Immersive Spells And Light Sse
Vida Hubbert
Due to the buggy nature of the Illuminated Spells plugin, this will now be an optional feature and a separate download. I would personally discontinue it, but some people out there DO like it regardless of bugs. I personally don't use it at all.
I agree RLO guys found it difficult with their implementation, this mod has a different implementation. I've tested in game and it's actually really well done but I have not checked my papyrus logs or long term effects.
Also when you have more light sources moving at once it just gets more complex. Ultimately it comes down to an aged engine. Afaik then the newer unreal and cryengines do not have this issue since they are much more optimized.
Author says his implementation simply uses spawned torch lights in (currently) 7 different colors depending on the spell. Spell in hand = torch on. No spell = torch off. By the sounds of it, the author made is as if you're carrying a torch 24/7 and it's triggered on/off via script. If that's true then this script will be "attached" to your character as long as it's installed. But I suppose a good deal of scripts do the same.
For one, it's a realism/immersion thing. I have fire in my hands, why does everything around me still look pitch black? It is a nice effect to be casting flames and have the ground underneath the line of fire light up. It's nice to spot NPCs in the dark due to their spells, and have the player have the same penalty for having spells out. At least with vanilla spells, the light is very harsh and there is no easy way to toggle it on or off.
The problem with Immersive Spells and Light is that the light comes from the ground, not the hands. The problem with Spells Give Off Light is that it can cause serious shadow problems (so I'm assuming it can tax the engine with shadows) and do not affect fire/ice/electric hazard or decals.
Right now it looks like there may be no perfect solution here. One guy in the comments said he found a mod that "fixes meshes" so that the light originates from the hands, not the ground, but refused to give links and forgot the name of it.
If all the script is doing is turning a light bulb on/off, then changing the bulb to a non-shadow casting bulb should be fairly easy to do. That should fix any shadow related issues at the cost of a little realism. Authors have to be very careful about using shadow casting bulbs due to engine limitations. There can be only three of these bulbs within a certain distance before issues start cropping up.
You need light. Period. You must have a well lit area or the combat is dangerous. Make sure everyone is aware of the "safety" call. There's nothing you can do but have big lights -- projectors are great apart for the poor sod who is in front of it. You can use filters (red is good, black lights are good) to make sure that you get more of a feel of night time. Filters do work on individual lights (for example colour glass on mocked gas lamps).
Anything is fine as long as you are still safe. You must have enough lights that it is safe to move about. Flash lights are good, so are mock up oil lamps. Do not allow naked flames (torches, oil lamps, petrol lights). Candles are fine provided that they are set on stable surfaces. Again, no fighting around candles.
In a fantasy with magic LRP, I have seen a wizards staff (not combat safe) with batteries and a cluster of LEDs on the top mimicking a light spell. Easy to do, looks great, but you cannot fight with it. It would be easy to do "orbs of light" in the same way. Otherwise, we have jokes of mecha-bushi -- wind up torch, samurai character, call of "wait, I need power" followed by howling laughter...
For general character use: Most people carry around their own light sources (usualy flashlights or battery powered lanterns), but they mute them so that their lights do not blind others. The mute your light "rule" is especially true if you have something lit by the white LEDs. Colored LEDs are used quite often as an alternative as they do not bother people as much.
For area lighting: In the tavern we use those flame-less candles, a few antique looking lamps, and those little flickering tea lights (players will use these as well to light their cabins). Outside of the tavern a mixture of tiki torches, solar lights, and yellow xmas lights. The tiki torches tend to just be around the outside of the tavern while the solar and xmas lights are used to mark paths and stairs.
For timed light needs: We have creatures in our game who are identified by the color lights they have. What we use are these little colored LEDs that can be strapped to your fingers and have an easy to access switch to turn them on and off. Sadly I do not know where we get them, but they're are not homemade so they are out there somewhere for purchasing.
I'd recommend using blue lights to simulate night, but not complete darkness. Blue light will simulate a moonlit night, and will allow folks to move about and still see without necessarily disturbing the immersion. This was a trick that we used in high-school theater in order to keep the sound board running while not disturbing the rest of the audience.
No special lighting: No 'Out Time' lighting was used during play (camp lights and similar were close). People which had the feeling that they were not safe or could not fight safe in these circumstances did not engage into the battle. All others fought with safety in mind, so the battles were slow, blows were soft and people concentrated on their surroundings.
Big street-lamps or indirect lighting against the trees: The other solution were big street-lamps near or by the battleground which provided light. Or if a forest is near by, lamps which shine against the treetops and provide indirect lighting.
I don't think that for camp life and 'normal' LARP activities OT-light is needed. Within the camp there'll be enough lamps all the time and if you go into the wilderness you either rely on your nightvision (OT or 'In Time') or carry your own lights.
But I agree that for safety reasons during battle, OT lighting should be provided, especially for bigger battles. On the other hand, in some situations there can't be additional light provided (spontaneous encounter on a field f.e.) were the players have to rely on each other that they know what they're doing. My experience is that players know what they're doing if they going into the battle at night.
Open fields: Sometimes players carry oil lamps or torched but those are set aside should an attack occur. Most of the time this happens without time-out. The ones carrying the lights don't join into the fight until those are safely set aside.
Flashlights are generally limited to emergencies and sometimes for the mobile toilets. Most people don't carry any but the medics and the GMs have one on them at all times.Chemical lights (glowsticks) are sometimes used to represent glowing eyes or to mark magic weapons and similar special effects.
The safety aspect: When fighting around the camp tent lines have proven to be a much higher risk than open flames. During the LARPs I was at (both as a player and GM) there has never been an accident involving fire and non that was caused by lack of light.
Players can use glow sticks to represent "Light Spells" in game. These typically are worn on necklaces and are commonly green (which grants the best color vision at night) or red (which supposedly hurts night vision the least).
I think others have addressed the "How to be genre" aspect just fine. However, I've always found this idea of "breaking immersion" quite odd. After all, with boffer larps we're talking about things like hitting each other with reinforced, duct-taped pool noodles or throwing cloth packets full of seeds while calling it damage and effects which is not exactly "immersive".
What we're really talking about isn't immersion but a willing suspension of disbelief. While it's always nice to have more "genre'd" light sources there have only been two real complaints about lighting in the LARPs I've played.
I've personally seen multiple people complain about the lack of lighting after being injured in the dark. I've never actually heard a player complain that the light sources (specifically) were unrealistic. Ever. I have, of course, heard people grumble when rules maintaining a lower threshold of disbelief have been lessened but this is distinct and unless it completely changes the tone of the LARP is usually just grumbling. Even there its important to keep in mind the adage "You can't please everyone all the time." because if you try you will lose players.
All that said, if you accept that players will find a way to suspend disbelief on whatever non-immersive elements are necessary, choosing realism over safety just becomes a great way to get players severely injured or even killed.
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