[Solved] Can't Change Lightning Color

[Sercy]

Hello,

I've been testing a lightning spell, everything works fine except I just can't change the color of the effect. I've made some triggers for testing and no matter what I do the colors will not change from the default ones. I think my WE is bugged or something. Basic example :

• aa Copy Copy Copy
  • Events
    • Player - Player 1 (Red) types a chat message containing -lightup as An exact match
  • Conditions
  • Actions
    • Lightning - Create a Drain Mana lightning effect from source (Center of Region 067 <gen>) to target (Center of Region 067 Copy <gen>)
    • Lightning - Change color of (Last created lightning effect) to (0.30 0.90 0.60) with 1.00 alpha

The effect (in this cases drain mana) always appears in its default blue color. It's the same with every other effect. I remember being able to change their colors a while back, dunno what I am doing wrong this time.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Cheshire]

@WaterKnight explains it well here, that "you should keep in mind that these values multiply with the standard colorization of the graphic. For example, if it's full blue, there is no red part, so changing red factor won't have an effect. A white/grayscale base color is the most flexible but the result will also be very monotone in color hue."

 

[BloodSoul]

That's strange... I just tested it on both 1.29 and 1.32.7 and those very same actions of yours work for me.

Even with

• Events
  • Player - Player 1 (Red) skips a cinematic sequence
• Conditions
• Actions
  • Lightning - Create a Drain Mana lightning effect from source (Center of Region 000 <gen>) to target (Center of Region 001 <gen>)
  • Lightning - Change color of (Last created lightning effect) to (0.00 0.90 0.00) with 1.00 alpha

Have you replaced/modified the lightningdata.slk file by any chance? (This is just a guess; I'm not sure if this could be the cause of it)

 

[Sercy]

@WaterKnight explains it well here, that "you should keep in mind that these values multiply with the standard colorization of the graphic. For example, if it's full blue, there is no red part, so changing red factor won't have an effect. A white/grayscale base color is the most flexible but the result will also be very monotone in color hue."

Even if I put 0.00 0.90 0.00 it does nothing, like the post below.

That's strange... I just tested it on both 1.29 and 1.32.7 and those very same actions of yours work for me.
View attachment 359459

Even with

• Events
  • Player - Player 1 (Red) skips a cinematic sequence
• Conditions
• Actions
  • Lightning - Create a Drain Mana lightning effect from source (Center of Region 000 <gen>) to target (Center of Region 001 <gen>)
  • Lightning - Change color of (Last created lightning effect) to (0.00 0.90 0.00) with 1.00 alpha

View attachment 359457

Have you replaced/modified the lightningdata.slk file by any chance? (This is just a guess; I'm not sure if this could be the cause of it)

I've created a new map and made exactly the same trigger as yours but the color won't change to green like in your screenshot. I don't remember modifying that file, I don't even know what that is.

I guess my WE really is bugged. I wonder if a reinstall would help.

 

[Dr Super Good]

Can you verify this problem persists after restarting your computer? Your computer must be restarted and not shutdown. This is to force the graphic drivers to reload which has been known to fix a variety of visual bugs in Warcraft III. There is a way to force this during shutdown but restarting is easier.

Posing the test map would also be useful in case other people run into the issue so it can be verified.

 

[Sercy]

Can you verify this problem persists after restarting your computer? Your computer must be restarted and not shutdown. This is to force the graphic drivers to reload which has been known to fix a variety of visual bugs in Warcraft III. There is a way to force this during shutdown but restarting is easier.

Posing the test map would also be useful in case other people run into the issue so it can be verified.

Restarting didn't help so I have uninstalled WC3 entirely, installing it again now. I'll try it again and post the test map if the problem persists.

Okay, I have reinstalled the game yet nothing has changed. I am attaching the test map with 3 different methods to create the effect and change its color. For me, all the effects have their default colors even though I am clearly manipulating them. Chain lighting and mana drain are appearing blue while magic leash is appearing orange. WE version is 1.32h (6110).

Important note : I have tried changing it to 0.00 0.00 0.00 with 0.00 alpha and this also does absolutely nothing, it's like "Lightning - Set Lightning Effect Color" action is completely being ignored.

Important edit : I ... think I've found why. That spesific action is not working with reforged graphics. When I reverted back to legacy graphics it's now working. I have also noticed that with the reforged graphics, most effects are temporary as in they will disappear without you destroying them but if you use legacy graphics, all the lightning effects stay until you destroy them. I don't know if this is a bug or if it's intended.

tl;dr you can't change lightning effect colors if you are playing with the new graphics.