Creating backdrop skydomes...

[TheJamsh]

Can someone help me out on this? Where do i start with creating skydomes that have backdrops. You might see my latest map has one of these, but thats not my texture, and i want to know how to create them.

For some of the map ideas i have i want the backdrop to be MUCH higher. Can someone run me through? This will also prove a useful tutorial down the line...

[mrtwosheds]

You could just raise the dome up using the dome.height console command.

[bigbadbogie]

All you need is a 360 degree skydome texture, and a 360 degree mountain range texture that you can paste onto it.

[TheJamsh]

raising the dome higher doesnt quite work the way i want it do...

BBB, how do you make such things? or where do you get them?

[TheJamsh]

Searching google came up with a few tutorials. Now i can make skydomes... yay!

[Raven]

Ages and ages ago spAce explained how he did it on his mind-exploding maps in ZEmod. But I don't have the pdf anymore, and as far as I'm aware the ZEmod site they were on went down a long time ago.
Something to do with an initial 360 panorama and a combination of the the polar coordinates filter and fisheye in photoshop (or an equiv package) that warped the image in a way that it ends up being circular (and tiled perfectly) but distorted to compensate for the curve of the dome.

[TheJamsh]

Youre spot on. The idea is to create a HUGE image first, both in depth but more importantly width. You then use a polar pattern filter on the image, and make sure that there are no clouds at the top of the long panoramic image before you do it.

Its actually very easy. The most difficult part isnt sorting the texture into a circular one, but making the panoramic texture...