[InsaneBaron]

Has anyone made a background that could represent a mission in Capella, right by the star, just before the supernova, with the player literally right there among the Sathanas Juggernauts? I'm thinking specifically about the briefing where Petrach sends a squadron to investigate the Saths.

For those who might wonder, this isn't actually for my Shadow Rising project. ShadRiz, as I like to call it, would be pretty long, about 25-30 missions, and involve a lot of user-made ships. I decided to put it on hold temporarily while I made a prequel mini-campaign with retail ships. That way I can get my feet wet with something less ambitious before moving on to my bigger pet project. I don't have a name for the mini-campaign yet, but it's set in Capella during the evacuation.

[Luis Dias]

Why not make a very big yellow star and place some juggs in it?

[Lorric]

I knew I remembered this!

http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php?topic=74794.msg1698692#msg1698692

It sure isn't Capella, but it's an awesome background. Maybe you can get Spoon to give it to you.

[Lorric]

There's also this awesome shot from the April Screencap Contest:

[InsaneBaron]

@Luis Dias: I could, I suppose. I'm just wondering if it's already out there. I'm still trying to get the hang of background editing.

@Lorric: That's one cool bitmap. Tempting... but not quite FreeSpace-y. Wings of Dawn art style would look weird next to retail stuff IMO.

Edit: Ninjad by- wait, gotta scroll up...

...

perfect. absolutely perfect.

[InsaneBaron]

Unfortunately I assume it's not released.

[Lorric]

I guess you'll have to ask mjn.mixael about it.

I don't know about him, but if I made something like that, I certainly wouldn't delete it.

Oh and Spoon ripped that background right out of Strike Suit Zero btw. Thief.

[Luis Dias]

That background is, IIRC, the same background as used by BP WiH act2 last mission. You can use that, place those juggs and let the lightshafts do their thing.

[InsaneBaron]

That background is, IIRC, the same background as used by BP WiH act2 last mission. You can use that, place those juggs and let the lightshafts do their thing.

Ah, neat. I'll take a look.

Also, I think I have the basics of background editing down. A scale-50 sun looks really weird- if you look anywhere on the half of the background with the sun, you get massive whiteout; aim at the other side of an invisible equator and there's not sign of it. I scaled the sun 25 times and it was perfect.

[General Battuta]

Yes, it's the sky sunbox from Sunglare in BP2. You don't need to use a massively scaled sun, it's part of the skybox.

[InsaneBaron]

Would anyone be willing to open this up, using 3612 MediaVPs, and give me a second/third/Xth opinion? It's an attempt to replicate an approach to the Sathanas fleet; I placed the juggernauts and arranged the background and then stuck the player in. It's nowhere near done; I'm just wondering how I can improve the effect.

[attachment deleted by an evil time traveler]

[General Battuta]

Yes, why are you using a giiiiiant sun instead of a sun skybox?

[InsaneBaron]

Yes, why are you using a giiiiiant sun instead of a sun skybox?

Because it was easier to make? How much difference is there between the suns in the background editor and a sun skybox?

The problem at the moment is that I'm at my FRED-friendly, FreeSpace-unfriendly laptop, so I'm not sure how these look in-game.

[General Battuta]

The sun skybox is even easier!

Move the model into yourmod/data/model.

Move the maps into yourmod/data/maps.

Type [name of model].pof into your mission's skybox field in the background editor.

[InsaneBaron]

let me give that a shot...