A demonstration to assuage any doubts that it works, both in the toolset and in the game. This is a placed billboard effect with 8-bit transparency via the texture's alpha channel. You can also mix and match different rotations of the same effect to break up the pattern.
Now, can someone tell me if there's a way to make these effects take the lighting of the area, and not be fully illuminated even in darkness?
Maybe try a darker texture? 
Let us know if you find a way..!
That's not taking the lighting of the area, but it's the workaround that I employ for similar effects, like the illumination maps being used as glass.
That's not taking the lighting of the area, but it's the workaround that I employ for similar effects, like the illumination maps being used as glass.
Yea I know how particular you are about lighting.. Maybe if you use a dark texture with a slight transparency you can borrow some of the ground light of the area?
It's not a perfect solution.. but I don't know how to make billboards or any VFX's actually co-operate with area lighting..
If I wanted the ground texture to show through, I could use a projected texture, which doesn't have this illumination problem. For instance, the ground blood spatter effects from MotB don't glow in the dark, but partially show the ground texture underneath. The way they come in the toolset, they don't rotate when you rotate the helper, but all you have to do is set the billboard to match source rotation, and then they do.
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