i wanted to make a flare with some flashing light but i cant seem to even create lights while in the game engine so im asking how can this be done?
ok first pre-render your flares with a black background,then import the rendered file into the uv/image editor, then have the image of your flare mapped
on to a mesh( planes work best for me).once is mapped go to the Texture face buttons(Button menu) press the Tex,Halo and Add buttons then press the
Copy Draw Mod button. 
Yep, you can also search in this forum for a: Flare construction kit. That has a complete tutorial and source about how to setup a realistic lensflare for 1st person view games.
i think it is in the games tutorials list at the top of this forum
i mean the kind of flare that burns and emits light, im mainly interested in the lighting issue because i cant seem to add a lamp.
you can add a lamps to the game engine by pressing the Space bar when you have your mouse over the 3d window, this will open a drop down menu go to Add and look for lamp. now the lamp has to be in the same layer as the object you want illuminated. as for actually seeing the light
emmiting out of your lamp you won’t.You can to fake that effect with flare and alpha textures.(remember to select whatever mesh you want illuminated then press F then W>dropdown menu set light).
i am sorry maybe i am not explaining enough. when i said “add” i ment using the edit object actuator, it doesnt seem to work for lamps. the end result of what i want is: your standing in a pitch black room, you press a button, you throw a cylinder object that emits flashing light on the near by faces, thus adding light to a once dark room. i can do everything but the lighting part because it seems the add object actuator doesnt work with lamps. i have tried adding a lamp from another layer and from the same layer. despite you guys not understanding you have shown me some hotkeys and things i didnt know.
My tests have also shown that you cannot add lamps from another layer mid-game. I tried to do this for my new game for the horror contest. They need to be there from the start or they will not affect objects in the new layer.
A workaround is to use an IPO for the energy of the lamp. Initially it’s energy is set to 0, then switched on to a certain value when needed. Here’s a screen of a candle flicker IPO I have setup in my game:
thank you for confirming, i assume then creating light would have to be a script thing and i will just have to use a different idea. thanks for showing me the lamp ipo i hadnt thought about that. i have only started using the game side of blender a few weeks ago and taking everything in is a little tricky. if anyone else has any new ideas im still interested.