Should I choose Fog, Particles or something else?

Engines, Libraries and Tools Xith3D Forums
#1

Im doing a scene of a galaxy and dont know how to proceed.
I have the stars (PointArrays) and want to add some gasclouds to the spirals. I had a pretty working solution in java3d where i used Fog but i cant take the same approch directly since it is set up differently in java3d.

Before trying the Fog in xith id like to have some advices if there are better ways of implementing the effect. Could it be made better/easier with particles ore is there something else i could consider?

Ill post 2 screens, one is a picture of what im after and the other is a screenshot from my java3d app.

#2

Hm. I would try to achieve wanted result with some clever blending. I will do some texture (with alpha channel possibly) and then make it transparent (somewhere more, somewhere less). Distribute textures like stars, and that could do the effect. Fog? I don’t believe it will help you.
There is something like “blur effect” technique in openGL, but I don’t kon much about it. Someone else maybe?

#3

Something like this maybe? ;D

http://members.gamedev.net/tang/Images/Galaxy.png

Sprites for the stars, cellular textures for the gas and a bloom filter over everything to make it nice and shiny.

#4

Give every N-th star, a alpha-gradient-texture. That way you’ll have your glow, because the chances are higher that the sprite is located in the densly populated areas.

The textured-quad should be tiny, and have a really low maximum alpha, so that multiple quads can be layered on top of eachother without too much saturation.

#5

Ok, good ideas. Which of them will work even when “entering” the galaxy? That is, the camera located at a star inside the galaxy percieving it from the inside.

#6

Mine ;D :stuck_out_tongue:

#7

Ok, heading that way then :slight_smile:

What would be better for performance? To have one billboarded plane or three planes crossed that are not billboarded.

#8

I’m sure one billboard plane would be faster