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About this mod
A VR-friendly replacer for Vilja’s Candlelight spell.
- Requirements
- Permissions and credits
Overview
This mod prevents the large glow sprite from Vilja’s Candlelight spell from clipping through the camera in VR.
Details
The Candlelight spell is already problematic for VR players, but when Candlelight is cast by an NPC, a new VR-specific problem is introduced. Part of the effect will clip through the camera anytime you are near the caster. But, further still, Vilja in Skyrim includes a separate Candlelight mesh for Vilja's version of the spell, meaning that other mesh replacements don’t touch the one she casts.
Technical Details
This mod replaces emlightspellactorfx.nif with a mesh that prevents the visual annoyance of a texture clipping through the camera, while maintaining both the Vanilla aesthetic and the positioning and ambient light color from Emma's version.
The part clipping through the camera is the large white "glow" sprite—or billboard—that is meant to give the mesh an extended glow and to wash out the colors in the background near the orb. It is supposed to always face the camera, but in VR this doesn't happen when you get within a certain minimum distance. For any other effect, this minimum distance would require sticking your head in the effect. But, within the Candlelight mesh, the problematic billboard is actually positioned a large distance away from the orb, so you can hit that distance while just chatting with Vilja.
This mod moves the problem billboard, positioning it within the orb, and in my own tests makes it functionally impossible to clip through the camera, even with your head inside the orb.
Alternate Visual Effects for Candlelight
The main draw to this mod, I believe, is fixing the technical issue without altering the visual effect. But, I know no-glow and no-orb replacers are popular, so I have released them as optional downloads.
If you want to use a candlelight overhaul mod for Vilja, here are the steps to make that happen. In the overhaul mod, copy lightspellactorfx.nif into a directory named meshes\actors\character\facegendata\facegeom\emcompviljaskyrim.esp\ and then rename it to emlightspellactorfx.nif.
For some, that will be enough. But, when you simply dropped in a candlelight replacer intended for the player, the light source might be positioned behind Vilja and will cast her face in stark silhouette or harsh shadows. This is because many candlelight replacers move the spell to keep it from obscuring the player's view, and you'll need tweak the replacement mesh's positioning data for it to properly illuminate Vilja’s face. To do this, you'll need to use NifSkope to modify the translation coordinates on the "lag bone" in the replacement mesh to use Vanilla values—Savaas' 1st Person Candlelight Fix mod has a super helpful screenshot showing what to look for in NifSkope. Finally, you'll want to start by turning these back to Vanilla values and tweaking from there. To find these values, you can reference any of the meshes on this mod page, the one packed into the Vilja BSAs, or the unmodded Skyrim mesh for the Vanilla values.
But, what about Skyrim SE?
This is intended to solve a visual error specific to VR players, and the main file will have no apparent effect for SE players. However, the optional files will work for SE players who just don’t like the glow or orb effects.
But, what about followers that aren't Vilja?
I don't yet know of any other follower mods that suffer from this issue. If you find one, you can let me know.
But, what about the player's Candlelight?
This mod probably isn't what you're after. It fixes an issue that doesn't occur when Candlelight is cast by the player (even in VR), so you're probably looking to solve a completely different issue or annoyance already addressed by other Candlelight mods. That said, if you need to replace the main candlelight mesh because an NPC is using it and creating these clipping issues, I may be interested in knowing about it.
Coming Eventually
Vanilla version, fixing the clipping without removing the billboard. Done
No orb version. Done
Documentation. Done
This mod prevents the large glow sprite from Vilja’s Candlelight spell from clipping through the camera in VR.
Details
The Candlelight spell is already problematic for VR players, but when Candlelight is cast by an NPC, a new VR-specific problem is introduced. Part of the effect will clip through the camera anytime you are near the caster. But, further still, Vilja in Skyrim includes a separate Candlelight mesh for Vilja's version of the spell, meaning that other mesh replacements don’t touch the one she casts.
Technical Details
This mod replaces emlightspellactorfx.nif with a mesh that prevents the visual annoyance of a texture clipping through the camera, while maintaining both the Vanilla aesthetic and the positioning and ambient light color from Emma's version.
The part clipping through the camera is the large white "glow" sprite—or billboard—that is meant to give the mesh an extended glow and to wash out the colors in the background near the orb. It is supposed to always face the camera, but in VR this doesn't happen when you get within a certain minimum distance. For any other effect, this minimum distance would require sticking your head in the effect. But, within the Candlelight mesh, the problematic billboard is actually positioned a large distance away from the orb, so you can hit that distance while just chatting with Vilja.
This mod moves the problem billboard, positioning it within the orb, and in my own tests makes it functionally impossible to clip through the camera, even with your head inside the orb.
Alternate Visual Effects for Candlelight
The main draw to this mod, I believe, is fixing the technical issue without altering the visual effect. But, I know no-glow and no-orb replacers are popular, so I have released them as optional downloads.
If you want to use a candlelight overhaul mod for Vilja, here are the steps to make that happen. In the overhaul mod, copy lightspellactorfx.nif into a directory named meshes\actors\character\facegendata\facegeom\emcompviljaskyrim.esp\ and then rename it to emlightspellactorfx.nif.
For some, that will be enough. But, when you simply dropped in a candlelight replacer intended for the player, the light source might be positioned behind Vilja and will cast her face in stark silhouette or harsh shadows. This is because many candlelight replacers move the spell to keep it from obscuring the player's view, and you'll need tweak the replacement mesh's positioning data for it to properly illuminate Vilja’s face. To do this, you'll need to use NifSkope to modify the translation coordinates on the "lag bone" in the replacement mesh to use Vanilla values—Savaas' 1st Person Candlelight Fix mod has a super helpful screenshot showing what to look for in NifSkope. Finally, you'll want to start by turning these back to Vanilla values and tweaking from there. To find these values, you can reference any of the meshes on this mod page, the one packed into the Vilja BSAs, or the unmodded Skyrim mesh for the Vanilla values.
But, what about Skyrim SE?
This is intended to solve a visual error specific to VR players, and the main file will have no apparent effect for SE players. However, the optional files will work for SE players who just don’t like the glow or orb effects.
But, what about followers that aren't Vilja?
I don't yet know of any other follower mods that suffer from this issue. If you find one, you can let me know.
But, what about the player's Candlelight?
This mod probably isn't what you're after. It fixes an issue that doesn't occur when Candlelight is cast by the player (even in VR), so you're probably looking to solve a completely different issue or annoyance already addressed by other Candlelight mods. That said, if you need to replace the main candlelight mesh because an NPC is using it and creating these clipping issues, I may be interested in knowing about it.
Coming Eventually