Light Effects

Tarquin: page duplication with Actor (UT)/Lighting – sort of. How much has changed form UT to UT2003?

Foxpaw: Most, but not all, of these still work for dynamic lights. Static lights - basically none of them work right anymore, due to the fact that lightmaps are pregenerated and can't be animated through the use of lighteffects anymore.

Tarquin: Ok. So do we need one page for UT, one for Ut2003, or will one page do for both? How about I move the list & images from Actor (UT)/Lighting to here?

Foxpaw: I think that's a good idea. One could also add the lighteffect "QuadraticNonIncidence." I'm not sure what it does but it seems similar to NonIncidence.

UArchitect: made a few adjustments, hope nobody minds

T1: Of course nobody minds, that's the beauty of the wiki.

OlympusMons: I was wondering if these actually worked in ut2k3 or 2k4. Im sure Ive tried and they didnt work so maybe there should be two different pages if it doesnt apply to all versions of the engine. Ok so I added the rest of the light effects and types. Unfortunatly I have no clue what they do I just thought it would be handy to have them here.

Prograham: I think this page should be split into two. One for UT2K3 and earlier, one for UT2K4, because none of these LightType Properties work anymore in 2K4. It just makes sense to me to make a new page for something if the engine changes it. :tup: PS- I would make a new page right now but I'm new to editing the wiki so instead I'm just going to leave really long paragraphs for now j/k.

This is what is done now(I am cutting and pasting from http://forums.beyondunreal.com/archive/index.php/t-141250.html)→ Dynamic lighting is disabled in the current Engine build. The only thing remotely dynamic you can do is use TriggerLights. I sure there's a way to constantly trigger them and get your blinking effect, but usually they turn on/off when a player touches their trigger. In Blitz's map BR-Warzone (http://www.unrealplayground.com/maps.php?mapid=3324) he has TriggerLights to make the flash of guns in the distance, but I'm not sure how he did it. I think he coded them since the map is full of scripted stuff he wrote.

T1: Try looking into using projectors, maybe. Hourences uses projectors for the lightning effect on ONS-Dinora IIRC.

LightType Properties

***NOTE: These LightType Properties are no longer functional in UT2K4***

LT_None: No lighting. Why you should use this for lights is beyond me!
LT_Steady: Normal light. Probably the one you'll use most often.
LT_Pulse: Pulses the light on and off. Imagine playing with the light dimmer switch.
LT_Blink: simlar to flicker, light is on but flickers off every so often a more subtle flicker, sometimes works sometimes doesnt..not sure whats up with that.
LT_Flicker: Good for broken down factory-type areas. Flickers on/off, as if the light ws broken. does not work with Coronas.
LT_Strobe: Flashes light on... off... on... off... Whee! Headaches! Not really suitable for gameplay...
LT_BackdropLight: Possibly used in SkyBoxes, but I dunno. No effects observed.
LT_SubtlePulse: I find this to be good with Green Lighting against Slime pits. Just barely noticeable, but it's there. Pickups are lit in this way.
LT_TexturePaletteOnce: The light colour will cycle once through the texture palette selected for Skin.
LT_TexturePaletteLoop: As TexturePaletteOnce but loops. The value of LightPeriod sets the speed.
LT_FadeOut

LightEffect Properties

LE_None: Standard light.
LE_TorchWaver: Subtle fire effect, as though it was a torch.
LE_FireWaver: Normal fire effect, as though it was an actual fire.
LE_WaterShimmer: Set lighting to this underwater for interesting results.
LE_SearchLight: A rotating light. Not much to this.
LE_SlowWave: This'ld be good for a light just above water, methinks. Sends out slow waves of light.
LE_FastWave: Sends out fast waves of light.
LE_CloudCast: ??? No apparent effects.
LE_StaticSpot: same as spotlight as far as i can tell.
LE_Shock: Like LT_Strobe, only faster.
LE_Disco: Random "disco" lights, the type of lighting you see in n00b maps.
LE_Warp: ??? No apparent effects.
LE_Spotlight: One spot of light. Remember to rotate the light actor to get this where you want it.
LE_NonIncidence: same as le_none but does not take surface normals into account, generally makes light look brighter, useful for lighting curved bsp surfaces as the surface normals wont create a flatshaded look
LE_Shell: Gives a "The Ring" effect, only lights up the edge of the radius.
LE_OmnibumpMap: Yikes. No apparent effects.
LE_Interference: Like SlowWave/FastWave mixed together, except differs according to the textures.
LE_Cylinder: It's a cylinder of light instead of a sphere.
LE_Rotor: As if a fan was in the way between the light and the surface. - the effect is a little wrong actually but it does an ok job, most people dont notice .
LE_Sunlight: Used in the sunlight class. From what I can tell its a huge directional cylinder.
LE_QuadraticNonIncidence

2k4

LE_Negative

Changing The Effect

LightPeriod = changes the speed of the light.

LightPhase = Which frame of animation the light's on.

NOTE : Remember all light effects will significantly decrease performance on your map! Use sparingly!

LightEffects in UT2004

djdanlib — I will register at some point... This is what LightEffects do in UT2004's UnrealEd. Only a few are non-working. However, the current version of the engine doesn't allow these to animate in-game. They do at least project static light patterns. Setting a light as dynamic effectively disables the light.

LE_None: Normal, obviously
LE_TorchWaver: Obsolete
LE_FireWaver: Obsolete
LE_WateryShimmer: Obsolete
LE_Searchlight: Supported
LE_SlowWave: Supported
LE_FastWave: Supported
LE_CloudCast: Obsolete
LE_StaticSpot: Supported
LE_Shock: Supported
LE_Disco: Supported
LE_Warp: Supported
LE_Spotlight: Supported
LE_NonIncidence: Supported
LE_Shell: Supported
LE_OmniBumpMap: Supported
LE_Interference: Supported
LE_Cylinder: Supported
LE_Rotor: Supported
LE_Negative: Supported
LE_Sunlight: Supported
LE_QuadraticNonIncidence: Supported

[DoW]MeepZero: I noticed that the light effect properties when rebuilt come up with an obsolete light effect error in my verson of Ued (UT2k4 v3355). Im guessing this is what you were talking about with them not being functional anymore up top there. The light type properties only function if the light is set as a dynamic light. Is there any way to get those lighteffects to work, or can they be simulated in some way?

UArch i noticed the description for nonincidence was incorrect, it does not pass through walls...its basically the same as le_none but it doesnt take the surface normals into account when lighting bsp