Looking for a skybox artist...

[aubergine]

I'm working on a WZ 3.2 addon that will dynamically update the skybox based on time of day, weather, etc.

Some of my skybox experiments so far:

* Bunch of basic skyboxes
* First animated skybox test
* Second animated skybox test
* Animated nuclear explosion test

The experiments above are just trial runs to get some idea of what is possible, what looks good (or not), etc.

Goals of the project...

I'd like to create an API that allows scripters (and map makers, using a drop-in script) to choose and transition between the following skybox options:

* Location: Arizona, Rockies, Urban, Tropical (possibly more in future)
* Time: Basically what the sky looks like depending on time of day (based on Summer Solstice)
* Weather: Clear skies, mild clouds, cloudy, stormy, lightning strike, etc.

The skyboxes will be combined with several other JS API features, such as sun intensity (ambient/diffuse/specular light settings), sun position and weather (snow, rain, clear), and even audio effects (eg. thunder), resulting in a fairly comprehensive suite of tools to apply environmental effects to the game.

As an example of the level of detail involved, take twilight - the transition between night and day:



I'd want skybox images for each combination of location and weather type, through each phase of twilight.

What I need help with...

My testing so far has made me realise that to achieve the goals stated above, I'm going to need to find a 3D artist to create custom skybox images for me. I've dabbled with 3D stuff in the past and it's just not something I'm able to do well.

So, I'm looking for a 3D artist who can create realistic-looking skies, that seamlessly tile, for all the possible combinations of location/time/weather, and transitions to adjacent states (eg. if it's 11am and clear skies, then a storm is required, the skies would need to get more cloudy and grey over the next "hour" or so).

I thought I'd ask in this forum to see if anyone knows a good 3D artist capable of rendering out realistic 3D skies, and also someone who's got the patience of a saint as it will likely be a time consuming and often frustrating task.

Also, in Warzone 3.2 it's possible to stop the skybox rotating. This opens up the possibility to overlay distant mountains directly on to the skybox images, which can greatly improve the way the sky looks in-game (see this effect in action). So ideally the artist should also be able to create realistic distant mountain ranges too.

[Jorzi]

I'll begin by saying that I'm not yet sure how to accomplish this task in the first place, but I'm interested in giving it a try. The distant mountain ranges, however, should be a walk in the park

[Jorzi]

Did a simple skyline test, should be a precise 360 degree panorama projection.
Anyway, do you have the data on what exact type of projection you would like?

[aubergine]

The more I think about it, the more I believe we'll need separate models (a variant of feature objects) for clouds, sun, moon, halos, etc. Most of these would just be boxes with carefully crafted PNG textures wrapped around them. I'm currently in my cave extensively researching all the various elements and will report back...

[Shadow Wolf TJC]

In the meantime, it might be worth looking into using Photoshop, Microsoft Picture It!, or some other image-editing program, to create skyboxes using copy-pasted clouds (or layers of clouds), and having them move different distances for every new frame (much like how several 2D videogames, such as Sonic the Hedgehog, use different-scrolling background layers to convey a sense of depth to them).

[aubergine]

I was thinking about that but ultimately I think we'll need the ability to tilt the camera upwards so we can view the full sky (eg. to see if there's a halo around the sun in the sky above at noon).

I've just sent an email off to Manchester University (my local uni) as they have a division that studies atmospheric sciences, so if they reply I'll see if they have any suitable images, etc. There are a scary number of cloud forms, each causing and caused by different atmospheric conditions.

My hope is to get to a point where I can say "I'm here, I want this weather, what should the skies look like?" and have my API automagically create the relevant atmosphere and be able to transition that atmosphere to different states.

[Shadow Wolf TJC]

When adding new features to Warzone 2100, I believe that the devs prioritize gameplay over graphics, so they probably wouldn't add any new features if they wouldn't have any effect on gameplay. Speaking of, why would players need to look straight up in to the sky anyways?

[aubergine]

Weather can affect gameplay in numerous ways, from affecting propulsion and weapon damage, to knocking out the minimap for a few seconds if the HQ takes a lightning strike. Pro players will want their "intelligence screen" to help them optimise their strategy to the game ahead.

And besides, I estimate that there's many thousands of skirmish players who would like some extra eye candy. WZ gets 6k downloads a week on average, and that's just via sourceforge so the actual number is likely 10k or more. That's 520k downloads a year, so prolly a player base of around 250k people. How many of those play MP?

I think atmospheric conditions would not only add a lot of eye candy to the game (at a very low polycount expense) but would also enable a vast array of new gameplay dynamics. Things like day/night cycle, dense fog, etc., if implemented in an erudite manner, would bring a fresh new dynamic to the game. For example, some rarely used weapon classes would suddenly become very desirable in certain conditions.

[NoQ]

When adding new features to Warzone 2100, I believe that the devs prioritize gameplay over graphics

What is the most obvious change in 3.1 compared to 2.3? (: