stand clear. planets coming through

[strangelet]

lo all.

i got some planet textures finished, 7 of em - complete with specular and luma maps each at 2048x1024.

hella big files tho, so i need some ftp access to shunt em over to you. here's a preview of one that's included. my favourite, the MAGMA PLANET!

http://www.deviantart.com/view/17755928/

lemme know where you want them dumped, i'll get on it

[klauss]

Very nice!

Perhaps the next version of VS will have some decent planet textures, there's a lot of people (me being one of them) working on planet textures. Guess the ones it has now were, how could I put it gently... lame.

It's obvious planet textures weren't a priority. But with the textures that have been coming the last few days, I think the next release will be yummy.

[strangelet]

it sure as hell will. i wanna fix up them rev A bases a lot.

any word on the zbuffer artifacts? are they mac only btw?

[klauss]

No, I hacked the code so that my VS installation could run on a 16-bit z-buffer (since my card gets bogged up real bad when using 24-bit z-buffer), and experienced the same artifacts.

But I also redid some algorithms, and the artifacts diminished quite a bit (there are still artifacts, though).

If hellcatv can't find a way to use 24-bit z-buffers on a mac, the only hope is that I try to get rid of the artifacts in 16-bit (which I want to do, since I have to use 16-bit for other reasons, namely poor performance on 24 bits).

I'll upload the source patch tomorrow, and all that's left is to wait until hellcatv or another developer includes it in the cvs. At least the artifacts will be less.

[chuck_starchaser]

lemme know where you want them dumped, i'll get on it

Sent'ya a PM.

[jackS]

:):)

[Halleck]

WICKED AWESOME.

[hellcatv]

lookin forward to seein' that patch

[strangelet]

ok i found some space. it's a 14mb zip up at this url -

http://www.whitenoiseonline.net/planettex.zip

have fun.

[hurleybird]

awesomeness

[Halleck]

Niiice. Can't wait to see how these look in-game.

Woah, Strangelet's got a new website! Lookin' good. The 3d shockwave stuff rocks hard.

[dandandaman]

Thanks stranj, great work

At the top of my list of things to do!

Dan.a

[Guest]

Nice.
Now if we could get those generated fractual (or however it's made) planets... and generate a planet like that from it.... mmm lllaaavvaaa.
Niceity nice nice.

[Zeog]

Bump.

These haven't been added yet, have they?
Unfortunately, the link is dead....
@Halleck: If you talk to Strangelet again, could you ask form them?

[MamiyaOtaru]

Surprised they haven't been added. I do have a copy of them on my hard drive though, so they aren't lost.

[dandandaman]

Adding them is still on my list (and yes, I have a copy), it's just that they didn't match quite with the planets we've got, so there was going to be a shuffle of planet types, which involves a bit more work than just putting in the textures. But hey, I'll put them on ftp tonight so if anyone wants to jump in and do them they can

Dan

[Karnizero]

Looking that there are much people trying to get a new face to Vega Strike textures, i can colaborate just a bit.

I know a bit graphical desing, but i have some questions about how Vega Strike will use the textures, and the different layers, for example:

1.- Can Vega Strike support clouds? This is, a second texture, over the main planet texture, which are the clouds.
2.- Can textures be animated? (something like a high quality GIF image or so on...)
3.- What is the maximum size, in pixels, that Vega Strike can support. I realize that the biggest default textures for planets were 1024 x 768. Can Vega Strike support bigger images?

Ok, and this is all, for now...

And here, just a simple textures i made in 10 minutes. This is only a test, not a final project: (click in the image)

1.- REMAKE OF TEXTURE "gas_giant2.png":


ORIGINAL IS:



2.- REMAKE OF TEXTURE "forest1.png":


ORIGINAL IS:


I hope you like it, at least, a bit
But, before to start seriously to make this kind of texturex, we can see images at the internet which shows how real planets are, and then, made textures simillar to those real planets.

[pyramid]

I have created a wiki page especially for the creation of orbital planet surfaces:
http://vegastrike.sourceforge.net/wiki/ ... t_Surfaces

Just have tested textures with 2048x1024 resolution and propose this as a minimum requirement for new textures, but the max limit might well depend on your graphics card and not on the game only.

My next step is to create a list of required surfaces and the current status:
http://vegastrike.sourceforge.net/wiki/ ... t_Surfaces

The only point I am missing is the process of decision and release of the tetxures. I have seen many posts and many proposals in the past, but none of them made it into the svn. Maybe one of the devs can enlighten the public here?

[Oblivion]

Good idea! That way, anyone with wicked planet textures somewhere can contribute easily.

[Karnizero]

Ok then, do you want a better planetary texture? then check this one.
NOTE: this image is a bad and low quality image, and just shrinked. The original is 2048x1024, and 16 Mb. (I dont know a internet hosting who allows those so big images):

http://xs202.xs.to/xs202/06261/Green_Mountains.jpg

Now, i am working in a overgrown planet texture, with pollution in the dayside, and the city lights in the darkside. At now, just thinking how to do a good effect...

Just have tested textures with 2048x1024 resolution and propose this as a minimum requirement for new textures, but the max limit might well depend on your graphics card and not on the game only.

I asked because maybe the game used smaller textures (1024x768), and the bigger textures would appear distorted or bad looking.
Ok, i will do 2048x1024 textures.

[Oblivion]

Nothing shows up. Same problem as with CoD's screenshots probably. Anyway, it should NOT be 2048x1024 that would distort it. make it at the same pixel ratio of 1.333

So it should be any of the following:
1.640x480
2.800x600
3.1024x768
4.2048x1536
5.2731x1768 (check this last one, I forgot if it was really 1768)
anything higher

[Karnizero]

Ok, then i must re-do the texture.
Because that texture was not the correct ouch! That was a first test.

The real texture is:

http://xs202.xs.to/xs202/06261/Green_Mountains.jpg

- A more reallistic water color
- Clouds a bit more transparent
- The continents glow has been removed
- Colorized terrain.

I need to do a more realistic water effect, but i dont have good images of true water from space... I need some real models to do good water effect.
So, this will not be the real texture i want to get, just a devel-texture.

Now i am drawing the continents, and then, the water.

[pyramid]

Very nice textures, Karnizero.

...Anyway, it should NOT be 2048x1024 that would distort it. make it at the same pixel ratio of 1.333

Oblivion, you'll have to convince me on that.
Pixel ratio, as the name states, is used for adjusting the rendering of objects on the screen, where the ratio of height to width is not equal. So it is to make your sphere look like a ball and not like an egg.

For texturing the sphere, you must use a ratio of 2:1, because you'll wrap the texture vertically around 180 degrees, and horizontally 360 degrees. Logo, Texture ratio is = Horizontal wrap angle / Vertical wrap angle = 2

So texture sizes must be:
- 800x400
- 2048x1024
- 4096x2048
or similar.

The distortion should not happen, since the sphere is then rendered with the (hopefully) correct pixel ratio of your screen.

But your point might be that the rendering of the texture to file happens to be distorted. The texture file itself should not be distorted, i.e. PR=1.0

[klauss]

2:1 ratio is the winner.
First, textures should be power of two on the edges.
That is, width should be a power of two, and height too (not necessarily the same).

That leaves few options:
1024x1024
2048x1024
1024x512
512x512
2048x512
etc...

That does NOT include 640x480.

Really, NPOT (non-power-of-two) textures are possible, but really, really, really troublesome. Don't use them. Just use POT. Love the POT. The POT is the mother, the POT is the father. Trust the POT.

Besides, I've used 2:1 alot and it works like a charm - it's the best ratio indeed, POTiness aside.

BTW: yes to clouds. They have to be a separate layer, a separate .png with transparency.

[Karnizero]

I have finished the first texture. The only thing i dont like is the water. Maybe not much realistic, but this detail is nearly inapreciated just in-game:

those images are yet ingame:

1.- The planet texture. We are far away:


2.- The same, but we are closer:



Although, the texture seems to to be distorted anyway, i have found a small error. This error is produced by clouds, so i will eliminate them.
Look at that line, just the line where the texture ends and starts:



And now, i have a question.
I realize that the texture is a bit distorted in the polar zones of the planet:



How can we correct this effect?

And this is all folks! Any suggestion is well accepted (i know that the texture must be well aligned at the design to avoid that famous line )

[MESSAGE EDITED BY AUTHOR]

BTW: yes to clouds. They have to be a separate layer, a separate .png with transparency.

Then, if this is true, then:
1.- We make the surfate texture (a .png image)
2.- and after a new texture, that is only a cloudy transparent texture. (another png imege)

So, how can we indicate to the game that he must use both textures?
and
can we use gif format to make animated textures? I am just thinking in clouds in movement, or maybe lightning