Space Skybox UDK

Maxim · Apr 2011

Hey, I am currently making a space scene but am running into trouble making the skybox. I am wanting to achieve this type of result.

[ame]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TpnMBPsH1Ic&feature=related[/ame]

I believe he is using the source engine so I figured there might be differences.

Here are a few questions/problems that I have come across.

- When I use the skybox I can see the corners of the cube, so instead of feeling like space it feels like your in a box with stars painted on the side. I have really tried to get it seamless as well.

-I have the planet made already, but now I am thinking about being able to paint it on one of the sides of the skybox. Do you think that would achieve better results?

-In the video the guy uses 6 2048x2048 textures. I dont know how to pull that off in the UDK. The only solution that I know of is to unwrap it like this but I feel like that would make my texture sizes way to large. *not my texture*

Does anyone know of any solutions or different ways I can approach doing this?

Sean VanGorder · Apr 2011

You may want to look into using a sphere instead of a box. I tried doing something like this a while ago and achieved pretty decent results that way.

Xoliul · Apr 2011

You don't need UV coordinates to map the cubemap onto the box. The way cubemaps UV's are passed are like rays shot inside a sphere, from the center out. The pixel they hit is returned (not the technically correct way to explain it, but just so you understand it).
So you can just use the Eyevector as UV input for the cubemap and then use that

It's what I did for my space scene.

oh this does mean you have to split your texture up into 6 separate textures, and then turn them into a TextureCube resource in UDK (getting the orientation correct is annoying). So you could use 6 2048's for that, but I think 1024's would work too.

Btw, try using this, meng:http://alexcpeterson.com/spacescape (best find i ever did for my space scene)

Maxim · Apr 2011

Can you mind elaborating on the eye vector input. Cant seem to find it.

[iWi] · Apr 2011

look here - I'm sure ,it helps You :

http://www.3dmotive.com/product-skydome

Maxim · Apr 2011

Ya, its a great tutorial, big fan of the 3dmotive stuff. Unfortunately is not really what I need. I either need a cube or a full sphere to get the illusion of space. I am still trying to find the eye vector input, so far what I have tried is a camera vector with a cubemap param which gives me kind of what I am looking for but it still has the edges of the box. I tried putting it through a clamp node because I have read somewhere that it usually helps because by default its set to wrap.

Xoliul · Apr 2011

Hey man, it really is this simple:

You can see how the preview cube just acts as a "window" through which you see the seamless cubemap.

Sean VanGorder · Apr 2011

That's a really nice effect Xoliul, I'll have to try it out.

Space Skybox UDK

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