[WIP] High quality skyboxes

[Quanon 263]

White Windows with a touch of yellow would probably ne best. Again just as they are seen above^^

 

Edit: I have no idea how much work it'd be but a second model with only a single house to fill gaps would be really useful, so I thought I'd ask you ir you want to make one^^

 

Well, I'll check out the other street areas, I think they might have different background buildings then those used in the apartment skyboxes.

 

Quick question; can you use different .obj files in your Terragen? Or do I have to put all the buildings into one file?

 

Should the coloring of the windows somewhat reflect the whatever the color of the sky?

 

In the game I get the impression the windows are 'glowing'. But, yeah, realistically there should be some reflection.

I know how to get that in 3Ds Max, but I don't think that will get exported in a .obj file. Which Terragen uses.

 

I'll have to do some homework on that matter.

[Kexikus 995]

Well, I'll check out the other street areas, I think they might have different background buildings then those used in the apartment skyboxes.

 

Quick question; can you use different .obj files in your Terragen? Or do I have to put all the buildings into one file?

 

Thanks for looking into that.

And yes, I can use as many .obj files as I want. More would also be better for additional variety when randomly placing the models, but as long as it's only a few buildings in one file, like in the screenshot you posted yesterday, it's perfect.

[Quanon 263]

Minor update;

 

I've checked the other Taris models. Looks like Bioware only used 1 model, copied that around and just altered the scale.

I also got some nice textures from Jorak Uln, so the skybox will match nicely with his new high quality textures

 

What I find odd, is that the flat buildings in the further distance clearly show Bioware had other models. I'll see what I can do to replicate those in a new set of models.
I think some variety would be great.

 

I'll keep you updated on how things are shaping up

 

And I love the Kotor modding scene, pooling resources together for better results! Love that stuff!

[Kexikus 995]

Some variety would definetly be great. If you need some more inspiration for different building designs, I'd recommend this concept:

 

 

 

 

I don't know what it is exactly, you plan to do, but I thought I'd just post this picture^^

 

Also, I'll try to finish the Dantooine skybox this weekend (if I find some time between my Witcher sessions xD) and possibly start the Unknown World. We'll see...

[Quanon 263]

Quick render of the buildings so far. I've been trying to apply the CM_Baremetal shaders to the textures in 3Ds Max.
I think I'm close to what it looks like in the game so far. Though I've no idea if this will work in Terragen. 

 

Only one way to find out, check your PM-box Kexikus

[Kexikus 995]

I did indeed find the time to finish the Dantooine skybox (or the green version at least). I might still darken the sun a bit, since it's still really, really bright, but everything else is done.

 

And to celebrate this step towards a finished product, here's a screenshot for you

[Sithspecter 909]

Looks very interesting with the larger hills and peaks in the distance. Overall, it looks good though perhaps the grass could use just a slight bit less saturation (5-10%), or that same percentage shift toward yellow.

[VarsityPuppet 1,085]

This looks great! I expect similar quality for TSL

[Kexikus 995]

Looks very interesting with the larger hills and peaks in the distance. Overall, it looks good though perhaps the grass could use just a slight bit less saturation (5-10%), or that same percentage shift toward yellow.

 

Do you mean the grass seen in the skybox or all of the grass?

[Ninko 64]

I love that so far, yet the grass seen in the game looks a bit too green

[Kexikus 995]

It seems like my last picture caused some confusion, so let me clear that up.

The green grass of the module itself is NOT part of this mod, but comes from "Green Grass for Dantooine" and since I use that mod, I also made a skybox with grass colours matching the ones in this mod. But this will only be an optional download for those who also use the green grass mod. The main download will include a Dantooine skybox with orange/brown grass as seen in vanilla.

 

The vanilla version is simply not done yet, meaning that I can only show the green version.

[Quanon 263]

Here's a tiny preview on an extra building I'm making. Took some cues from that concept art piece of Taris.

What you guys think? To wide?

 

 

 

[L0ki194 82]

Here's a tiny preview on an extra building I'm making. Took some cues from that concept art piece of Taris.

What you guys think? To wide?

 

 

 

I think it looks just fine. Maybe shorten the width of the building a little bit.

 

 

I did indeed find the time to finish the Dantooine skybox (or the green version at least). I might still darken the sun a bit, since it's still really, really bright, but everything else is done.

 

And to celebrate this step towards a finished product, here's a screenshot for you

I'm liking what I'm seeing! That's an interesting take on the way Dantooine is in terms of it's land-scapes.

[Jorak Uln 458]

Here's a tiny preview on an extra building I'm making. Took some cues from that concept art piece of Taris.

What you guys think? To wide?

 

 

 

Great idea! Im really impressed in which direction its going! 

If its too wide or not is difficult to tell though, since i dont know at which position you want to place it... however im totally excited how Taris will look when everythings finished....

[Ninko 64]

Here's a tiny preview on an extra building I'm making. Took some cues from that concept art piece of Taris.

What you guys think? To wide?

 

 

 

 

 

I really like the look of those buildings Quanon, I am excited to see this skybox when completed

[Kexikus 995]

Here's a tiny preview on an extra building I'm making. Took some cues from that concept art piece of Taris.

What you guys think? To wide?

 

 

 

 

That looks amazing

And I don't think it's too wide.

[Quanon 263]

The building has been adjusted. IMO, the middle section between the towers looked a bit fat so to say. So I cut out a section and continued to texture it fully. It just needs an adjustment to the windows. Compared to the other buildings they looks a bit big

 

I've also already started to constructed another type of building. I might do a second one in that style. To get some consistancy overall.

Perhaps I should make these into placeables and put them in the game to, up close like the other buildings?

 

Anyway, here's another sneak peek

 

 

 

[Kexikus 995]

The building has been adjusted. IMO, the middle section between the towers looked a bit fat so to say. So I cut out a section and continued to texture it fully. It just needs an adjustment to the windows. Compared to the other buildings they looks a bit big

 

I've also already started to constructed another type of building. I might do a second one in that style. To get some consistancy overall.

Perhaps I should make these into placeables and put them in the game to, up close like the other buildings?

 

Anyway, here's another sneak peek

 

 

 

 

I might repeat myself, but that looks amazing xD

 

About placing them ingame: I'll just post the random idea I had when I read your post, not knowing if it's possible at all^^

The idea is to place 3d buildings all around the walkable module and behind those the 2d building texture and even further away the skybox. That would add even more depth to the cityscape than any background texture ever could. But as I said, I don't even know if that's possible, so I'll leave it up to you but I wouldn't mind a combined "Taris Backdrop Improvement" release that includes more 3d buildings as well as new background textures

[L0ki194 82]

Niiice, Quanon! It's good to see Taris getting this kind of improvements. The Wider Building looks better now.

[VarsityPuppet 1,085]

Looks bangin' as usual, Quanon.

 

Export those mofo's and we can add them to the scenery!

 

EDIT: By which I mean, make some area models. Would certainly add some depth to the area in addition to making the skybox look beautiful

[Quanon 263]

I might repeat myself, but that looks amazing xD

 

About placing them ingame: I'll just post the random idea I had when I read your post, not knowing if it's possible at all^^

The idea is to place 3d buildings all around the walkable module and behind those the 2d building texture and even further away the skybox. That would add even more depth to the cityscape than any background texture ever could. But as I said, I don't even know if that's possible, so I'll leave it up to you but I wouldn't mind a combined "Taris Backdrop Improvement" release that includes more 3d buildings as well as new background textures

 

If we are adding extra 3D buildings, I would get rid of those 2D buildings or add a new ring of 2d buildings further out. Else it's going to look a bit off. I'll see if I can't reconstruct the basic layout of the Taris area models. It'll be easier to get coordinates for said building placeables, less guessing and testing back and forth. It should also get us good idea of what scales we'll need to pull of a nice depth "feeling'.

 

I guess that means I need to make some simpler versions of said buildings to be used in the far distance. No need for tiny details on tiny buildings far away

 

 

Looks bangin' as usual, Quanon.

 

Export those mofo's and we can add them to the scenery!

 

EDIT: By which I mean, make some area models. Would certainly add some depth to the area in addition to making the skybox look beautiful

 

How would we best setup such a mod, for best compatibilty? I'm no expert in this; most of my mods are dead simple

 

@Everyone, thanks for the nice comments!

[Kexikus 995]

If we are adding extra 3D buildings, I would get rid of those 2D buildings or add a new ring of 2d buildings further out. Else it's going to look a bit off. I'll see if I can't reconstruct the basic layout of the Taris area models. It'll be easier to get coordinates for said building placeables, less guessing and testing back and forth. It should also get us good idea of what scales we'll need to pull of a nice depth "feeling'.

 

I guess that means I need to make some simpler versions of said buildings to be used in the far distance. No need for tiny details on tiny buildings far away

 

I don't think that more than one additional ring of 3d buildings and a few layers of 2d buildings behind them would be enough. More 3d buildings would probably look even better but I don't know how well the engine could handle them :/

One issue could also be that the skybox is actually pretty close to the walkable area so there might not even be enough space to add more 3d buildings unless you'd make it bigger and that would require editing of the area module I guess?

[VarsityPuppet 1,085]

 

How would we best setup such a mod, for best compatibilty? I'm no expert in this; most of my mods are dead simple

 

@Everyone, thanks for the nice comments!

 

Well, I think it'd mainly consist of throwing the models in the override, updating the .vis and the .lyt for the relevant areas.

 

 

 

One issue could also be that the skybox is actually pretty close to the walkable area so there might not even be enough space to add more 3d buildings unless you'd make it bigger and that would require editing of the area module I guess?

 

 

How close is it actually? That'd be a real bummer if it was too close to add the 3d models comfortably. I guess I could crack open 3dsMax

[Kexikus 995]

How close is it actually? That'd be a real bummer if it was too close to add the 3d models comfortably. I guess I could crack open 3dsMax

 

I don't know how close it is, but it felt pretty close. More 3d buildings would probably work but if you want several layers of 2d buildings behind them, that could be a problem.

[Kexikus 995]

Last weekend I started working on the terrain for the Unknown World and today I got to a presentable version, so here it is^^

 

 

Let me know what you think (clouds, a moon and the giant shipwreck seen in the vanilla skybox will be added later).