Desperatly looking for lighting script!

[xSparkZx]

Dear scripters

I'm xSparkZx, lead developer of "Shards: Tales of Segura" and I'm desperatly looking for a lighting script.

I've been searching the whole internet but I can't find any suiting my needs.

What I'm looking for is a lighting script for exterior, like sunbeams

This is an example of what I mean:

If someone knows how to do this without scripts please tell me, I think the light beam is a image that's constantly showing. But the other lighting effects on the maps doesn't look like an image. Please help me out here

Stay safe!

xSparkZx ~ Shards Lead Developer

 

[Engr. Adiktuzmiko]

That sunbeam is most probably just an overlay made using the show picture command...

But the other lighting effects on the maps doesn't look like an image.

What other lighting effects? Which maps?

 

[bgillisp]

I'm actually looking for a lighting script myself, so let me know what you find! All the ones I've found either have inconsistent terms of use or are not available for commercial use.

 

[xSparkZx]

With other lighting effects I ment not the sunbeam coming from the upper left bt the light coming from the upper part. I'm guessing that's also an overlay picture?

 

[slimmmeiske2]

Are you asking for a script for RMXP or RMVXAce? ('Cause you posted in RMXP forums, but are using RMVXAce according to your profile.)

 

[Engr. Adiktuzmiko]

@Spark - yeah, that would be also an overlay.

I'm actually looking for a lighting script myself, so let me know what you find! All the ones I've found either have inconsistent terms of use or are not available for commercial use.

Try to look for mine, Lanthanum Lights.

 

[xSparkZx]

Alright I'm sorry I noticed I've posted this on the wrong forum, it needs to be on Ace, I accidently created it here because I was redirected to this forum by Shaz on the Resource Request Rules. (There was a link that said "if you're asking for scripts go to this forum" and it redirected to the XP version. My bad :3)

And I noticed that Overlay mapping isn't as easy as I thought it would. But is there another lighting script for outside like in forests when it's dawn? (Like an orange shimmering). Not the "Sunset" tint of RPG maker VX ace because it doesn't look natural. But a smooth, dawn/sunset like lighting for in forests. 

I'm asking this because, every...single...lighting script is for night purposes only, or to make the character or objects emit light. That's not what I'm looking for and I can't find any good picture as example either, I'll update when I find one to be more detailed!

EDIT: Not fully what I'm looking for, it's parallaxed and stuff but I'm looking for something like this:

 

[Tsukihime]

I think overlay would be a lot easier than trying to get a piece of code to generate that effect.


If you are trying to achieve the kind of lightning you would get in a 3D environment (judging from the shadows cast by the trees), I don't know how that would be done in a 2D environment.


A lot of scripts I have seen do not use ray-tracing or other algorithms commonly used to create lighting (because they are expensive). Instead, they simply take images and display them a certain way. So it isn't much different from overlay mapping except you have less options.

 

[Engr. Adiktuzmiko]

The reason why most lighting script is only for night effect I think is because for day effect, overlays would be far easier to do and use and also more efficient since night lighting scripts are resource hoggers... Even for nights, unless you need dynamic lights and moving lights, overlays would be the recommended way to do lightings. As a scripter who has created my own lighting script, I can tell you that unless you need dynamic/moving lights, you don't need a lighting script at all...

And as Hime said, using overlays has a lot more options than using a script (and if I may add, without sacrificing performance). I can't emphasize how true that is. 

So I tell you again, use overlays. It might be hard work, but I assure you that it is actually easier than trying to do that same effect via scripts, and it's far worth it. I have never seen a lighting script in RM that produced an effect that is as awesome as when you have used an overlay instead.

Though if all that you want is the color, you can try experimenting with the tint command, moving the sliders / changing the values on your own than using the presets

 

[bgillisp]

Ray tracing is also really slow. When I was in CS, I coded a raytracer and cheered when it could render the scene in under a minute. Seriously, it was 6 fpm, or frames per minute. I don't think we want an RM game going that slow!

Now, granted it was a second term CS project, so plenty of room to optimize it, but still, ray tracing = really slow.

 

[Tsukihime]

Ray tracing in a 2D environment should be much faster though, because you only have one plane to worry about.


Of course, if you start specifying certain parts of the map or objects have elevation...


Well it's still considerably less work than in 3D.


Raytracing would be necessary for things like proper line-of-sight though.

 

[Heretic86]

http://forums.rpgmakerweb.com/index.php?/topic/4917-khas-awesome-light-effects/

Not sure if it is compatible with VX Ace...

 

[bgillisp]

I think it does work in VX Ace, but Khas has different terms of use in the script than on the blog. So I've avoided that script so as to avoid contradictory terms of use.

 

[Engr. Adiktuzmiko]

That script is for Ace... Though really, you don't need a lighting script for this and it will just be detrimental to the performance of the game. I really think that if he only wants things like a sunset tint, without any dynamic light sources, he could just use the tint command.

 

[Tsukihime]

You don't have much control over the tint. It just applies it to the entire screen.

 

[xSparkZx]

You don't have much control over the tint. It just applies it to the entire screen.

That's what I mean. The tint looks...I don't know, just not natural enough. Feels like an orange lamp is just lighting up on the map, it's hard to explain.

My situation: I have my intro of the game tested by someone and he said it could use more lighting. But the intro scene is in the forest on sunset, and I can't think of anything other than using the tint command, but it just doesn't look right. I'll try to find something, if I really can't find something, I'll have to switch to overlay mapping and use a sunbeam.

 

[Tsukihime]

How would you accomplish this if you took a screenshot at some point in the scene and were to edit it in an image editor?

 

[Heretic86]

It may be much much simpler.  Every time I've seen Sunbems and what not, they are just Pictures!  Literally!  A touch of event work, and voila!  Maybe move em around a bit and the effect can be quite stunning.

 

[Engr. Adiktuzmiko]

You don't have much control over the tint. It just applies it to the entire screen.

same with lighting scripts... It's just a tint layer + images to cut out parts of the tint layer... Which is why picture is the way to go. :3

How would you accomplish this if you took a screenshot at some point in the scene and were to edit it in an image editor?

AFAIK, that's normally how we do lighting overlays. We take a screenie of the map then open it in an image editor so that we have a basis for the overlay picture.

 

[xSparkZx]

Alright, thanks for the help all, I'm probably switching to overlay mapping. It's hard to find a good script for overlay mapping as most of the best scripts (with instructions) links are all broken, makes me a bit disappointed...