Too few stars, too little space debris ?

Commander Burton · Post by **Commander Burton** » Thu May 22, 2008 7:03 pm

Is it just me ?

Seems awfully dark, not in the 'gamma/brightness/contrast' way but too 'empty'. Yes I know space is very empty when comparing matter to anti-matter etc but even so.

If this is merely my ignorance and I am missing something then please
tell me. If not, and perhaps some feel the same, are there any OXP's etc
that can help?

Thank you in advance.

Commander Mysenses · Post by **Commander Mysenses** » Thu May 22, 2008 9:48 pm

Sounds like you might have video card issues, I do too. I don't see space dust, unless flying toward the sun. Clearskies.OXP can help a little, you can edit the planetinfo.plist to up the ambient level to unrealistic values... mine's at 7 (I can pick out the station now).

Post by **another_commander** » Fri May 23, 2008 6:06 am

Just wait until 1.72 comes out. Special control variables for universal star and nebula densities are already in and working.

Just an example (a bit over the top, but you get the idea):

Commander McLane · Post by **Commander McLane** » Fri May 23, 2008 7:11 am

another_commander wrote:
Just wait until 1.72 comes out. Special control variables for universal star and nebula densities are already in and working.

Just an example (a bit over the top, but you get the idea):

...and if you don't see anything on these screenshots, at least we are sure that there is definitely an issue with your graphics card!

dalek501 · Post by **dalek501** » Fri May 23, 2008 8:51 am

Those screen shots look great. Can't wait to see system redux along with those nebulas!

Post by **another_commander** » Fri May 23, 2008 9:47 am

Small teaser:

Note that default behavior of the game will be to set up the stars and nebulae close to what they are now (starfield will be just slightly more dense). You will have to manually set the relevant multipliers in planetinfo.plist to achieve these effects. This essentially amounts to changing two numbers in a text file.

dalek501 · Post by **dalek501** » Fri May 23, 2008 10:55 am

It looks fantastic!

So, being a dunce and all that, just editing the text is as easy as editing the keyboard plist I did? Will it affect frame rate to increase the values, or is it that the stars and nebulas are always but there you just make them brighter?

Commander McLane · Post by **Commander McLane** » Fri May 23, 2008 11:00 am

Yes, it is just as easy. It's just a different plist you have to edit.

And according to my experiences many stars are unlikely to have an effect on the framerate. Many and large nebulas, however, do slow the game down considerably. If you install Ionics.oxp and visit Bebege in Galaxy 2, you will notice the effect immediatly.

dalek501 · Post by **dalek501** » Fri May 23, 2008 11:03 am

Ok so it will be a case of trying out different values to get the balance right. Cool. I'm looking forward to this update. The system redux made such a huge difference to realism, and I think this will too.

Post by **another_commander** » Fri May 23, 2008 11:05 am

Actually, realism takes a dive with this, but at least it looks drop dead gorgeous (depends on personal tastes, too).

dalek501 · Post by **dalek501** » Fri May 23, 2008 11:21 am

Yeah I think that's "realism" in a film sense I mean. Rather than actual factual realism!

Gareth3377 · Post by **Gareth3377** » Fri May 23, 2008 3:54 pm

Sod realism. I want lots of stars!

Only joking! The new/improved backgrounds look awesome. Just when you think Oolite has gone as far as it can go it goes and puts on a pair of new trousers.

Kudos!

FSOneblin · Post by **FSOneblin** » Fri May 23, 2008 5:18 pm

@ another_commander My god, it's full of stars! I can't wait till 1.72!

I've seen a space cloud in real life. It looks almost like the one's in the small teaser. Never pass up a chance to see the rhai nebula.

Don't panic: FSOneblin

Commander Burton · Post by **Commander Burton** » Mon May 26, 2008 7:18 pm

thank you for the responses

Post by **another_commander** » Wed May 28, 2008 6:26 am

For those with little patience to wait for 1.72, the following is the best that can be done with the current engine in order to increase starfield densities. The result is not exactly what you get with the upcoming 1.72 feature, but it should be good enough for now.

Before editing anything, back up your original files. If you get any problems/errors after editing, revert to the backup. If you are not sure how the following is done, better not mess with it at all.

Open your planetinfo.plist with a text editor and add the following, just before the final closing brace:

Code: Select all

universal =
	{
		sky_n_stars = 4800;
      sky_n_blurs = 1280;
	};

These values are the maximum acceptable by the engine. Anything higher will be clamped to these values. After adding this, restart Oolite with Shift pressed. You should be seeing increased populations of stars and nebulae on all systems. All systems will have the same number of stars and nebulae. Note that depending on your computer setup, performance may be affected, so be ready to adjust the values to something that both works OK and looks good enough for you.