REQz - Help with transparent Windows

[Arion]

I've been trying to edit a house mesh so that I have transparent windows. So farI've removed the windows nodes from the mesh and now I can see in, cept I can't see the interior. Editing the interior I can't see anything. Want o ttake a picutre and have it outside the windows so hat I have some scenrey.

Anyone point me to a tutorial or can explain how to do this would be greatly appreciated.

[Hanaisse]

The fact that interior and exterior cells are totally separate is the problem. No, you can't see "in" a window because there's nothing there. Same for seeing "out".

What the Immersive Interiors mod does is place exterior objects in the same cell as the interior just outside the 'window' to give the illusion that you are looking out. Same would apply the other way around, to place interior objects 'inside' your house frame mesh.

I think Yevic has a way of placing a picture just outside a window to give the same view effect.

[donnato]

Part of the trick to this,methinks, is to have the exterior scene(looking out of the window from the interior)get light or dark depending on in-game time of day. I`ve heard discussion on scripting this. Willie Sea might be able to help with this part.

Also to have lights in the house visible from the exterior when looking in at night.

[Arion]

The difference between interior and exterior cells. I remembered that pretty late. As an experiment I pulled the interior and put it inside the exterior shell and I think it all matches up. You can see the interior from outside the windows (Note: lots of tall grass inside)

I'm kind of tinkering with this. A puzzle for an idle mind. Thanks guys for the pointers.

My link

The link above shows what I've accomplished so far. Its not going to work because the interior isn't the same dementions as the exterior, but the quest for knowledge goes on.

[Hanaisse]

Yeah, you'll have to stamp out all that grass and probably flatten the landscape so nothing shows through the floor.

But looks good so far

[WillieSea]

And, wind, rain and snow will occur inside the house. That is why they made 'interior' cells because the game engine is not made to handle it any other way.

[Vince]

Arion,

I admire your quest for knowledge. As noted by others, SomeWelchGuy and Reneer have both developed schemes where exterior objects are placed outside the windows of an interior cell. SomeWelchGuy's "Immersive Interiors" has been quite popular. I experimented with 2D images outside interior windows a while back. Even with variable lighting, they never really looked right to me. The other option is to make an exterior home, where the "interior" is in the exterior cell. Although this is very realistic, it does have limitations. As WillieSea mentioned, you need to use scripts to keep it from raining or snowing inside. Also, objects (other that the PC, NPC's, and things held by the PC) don't cast real shadows in Oblivion. So, you need to adjust the reflectivity of the interior surfaces or use a lot of windows for the lighting to seem realistic.

I wish you well in your quest. If you do decide to make an exterior home and don't want to learn 3D modeling right now, you might find my "House Modder's Tool Kit" (available at TES Nexus) useful. Good luck.

Vince

[Arion]

Well I know I'm in way over my head with this.

I've kind of been interested in this since I've seen Henti's and Vince's houses where you could look in and out.

I'm not sure just how far I plan to go with this. I have a project in mind that I would like to do after I've taken the WorldBuilding Classes and this is just one of my experiments that I've been doing over the months to see how/if it could be applied to my future project.

I really do appreciate all the pointers and suggestions.

PS.. Thanks Vince for the House Modder's Tool Kit suggestion. I'll look it up and see what surprises it has in store.

[Vince]

Arion,

If you do decide to try the House Modder's Tool Kit (HTMK), Khettienna uses it a good bit so should be a good source of practical information.

BTW, most of the great discoveries in history happened when a brave soul dared to get in over his head on something.

Vince

[Yevic]

I've experimented with this alot....

For an interior cell, if theres a lot of landscape around the house, sometimes your best bet is a 2d image placed outside of the window, it's not the best, but it's a nice effect, and you really have to ask "how much will I look out the window?"

But it all depends on the location and environment in which the house is.....

As for seeing the Interior, I'd for sure suggest a 2d image, because honestly, it might drain fps a bit if you're in an exterior cell + a well cluttered interior....though it really depends.

I wish you the best of luck in this effort, windows are my modding fetish and I'm glad I'm not the only one

[Arion]

With a 2D image placed outside the window? I thought about that, but got confused when I saw the screnery attached to an interior mesh in Henti's house. Problem with that is there's a number of different scenes that are available but there's no mesh to attach them to where they could be placed outside the interior. I need to take a break, my head is spinning with all the terms I've had to look up and try to figure out.

[WillieSea]

I prefer to have my interior in an interior cell. I then place a 'dome' with a background texture on it of the skyline. I then place real objects in front of that for depth.

You can quickly overload a cell for slower machines if you put too much stuff in it.

I also script some lights to simulate day and night cycles on the dome.

As Yevic said, how much you going to look out it depends on the amount of detail you should use.

[Arion]

Well I've put the whole outside looking in on the back burner. Too much I have to learn before that's even a remote possibility. Not planning on sitting there admiring the view, but was thinking (yikes) that maybe for effect if I had say the bay window with a scene outside that would enhance the house like any other *novelty*

The worldbuilding class won't start until the spring and I'm in no hurry to do this. I've been experimently with a few things on my own to see what I could do for the past few months on different things. In the process of trying this, I've been learning tons of things I hadn't even thought about.

[Yevic]

Arion, Hentai's house has a dome attached to the architecture, thats what the various 'scene' textures are going onto.