Stars versus landscapes as backgrounds + videos

[qub...@googlemail.com]

I think the "I'm standing in the middle of a field" or "I'm standing
at the top of a mountain" feeling that I get from having a landscape
background is too weird to enjoy in an ultra-sci-fi-looking racing
game. :) I suggest using something more sci-fi like !space! textures.

I replaced the bg textures of one level with this <http://
blendout.svn.sourceforge.net/viewvc/blendout/branches/irrlichttest/
media/testtrack/texture/stars.jpg?view=log> stars texture. Look at the
difference! :)
Before http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cfY5WHL548A
After http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXcwKnffcOI

I think stars+nice nebulae would look best. I unfortunately do not
know what software can be of help with that. Stellarium maybe, but
rather than simulating our sky, it would be nice to have some
fictional colorful clouds and stars around..

[James Legg]

On Mon, 2010-01-04 at 14:02 -0800, qub...@gmail.com wrote:
> I think the "I'm standing in the middle of a field" or "I'm standing
> at the top of a mountain" feeling that I get from having a landscape
> background is too weird to enjoy in an ultra-sci-fi-looking racing
> game. :) I suggest using something more sci-fi like !space! textures.

That could work better.

> I replaced the bg textures of one level with this <http://
> blendout.svn.sourceforge.net/viewvc/blendout/branches/irrlichttest/
> media/testtrack/texture/stars.jpg?view=log> stars texture. Look at the
> difference! :)
> Before http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cfY5WHL548A
> After http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXcwKnffcOI
>
> I think stars+nice nebulae would look best. I unfortunately do not
> know what software can be of help with that. Stellarium maybe, but
> rather than simulating our sky, it would be nice to have some

> fictional colorful clouds and stars around...

I'll give it a go. I'll try using Blender, with a particle effect for
stars and procedural texture nebulae and clouds.

-James

[Khaos]

> I'll give it a go. I'll try using Blender, with a particle effect for
> stars and procedural texture nebulae and clouds.
>
> -James

Recently found this:
Creating a Starfield with nebula (html) (v 2.49)
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blender-tuts/~3/53-yMrriXAI/

I thought of making some cars or something else for Racer. As I am
kinda noob to Blender, I cant promise the models will be worth
contributing, but at least it will be some training for me. Are there
any specifications already known?

[James Legg]

On Tue, 2010-01-12 at 12:10 -0800, Khaos wrote:
> > I'll give it a go. I'll try using Blender, with a particle effect for
> > stars and procedural texture nebulae and clouds.
> >
> > -James
>
> Recently found this:
> Creating a Starfield with nebula (html) (v 2.49)
> http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blender-tuts/~3/53-yMrriXAI/

Thanks for the link.

Halos don't work that well on a cube face sky. They do not distort
properly at the edges of the image, leaving a seam along the cube edges.
I can do the same but use billboard particles instead though.

> I thought of making some cars or something else for Racer. As I am
> kinda noob to Blender, I cant promise the models will be worth
> contributing, but at least it will be some training for me. Are there
> any specifications already known?

I've just written this page:
http://sourceforge.net/apps/mediawiki/racer/index.php?title=Making_cars
which should help with making cars.

I should write a page on making themes for the courses too.

-James

[qub...@googlemail.com]

> I should write a page on making themes for the courses too.

I think approve of this idea. :)

[qub...@googlemail.com]

I saw the new backgrounds. Good job! :)

The stars are hard to spot (regarding the speed of gameplay) but that
is not necessarily bad.