Hard Light Productions Forums

Modding, Mission Design, and Coding => The Modding Workshop => Topic started by: Kazan on October 14, 2005, 08:56:34 pm

Title: I want backgrounds...
Post by: Kazan on October 14, 2005, 08:56:34 pm
like this!

It's the stars that make it better than what lightspeed has

and the bright emission nebulae (red) being obscured by dust in front of it (dark)

[reflection nebulae are blue]

(http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/image/0510/OrionBeltx_demartin_f.jpg)
Title: I want backgrounds...
Post by: Ghost on October 14, 2005, 09:05:40 pm
WHOA! Holy :censored: :censored: :censored: :censored: ! That might not be an actual background, but I'm saving that one on general principles!
Title: I want backgrounds...
Post by: Ulala on October 14, 2005, 10:08:45 pm
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
Title: I want backgrounds...
Post by: Kazan on October 15, 2005, 08:16:56 am
Ulala direct pulls from apod don't work well in game
Title: I want backgrounds...
Post by: TopAce on October 15, 2005, 08:39:01 am
That could be done, but somehow you need to disable sun fading, then insert a lot of blue suns. Our nebulae are good enough, you can Photoshop around and make some nebula darker (for more realism).

By sun fading, I mean the effect when your screen gets completely white when you are facing at a sun, even a very small one.
Title: I want backgrounds...
Post by: Black Wolf on October 15, 2005, 08:40:09 am
Quote
Oriuginally posted by Kazan
I want backgrounds like this!


Well, go ahead and make 'em ;)
Title: I want backgrounds...
Post by: Flaser on October 15, 2005, 08:49:15 am
Quote
Originally posted by TopAce
That could be done, but somehow you need to disable sun fading, then insert a lot of blue suns. Our nebulae are good enough, you can Photoshop around and make some nebula darker (for more realism).

By sun fading, I mean the effect when your screen gets completely white when you are facing at a sun, even a very small one.


This is already possible edit the stars.tbl AFAIK.
BTW Check how Lightspeed made his nebula - there are actual invisible stars behind them, that give its color.
Title: I want backgrounds...
Post by: ShadowWolf_IH on October 15, 2005, 09:33:12 am
ummmmm...why not just take photos and make a nice skybox?
Title: I want backgrounds...
Post by: TopAce on October 15, 2005, 03:02:40 pm
That's what I was thinking, but feared to ask it, because I think if it were so simply, it would not be a question.
Title: I want backgrounds...
Post by: BlackDove on October 15, 2005, 04:31:12 pm
Am I the only one who finds the image above too shiny? Also, how do you decide which one of them Suns will have a glare effect on the player?
Title: I want backgrounds...
Post by: TopAce on October 15, 2005, 05:19:15 pm
It's not a problem... FreeSpace is supposed to be shiny.
Title: I want backgrounds...
Post by: Kazan on October 15, 2005, 09:44:37 pm
Quote
Originally posted by ShadowWolf_IH
ummmmm...why not just take photos and make a nice skybox?


because it would look ugly as sin - real images _don't_ work in game because they don't fade off cleanly at the edges

Quote
Originally posted by BlackDove
Am I the only one who finds the image above too shiny? Also, how do you decide which one of them Suns will have a glare effect on the player?


that's a real image

Quote
Originally posted by Black Wolf


Well, go ahead and make 'em ;)


you must be wholly unfamiliar with the limits of my artistic ability
Title: I want backgrounds...
Post by: Turnsky on October 15, 2005, 10:08:01 pm
www.artofgregmartin.com  tuts are here.
Title: I want backgrounds...
Post by: ShadowWolf_IH on October 15, 2005, 10:09:13 pm
Kazan i have often thought about taking real images and using them as a skybox.  because i agree that his looks MUCH better.  I love the real stuff.....

soooooooo
as someone who knows more than me about this stuff, how do you propose that we overcome the problem with it?
Title: I want backgrounds...
Post by: Kazan on October 15, 2005, 10:15:42 pm
um... i know _why_ it looks bad to use real stuff (the hard edge without fade) but i don't have the artistic ability to touch up the image to solve that
Title: I want backgrounds...
Post by: Singh on October 15, 2005, 10:30:50 pm
The person who replied two posts above yours does, though - and he's a pro at it, judging from his comics. ;)
Title: I want backgrounds...
Post by: deep_eyes on October 15, 2005, 10:56:03 pm
what u want HIGH DYNAMIC RANGE renders or something
??
Title: I want backgrounds...
Post by: Kazan on October 16, 2005, 09:09:25 am
deep_eye: the stars.. the variable size [brightness] and color stars so that it looks real
Title: I want backgrounds...
Post by: BlackDove on October 16, 2005, 09:14:52 am
Quote
Originally posted by Kazan
that's a real image


Yes...?

It's still too bright and shiny for anything usable in FreeSpace.

Do you really want your HUD and all of the Targeting Reticles to be displayed on THAT?

You wouldn't be able to play properly. The skyboxes/backgrounds need to be as dark as possible, with as faded colors as possible. Otherwise it's unplayable.

Each of the "light spots" is just one more blind spot you can't control.
Title: I want backgrounds...
Post by: Kazan on October 16, 2005, 10:36:29 am
BlackDove: not if you don't have that bloody annoying and pointless screen-white-out

they'd be stars part of the background, not stars that would cause a white out
Title: I want backgrounds...
Post by: BlackDove on October 16, 2005, 10:39:27 am
Yeah, but the HUD and all of the targeting information, etc., it'd all be against the background.

If the background is filled with colors, especially bright ones (like in the image above, the centre's of the stars are pure white, and all around them is white-blue), plus the intense coloration regarding the nebulae, you'd have a hard time seeing important information regarding your flying.

If you can, try it out, you'll see what I mean.
Title: I want backgrounds...
Post by: Kazan on October 16, 2005, 11:08:01 am
BlackDove don't know about you but i wouldn't have hud problems - and that kinda background wouldn't be the only one - there'd be dense star regions and less dense ones

dense would form a disk around you
Title: I want backgrounds...
Post by: TopAce on October 16, 2005, 11:22:43 am
Quote
Originally posted by Singh
The person who replied two posts above yours does, though - and he's a pro at it, judging from his comics. ;)


And does he have time? :thepimp:
Title: I want backgrounds...
Post by: ShadowWolf_IH on October 16, 2005, 12:35:57 pm
change the color of your hud if this is giving you problems......hell i do it all the time...generally my HUD is a very bright green...but i have changed it before.
Title: I want backgrounds...
Post by: Ace on October 16, 2005, 05:24:08 pm
Quote
Originally posted by TopAce


And does he have time? :thepimp:


I actually asked him to do some BWO backgrounds. Interested in the project, but not enough time.

So I did my own.
Title: I want backgrounds...
Post by: FireCrack on October 16, 2005, 06:08:30 pm
It would be nice to have the built-in starfield look more like the one in I-War 2
Title: I want backgrounds...
Post by: mikhael on October 16, 2005, 06:20:35 pm
That should be pretty easy, Firecrack. The starfield in Iwar2 is a just a skybox. The real trick is the fade-in/fade-out stars based on whether the eyepoint is moving or not.
Title: I want backgrounds...
Post by: FireCrack on October 16, 2005, 06:49:05 pm
Realy.. hmm. The fade thing does add alot to it though.


Would it be possible, using a texture for individual stars, to have a thing l;ike this generated (by the # of stars option in fred)
Title: I want backgrounds...
Post by: Ulala on October 16, 2005, 07:49:49 pm
Quote
Originally posted by Kazan
Ulala direct pulls from apod don't work well in game


Sorry for trying to help you "find images like [that] one". Next time I'll be more considerate before posting.