My Blushing When Aroused idea - Seeking help

[Fredas]

Advance disclaimer: I know nothing except whatever I happen to absorb through the scrutiny of mods other folks have written.  I don't know how to begin a mod, how to get it to do what I want, or how to compile it when it's done.  That said, what I'm trying to accomplish is very, very simple, and could probably be whipped up by any experienced modder in about five minutes.

 

Today I poked around some mods which I knew accomplished a certain effect I need if I'm ever to see my Blushing When Aroused idea a reality.  Specifically, the facial effect that's part of the SexLab framework.  I eventually realized that the fading out effect isn't something dictated by the actual script (since anything that might have done this was absent) but rather a variable checked off on an effect shader somewhere.  (This give you a sense of just how little I currently grasp? ;p )

 

I'm going to start with an easy question.  The variable in question is "Alpha Fade Out Time".  What I want to eventually do is allow the modification of this variable from within the script (or, perhaps much later, as a user-definable number from within the UI).  Is this possible?  Defining the speed at which the effect fades in / out via the script?

 

If it's not possible to define the specific effect shader variable, then is there some other means of wresting control over the texture's alpha from within the script?  (I would probably actually prefer this, since I'd want the effect to fade in/out not at a constant rate but rather as a bell curve, and the curve of the rate cannot be defined with the effect shader.)

 

[Fredfish]

Theres a mod on Nexus that might be worth looking at for ideas

 

http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/19169/?tab=1&navtag=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nexusmods.com%2Fskyrim%2Fajax%2Fmoddescription%2F%3Fid%3D19169%26preview%3D&pUp=1

[Fredas]

Theres a mod on Nexus that might be worth looking at for ideas

 

http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/19169/?tab=1&navtag=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nexusmods.com%2Fskyrim%2Fajax%2Fmoddescription%2F%3Fid%3D19169%26preview%3D&pUp=1

 

Thanks for the tip.  EDialog actually accomplishes its blush effect through the use of a mesh that hovers in front of the character's face.  I've seen screenshots which reveal (beyond simple intuition) why this just isn't a particularly acceptable approach.  It's also a much more involved and impressive feat than what I intend. ;p

 

So I'm beginning to get the picture.  Either I've been asking in the wrong forums, the information is privileged, nobody knows, or it's impossible and nobody's bothered to chime in because of that.

[KestrelSky]

I've no idea HOW you would get from point A to point B, but dig into how whip marks or wounds get applied to characters. It's a decal of some kind. Enhanced Blood has a feature where you can change how long 'wounds' are displayed on the char through the MCM menu. Several mods like Prison Overhaul make use of the character getting whipped and there is a decal applied that look like whip marks. In theory it should be possible to treat the blush like a 'wound' on each cheek or wherever, and tie that in to arousal or dialogue.
 

Other than that if you find a mod that seems close to what you want but you can't quite understand what the creator did a PM never hurts, people have been very nice to me while I've been learning and asking questions about their mods.

[WaxenFigure]

Look and see what they did in the RaceMenu mod to add Tattoos/Warpaint. That may also be of help.  In fact a good blush will flush more than just the face if the affected areas are uncovered.

 

I already posted information about how decals work here:

 

http://www.loverslab.com/topic/24859-idea-stacking-bukkake-effect/?p=632921

 

This also may work, you just want a diffuse coloration instead of a liquid looking overlay and for it to fade more quickly.

 

 

[Fredas]

Look and see what they did in the RaceMenu mod to add Tattoos/Warpaint. That may also be of help.  In fact a good blush will flush more than just the face if the affected areas are uncovered.

 

I have a decent test blush image on standby: The _sk.dds file grabbed from the "mature" face texture, which seems to have been responsible for the most convincing screenshots of blushing.  Flushing more than the face exceeds the scope of my goals.  I'm basically doing this because the people who could get it done in essentially zero time aren't interested enough. ;p

 

I already posted information about how decals work here:

 

I already understand that it is possible to add decals to the face (without really quite knowing the steps required to achieve it).  I also know that it is possible to achieve a fade-in and fade-out effect with variables assignable from within the effect shader menu in CK.  (Thanks in fact to having discovered your decal post well before you pointed it out to me. ;p )  What I don't know is the details of this process.  Things like:

 

1) Whether the "Alpha Fade Out Time" (etc.) can be adjusted with a script, per my OP.  Or whether the texture's alpha could be adjusted with a script-based variable that has no specific bearing on the effect shader window's variables.

2) The nature of the fade in/out.  Ie, constant rate (line graph)?  Bell curve?

3) Just exactly what "60" means in "Alpha Fade Out Time".  Seconds?  Frames?  And what the upper limit on said variable is.  Or heck, where one needs to go to read documentation on all this, since the CK webpage is not adequate and Google also fails.

 

This also may work, you just want a diffuse coloration instead of a liquid looking overlay and for it to fade more quickly.

 

"Diffuse coloration" is an apt description of the effect I intend.  That said, you underscore my lack of knowledge of fundamental details.  I assumed that control over the alpha channel would give a complete range, up to 100% opacity.  Not so?  And as for fading, really the ideal scenario would be that I would have complete control over such things via the script.  After all, take the following scenario: Player loses arousal, blush begins a 20-second fade.  Player regains arousal during those 20 seconds.  Blush instantly restarts at zero for its 20-second fade-in.  Obviously not ideal.

[WaxenFigure]

The only thing you can control by script is how long the decal will display.

 

Here is the whole of the EffectShader.psc file:

 

 

Scriptname EffectShader extends Form Hidden

; Starts playing this effect shader on the specified object for the specified length of time in seconds. Negative values indiciate "infinite"
Function Play(ObjectReference akObject, float afDuration = -1.0) native

; Stops playing this effect shader on the specified object
Function Stop(ObjectReference akObject) native

 

The only way I think you could manage duration via script would be to have several different decals which combined (displayed at once) make a full blush but alone each would only be a part of the blush and set them with no in built alpha and a duration of -1 keeping track of them and turning them off again at the appropriate time.  Then you could use a script to "fade in" and "fade out" with all the control at the scripting level.

 

 

[Fredas]

The only thing you can control by script is how long the decal will display.

 

That's pretty much what I feared, simply based on the observation that no face/body texture decal-based mod I've discovered has demonstrated any advanced control.  This also explains why the author of EDialog elected to go with a hovering blush mesh, instead of the perhaps more obvious system I intend.  He was trying to circumvent some hideous limitations.

 

The only way I think you could manage duration via script would be to have several different decals which combined (displayed at once) make a full blush

 

I had actually thought of this.  In the early days before I recognized that a fade in / fade out option exists as CK-assignable variables, I was desperately toying with the idea of, say, a series of 32 decals of varying opacity.  But since I intend the blush to be of reasonably high quality (better than tintmasks, certainly), I knew this would be a pretty poor approach.  Layered decals were also a thought, and still are, as I believe it would make sense for there to be an arousal blush and then a more full-faced sexual flush.  But I question whether such a thing (two decals on the same spot) is even possible with CK.

 

Speaking of tintmasks, I do happen to know that those can be controlled at will from within a script.  The downside, of course, is that one is either at the mercy of the preexisting (or user-modded) tintmasks, or one needs to replace a tintmask with their own texture.  I'm taking my cue from EDialog's author in electing not to go either route.

[WaxenFigure]

Try doing a quick sample with two different color decals and place them over each other.  Layered decals should work since they do it for bloodstains.

 

 

[Grimbold the unlovely]

This is a great idea for a mod and I really hope it can work.

[Puupsfred]

I found some resource here:

http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/49334/?

 

 

Its just a skin complexion though