Creating a Transparency Circle Around an Object

[Vandas]

Hey, everyone.

I'm trying to create a transparency " Circle " around an object. Specifically, the concept is to create a torch-like effect around an object, so if you were walking through a cave, for example, you could see around the player a small distance, but nothing else ( or very little else ).

Been trying to figure this out for the last few hours, and still have had no success. If anyone has a resource or suggestion, I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you for your time.

-Vandas

[Pixelthief]

You can use a separate object that is placed on top of that object. Just use a white circle (for best effects, shade it gradually at edges) and adjust its transparency (blend coefficient in HWA). Just constantly position that circle on top of the object

[Namida]

Create a black active object twice the size of the screen, with the hotspot in the middle. Using alpha layer transparency instead of a transparent colour, make your circle. Set it's position at where the character is. Put it on the highest layer.

(BTW: An object the same size as the screen, instead of double, will work, as long as the character will always be in the center of the screen. If at the edges of the level he can go to the edges of the screen, then you need extra size to make up for that. Double size will cover all possible situations unless he can go *outside* the frame area.)

[Vandas]

Thank you so much! This will surprise my students and give them a challenge! ^_^

-Vandas

[Shawn]

Using photoshop or Gimp, and layers, you can make a circle on a layer underneath your object, blur and/or adjust the transparency of the layer, and save it as a .png. Png files save the alpha transparency layer when imported into the MMF2 picture editor.