Need Tutorial: 3D Sky Box (Interlopers Is Down)

[Faulk_Wulf]

I did a search. I scanned the subjects of topics 1-75, but I had 375 results. So, yes, I'm sure this has been answered before, and if it has been answered in detail, just through me the link of the other thread. I know Interlopers has a tutorial, but their site is down again. (Which reminds me, if someone saved a copy of the 3D Sky Box tutorial from Interlopers, I would really love to use it!) Well that's all. How do I make a 3D sky box that can be seen from a window? Thank you for you time, and I appologize if its been answered a dozen times. Chao.

 

[glHalfLife]

Try my method:

- Create a standard block and hollow it out. Stretch it around all your scene
- Attach the texture "tools/toolsskybox" to the whole block
- Goto the top menu bar and select "Map > Map Properties > SkyBox Texture Name" and type in "sky_day01_06"
- Click Apply then Cancel and go try it

 

[PvtRyan]

Errr that's not a 3D skybox.

It's quite simple really.

Create a box the size of your map, this to give you a sense of scale when making the skybox. Move the box to a free area in the grid, and scale it with 0.0625 (16x smaller). This will give you an idea how big everything needs to be. Then, create a box, as big as you want your 3d skybox, just 16x smaller. Hollow it, texture it with toolsskybox texture. Put a sky_camera at the center, you won't need to modify anything here, but you can add fog if you want.
You will view the skybox through the sky_camera. Now you can add stuff to the skybox, light mountains with displacement terrain, or buildings (props are in props/buildings) That's basically it.

Don't forget that a 3D skybox is lit on its own, so copy your light_environment into it.

 

[Faulk_Wulf]

Thank you. :thumbs:

 

[Fender357]

Why would you need to make the skybox "box" as big as your map size? Everything is much much smaller in the skybox.

And have you had the problem with the 3d skybox some how picking up your map and making it into a huge 3d skybox way off to the side of the map?

 

[tuemmykids]

Why does nobody ever use the tutorials that Valve have provided with the SDK?!

 

[PvtRyan]

Why would you need to make the skybox "box" as big as your map size? Everything is much much smaller in the skybox.

And have you had the problem with the 3d skybox some how picking up your map and making it into a huge 3d skybox way off to the side of the map?

No, I said scaling the box at 0.0625, that is your mapsize in the 3D skybox so you would have a sense of scale.

 

[Dekstar]

Try my method:

- Create a standard block and hollow it out. Stretch it around all your scene
- Attach the texture "tools/toolsskybox" to the whole block
- Goto the top menu bar and select "Map > Map Properties > SkyBox Texture Name" and type in "sky_day01_06"
- Click Apply then Cancel and go try it

Is that a 3D or a 2D skybox you just said about?

 

[glHalfLife]

To be honest, I really do not care as it looks perfect to me!

 

[Limpet]

glHalfLife made a 2d skybox. 3d skyboxes can other stuff in it.

 

[70%]

http://www.valve-erc.com/srcsdk/Levels/3d_skyboxes.html

The 'official' Valve 3D Skybox tutorial. To be honest, it confused the hell out of me at first, but after some experimenting, it all started to make sense. The key realisation for me was that you only need a 3D skybox if you want stuff in it (like buildings or mountains in the distance), like Limpet said. If you just want a pretty sky, then a 2D skybox is all you need. Using a 3D skybox with nothing in it but sky will only add extra compile time.

The real benefit of the above link is that it points out a sample pre-made 3D skybox map for you to play around in... just hunt around for it in your map directories.

p.s. One other thing that annoyed the hell out of me when I was making skyboxes was that it would be obvious where the edges of my actual skybox geometry met (i.e. there would be visible 'edges' in the sky which totally shatters the illusion). The only way I've found so far to remedy this is to change the texture quality settings to High IN THE GAME ITSELF. Not it Hammer, but within the Options menu for Half-Life or Deathmatch or whatever game you're mapping for. Does anyone know a better way to do it, as I don't recall seeing skybox edges in HL2 and I'm pretty sure I didn't have texture detail set to High.

 

[Faulk_Wulf]

Well when the Valve SDK first came out, the documentation was minimal. There WEREN'T tutorials on the site. Besides, Interlopers had everything I needed, so I never needed to go to Valve or anywhere else for that matter.

The lines of the sky box are a glitch with that sky texture. Nothing can fix that. Just use a different skyname. There's bound to be a list somewhere you can find (once again, I had been using Interlopers for THAT too... grrr...)

Anyrate. I'm out.

 

[Limpet]

Heres' a list of skys:
http://www.hl2w3rld.com/wiki/index.php/Sky_List
(3=o) and yet again a link to hl2w3rld

I hope there is another way to solve the lines in the sky because my card can't handle much more with everything on low.

 

[Ennui]

Is that a 3D or a 2D skybox you just said about?

2d.

Interlopers is down because they're switching servers; they'll be back any day now.

 

[a55b0t]

Has anyone had any luck choosing the rotation of their 3d skybox? I want the sunset / moon to be in a different position than it is. I played with env_sun but that only seems to be for the "flare" like effect and rotating the entity used to create the skybox didn't do anything either.

Thanks

 

[Faulk_Wulf]

I believe the sun can be parented to an object (such as a func_train).


PS - Moon? There's a moon effect?