Lightsabers in BGE

[B3D00]

Old Link

1. Delete the default cube

2. Set the view to top view, and add a cilynder.

3. Add a plane in front view, duplicate it in edit mode and rotate it by Z axis 90 degrees.

4, Get in UV face select, in edit buttons, and set the faces to alpha, remember to click "Copy drawmode" if you have more tan one face.

5. Make a new texture, with white and the desired lightsaber color, and alpha channel.

6. Assign the planes to the white texture, subdivide them by the top, and drag the top verticle up.

7. Duplicate the blade 2 times, set the vert color closer to black to the bigger blade, and add a material with texface, emit 100%, and a texture, the same material to all, you don't have to set the image, just make sure you check the UV button in the "Map Input" tab.

Of course, instead of using just a cylinder it's much better using a good lightsaber hilt model.


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New link

For the blade: Copy texture from blade, or follow a tutorial to do it on the GIMP:

First, make a render on Blender, a lightsaber with a halo blade, just a single white blade. Save it as a .PNG. Open it in the GIMP, select the blade ( doesn't need to be the full blade ) using the "fuzzy select tool". Create a new black layer, set it to Screen on the layers dialog, and fill the selection with white. Duplicate the layer two times. Blur the first screen layer ( Filters, blur, Gaussian blur ) by 5, the next by 20, and the last by 40. Merge them all, each time you merge down, set the layer back to Screen. After you have done that, get in Colors ( Or layers - Colors, depending on your version ) and select color balance. Choose the color you want. You can uncheck "Preserve luminosity" if you want to. You can get better results if you do that. Now you're done! Just save your image.

Then put it on a plane, duplicate the plane by 90 degrees, set alpha and two side, parent to your hilt and you're done.

[Túrin Turambar]

Very nice!! The saber looks good, and your using a great setup with alpha planes! Thanks!

~Túrin

[Blendiac]

How about a picture for the lazier people among us?

[B3D00]

I'll update this, I found a better way to do it! Then I'll upload pics.

[J09]

Great idea, and great implementation. Here's what I got for a screenshot. It looks a lot better in motion, because "real" lightsabers are rarely completley still, especially in games.

[-[Killer]-]

Not bad, why not just make a plane with a nice ls texture and have it track the camera so you can never see beyond the blade (so it looks 3d) I tried a SW clone b4 and that's how I did it.

[B3D00]

Yes, Killer! That's exactly the "update" I was gonna make.
EDIT: The trackto and the billboard don't work properly. So I did the same as in the old one, duplicate the plane and rotate 90 degrees.

[Blendiac]

Sweet! Thanks J09. Happy happy joy joy.

[-[Killer]-]

Want me to do it? Just make a constraint and hit track to 'Camera' axis 'x' 'y' and BAM!

EDIT:: it also helps to animation your saber "flickering" to add to realism and not make it looks sooo.... 2d

[B3D00]

Doesn't work for me, killer. Just tracks to the camera in "3D", and if I parent it goes crazy.

[-[Killer]-]

Ok to usually an object tracks an object facing the object... to have it track from the side you have to go into edit mode (lightsaber) and rotate it 90 degrees on the X axis so it's now facing the camera but the logic setup thinks that the side of a saber is now the top so then go into object mode and then rotate the saber -90 to return. Now test it out. If you still can't get it i'll setup a test. If you do it this way it looks like a real-time halo. Here I'll post a tut and a resource file

[B3D00]

What I mean is:

[-[Killer]-]

http://blenderartists.org/forum/showthread.php?t=125250

check it...

[vaderade]

i made a set-up where the blade is fixed, but spinning. That provides the flicker and keeps it always facing the screen.
http://atomic-melvin.deviantart.com/...saber-86939815

[-[Killer]-]

@B3D00: Work on your hilt a bit. If you need a made a few SW hilts. Both low poly and high poly that are pre-unwrapped and textured. I even made Maul's >=D