Moving lights... like fireflies

[Fyreisfun]

ok... im making an outdoors level that is set at nighttime and my original idea was to have lights that move around to spot people out. if anyone can point me towards a helpful tutorial or just tell me how to do it that would be awesome. thanks.

[OshadowO]

Are these things going to move on a fixed track or do you want them to follow people around?
If it's the former then you might try this...
I know all objects have their own lighting settings. So just create movers and set their lighting settings in the object settings box.
I've never tried those settings so I don't even know if they work but it's worth a shot imo

[Fyreisfun]

I'll try that, i did actually want them on a fixed track, movers can be a pain if you have too many frames. thanks for the help though

[Fuzzpilz]

These lights won't cast any shadows, though. If you want them to just rotate, use a normal light with the effect set to Searchlight. This will get you semi-static lighting, if I can put it like that.

[Snowshovelboy]

You might want to try doing something with the bugswarms that are there, I cant remembre how they work off the top of my head but you might be able to just make a swarm of little tiny unlit scaledsprites. Or maybe use the bird pawn.

[Johnny X]

I had an idea similar to yours and I have found a great tute on it. go to

http://usa.internations.net/cyber/g4.../lighting.html

I hope there is no conflict when it comes to both of us using this idea on out maps. but if there is, lets try to settle it without resorting to childish name calling.

[Lizard Of Oz]

I'd try using the BugSwarm Idea, but change the display property "Mesh" to that of the UT_Flare, and then make the mesh give off light.

I'll go do a little experimenting... I'll be back with the results...

[Lizard Of Oz]

So far the following has worked for me. It may work just as well
with other "Bug" actors, I only tried the "HorseFlySwarm." The problem
is it doesn't add a bunch of Flys, just one. You'll need to duplicate
the actor to get the swarm effect. There are a lot of settings in the
properties, get in there and mess around to get the effect you're
looking for.

Below are only the properties I changed. All the rest are the defaults.


HorseFlySwarm

Advanced---
---bGameRelevant    = True                          // So it shows up in the game //
---bNoDelete        = True                          // Ditto //

AI---
---AttitudeToPlayer = ATTITUDE_Follow               // How do want your bugs to behave? //

Display---
---DrawScale        = 0.2                            // How Big a FireFly do you want? // 
---DrawType         = DT_Sprite                      // You may not have to change this //
---Skin             = Texture'GenFX.LensFlar.Dot_C'  // Kind'a looks like a FireFly to me. //
---Style            = STY_Translucent                // So it doesn't look like a big black box //
---Texture          = Texture'GenFX.LensFlar.Dot_C'  // What it'll look like in the editor. //

LightColor---
---LightBrightness  = 255                            // Nice-N-Bright //
---LightHue         = 0	                         // You might change this to get a nice Green FireFly kind'a glow. //
---LightSaturation  = 255                            // For now, I'll just make 'em White //

Lighting----
---bCorona          = True                           // Nice Glow //
---LightCone        = 32                             // Probably No Effect //
---LightPeriod      = 32                             // Ditto //
---LightPhase       = 32                             // Ditto //
---LightRadius      = 4                              // We're not trying to light-up the whole map, just a small area //
---LightType        = LT-Steady                      // You could try many of the availble effects here, but your Flys //
                                                     // won't blink unless you create a custom blinking texture for 'em. //

[Slick_Willy]

I have a FireFly Creature that I made a while back on my site below. I bascially just have a sprite that moves to random locations within a radius you give it. The radius can be in the shape of a sphere so it can move in any direction. It doesn't make noise and doesn't have anything complex. I've also used the same actor and setting it as a mesh for things like floating objects and Also using the Fighter mesh to have a ship that flys around in the sky. You turn on the light properties as well and have it emit light just like any other actor and it will be dynamic. Only problem is you can't aim the light since a creature or any other moving object has a set direction so using a spotlight to shine on the gound won't work. It will shine in the direction the firefly is moving though. All my scripts come with a sample map so check it out.

[Lizard Of Oz]

Attached is a small map using the FireFly method I mentioned above...

[purice]

i tried your settings on the HorseFlySwarm, Lizard.
the lighting works perfectly.
very cool!

[Lizard Of Oz]

Changing "bCoronas" to "False" might give the "Flies" a more stable appearance. I haven't tried it.

[Johnny X]

I have tried messing with all that stuff and I cant get the flare to show up. The flies are there, but not the flare. Lizard of oz: I can't find a UT_Flare in my meshes, where did you find it?

Thanks

[ChrisToth.hu]

You don't need the UT-Flare...just set the texture to a corona from GenFX...like Lizard did it in the later post.

[Lizard Of Oz]

I tried to use the HorseFly Actor by changing it's Mesh to UT_Flare, but I kept getting a Floating Unreal EightBall. I then went with the Sprite deal outlined above.

I imagine that with some creative thought, you could make a haunted house with all sorts of
decorations floating about.

I then went with the Sprite deal outlined above.


If you need it for another reason the UT_Flare can be found...

Actor--+
           |--Decoration--+
                                   |--ut_Decoration--+
                                                                |-UT_Flare.