Proposal: landscape images for planet environments

Development of artwork, requests, suggestions, samples, or if you have artwork to offer. Primarily for the artists.
Message
Author
User avatar
Ouaz
Dyson Forest
Posts: 232
Joined: Wed Aug 13, 2014 7:21 pm
Location: France

Proposal: landscape images for planet environments

#1 Post by Ouaz »

Those are just mockups: the landscapes are made with an old and great (but dead) open source project named Picogen (http://picogen.org/index.html)

The only purpose is to have some kind of fancy visuals (not to much photo-realistic to blend well into UI) that add some immersive feeling (exoplanet surfaces).
landscape1.png
landscape1.png (132.45 KiB) Viewed 13435 times
landscape2.png
landscape2.png (147.93 KiB) Viewed 13435 times
landscape3.png
landscape3.png (153.02 KiB) Viewed 13435 times
Last edited by Ouaz on Thu Aug 27, 2015 7:30 pm, edited 1 time in total.
I release every updated file under the CC-BY-SA 3.0 license.

User avatar
MatGB
Creative Contributor
Posts: 3310
Joined: Fri Jun 28, 2013 11:45 pm

Re: Proposal: landscape images for planet environments

#2 Post by MatGB »

Part of me likes the idea. Part of me thinks it's extra graphics to load and render and we've got enough problem with that as it is.

On the other hand if it's not animated it would make the option to turn planets off more playable.
Mat Bowles

Any code or patches in anything posted here is released under the CC and GPL licences in use for the FO project.

User avatar
Geoff the Medio
Programming, Design, Admin
Posts: 13587
Joined: Wed Oct 08, 2003 1:33 am
Location: Munich

Re: Proposal: landscape images for planet environments

#3 Post by Geoff the Medio »

There used to be some much-larger planet background images
https://github.com/freeorion/freeorion/ ... planets_bg
Problem is, there's no way yet implemented to get them into the pedia articles as suggested.

User avatar
The Silent One
Graphics
Posts: 1129
Joined: Tue Jul 01, 2003 8:27 pm

Re: Proposal: landscape images for planet environments

#4 Post by The Silent One »

I do like the look of the landscape images in the pedia articles, but I would rather not show them on the sidepanel [except if rendered planets are turned of]. What should create immersion on the sidepanel are the rendered planet graphics, which I feel they currently don't do so well for some reasons:
- they look somewhat greyish, they could use more contrast (illustration below)
- they do not (yet?) show signs of population (like growing cities / city lights on the dark side / satellites, space stations, animations like moving planes or something of that sort)
So I think we should see how we can make our planets prettier / more immersive.
Attachments
planet_contrast.jpg
planet_contrast.jpg (90.48 KiB) Viewed 13417 times
If I provided any images, code, scripts or other content here, it's released under GPL 2.0 and CC-BY-SA 3.0.

User avatar
Vezzra
Release Manager, Design
Posts: 6095
Joined: Wed Nov 16, 2011 12:56 pm
Location: Sol III

Re: Proposal: landscape images for planet environments

#5 Post by Vezzra »

Hm, I definitely like the idea. Provided we do a decent couple of images per planet type, getting the same image of a desert for each desert planet doesn't help immersion IMO.

Putting them in the sidepanel is debatable, but for the pedia this is certainly a good idea.

Silent Ones sugestions for the rendered planet graphics also sound good.

User avatar
Sloth
Content Scripter
Posts: 685
Joined: Sat Mar 17, 2007 12:28 am

Re: Proposal: landscape images for planet environments

#6 Post by Sloth »

The Silent One wrote:- they do not (yet?) show signs of population (like growing cities / city lights on the dark side / satellites, space stations, animations like moving planes or something of that sort)
It's currently possible to set an overlay texture over the rotating planets. Some specials actually use it:

Code: Select all

SetTexture name = "planets/overlays/ruins.png"
But i think it's limited to one texture per planet, so conflicts would arise.
Vezzra wrote:Hm, I definitely like the idea. Provided we do a decent couple of images per planet type, getting the same image of a desert for each desert planet doesn't help immersion IMO.
I second this. But as long as their standard isn't super high, i'm sure we will reach a fair number of images in the long run with the help of artists that seem to pop up from time to time.
Vezzra wrote:Putting them in the sidepanel is debatable, but for the pedia this is certainly a good idea.
Space is scarce in the sidepanel, we might want to use the space for something else in the future.
All released under the GNU GPL 2.0 and Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 licences.

User avatar
Ouaz
Dyson Forest
Posts: 232
Joined: Wed Aug 13, 2014 7:21 pm
Location: France

Re: Proposal: landscape images for planet environments

#7 Post by Ouaz »

MatGB wrote:Part of me likes the idea. Part of me thinks it's extra graphics to load and render and we've got enough problem with that as it is. On the other hand if it's not animated it would make the option to turn planets off more playable.
The pedia landscape PNGs are all compressed with the same size (350x70px to fit well in the pedia panel default size) and weight: 72ko.
Geoff the Medio wrote:There used to be some much-larger planet background images
https://github.com/freeorion/freeorion/ ... planets_bg
Wow, nice work. But that's exactly what I want to avoid: too much rich and realistic landscapes. My goal was to get "simple" landscapes, almost like icons, with a 90's tactical game style. :p And this little tool Picogen is perfect for that.
Problem is, there's no way yet implemented to get them into the pedia articles as suggested.
Aww, BAD news. Do I continue to produce the other landscapes or there is no point?
The Silent One wrote:I do like the look of the landscape images in the pedia articles, but I would rather not show them on the sidepanel [except if rendered planets are turned off].
Vezzra wrote:Putting them in the sidepanel is debatable.
Same here, there's no room for the landscape icons in the sidepanel. It was just to give an idea. In fact, I was thinking of a tooltip displayed the icon when you point the planet environment (but I don't know if it's possible).
Provided we do a decent couple of images per planet type, getting the same image of a desert for each desert planet doesn't help immersion IMO.
I planned to make three images per planet environment (corresponding to the three texture files per planet environment). But in the end, it would be only different in shape and lighting. Like you say, there isn't a lot of way to represent a desert! :D (sand and sun!)
Last edited by Ouaz on Thu Aug 27, 2015 6:55 pm, edited 1 time in total.
I release every updated file under the CC-BY-SA 3.0 license.

User avatar
MatGB
Creative Contributor
Posts: 3310
Joined: Fri Jun 28, 2013 11:45 pm

Re: Proposal: landscape images for planet environments

#8 Post by MatGB »

Ouaz wrote: Like you say, there isn't a lot of way to represent a desert! :D (sand and sun!)
*cough*The Sahara isn't the only desert in the world
Image
NASA wrote:The East Antarctic ice is typified by vast flat areas of polar desert, where it is too cold for much snow to fall, frigid winds blow continuously, and the landscape is nearly featureless.
Mars is either a Desert or Tundra world, arguably Hoth was a desert world as well as an ice world, plenty of deserts don't have much sand. Although they do have a fair bit of sun. It would be important if we're having multiple pics to get across the idea that a desert world is a dry world with low or no precipitation, not necessarily a hot sandy world.
Mat Bowles

Any code or patches in anything posted here is released under the CC and GPL licences in use for the FO project.

User avatar
Ouaz
Dyson Forest
Posts: 232
Joined: Wed Aug 13, 2014 7:21 pm
Location: France

Re: Proposal: landscape images for planet environments

#9 Post by Ouaz »

MatGB wrote:
Ouaz wrote: Like you say, there isn't a lot of way to represent a desert! :D (sand and sun!)
*cough*The Sahara isn't the only desert in the world
The East Antarctic ice is typified by vast flat areas of polar desert, where it is too cold for much snow to fall, frigid winds blow continuously, and the landscape is nearly featureless.
Oops, my mistake, I should have said: sand, ice and sun (or not for some period in the poles). :p

Moreover, there a desert planet texture which shows large area of ice (desert01.png). ^^
I release every updated file under the CC-BY-SA 3.0 license.

User avatar
Bigjoe5
Designer and Programmer
Posts: 2058
Joined: Tue Aug 14, 2007 6:33 pm
Location: Orion

Re: Proposal: landscape images for planet environments

#10 Post by Bigjoe5 »

MatGB wrote:It would be important if we're having multiple pics to get across the idea that a desert world is a dry world with low or no precipitation, not necessarily a hot sandy world.
But tundra areas also have very low precipitation... I have to admit, I'm not very clear on what distinguishes tundra from a very cold desert, and in terms of planet types, I think that cold deserts are too much like tundra planets to really fall under the category of desert. If I saw a "cold desert" planet, I would probably think "why isn't this classified as tundra?".
Warning: Antarans in dimensional portal are closer than they appear.

User avatar
MatGB
Creative Contributor
Posts: 3310
Joined: Fri Jun 28, 2013 11:45 pm

Re: Proposal: landscape images for planet environments

#11 Post by MatGB »

Bigjoe5 wrote: But tundra areas also have very low precipitation... I have to admit, I'm not very clear on what distinguishes tundra from a very cold desert, and in terms of planet types, I think that cold deserts are too much like tundra planets to really fall under the category of desert. If I saw a "cold desert" planet, I would probably think "why isn't this classified as tundra?".
Because it's at the colder end of the desert range and close to the warmer end of the tundra range? If it's a circle with each leading into the rest there have to be some deserts that are near tundra and some that are closer to 'terran', just as there are some terran worlds that're closer to Thalassa than Earth, etc.

It needs to make sense both in a terminological sense and a gameplay sense, it has to gradate in some way, and it makes zero sense, at all, for a really hot desert environment to be closest to a very cold tundra environment, but if there are cold deserts that's close to tundras, as there are on Earth, then that works and makes more sense. To me, at least.

I didn't invent this schema afterall, I'm merely trying to make sense of it, if there are better explanations out there happy to hear it, at some point we need a clear write up of all this in game and I suspect it'll be me writing it ;-)
Mat Bowles

Any code or patches in anything posted here is released under the CC and GPL licences in use for the FO project.

User avatar
Ouaz
Dyson Forest
Posts: 232
Joined: Wed Aug 13, 2014 7:21 pm
Location: France

Re: Proposal: landscape images for planet environments

#12 Post by Ouaz »

I finished the first set of planet landscapes. Fun to create, although Picogen is not very versatile when it comes to sky rendering and global lighting. I'm not very satisfied by Swamp and Barren though. (sorry for the file size)
planet_landscapes.png
planet_landscapes.png (463.29 KiB) Viewed 13304 times
I release every updated file under the CC-BY-SA 3.0 license.

User avatar
The Silent One
Graphics
Posts: 1129
Joined: Tue Jul 01, 2003 8:27 pm

Re: Proposal: landscape images for planet environments

#13 Post by The Silent One »

I like these a lot, my only nitpick is that the height of the horizon differs between the images.
If I provided any images, code, scripts or other content here, it's released under GPL 2.0 and CC-BY-SA 3.0.

User avatar
Sloth
Content Scripter
Posts: 685
Joined: Sat Mar 17, 2007 12:28 am

Re: Proposal: landscape images for planet environments

#14 Post by Sloth »

The Silent One wrote:my only nitpick is that the height of the horizon differs between the images.
Since the player won't see them next to each other in game, i don't think that's important. Quantity and differentiation are the most important points to make this feature a success imho.
All released under the GNU GPL 2.0 and Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 licences.

Mitten.O
Programmer
Posts: 255
Joined: Sun Apr 06, 2014 4:15 pm

Re: Proposal: landscape images for planet environments

#15 Post by Mitten.O »

I quite like the minimalistic, iconesque style of these.
Any code by me in this post is released under GPL 2.0 or later.

Post Reply