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Too few stars, too little space debris ?

Posted: Thu May 22, 2008 7:03 pm
by Commander Burton
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.

Posted: Thu May 22, 2008 9:48 pm
by Commander Mysenses
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).

Posted: Fri May 23, 2008 6:06 am
by another_commander
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):
Image Image

Posted: Fri May 23, 2008 7:11 am
by Commander McLane
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):
Image Image
...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!

Posted: Fri May 23, 2008 8:51 am
by dalek501
Those screen shots look great. Can't wait to see system redux along with those nebulas! :D

Posted: Fri May 23, 2008 9:47 am
by another_commander
Small teaser:
Image Image Image Image

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.

Posted: Fri May 23, 2008 10:55 am
by dalek501
It looks fantastic! :D

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?

Posted: Fri May 23, 2008 11:00 am
by Commander McLane
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.

Posted: Fri May 23, 2008 11:03 am
by dalek501
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.

Posted: Fri May 23, 2008 11:05 am
by another_commander
Actually, realism takes a dive with this, but at least it looks drop dead gorgeous (depends on personal tastes, too).

Posted: Fri May 23, 2008 11:21 am
by dalek501
Yeah I think that's "realism" in a film sense I mean. Rather than actual factual realism!

Posted: Fri May 23, 2008 3:54 pm
by Gareth3377
Sod realism. I want lots of stars! :D

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!

Posted: Fri May 23, 2008 5:18 pm
by FSOneblin
@ 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

Posted: Mon May 26, 2008 7:18 pm
by Commander Burton
thank you for the responses

Posted: Wed May 28, 2008 6:26 am
by another_commander
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.