Self illumination or glowing for neon lights
by Lee Latham · in Artist Corner · 12/20/2006 (6:39 am) · 5 replies
Hello,
I see the "self-illumination" checkbox in the dts plus exporter, and that works fine and dandy, but my dts's don't actually cast a glow. I'm trying to bring a neon light in. I've seen references to setting the self illumination value, but I don't see a field in the exporter for it.
Or am I on the wrong tack?
Any input would be greatly appreciated!
Lee
I see the "self-illumination" checkbox in the dts plus exporter, and that works fine and dandy, but my dts's don't actually cast a glow. I'm trying to bring a neon light in. I've seen references to setting the self illumination value, but I don't see a field in the exporter for it.
Or am I on the wrong tack?
Any input would be greatly appreciated!
Lee
#2
12/20/2006 (2:20 pm)
Thanks for the response. Just what is a billboard, anyway? I've seen a lot of talk about them, but I can' t find an explanation...?
#3
12/20/2006 (3:00 pm)
A billboard is usally a single faced plane/sheet that will always face the player (Depending on what type of billboard used). An example would be the grass/foliage you see in the demo.
#4
12/20/2006 (10:33 pm)
Ah! I see, thanks.
#5
12/21/2006 (1:07 am)
Just "stumbled" on sgDecalProjector, included in TGE 1.5. I think that's the way to go to fake it in TGE. The decal can be the projection of the neon light on the wall it's mounted on, and then some nice colored lights to actually create some luminescence (as the decal projection doesn't seem to do this). 
Torque Owner AllynMcelrath
If you are using TSE, you can have a shader that makes a glow. If you are using TGE, you will need to fake it using things like billboards and the like.