How to make a sky? - TTLG Forums

bukary on 4/3/2005 at 15:13

I cannot get the skybox to work.
All the time I have strange artifacts in the sky:

Inline Image:

http://thief-forum.ehost.pl/files/sky1.jpg

Does anyone have working sky in his/her level? Short tutorial would be great... :)

rewclough on 4/3/2005 at 15:24

I got a skybox working by following one of the often linked unreal tutorials: (http://www.planetunreal.com/architectonic/tutorials/first_level_part8.html)

bukary on 4/3/2005 at 23:03

Quote Posted by rewclough

I got a skybox working by following one of the often linked unreal tutorials: (http://www.planetunreal.com/architectonic/tutorials/first_level_part8.html)

I was also following some Unreal tutorials, but the problem is that my skybox works, yet some strange artifacts can be seen in the sky... :weird: BTW, the sky in the game (original maps) looks perfectly OK. I must be missing something obvious.

What texture did you use for the sky?

Twist on 4/3/2005 at 23:18

I could be wrong, but from your screenshot it looks you might not be using a fake backdrop -- that you just have a cloud texture inside a large a subtracted cube.

Or you're not using an appropriate texture above the cloud layer in your skybox.

Again, I'm just guessing from your screenshot. Either way, try patiently stepping through the tutorial rewclough linked in his post. That should set you straight. :thumb:

Rosd on 5/3/2005 at 02:38

From the looks of it, your skybox is just that, a box with a cloud texture. Not very visually appealing to have sharp edges in your sky, is it? :D

If you look at any of the maps that shipped with the game, their skyboxes actually have a round (or ovalish) staticmesh that has a cloud texture on it, and then another bigger circle behind that for stars if needed. Having your textures on a curved surface makes them look seamless, unlike the effect you're having.

Of course, to make things easier on you you could just copy a skybox over from another level if you wanted to use as a base.

rewclough on 5/3/2005 at 11:45

Same here, I had a subtracted cube, texture didnt matter. With the star dome static mesh, actually a sphere really. With the skyinfo actor in the center. Seems too produce a decent effect. Like twist says, be sure to select your "sky" surfaces and check "fake back drop" in the surface properties box.

bukary on 5/3/2005 at 15:53

Thank you for all the tips! The skybox works now.

I had everything set up correctly. The problem was the light source. It was too close to the 'sky'.

I have one more question: how can I make moving clouds? The sky is static now.

jermi on 5/3/2005 at 21:16

Static Mesh / Properties / Render / Texture Pan worked for me, used on a Cloud Layer. That won't work with BSP surfaces, though.