R.I.P. Michael Jackson 1958-2009

Will You Bite The Hand That Feeds You?...

Well, this one guy did:

http://nwn2forums.bioware.com/forums/viewtopic.html?topic=681752&forum=113&sp=0

This thread made my day. [wipes a tear] I really shouldn't be finding this humorous at all, or probably even posting this here (I figured not many people read this and all of you are mature ;) ). Its remarkable how ungrateful and stupid people are. I never realized that I existed for the sole purpose of answering a guy-like-that's question within a few minutes and damn me if I don't answer in a way that you can fully understand.

Maybe I should start making comments like that for every question that I have that doesn't get answered within a few hours (or ever). Personally, I think the community is very helpful., especially the usual bunch of scripters that hang out around there. Scripters and programmers are an underappreciated bunch to be honest. People complain if they don't do their job right, yet they never get thanked or have people drooling over their final product. Its always the other works (writing, modellers, etc.) that get all the attention. You never hear "Great coding!" Its usually: "This game is buggy! I'm going to return this pos back to the store and get my money back." or no gratitude at all.

Just a reminder though, there is a more important post below.

Verdict

The verdict is out. The tests were suffice to say: unsuccessful. This was not entirely unforseen. I expected it to be impractical. I dont have any screenshots since my desktop can longer connect to the internet for a time. (Why post screenshots of a failure to begin with? ;) ) If anyone is interested in the results, feel free to read on.

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There were two files for the sun: fx_sun.dds and fx_sun_glow.dds. The fx_sun file is the massive white ball that you see move around the sky and the first target of my experiment. I replaced this file with the fx_lens_flare.dds file into my override. The first result was a tiny sun with some barely noticeable rays. OK, so I went back thinking that maybe if I increase the image size it would increase the size of the sun. Unfortunately not. Increasing the image size to 1024x1024 or 2056x2056 yielded the same size sun. It would appear as if the engine takes the fx_sun.dds file and resizes it before putting it into the sky. First part of the test was a failure.

But what about the fx_sun_glow.dds file? This test proved a little more successful than the last. Same method involved (minus the resizing). The result was a transparent lens flare effect in the sky of decent size. This transparency effect is added externally from the texture file. Second and final part of the test was a failure.

Between the game resizing images and adding transparencies to create the non-artistic white ball in the sky, a lens flare effect simply isn't possible. However you can replace the sun image with an object of equal size and you won't run into any issues. Want a blue sun with some minor details? Its completely possible. Just don't expect to make it any larger than it already is.

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Testing... 1, 2, 3

Its been awhile since my last post. Alot has been done, both in real life and in the toolset. Burying my head in circuits, Fourier Series/Transforms, logic gates and more recently, some new visual effects!

A few months ago during Spring Break, I picked up Fable 2. The graphics on it were pretty nice although the era and choice of clothing for the PC were absolutely dreadful. Regardless, I would spend most of my time running while staring at the sun. Why you ask? Well, the sky shader and visual effects were simply beautiful compared to NWN2's. So I don't have to explain what I say, I'll post an image instead:

The last image here is of Mass Effect, which better demonstrates the look I was looking for and couldn't find in the Fable 2 screenshots. No one seemed to want to take pictures of it.

See what I mean? Each image has its own Lens Flare effect. The last ME image being the most prominent of them all (and even the second Fable shot if you look close).

So I began to wonder whether such a thing was possible in NWN2. The answer is yes to a degree and possibly no. You can add such a effect to NWN2 and have it show up just like in the screenshot below.



But there are some issues as well:

1. Since this is a VFX, it can only be seen as far as where the Area Fog ends. There's a technique to make it see through the fog but you'll also see the effect through buildings and walls as well.
   
   
2. In cities, this isn't very practical. In order to see the effect, it needs to be placed within viewing distance of the PC. It also needs to be placed outside the walkmesh so the player doesnt pass by it in some odd way or even through it. Therefore, the VFX needs to move with the PC, which is very difficult to do, especially when there's the issue below.
   
   
3. The VFX is static. Making it move radially about the sky is a challenge, and the timing would be even more difficult.
   
   

With these issues in mind, the only possible usage for these in NWN2 would be in relatively placeableless areas that only uses the Default Day/Night setting. I have another idea I would like to try out. Three actually:

1. Editing the sun directly. It'll still be a static image, so this shouldn't be an issue.
2. Editing the sun directly with an animated 2D picture. If this is successful, I can animate the sun to have various VFXs. Unfortunately, Ideas 1 and 2 won't have a Flare effect that moves with the PC's camera.
3. Scripting the VFXs to move with the time of day.

I'll return with my findings when I get to them :) Expect a post sometime this week!