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  • animated star field skybox

    i have a set of animated star field gifs that are pretty neat and i wanted to make them into a skybox but that didn't work as they were just static images in the end. plus i didn't have the 6 images as i mentioned below, just various star field gifsa...i figured i could replace the jpgs or tgas with the gifs and it would work.

    i'm running dark places.

    anyways, i'm unsure of how to do a skybox except from the method of using the 6 images for bk dn lf rt up and dn. i found some animated skyboxes that are star fields, just not sure how to apply them since they have a shader, and 3 images basically instead of the 6 in a pk3 file. i didn't place that file in my directory to see what it would do just yet but i doubt it would do anything just placing it there.

    i'm creating a space map and i like the all black feel but i thought it would be neat to have animated star field effect, because in space i know material moves around. any suggestions?


  • #2
    Hello EARP,

    Darkplaces gives you several options to achieve what you are planning to do:

    - You can use/create a mod then you are absolutely free to switch/animate any sky/skybox texture.
    - If you do not want to use a mod, you can use a shader.
    - You can use any combination of both.

    I do not want to go into detail for option 1 as it would go beyond the scope of this post. I am sure you know how to do it.
    Much easier is option 2 because you only need the textures and a shader.

    First of all, your sky textures must be seamless (like all sky textures are).
    Once you have the set of sky textures ready, which shall do the animation, you can animate them via a shader. Please find many examples inside the SMC, DP pretty water, and so on.

    You can adjust the animation frequence and size of the textures in the shader. Those are the most important factors. You can on top of that also adjust the transparency, (movement not recommended) and other things as well. The sky supports all shader features like any other world texture. Even the shader key-words from the r_water shader family like reflection/refraction etc, which probably do not make sense for sky textures.




    I took an existing animation set for water and use it on the sky. Just to quickly can show you the idea behind it. It is of course silly to use water textures on the sky but you are at least able to see how it works/looks and can replace them by your seamless space textures.

    [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEO-GWftfU0[/ame]

    Best wishes,
    Seven

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    • #3
      Not that this helps you at all but, my unfinished engine allows gifs to be used for any texture. It's optimized, too. Gifs are not formatted for opengl so my engine reformats them to a sprite sheet. It can also export the sprite sheet so you can bypass the processing of the gif and use the results instead.

      This has numerous implications. One of them being that +textures are obsolete.Another implication is, with the proper descriptor for the (sprite sheet/gif) you can make skyboxes that slowly fade between day and night.
      http://www.nextgenquake.com

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      • #4
        @Seven the starfield set i have has 6 images (different degree/amount of stars/size), i don't remember how i attained them, if i use it as a skybox then i get a halls of mirror effect. i have not tried to extract them using a photo program so i am not sure if they are matching set like the skyboxes i have found on the inter web, in other words seamless. i think the best option is just making my own images instead of trying to figure out what someone else has done and cheating. i could show you the star fields i have.


        @MadGypsy you are right that isn't going to help me any. Are you going to finish it?

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        • #5
          @ Are you going to finish it?

          Probably not. I will never run out of ideas and the engine wont be finished til I do. At this point my engine is leaning more towards a mini 3d operating system (or something). However, if you actually want to know if you will ever be able to use it... of course.
          http://www.nextgenquake.com

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          • #6
            Originally posted by EARP View Post
            @Seven the starfield set i have has 6 images (different degree/amount of stars/size), i don't remember how i attained them, if i use it as a skybox then i get a halls of mirror effect.
            Does any of them have an alpha channel?
            Ph'nglui mglw'nafh mankrip Hell's end wgah'nagl fhtagn.
            ==-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
            Dev blog / Twitter / YouTube

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            • #7
              Hello EARP,

              Yes, you can upload the animated textures you have and I will try to get them animated. Just be sure that their animation sequence is what you want and look fluent. If it doesnt, it will look weird in-game.

              And yes, if you want to have the textures just the way you want, your most probably best way is to do them by yourself. But not everyone is familiar with painting, so...

              Looking forward to your message.
              Seven

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              • #8
                @Seven the images are in this .wad file.
                Attached Files

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                • #9
                  Hello EARP,

                  Please find the download here
                  All details are explained in the readme.



                  Have a nice sunday,
                  Seven

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                  • #10
                    Originally posted by EARP View Post
                    i thought it would be neat to have animated star field effect, because in space i know material moves around.
                    On the other hand, this sentence seems to indicate that you're shooting for a more realistic feel. The thing is, in reality the starfield moves too slowly for the rotation to be noticeable with the naked eye unless you stare at it for a significant period of time. You would finish most Quake maps without actually noticing any change.

                    That said, I've been wanting moving skyboxes ever since I first heard of skyboxes and it's good to know that it's actually possible. Alternatively, is it feasible to have at the same time both a skybox and the vanilla layers of moving clouds? It could make for even more realism with proper HD cloud textures.
                    ♪ I'm skiiiiiiinnin' in the pain, just skiiiiiiinnin' in the pain ♪
                    ♪ What a glorious feelin' I'm haaaaaaappy again ♪

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Originally posted by bfg666 View Post
                      is it feasible to have at the same time both a skybox and the vanilla layers of moving clouds? It could make for even more realism with proper HD cloud textures.
                      I've implemented this in my engine, but none of the other engines followed:
                      screenshots.

                      TBH, it's not easy to make skyboxes that blends well with scrolling clouds. Maybe others think it's not worth it.
                      Ph'nglui mglw'nafh mankrip Hell's end wgah'nagl fhtagn.
                      ==-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
                      Dev blog / Twitter / YouTube

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Originally posted by mankrip View Post
                        TBH, it's not easy to make skyboxes that blends well with scrolling clouds.
                        Yeah, vanilla cloud textures have some black outlines that look odd when they pass in front of a bright texture, I noticed this when playing a Noir Jam map. Which is why I insisted on "proper HD cloud textures" that don't show these outlines.

                        Too bad the other engines didn't follow, I would have loved to see that in DP and QSS.
                        ♪ I'm skiiiiiiinnin' in the pain, just skiiiiiiinnin' in the pain ♪
                        ♪ What a glorious feelin' I'm haaaaaaappy again ♪

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                        • #13
                          @mankrip
                          >I've implemented this in my engine, but none of the other engines followed
                          Where can I read about your engine? How is it called, where to download it? What's the current state of it?

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                          • #14
                            vibok: it isn't released yet, there's a lot of work to do.

                            There's a thread about it in the "works in progress" section of this forum.
                            Ph'nglui mglw'nafh mankrip Hell's end wgah'nagl fhtagn.
                            ==-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
                            Dev blog / Twitter / YouTube

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                            • #15
                              Originally posted by vibok View Post
                              How is it called?
                              Retroquad.
                              ♪ I'm skiiiiiiinnin' in the pain, just skiiiiiiinnin' in the pain ♪
                              ♪ What a glorious feelin' I'm haaaaaaappy again ♪

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