Scaled geoscape backgrounds

[Hythlodaeus]

That's just how the background was ripped with a sprite tool. Obviously the globe is meant to go away.

[AMX]

By the way, this counts as derivative artwork, methinks. It could be included in the original package.

Derivative, yes.
But it's not exactly transformative.
I wouldn't want to risk it.

[54x]

Nice work

But you know we already have hd graphics for basebits? And for everything else?

https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,892.0.html

Ah, right, I hadn't viewed the pack myself before. I'm actually doing something that's engine-ready right now, and there'll be minimal original art in it, it'll be a straight scaling of the original artwork at 3x resolution. (or 2x as well, perhaps) This should make the geoscape, interception, and basescape stuff a bit less ridiculous to look at at high resolution. I figure UFOpaedia and screens like that can fend for themselves, however.

My stuff will have a sharp HQ2x-ish look to it, as I have to stick to the original palette if we want it to just be plug and play.

The starfield has more colours and is more detailed.

Ah, I'll have a look at applying the same colour stuff to the original image, as it will scale more easily than the amiga version- might as well pretty it up because as you point out, it is VERY purple, and some white in there couldn't hurt.

So we have a Full set now? Lets activate HD then

Nope, initially I was only doing the geoboard for Warboy so that higher resolutions weren't so ridiculous. The basebits file is still in progress. (you can tell because some bits are straight-up 3x blowups of the original art, wheras others are smoothly shaded or artistically re-interpretted a bit to look good in 3x resolutions. Compare the crafts with the weapon cards, or the soldier graphic, or compare the small radar (which is complete, other than a tweak to that thing to the right that I've now decided is a box) to the large radar, and you'll see what I still have to finish.

Derivative, yes.
But it's not exactly transformative.
I wouldn't want to risk it.

Yeah this isn't original artwork so it would be something you'd plug in independently.

I can add "original hi-res geoscape artwork" to my spriting to-do list, but it's already pretty large.

[Volutar]

I woulnd't mind if that would be purely black background behind the Earth. I don't think that background can be copyrighted or derived
And moreover, it could be scaled to any size without any problems, and would look okay.

[pmprog]

Or you (anyone, someone) could try and write a procedural generator to create a space themed background at any resolution desired

[Volutar]

that's the option too... number of "stars" sprites and algorithms.

[AMX]

The truely insane among us might go so far as to suggest rendering an astronomically correct background, accounting for date and viewpoint - maybe it would be possible to borrow from Stellarium or a similar project...

[54x]

Or you (anyone, someone) could try and write a procedural generator to create a space themed background at any resolution desired

Oh, we can easily do an alternative sprite for the background, it's probably easier to do that and make it fit into the image than to actually code in the relevant stars. (note: given the geoscape palette, purple, black, and white are really the only colours that will provide adequate contrast to the globe)

Or you (anyone, someone) could try and write a procedural generator to create a space themed background at any resolution desired

Yeah alternatively we could just model the starfield from earth, and rotate it as well as you move the geoscape camera.

[luke83]

Yeah alternatively we could just model the starfield from earth, and rotate it as well as you move the geoscape camera.

I like this idea but lets not make it "Real World"accurate, lets just expand the existing background with matching artwork into a a big space-scape that rotates when you move the camera, then its stays true to the original yet expanding the concept at the same time.

[54x]

I like this idea but lets not make it "Real World"accurate, lets just expand the existing background with matching artwork into a a big space-scape that rotates when you move the camera, then its stays true to the original yet expanding the concept at the same time.

Oh, so like, texturing the inside of a sphere? Okay, how would we need to do that?

[luke83]

??

[pmprog]

It's called a Skybox. You see it in FPS's all the time - even Doom and Duke3D

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skybox_%28video_games%29

I don't know the algorithms to work, but that's what you're after

[Yankes]

I think better is draw only stars, Skybox or "sky sphere" is possible in openxcom (I did once something like that to texturing globe) but require lot of memory to work property (probably up to 100MiB for sky bitmap). Without it you will see big pixels in bigger resolutions. Filtering will not help because limitation of 8bit and if we will use 32bit this will kill cpu on bigger screen resolution.

[54x]

I think better is draw only stars, Skybox or "sky sphere" is possible in openxcom (I did once something like that to texturing globe) but require lot of memory to work property (probably up to 100MiB for sky bitmap). Without it you will see big pixels in bigger resolutions. Filtering will not help because limitation of 8bit and if we will use 32bit this will kill cpu on bigger screen resolution.

We don't need a particularly big skybox as the issue isn't making it seem far away, (as there's no relative movement involved) but rather the scene changing as we rotate around the planet. (and possibly also with consideration to the time of the year)