BAT Help - Lighting

[stlassen 5]

Date: 5/29/2005 11:14:43 PM Author: scififan68 I use oneil light in gmax and the building gets lights.

quote>

 

I see... Not that it helps me. Other variations of the light prefix doesn't work either.

The problem is, it was working and now it doesn't. I don't think the problem is the BATs themselfs, but rather something completely different.

 

Thanks anyway.

[stlassen 5]

Solved my problem. Had to uninstall gMax and BAT and reinstall it and the updates again. Then it worked.

 

Pussles me, though, how my problem came to be in the first place.

[Komodo 81]

Hi, my problem:
I can't use the night window textures, so i can't make a building with nightlights.
But in my BAT/Maps/NightWindows order are a lot of them.
I don't know why
Do you know this Problem? Solution?
Thx.

[mntoes 270]

Check out this thread....

 

 https://www.simtropolis.com/idealbb/view.asp?topicID=52352&forumID=49&search=1&searchstring=

 

that should shead some light on it, if you pardon the pun.

 

 

 

[Komodo 81]

I Think thats the solution for my problem.
Thx for this Link.
But can somebody explain me that in german please?

------------------------------------------------------------
The problem is caused by having extra files in the NightWindows folder. This is generally caused by viewing the directories in filmstrip or thumbnail mode. When you do this windows creates a hidden system file Thumbs.db to cache the images (unless you have the feature turned off).

To resolve the problem you need to delete this file from each folder.
In Windows Explorer go to Tools > Folder Options > View Tab
Tick do not cache thumbnails (to stop it happening again)
Select Show hidden files and folders
Untick hide protected operating system files

Apply the changes then delete the Thumbs.db files in the NightWindows folder
------------------------------------------------------------

[mntoes 270]

OK...

Das Problem wird verursacht indem man Extraakten im NightWindows Heft hat. Dieses wird im Allgemeinen verursacht, indem man die Verzeichnisse filmstrip oder thumbnail im Modus ansieht. Wenn Sie dieses Fenster tun, stellt eine versteckte System Akte Thumbs.db her, um die Bilder zu cachieren (es sei denn Sie die Eigenschaft abstellen lassen). Das Problem beheben, das Sie diese Akte aus jedem Heft l

[Komodo 81]

YaY, thx mntoes for your Help, now it works.

[mntoes 270]

No problem, glad to have helped.

[Gen-Xer 3]

I've Tried Everything, Reinstalled Gmax, The Bat, SC4D, and still can't get nitelites.

I have installed all patches including the 14MB Bat Update and still nothing.

 

What am I doing wrong?????

 

[Gen-Xer 3]

Where did my Night Textures go?? I haven't deleted them but they are not showing up in the dropdown box. One minute they are there, the next they are gone. Any ideas??

[confused04 14]

Nevermind... I found it.  It was here on ST.

[Integrate 0]

Ack, the lighting has really confuses me.

Lets say I want a garden light that actually illuminates the area around it (not just itself like a window and not just in one direction). Which spot light would be the best option?

Also, if I have a transparent object like glass, can I shine a light through it?

[underworld 129]

@Integrate: For the gardenlight, try an Omni. and Yes you can shine light through a transparent object.

 

[Odd from Sweden 129]

Integrate, just to clearify what Underworld said, You can light LIGHTS through a transparent object.

 

On the contrary, nightlight TEXTURES are not visible through transparent objects.

Also notice that a plane textured only on one side is fully shine-through from the un-textured side and out.

[Integrate 0]

Now I've got another problem


As you can see, the lights are too bright. Is there any way to fix this? Thanks

[Odd from Sweden 129]

There are many ways to fix this. Please read Phillippbos tutorial on lighting once more and try the different light settings in a simple scene until You get a little experienced. Then You will easily fix that scene of Yours. Here it is: https://www.simtropolis.com/tutorials/Essential_Bat/index.cfm?page=lighting.htm

[Shadow Assassin 336]

Here's a tip. So that you don't have to apply a nightlight texture over and over, just create a single rectangle - extrude it to 1.0. Open the Material Editor - create a new material. Then set the opacity to 0. Then apply the nightlight map to it, and you can clone it over and over again, to put on windows.

[+Guest]

i'm trying to light a building which was successfully done, but the problem is if i put a transparent texture over it, the light won't show through can anyone help me?

https://www.simtropolis.com/idealbb/files//58-BAT%20prob.JPG align=baseline>

 

1=transparent texture

2=light

3-=whers light should be (the white line is where the object continues along)

[deadwoods 542]

The Night_ textures don't show through glass (or any object with a semi-transparent material applied). You need to use one of the gmax lights and shine on an object that will be visible through the glass. Have a look at the pics I posted recently of a new subway station I've developed (see the deadwoods thread in the BSC Teamroom forum). I use a series of spotlights shining on the ground which shows through a glass roof.

[tchntm43 0]

I am having a lot of difficulty getting my omni lights to show through windows. I have the building interior divided into rooms, with walls and floors that lights should be able to illuminate (and thus be seen through the windows). What is an appropriate brightness modifier? I have it set at 2 right now.

[GaryReggae 80]

Date: 9/10/2005 6:01:56 PM
Author: tchntm43
I am having a lot of difficulty getting my omni lights to show through windows. I have the building interior divided into rooms, with walls and floors that lights should be able to illuminate (and thus be seen through the windows). What is an appropriate brightness modifier? I have it set at 2 right now.

quote>

Some tips:

1. Make sure that the floor and wall surfaces that your lighrs will be illuminating have a fairly light texture. If you were to try and light up a totally black texture for example, you would have a lot of difficulty! Remember that lights only illuminate the surfaces they fall on.

2. I would turn the brightness multiplier up much higher, 8 is not an umcommon setting for me, it depends on how bright you want the lights though. Experimentation is the key. Don't set it too high as it can sometimes lead to lighting 'leaks' which are a real pain.

[Former User 225 1]

I have a problem, my building that I exported in the plug-in manager there is no option to have nightlights on. I do have the update installed but there still is no option to do so. How do I solve this in order to have nightlights on my building?

[GaryReggae 80]

Um...it depends.  If the model you have was not created with nightlights, then you won't get any and there is no way of adding them to an SC4 model file.

 

However, if it's a prop you are talking about, then there is a property in Plugin Mgr that allows you to turn the lighting on and off.

[denham2010 3]

Hi,

 

Having a bit of a problem with Gmax.

 

From my understanding....when you create a light and turn it on in your scene, the default lights should automatically turn off to assist you in getting your lighting right.

 

This is not happening for me. My scene stays in daylight, so it is very hard to try to get my lights right.

 

I have checked the settings for each preview pane, and the default lights check box is unchecked......

 

How do I get the default lights off so i can preview my night scene?

 

Thanks!

 

EDIT - I can get around the problem by removing the lights & camera rig -EDIT

[artforce1 5]

Hi Everyone,

Excellent thread. I have read all of it and I think that my question might have some relevance. I have downloaded all the latest patches from the simcity site, I have RH, Gmax, the whole lot. I am just learning how to do this and I wanted some help.

I created the lights for the following sign in the follow way:

Create--Lights---Target SPot:

But it was showwing up in the day time too. So I named the lights nitelite_1 and nitelite_2 and then I got this:

So I got the lights to turn off in the day but not on at night. So then, I went and changed the settings in the plugin manager:

I then re-plopped the sign in the same lot, saved, and then tried the game over again for a good half hour. It is still not working. What exactly am I missing?

Pictures deleted due to being over the permitted ST picture limit. Please in the future keep all pics at 800*600 pixles , Superstar

[paulvmontfort 616]

Date: 11/9/2005 7:24:07 PM Author: artforce1

Hi Everyone,

Excellent thread.  I have read all of it and I think that my question might have some relevance.  I have downloaded all the latest patches from the simcity site, I have RH, Gmax, the whole lot.  I am just learning how to do this and I wanted some help. I created the lights for the following sign in the follow way: Create--Lights---Target SPot: But it was showwing up in the day time too.  So I named the lights 'nitelite_1' and 'nitelite_2' and then I got this: So I got the lights to turn off in the day but not on at night.  So then, I went and changed the settings in the plugin manager:

I then re-plopped the sign in the same lot, saved, and then tried the game over again for a good half hour.  It is still not working.  What exactly am I missing? Pictures deleted due to being over the permitted ST picture limit. Please in the future keep all pics at 800*600 pixles , Superstar

quote>

You should type nitelite with a space behind it like this: 'nitelite 1' not 'nitelite_1'

[artforce_1 1]

Ok,

I tried nitelite 1 and nitelite1 and I still got nothing.  I waited 6 sim years and the lights didnt come on.  Ok, so for all who dont know, my lights arent comming on at night.  This is what I did.

 

1.  Direct Spot light onto the sign, when rendering it, in the Night View, you can see the lights.

2.  In the plugin manager, I set the Light value to True.

3. In Prop Editor, I gave it a power usage value of 1.

 

What am I missing?  Driving me bananas!!!!

[Superstar 69]

This problem has been seen before and I myself do not know the cause to it though I do have a slight idea. Just do this, when creating a new BAT aare at least anything in a new file always preview first day & night! I found this to completely eliminate the problem and have never met it since!
Anyways to fix your file just merge the whole scene without the lods and cameras into a new file save and render (reset lights if needed before)

[artforce1 5]

How long do I have to wait before the lights come on.  Because I just did that and Im still waititng for them to come on.  Should I play around in god mode with the day and night settings?

 

 

[Superstar 69]

Wait untill the month that comes after the month in which you plopped it, it should work...I hope