I noticed while playing Arx Fatalis a really nice effect on weapons and other objects. Here:
It’s the glow on the sword I’m talking about. The glow is also “moving” (think of it like water). I thought about using a shader to achieve this, but as I’m a graphics noob, I’m not sure I’m on the right track.
Has anyone ever done anything similar? Any shaders out there that can achieve this effect?
Thanks!
It looks like maybe there is extra geometry surrounding the sword a little larger than the sword, so that no matter what angle you view from you see some extra width there, and then whatever their shader is you just need some kind of effect.
What you could try is a simple add shader using two textures, modifying the texture offsets so that as they pass over each other they combine. If you put some plasma patterns in the textures it should look interesting.
Maybe try my Shader Wizard if it fits the bill - it does help you make simple multitexture shaders, but if this sword thing is some fancy procedural noise or something it won’t do that.
Indeed, the glow does seem like extra geometry added to the original model. I’ll try to do what you said; at the same time I’ll search for a solution to surround an object’s mesh with another, to achieve the glow effect.