[Fineus]

Whatever suits everyone best I guess, I'm happy with either method so long as the angles are gone - the current rocks look like they were cut using some kind of laser or power tool...

[Rictor]

I like this, but could you maybe do something to make the texures look like the old ones? On the screens Flipside posted, the new asteroids were all smooth and matte. I like how the old asteroids were highly reflective. I may or may not be right, probably not, but aren't asteroids made up mostly of ice and space-junk. Ice would tend to reflect, no? Well, my point is it just looks plain cool. I like the ones  Ryx  posted, its an improvement over Flipside's version (sorry, but it is). Keep it up, hopefully this won't seriously affect FPS.

[Ryx]

Originally posted by kasperl
960 sounds pretty damn lethal.

i like Flipsides idea of just using the new maps given by the SCP guys a lot better, IMO.

The current  polycount goes:
LOD0 = 960
LOD1 = 141
LOD2 = 41


Perhaps this sharp drop in polycount could make things better?

And Flip's spec map (great work )could be used here, as well.

[kasperl]

Originally posted by Rictor
I like this, but could you maybe do something to make the texures look like the old ones? On the screens Flipside posted, the new asteroids were all smooth and matte. I like how the old asteroids were highly reflective. I may or may not be right, probably not, but aren't asteroids made up mostly of ice and space-junk. Ice would tend to reflect, no? Well, my point is it just looks plain cool. I like the ones  Ryx  posted, its an improvement over Flipside's version (sorry, but it is). Keep it up, hopefully this won't seriously affect FPS.

i really, really don't like the shiny. if you look at the pictures from NASA, the stuff is all matte.

[Flipside]

Well, I can throw these together pretty quick, it's a procedural material, so that shouldn't be too hard. I suppose what would be best is for us to do several different 'styles' of asteroid and mix and match them

960 Polys shouldn't be too bad as long as there are not too many on screen, but I kept to 250 because I plan to have some quite thick asteroid fields.

It's a single 1024 map for the main LOD, and it's DDS for memory saving. I'll throw some LODS on it, and re-render the textures up a bit better and make an asteroid available for dload tonight

Also, it should be noted that most asteroid ARE smooth. Call up Phobos and Deimos, the captured Mars 'moons'. They are the closest asteroids to Earth, and are pretty big, so there are good images of them. You'll see that they are pretty much smooth with a few fresh craters. If asteroids are cratered, they tend to be cratered only on one side, the side facing away from the Sun, since it is hit by small particles of matter being drawn in by the Sun's gravity.

[KARMA]

actually I prefer the asteroids in the precedent images

[Nico]

Originally posted by Flipside
960 Polys shouldn't be too bad as long as there are not too many on screen, but I kept to 250 because I plan to have some quite thick asteroid fields.

Ditto, I prefer loads of lower poly roids rather than a few high poly ones.

[kasperl]

you just said your maps were procedurals. could you map a few asteroids with it? and could you create a few different maps per 'roid to prevent repatetiveness?

[Turambar]

just throw the asteroids in a pack and be done with it!

[JarC]

Originally posted by Nico
I doubt it, or else the roids would be long gone

all black and white with you uh?

go here http://www.nineplanets.org/asteroids.html

as I said...sandblasted...

[diamondgeezer]

They'd definitely want some small craters in them if poss - micro craters can be simulated with good mapping

Regarding the specularity, remember that the surface of a 'stroid is rough as hell due to micro-pitting. There is no way in hell it will reflect light. Bare minimum specularity, please

Ryx, you versions are oddly shaped - collisions mean you don't see big limbs sticking out like that

[Ryx]

I'll redo 'em tomorrow.

With a lower polycount.

[Flipside]

Dammit! I buggered up the Lods on that one Reminder to self, Do not start altering points on Lod 0 after you've made Lod 1

Ah well, they don't take long Allegedly

[Flaser]

Originally posted by Nico


Asteroid fields as scene in movies or games, technically, don't exist
The roids in a roid field are usually hundreds of kilometers aparts. I highly doubt there's a lot of dust there. So let's not go into scientific details when talking about roids, shall we?
I think round roids are boring, btw.

Ever watched Marcross DYRL? They actually have it right - ever flown through the rings of a gas giant?

[Lightspeed]

do some asteroid-shaped ones

[Flipside]

http://www.aqsx85.dsl.pipex.com/Ast01.zip

Ok, well I promised you one this evening, so there you go

Flipside

Hmmmm... 40 mins, I'm getting faster at these

[Nico]

Originally posted by Flaser


Ever watched Marcross DYRL? They actually have it right - ever flown through the rings of a gas giant?

many times. but an ice ring isn't an asteroid field, and still, I doubt there's all those groovy columns of dust ( snow? ) in the rings of Saturn

[Turambar]

Yes, but do they replace the in-game 'roids?

[Flipside]

Yes, just put the dds files in your data/maps directory and the model in your data/models directory and it will replace Ast01.pof from the VP file.

[Trivial Psychic]

I think pitted versions of the smooth asteroids would be better for full-sized asteroids, but then have it split into the jagged ones if its destroyed.  It'd also be cool if there was a brief shower of dust when an asteroid is blown up, eminating from the split-point.  This is due to the fact that most asteroids would have build up a powdery surface coating over the billions of years they've been floating around.

Later!