessary because you can scale up and down such markers yourself in NifSkope :] (by right clicking on NiTriShape/Strips and chosing Transform -> Scale vertices option)
Anyway, if you want any different shapes than cube or various boxes then PM me...

I'm aware of the scaling option, but that only gives me various sizes of one exact shape. As the editor marker should in principle describe the given area of the effect it's not much use having a tall rectangular prism when I need, say, a perfect square. The major problem (I put this in the CS forum a long time ago) I have is that the editor markers that shipped with the game all come from ancient nif versions and NifSkope throws wobblies when I try and copy-paste them into "modern" nif versions. Ergo, all the editor markers from the game are unusable to me. It's probably a trivial task in Blender, but I didn't find Blender trivial in the slightest.

Vac

Edit: Looking at "weather-boxes" now. I've got the rain sheet effect working, but I have to say that Bethesda made some really *ugly* rain sheets: I think the fog effect in rain is what makes it better. I'll see if I can get working rain drops next.

No, you can change width, height, and depth independently. So, from a tall rectangular prism you can make almost a perfect square. The only thing you can't do easily in nifskope is to change shape's geometry - make a sphere from a cube, etc. but you can re-size (reshape) those boxes to any rectangular or square shaped objects you want.

Anyway, just send me PM and some info if you want to have particular shape created.

Keeping with the weather effects, a particle mesh for leaves and sticks being blown horizontally (ish) as if in a gale, would be really awesome. I need one of them for my mod, and I have been intending to learn particle systems in nifskope, but I'm too busy with uni atm.

OK, found that in Nifskope. Cool! That's very useful!

Yes, if I'm going to make systems using mesh particles (which I'd like to), I'll probably need some (hopefully) relatively simple shapes created. That's not just yet though. Thanks for the offer!Hmm, are you wanting a new weather mesh (for a novel weather type) or a weather box like Arthmoor is asking for that you can place in the world and (in principle) walk around the edge of.

Vac

We have a few bathtubs in the game - so how about a shower? (It would probably be quite similar to the "rain outside the window").

More period-appropriate would be a pourable (is that a real word?) bucket of water, but that needs NPC animations to go with it, so it would be a lot more work than a shower.

If someone builds a suitable model I could probably add a suitable particle effect to it.

More interesting to me right now is that I have just been walking into and out of a rain shower just outside Hawkhaven. It's kinda wierd with sunny blue sky and I'm going to have to make adjustments to a good few things (it's hardly visible right now), but it does work as localised rain. I'll see about making the effect a little more obvious and see if I can't post a screen or two.

Vac

Edit: http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/ll61/Revanchism/Particle%20Effect%20Resources/Localisedrain.jpg, http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/ll61/Revanchism/Particle%20Effect%20Resources/Localisedrain2.jpg. It's actually most obvious when you walk towards and into the rain shower, but looking along the edge at least provides a visible difference.

Edit 2: Wait a moment!

Why am I being subtle about a proof of concept? Do you need an umbrella or not? http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/ll61/Revanchism/Particle%20Effect%20Resources/Localisedrain3.jpg http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/ll61/Revanchism/Particle%20Effect%20Resources/Localisedrain4.jpg

Edit 3: Dashing through the snow. On a one-horse... WHAT? What do you mean we've already dashed through http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/ll61/Revanchism/Particle%20Effect%20Resources/Localisedsnow1.jpg http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/ll61/Revanchism/Particle%20Effect%20Resources/Localisedsnow2.jpg?

Looking good on the rain makers. Hopefully the contrast on the drops works out better with grey skies. Have you ever looked at meshes\sky\rainheavy.nif or meshes\sky\rainlight.nif to see what those are all about?

Making these systems from absolute scratch would have taken days, rather than hours: where do you think I adapted these from so quickly?

I already retextured the thing with a *much* darker raindrop texture as the original was barely visible. I am kinda curious how the game engine uses them for weather now.

I am also hoping that with a darker background/environment the raindrops will be more visible. I'll take a look at window mesh sizes and estimate how large the area covered needs to be and then add a particle collision modifier to one side. Huh, that means I'll also need to add a "direction" marker to the nif. What's the bets I find that harder than anything else? At that point I'll probably send you something so you can try it out and tell me what needs changed for the better. How does that sound?

Vac

Yeah, similar to what that mod does. I don't think all trees would need such an effect, in most mods. Just enough effect boxes here and there so that it is occasionally seen by the player, is what I'm talking about.

As for the dust devil, I was also thinking of "swirling leaves" that have been picked up by the wind in forest areas, and are swirled around. As a matter of fact, being able to assign different textures for different "swirling debris" effects would be nice, too, for same particle effect nif.

I also second geysers, as an effect option wanted. Blackmarsh has lots of water, and we could honestly use such an effect for certain places.

Keep up your awesome "particle prowess", Vacuity!

Koniption

I could probably make a few different sizes, but larger ones will only really be usable on flat pieces of land with denser tree coverage. Rescaling these kinds of things and adjusting the necessary variables in the system shouldn't be too problematic. I think I'm going to take trollf up on his mesh offer and ask for a leaf-shaped mesh so I can make leaves that will actually turn and twist as they fall.I have no problems with multiple systems on the same mesh: most of the VASE creatures have fairly complex arrangements of systems, the vafurlogi required over 30 discrete systems. I suspect the dust devil will require a fair number as well just to keep it structured on its vertical axis.OK, consider it on the list. Does Youtube have videos of geysers? I'll need to have a better idea of what they're supposed to look like, I think.Doing my best! This stuff really hurts my brain, but it is lots of fun.

Vac

Thanks to Koniption for alerting me to your work, Vacuity, we can indeed consider how we'll use this in Black Marsh. I noticed that TheFiltySpaniard (Hi!) was following this thread too and I had considered speaking to him about something similar to his quicksand mod which we'll be using.

Black Marsh is very watery and features a lot of regions that include a lot of semi-submerged landscapes. Most of it is low-lying but the upper reaches might include hot springs (hence the need for bubbles) but also perhaps some whirlpools. I'm particularly keen on Texian's water meshes so I was hoping for some kind of mesh that would work as a whirlpool and may involve becoming svcked down in the way that TFS's quicksand mod works.

Btw, I second the idea of having falling leaf effects. That would be really useful for us in some parts...

Also, I remember looking at your particle-effects-creatures before whilst we were adding creatures. I was really keen until I noticed that some of the things in that mod featuring the Vafurlogi were huge files....so I decided against using them. Are any of the pieces you've got relatively low on the memory count?

Anyway, great work!