Opinion on Planets

[Raging Deadstar]

Been Playing around with photoshop and i decided to make a few planets for the Imagemod.

http://69.56.133.54:81/threads/uploads/285831-allplanets.jpg

Left to Right - An Ice Oxygen Huge Planet, An Ice Oxygen Large, A Rock Oxygen Medium, A Rock Methane Huge, A Rock Co2 Huge and a Hydrogen Rock Huge Planet.

Opinions welcome on this http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif We always need more planets http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/tongue.gif

[primitive]

Yummy

[Slynky]

Yeah, they look nice! You using a plug-in or just "doing it the hard way"?

[Raging Deadstar]

I'm Using Lunarcell, a filter that lets you create planets extremely easily.

I could do it the hard way but considering i plan to make a lot of these it's a lot easier to use this filter. I can pretty much make a planet every 3-5 minutes with it. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

I personally don't care that i'm using the very easy way, as long as it looks good http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/tongue.gif

EDIT: By the way, I never mentioned but i'm planning on making around 5 Planets for each Type. E.g. Ice Oxygen Huge - 5 New Planets, Ice Oxygen Large - 5 New Planets and so on. It will give Fyron either a big smile for FQM Deluxe or a headache http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/laugh.gif Also should give modders a lot more options

[Fyron]

Maybe instead of even amounts, you could create amounts to fill the voids in the Image Mod? Currently, there is a wild imbalance in the number of custom planet images of each type... it would be great to bring it back to the stock SE4 balance between planet types and atmospheres... http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif

[Slynky]

Raging Deadstar said:
I'm Using Lunarcell, a filter that lets you create planets extremely easily.

I could do it the hard way but considering i plan to make a lot of these it's a lot easier to use this filter. I can pretty much make a planet every 3-5 minutes with it. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

I personally don't care that i'm using the very easy way, as long as it looks good http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/tongue.gif




Oh, don't worry, I've NEVER been one to do it the "old fashioned way" when there is an easier way to do it.

[Suicide Junkie]

Well, personally, Number 3 looks like a CO2 planet, rather than oxy, since its so green.

The planets themselves, are beautiful.

[Gandalf Parker]

Imperator Fyron said:
Maybe instead of even amounts, you could create amounts to fill the voids in the Image Mod? Currently, there is a wild imbalance in the number of custom planet images of each type... it would be great to bring it back to the stock SE4 balance between planet types and atmospheres... http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif



I had an idea although its way off course...
What if the images were monochrome patterns and the type/atmospheres connected to VGA color ranges? It would allow the same feel but with much more variety. A swirled medium sized planet might be image9. The map could record image9, color 1, color 2, atmosphere, etc, etc. If an image9 is displayed with blues and greens then its oxygen, shades of purple for methane, shades of orange for carbon dioxide, etc etc.

That would allow for alot of planet variance with the same files. Possibly even a sliding quality ties in with sliding colors ranges (perfect green and perfect blue would be optimal oxygen). It could also reflect a "closeness" to another type. Its a rotten oxygen planet but its close to methane and quickly converted (the scale of blue/green to purple)

[Renegade 13]

Very very nice! The cratering pattern on the far right planet (the Huge Rock Hydrogen) almost looks like that of the moon!

I'm looking forward to seeing more of your great creations. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

[Fyron]

Gandalf Parker said:
I had an idea although its way off course...
What if the images were monochrome patterns and the type/atmospheres connected to VGA color ranges? It would allow the same feel but with much more variety. A swirled medium sized planet might be image9. The map could record image9, color 1, color 2, atmosphere, etc, etc. If an image9 is displayed with blues and greens then its oxygen, shades of purple for methane, shades of orange for carbon dioxide, etc etc.

That would allow for alot of planet variance with the same files. Possibly even a sliding quality ties in with sliding colors ranges (perfect green and perfect blue would be optimal oxygen). It could also reflect a "closeness" to another type. Its a rotten oxygen planet but its close to methane and quickly converted (the scale of blue/green to purple)

I dunno... very few planet images look good as a different atmosphere just with different colors...

[David E. Gervais]

Raging Deadstar said:
I'm Using Lunarcell, a filter that lets you create planets extremely easily.



FYI, I purchased the 'Space Bundle' from Flamingpear.com at xmas. It has been what I use for the backgrounds of my artwork and renderings. Did you know that when you make your planets there is an option to save all psp layers. This function basically combines all the layers and makes a texture map perfect for use in Starfury or Se5. (the texture mapped onto the planet spheres in the game.)

So if you export your settings when you make a good planet, you can come back and export a texture map to use in se5 when you're making your mods. Neat eh?

See the sample below for where the export psp layers button is in lunarcell..
http://69.56.133.54:81/threads/uploads/285879-_Luna1.jpg

Cheers! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/laugh.gif

[Slynky]

Interesting, David (and Raging).

I should really look into getting something better than what I have. Something more dedicated to planet creation than the tools I've been "getting by" with (Universe, Mojoworld, and Vue).

Are you saying, David, that Lunarcell is part of the "Space Bundle"?

[Baron Munchausen]

Beautiful images! Now, can you make a series of them showing slightly different views of the whole planet in a 'strip' like the shields animation so we can have rotation? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

There's more ways than 3D models to get rotating planets! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

[Raging Deadstar]

Thanks everyone, i'm glad people like them.


Imperator Fyron said:
Maybe instead of even amounts, you could create amounts to fill the voids in the Image Mod? Currently, there is a wild imbalance in the number of custom planet images of each type... it would be great to bring it back to the stock SE4 balance between planet types and atmospheres... http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif


If you can send me a list of planets and types i need to create i'll be willing to do this http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif You have my Contact Details or just send me A PM.


David E. Gervais said:
FYI, I purchased the 'Space Bundle' from Flamingpear.com at xmas. It has been what I use for the backgrounds of my artwork and renderings. Did you know that when you make your planets there is an option to save all psp layers. This function basically combines all the layers and makes a texture map perfect for use in Starfury or Se5. (the texture mapped onto the planet spheres in the game.)



I Didn't know this David, thats extremely helpful http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/redface.gif I've been saving the exact settings for each planet i made for backup so i'll try this later. To quote you "Cheers" http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/laugh.gif


Baron Munchausen said:
Beautiful images! Now, can you make a series of them showing slightly different views of the whole planet in a 'strip' like the shields animation so we can have rotation? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif


Thats a tough one, I doubt it as it renders basically a 2d image (although I'll try and use davids tactic above, maybe use starfury to render it and try and capture it as an animation http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif) But as David said, if the export thing works i'll be here when SE5 is released and i'll be adding to the Imagemod for that http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/tongue.gif


Suicide Junkie said:
Well, personally, Number 3 looks like a CO2 planet, rather than oxy, since its so green.

The planets themselves, are beautiful.



Well i'm not the final judgement in which they represent http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif Once i've got enough done and all the mini portraits you can use them for whatever you want http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/cool.gif

[Ed Kolis]

Hmmm... a while back I wrote a program to generate planets as Povray scene files, would anyone like me to dig that out again and modify it to generate animations, since Povray can do animations as well? The planets look rather cartoony but I'm sure they could be improved http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

[David E. Gervais]

Slynky said:
Interesting, David (and Raging).

Are you saying, David, that Lunarcell is part of the "Space Bundle"?



if you go to flamingpear.com (http://www.flamingpear.com/) you'll see that their 'Space Bundle' is a group of three plugins. Glitterato (for creating starfields and nebulas), SolarCell (for creating solar flares), and LunarCell for creating planets. The plugins can be purchased separately, but by buying the bundle you save money and these three plugins work extremely well together.

The other program I use for 'rendering' is Bryce 5 from Daz3d. very good raytracing/landscaping/rendering package. It allows you to import many 3d file formats to include in your scenes. There are a few good examples of Bryce over at spaceempires.net (in the gallery section.) an underwater colony I did and the Crash Site scene were both done in Bryce.

Have fun, and have a great day, Cheers! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/laugh.gif

Edit:
http://69.56.133.54:81/threads/uploads/285942-BryceLunarcell.jpg

Here is an image of a planet made with lunarcell and exported as a texture map (PSD Layred image converted to a .bmp) imported into Bryce and mapped onto a sphere. Right off you can see the difference, the lunarcell Version has more debth and detail, while the bryce rendering does have the texture but looses the detail. You might say Bryce sucks, or why not just use lunarcell. well lunarcell while making great 2d planets has no option to rotate the image. once converted to a texture map and placed on a 3d sphere it can be rotated, resized, and otherwise manipulated. There might be a way to add a 'bump-map' to the Bryce rendering but I didn't learn how yet.

Anyway I digress, I just wanted to give you a 'visual' aide on how lunarcell could be used to make texture maps for se5 planets or Starfury. I won't turn this into a discussion on the pros and cons of 2d vs 3d. they each have their good and bad points.

Nuf said, Cheers again, http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif

[Emperor Fritsch the Dense]

nice looking, where can i get a link to DL some planets like that? before you say make them yourself i have 0 skills in that area http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif
Emperor Fritsch the Dense

[Raging Deadstar]

Emperor Fritsch the Dense said:
nice looking, where can i get a link to DL some planets like that? before you say make them yourself i have 0 skills in that area http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif
Emperor Fritsch the Dense



Well as soon as I find out which ones I need to make for the imagemod i'll have them done hopefully within the next week, probably less if i have as much free time as i do at the moment.

David. I Have to admit there i prefer bryce. Lunar cell, although it does add texture i think they look terrible (not all the time, some textures it adds are very nice, but the one below is not that good) and also the clouds are quite nasty if they have an edge. It can be limited, as you can see in the ones i did i tried to keep the texture to a medium where it wouldn't look too bad.

I do have a program called Terragen which renders planets but have yet to use it. I'll be trying it out soon so I'll give everyone an update there.

If anyone has a list of Planet types i need to render please contact me so i can get started.

[David E. Gervais]

Hello, again

The main point that I was making is that you can use LunarCell to make Planet textures for use in 3d Apps or games. You'll notice that the sample below is in the right size and form as the planet textures in Starfury. (which is the same engine used in SE5) So, if you want to creat all new planets, making textures for them is a cinch with Lunarcell.
http://69.56.133.54:81/threads/uploads/285979-Planettexture.jpg

FYI 2.0.. this type of texture can also be mapped onto a sphere created in any 3d app. (ie Anim8or which is free) then rendered in that program. bryce is not the end-all be-all of programs, it's just my app of choice for rendering.

Cheers! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/laugh.gif

[Fyron]

Raging Deadstar said:

If you can send me a list of planets and types i need to create i'll be willing to do this http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif You have my Contact Details or just send me A PM.

Well, according to the handy new feature of SJ's Map Analyzer program, the balance of entries in the SectType.txt file of FQM Deluxe is thus:

http://69.56.133.54:81/threads/uploads/286269-fqm_secttype.png

So, images need to be made to make these balanced. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif At the very least, enough to get the same number for each size of planet for each type and atmosphere...

[Atrocities]

COOL SJ thingy.

[Raging Deadstar]

Ok, after much time neglecting this I finally got to work and did the huge planets. There are now 6 Rock Huge Planets for each type (CO2 Already had 6). I'll start working on the Gas Planets now, As i need to set photoshop up to blur the layers to make them look like gas giants.

http://www.shrapnelcommunity.com/threads/uploads/302252-HugeRockPlanets.gif

They are a Bit grainy as i think i said months ago, Thats from the Gif Format I'm using to save time for you. They look much nicer in Bitmaps

[Baron Munchausen]

Ok, so when will you post a complete set of 'upgraded' planets as a mod? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

[TerranC]

OOOOOoooooooooooh... Me likes. Me wants to see planets in FQM Deluxe. Gives it; Gives it to me, my prrrrrrrrrrecious... http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/laugh.gif

[Slynky]

Lot of trouble making planets for all sizes and all atmospheres! I think these look really good!

Great job!

[Aiken]

A couple of ringed planets would be cool too (hint, hint http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif)

[Raging Deadstar]

First It will be to get All Atmospheres of all types and sizes done. Then I'll start doing the special ones like Ringed, Mechanical and such. There should be equal number of planets then.

[Raging Deadstar]

Ok, Here's The Rock Large Planets to even out the current ones. There should be 7 for each now. You'll have to excuse the faint glow around the none atmosphere planets as they look terrible without some slight illumination.

http://www.shrapnelcommunity.com/threads/uploads/302334-LargeRockPlanets.gif

[Raging Deadstar]

And the Medium Rock Ones.

http://www.shrapnelcommunity.com/threads/uploads/302336-MediumRockPlanets.gif

Yeah I know, they look a bit bland but there are very few None atmosphere pictures in the Imagemod. The Next few additions should have more varied atmosphere types in.

EDIT: I've just noticed the glow on the none planets pays no attention to the shading from the bottom right, I'm fixing those now and they'll be released when I finish the rest of the planets

[Fyron]

Will the minis have those dark sides on them? I hope not.

[narf poit chez BOOM]

Shiney!

[Raging Deadstar]

Imperator Fyron said:
Will the minis have those dark sides on them? I hope not.



I was waiting for Fyron's Opinion. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/smirk.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif

Looking in game and Now I can agree I have put too much shading on the right bottom side. It will be reduced when I post the new ones and redone on all the others. (I saved the settings for every planet, it also means i can reuse, resize and reedit etc any planet whenever I need)

[Ed Kolis]

Why would no-atmosphere planets even HAVE atmospheric glow? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/confused.gif

[Fyron]

Raging Deadstar said:
I was waiting for Fyron's Opinion. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/smirk.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif

Not sure what that is supposed to mean...


Looking in game and Now I can agree I have put too much shading on the right bottom side. It will be reduced when I post the new ones and redone on all the others. (I saved the settings for every planet, it also means i can reuse, resize and reedit etc any planet whenever I need)

Dark sides are fine for portraits, but they look silly for minis because half of the planets will be dark on the side facing the star...

[Timstone]

RD:
Very nice planets! Me like!
I've been playing around with Lunarcell also (David recommended it to me in another thread). The only difference is I made my planets 3D, I want to prepare for SE V. Maybe we can work together and make a nice big range of planets.
I can make them 3D and you provide the maps.
PM me if you're interested.

[Raging Deadstar]

Ed Kolis said:
Why would no-atmosphere planets even HAVE atmospheric glow? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/confused.gif



I explained that below, None atmosphere planets are so dark they look terrible without any sort of lighting on them. Lunarcell makes the planets brighter by adding an atmosphere to them so i added a very faint atmosphere so it would make the details on the planet more noticeable and you can actually see the planet and texture. Put bluntly it's Asthetics over Realism, we could have None planets with no slight glow that are dark and extremely difficult to see on the map or ones with a slight glow making it easier to see.

Fyron: You are Reknown on this forum for your ability to pick out imperfections in work, It's actually very helpfull on things like this. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/biggrin.gif Mini's will not have the dark glow in the corner

Timstone: Send me a PM with what exactly you need the landscape maps format in, what size roughly and your e-mail address and i'll send some samples for you. I'm interested in this.

[Timstone]

Okay RD, I've send you the PM.
I'll hear from you via my e-mail adres.

[Fyron]

Please make a few (say, 3-4 of each atmosphere) pictures for use as "massive" gas giants. They would be larger than "huge" ones. The images will naturally the be same size, as most "huge" are the full size they can be. It would be nice to have different, semi-standard pattern images for the massive ones, however... Normal mods can just use these as huge gas giants. But those that have massive ones (such as future Versions of FQM and Adamant) need special images... http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif

[Raging Deadstar]

I plan to do a Selection of Extra Huge Planet Sizes for Mods that use them, Like Devnull. Massive Gas Giant pictures will be included with them. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif

[Fyron]

Massive, Extra Huge, same difference. One is just far less corney than the other. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif