BLIGHT (File Format)

The BLIGHT (Binary LIGHT) filetype controls lighting effects on characters, karts, items and objects in a track. It is always seen in the posteffect folder inside an U8. This file is not required for a track to load, as there is a default.blight file inside Common.szs.

File Format

File Header

The following table describes the version 2 LIGHT header.

Offset	Type	Description
0x00	String	File magic. Always LGHT in ASCII.
0x04	UInt32	File size. Always 0x5A8 in MKW.
0x08	Byte	Version. Always 02 in MKW
0x09	Byte[3]	Padding.
0x0C	UInt32	Unknown. Always 00 00 00 00.
0x10	UInt16	Number of LOBJs. Always 0x10 in MKW.
0x12	UInt16	Number of Ambient Lights. Always 0x10 in MKW.
0x14	Byte[4]	RGBA ambience black color. Always 00 00 00 FF.
0x18	Byte[16]	Padding.

However, one thing to note is that although 16 lights are stored in this file, only 8 can be referenced by the KCL (IDs 00 to 07). This is because the KCL only has three binary digits to reference lights (and 111 in binary = 7).

Light Object data (LOBJ)

LOBJ file inside the BLIGHT file

The first light object starts at 0x28. These addresses are relative to the start of the object.

Offset	Type	Description
0x00	String	Section magic. Always LOBJ in ASCII.
0x04	UInt32	Section size. Always 0x50.
0x08	Byte	Version. Always 02 in MKW, except for loser_demo and draw_demo, in which said value is 01.
0x09	Byte[3]	Padding.
0x0C	Byte[4]	Unknown. Always 00 00 00 00.
0x10	Byte	Attenuation angle falloff function Value Description 0 Disabled 1 Flat (sharp border) 2 Cosine 3 Cosine with smoother cutoff 4 Sharp, but not as sharp as flat 5 Ring with center dimly illuminated 6 Ring
0x11	Byte	Attenuation distance falloff function. Used together with the attenuation references below. This Desmos graph shows how the three types (blue = gentle, red = steep) behave over distance. Value Description 0 Disabled 1 Gentle 2 Medium 3 Steep
0x12	Byte	Coordinate system for origin and destination Value Description 1 World coordinates 2 View coordinates (so rotates with the camera) 3 Top-down view - illuminates from the top of the screen 4 Bottom-up view - illuminates from the bottom of the screen
0x13	Byte	Light type: 00 = omni light, 01 = directional, 02 = spotlight. Always 01 in Nintendo tracks.
0x14	UInt16	This value stores the index of the ambient light this light uses. It's also used to link into the LTEX gradient table.
0x16	UInt16	Bitfield. Always 06 41 (1, 6, 9 and 10) or 06 21 (1, 5, 9 and 10). Unknown values are not included. Offset Byte Description 0 0x1 Enable direction vectors and colors (disabled for the first entry) 1 0x2 Enable direction vector shifting (use coordinates of another light object) 5 0x20 Enables a link to a BLMAP entry 6 0x40 Same as 1, both need to be set. 7 0x80 Use an attenuation angle curve instead of predefined spot functions. Settings unknown. 8 0x100 Use an attenuation distance curve instead of predefined distance functions. Settings unknown. 11 0x800 Use an unknown attenuation curve with fixed settings.
0x18	Float[3]	3D origin vector.
0x24	Float[3]	3D destination vector.
0x30	Float	This seems to control how large the color effect is on this light.
0x34	Byte[4]	RGBA light color.
0x38	Byte[4]	Ambient color for BLMAP lighting stages.
0x3C	Float	Spotlight cutoff angle
0x40	Float	Attenuation reference distance
0x44	Float	Attenuation reference brightness
0x48	UInt32	Unused.
0x4C	UInt16	Light Object index used for vector shifting
0x4E	UInt16	Padding
0x50	End of object, start of next

Ambient Light data

Ambient colors are used by each light object. They are linked by a light.

Offset	Type	Information
0x00	Byte[4]	RGBA ambient light color.
0x04	UInt32	Padding.
0x08	End of color, start of next

All unused ones are 64 64 64 FF (a neutral gray).

Tools

The following tools can handle BLIGHT files:

• Post-Effect Editor, by Wexos
• RiiStudio, by Riidefi
• Wexos's Toolbox, by Wexos