Setting background stars & nebulas

[Cody]

Excellent. Have tried these settings out and they look nice.

Agreed!

[Knotty]

Thanks
Bit more tweaking:
Number of stars visible (ignoring the fact in game you're out of the atmosphere, but in direct sunlight etc) from Earth (ignoring what would happen in different parts of the galaxy) would be roughly 5,000 (possibly up to 9,000 magnitude 6.5 if you've got good eye sight)
ambient_level 0.1
I've tried to set the sun distance to 500, as it should be thumbnail size (at least from a planet in the goldilocks zone around a class G star), but doesn't seem to be any smaller that when set to 50. I've got corona_flare set at 0.8 and hues set at 0.1

Moons look great, but I think one effect that would help planets look more realistic would be reflection off the oceans, however I suspect this may push the system requirements into Pixar territory

[Cody]

I've tried to set the sun distance to 500, as it should be thumbnail size (at least from a planet in the goldilocks zone around a class G star), but doesn't seem to be any smaller that when set to 50.

Have you tried the  Sensible Sun OXP?

[Wildeblood]

I've tried to set the sun distance to 500, as it should be thumbnail size (at least from a planet in the goldilocks zone around a class G star), but doesn't seem to be any smaller that when set to 50.

Have you tried the  Sensible Sun OXP?

The entire contents of which is this:-

Code: Select all

{
"universal" = {
		"sun_distance_modifier" = 55.0; // Game default is 20.
		};
}

That's less of a change than Farsun, which is done by JS and equivalent to 60. In Orbits OXP there is a note from the author saying he uses Farsun with a multiplier of 9 instead of 3, which would be equivalent to a sun_distance_modifier of 180. I've put Sensible Sun and Farsun in together to check it was safe to do so, which is equivalent to a sun_distance_modifier of 165. That's fairly obvious. I'd say you should see the difference using sun_distance_modifier up to about 200; there doesn't seem much point in going higher than that.

[Eric Walch]

Moons look great, but I think one effect that would help planets look more realistic would be reflection off the oceans, however I suspect this may push the system requirements into Pixar territory

We don't need Pixar for that. In the current nighties, we already have oceans with a higher reflection than land masses. Sometime it looks wrong, for planets with green oceans and blue land, until you realise that the reflective part must be the ocean. In the past you just took for granted that the green part would be land and had it wrong in some cases.

[cim]

Thanks for those star colour settings - very nice effects.

Moons look great, but I think one effect that would help planets look more realistic would be reflection off the oceans, however I suspect this may push the system requirements into Pixar territory

With the new planet shader work it is possible, by adding specular highlights. I think you'd want the effect to be very subtle, though, or you'd get planets looking like space snooker balls. Have a look at the screenshots in https://bb.oolite.space/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=5997 if you haven't seen the work submersible is doing on this.

[Wildeblood]

In the current nighties...

I just tried out last night's r.5006. Plain grey, untextured planets. I did notice the way the sunrise crept across the planet's surface, though.

[another_commander]

I just tried out last night's r.5006. Plain grey, untextured planets. I did notice the way the sunrise crept across the planet's surface, though.

I think that Eric refers to submersible's branch, which is not exactly the same code tree the nightlies are built from. For now, you have to compile that branch manually in order to see planet shader effects.

[Knotty]

Thanks, Yep, Sensible sun started me off!
Not seen submersible's shots, look great, although the atmosphere glow looks odd.

[Eric Walch]

I think that Eric refers to submersible's branch, which is not exactly the same code tree the nightlies are built from. For now, you have to compile that branch manually in order to see planet shader effects.

No, I was referring to the normal nighties, but without any planet retexturing oxp installed. Than the planets already have nice look. On retextiring with custom textures, the atmosphere becomes a bit opaqe

[Capt. Murphy]

OK, what I have now is this:

Code: Select all

{
universal =
	{	
		"sky_rgb_colors" = "1.0 0.7 0.7 1.0 1.0 1.0";
		"star_count_multiplier" = "60.0";
	};
	
}

I get a hell of a lot more stars than your screenshot shows with "star_count_multiplier" = "60.0";. Along with a big performance hit. Frame rate in the 50s to 60s rather than the normal 99.

[Wildeblood]

I get a hell of a lot more stars than your screenshot shows with "star_count_multiplier" = "60.0";. Along with a big performance hit. Frame rate in the 50s to 60s rather than the normal 99.

Star count varies from system to system, and the higher the multiplier value, the more it should vary. Your screenshot is meaningless unless it was made in the same system as JazHaz's. If you want less variation (either always a lot or always a few), set a value for sky_n_stars, not star_count_multiplier.

IIRC JazHaz started experimenting with the settings because he found a particular system with too few, too red stars. I keep saying people should be wary of messing with the universal settings, but my pleas keep falling on deaf ears.

[JazHaz]

IIRC JazHaz started experimenting with the settings because he found a particular system with too few, too red stars. I keep saying people should be wary of messing with the universal settings, but my pleas keep falling on deaf ears.

Yes, thats right, not many stars and all red. I'm in [wiki] [/wiki]Usqurave in Galaxy 2.

EDIT: I am wary of using the universal settings, however I do want more stars in every system, not just in Usqurave.

[Wildeblood]

Check this out:-



No stars. Completely black sky, except for some nebulas. Not a single star. None. Zero. No fiddling with the sky settings at all, just part of Oolite's variation from system to system.

[Pleb]

No stars. Completely black sky, except for some nebulas. Not a single star. None. Zero. No fiddling with the sky settings at all, just part of Oolite's variation from system to system.

Whoa, like that episode of Star Trek Voyager where they go to the void and there's no stars... I've noticed that in a few systems, thought it was just my computer's crappy graphics.