Doom3world

Install it as normal into the doom3\skybox folder so the pk4 file is in there. Then start up doom3, go to the mod menu and select the 'skybox' mod from the menu. After selecting and starting that mod, run the map by typing 'map sky_box' into the console. That should do it.

You need to extract the archive into your D3 directory, keeping path-names... so it'll create a subdir in C:\doom3\ called "skybox". Then, you load "skybox" up as a mod... and then it'll work.

Edit: Oops.. BR beat me to it.

G

Worked great for me.
Unzipped into d:\doom3
fire up doom3
hit mod button
pick skybox
then bring down console and map sky_box

FPS stays at 60 as I walk round ( or should that be paddle )

I just threw the pk4 into base and loaded the map. Ran very nicely, locked at 60 although appeared a little over-bright or washed out.

Either way, seems like an awesome technique. Good work.

Gamma/brightness really is one of the most system dependant problems there is. What looks crisp and sharp on one system can look bland and washed out on another. There's really no fix for it other than letting people manually adjust their gamma/brightness settings according to an image to make sure they are getting the experience that the developer wanted them to have.

I can give an example, a screen like this should be used by every game/mod. I know we'll certainly put one into the Hexen TC.

Heh, I tried lowering my brightness too... just seemed that it was too bright. I use a TFT though, maybe it's that? By the way, my brightness seems about right according to the posted image (I know it was just an example).

[edit]
Hmm, also depends on the angle I'm looking at it from heh.

Lol.. some people swear by TFT but I wouldn't trade my Sony Trinitron for the world.

If you extracted it using the path information in the zip, it will have created a directory under Doom3 called skybox. This needs to be selected from the mod menu in-game. Then you type in map sky_box. Works fine.

EDIT: lol - you have to be quick around here. I don't think Sizer will be left in any doubt as to what to do



BloodRayne. - that looks bloody fantastic. I'm guessing this will become the default technique for outside maps from now on

I also had brightness issues and turned it down in-game until it looked right. Steady 60FPS too. When you walk to the edge it will make you feel a bit sea-sick though....

Implemented it into one of the Hexen maps now as well. With some tweaking, almost any effect can be gotten. From lucious space backdrops from hubble pictures to rainy and cloudy skies such as these.

Those shots are gorgeous man... I'm as excited about your mod as I am the D3CDIT mod... which, given the hours I'm willing to throw at it, says a lot.

Actually, I look forward to a few key D3 mods more than I do new game releases... and yours is one of them.

Wewt, it works. Thanks for the help.

This looks really nice btw. Both the water and the skybox. 1600x1200 HQ at a constant 60 FPS. From what I've read I imagine you could scale this up even further and still not deck performance?

Thanks, I'm looking forward to D3CDIT as well! Too bad you're not a member of the EOC team.

Just to show another use of this sky method off here's two more screenies where the rain comes out nicely:

I must have missed this thread. This looks really nice. Good work BloodRayne.

Looking great.

The water didn't look too bad. I actually liked it. But, I agree it could probably be better with a little tweaking.

How difficult is it to have a larger dome? And what are the performance implications of a larger dome?

I'm using a dome that is 2x as large as the one BloodRayne has made available in his testmap for the D3CDIT project. The performance differences are negligible/non-existant between the two, as far as I can tell. I'm using the same-sized textures, so the only diff is the size of the mesh.

G

I think pbmax brought it up but I do see an issue with the clouds not deforming based on perspective like you can do now with normal skies. This probably wouldn't be as much of an issue if all the areas close to the horizon were blocked off by buildings or something...

EDIT: Btw, me and another guy are currently working on a proper fresnel effected water shader for people to use. It should be released soon

thats brilliant, I ran for ages right up to the side it remided me of the truman show

maybe if you squashed down the sphere on the z-axis and cut it further up from center it might give the perspective a bit more distance, but how it is now looks great

Absolutely. There's many ways to optimize this. I am planning to expand on this a lot. Like having a sun in there, which works via a deform sprite/add/blend mode. And I want to add extra planets in the skyline that slowly float and revolve around each other, perhaps a milkyway, behind the clouds and all dynamic. The more I test with this method, the more I believe that anything is possible at any resolution...

Skies like this should be absolutely possible:
http://www.plainsfolk.com/seminar/weblo ... %20Sky.jpg

Our swampmap is already looking close to this:

Yeah, I agree with mikebart, for a quick fix to the perspective of the clouds at the horizon issue (if you can get close enough, or be able to see the horizon, which I'm afraid you nearly can from the top of my block in the D3CDIT project), keep the dome hape but just pull the sides out and down, so you end up with a very wide dome, but no higher than it is at present.

I think this should work as, afterall, this is what clouds do in real life.


To Bloodrayne
If you can get all that working, this will probably be one of the most important tools for the D3 mod community created so far, as it enables kinds of maps before D3 had no hope of ever convincingly creating, i.e. outdoor maps, and not just outdoor maps that are in a tiny little ditch on Mars. You never know, you may get an email from Raven requesting they use it in Q4.

thats the only thing i saw wrong with this method. since you are using a round dome, the cloud textures will not decrease in size as they moves toward the "horizon". i suggested using a HUGE single flat poly instead. someone else mentioned squishing the dome so the sides are further away like this shape 0 instead of this shape O.

however, a round dome would be best for planetary and celestial objects.

perhaps you could combine the two? what do you think???