DL'd it, played with it, made some backgrounds.
Writing a review for those interested.
Ok, here we go:
![:yes:](https://www.hard-light.net/forums/Smileys/HLP/yes.gif)
THE GOOD: It is a
very nice app, which allows for some amazing skybox graphics. The quality of those graphics is, of course, proportional to the time spent working on them ( NO!
Really? ![:eek2:](https://www.hard-light.net/forums/Smileys/HLP/eek2.gif)
), with the really realistic and awe-inspiring ones probably requiring a few days' work. Since I didn't have a few days, I just made a few mediocre skyboxes, but I can see what Peterson made with a mere 10 layers and I can only imagine what is possible if you get your mind to it.
![:no:](https://www.hard-light.net/forums/Smileys/HLP/no.gif)
THE BAD: Sadly, the app has some problems, too, which seriously limit its usefulness.
![:(](https://www.hard-light.net/forums/Smileys/HLP/frown.gif)
Procedural generation is all fine and dandy if you need some quick and dirty nebulae or starfields, but it has its drawbacks too. For one, it is exactly that:
procedural. That means that there is absolutely no way you can fine-tune the shape of those pretty nebulae, the position of those stars, or the location of any other billboard graphics you use.
For example: there is
no way one can create a galaxy-plane effect (the 'Milky-Way-Band' one can see in the Earth night sky). There is
no way you can place a green nebula next to a red one, but NOT inside it, but there on the side, with those nice yellow stars and the pink polka dots or whatever billboards you use.
TL;DR: A very nice app, that, unfortunately, limits itself to the making of basic skyboxes;
amazing skyboxes, but basic nonetheless. What you
can do is slap up a good starfield or faint nebula, and then go to work on it with another 3d app, or image editing software of your choice, to add those necessary planets/ galaxies/ whatever.
All in all, a 3 out of 5; one point off for lack of all but very basic tutorials/documentation and another point off for the -more important- lack of billboard placement options.
Cheers, and good spacescaping.