[Question] Making new skies?

[[R-DEV]Masaq]

I saw a DEV stating a little while back that they'd like some new skies but that nobody had bothered. Given that I for one am a little used to all the BF2 skies already, anyone mind enlightening me as to what are the requirements for a sky - dimension, file format, shape etc?

[Jonny]

Well I found these:



In the BF2 mod folder, in Common_client.zip\Sky\Skydome\Textures\, so I assume that something similar could be found in the PR folder with the same name. But there isnt, so that would probably be where to add them in.

EDIT
You should look for a path like common\textures\cloud\Cloud06, because that is the one for Al Basrah.

Another edit:
found some PR ones:
C:\Program Files\EA GAMES\Battlefield 2\mods\pr\common_client.zip\textures\sky\

So that folder will be where they go, you need a DDS plugin for whatever you want to view them in. I use irfanview cause its free & i'm cheap.

EDIT, yet again:
All sizes appear to be powers of 2,
32, 64, 128, 256, 512, 1024, 2048, etc.

2048x1024 and 2048x512 seem to be the only ones used for the main skyboxes, so stick to those.

[[R-DEV]Pride]

Found more in : common_client/textures/sky

They are all 2048x512 (the long one Jonny posted above) and in .dds

[[R-DEV]e-Gor]

Yup, 2048x512 is the best size for the sky itself. If you want to make it a different size, you can, but it must be a power of 2 on each side as that's required by the dds file format.

They're mapped onto the inside of a dome - so the entire top line of the image is compressed to a single point, and the horizon is somewhere near the bottom. (Exactly where depends on the height of the map.) So as an image it'll need to look stretched towards the top, with the very top of the image all the same colour.

To test, save as .dds (photoshop and GIMP both have plugins, or there are several file converters for it), shove it in one of the zips somewhere, and change the Skydome.skyTexture line in the sky.con for a map.

[Jonny]

And you go from this:



to this:



Which I think looks better for a battle, but I do live in the wettest part of england which is overcast on even the nicest day.

[[R-DEV]Masaq]

Cheers guys, I'll have a play over the next few days or so.

[tesher07]

I have a question. Do you think it is possible to add clouds to the game? Ones that move.

[[R-DEV]e-Gor]

Originally Posted by tesher07

I have a question. Do you think it is possible to add clouds to the game? Ones that move.

No, you can't add them to the game because they're already there! Check the sky.con.

[LtSoucy]

lol, tesher look at the sky and clouds move. And looks great. I so want there ingame.

[[R-DEV]Rhino]

Originally Posted by Jonny

to this:

http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/f.../screen068.jpg

that dont look like the sky you posted above, looks more like the sky I edited for fools road...

a FH2 Dev made a tut on how to get skys from Terrgen into BF2 thou my bookmark for it is broken, search there forums and you should find it.