[1.3.*-1.12.*] Pood's Skyboxes [v1.3.0] [17th Jan. 2019]

[Poodmund]

Available on CKAN!

Dependencies

• Module Manager (download latest release)

And one of the following texture replacement mods of your choice:

• Sigma Replacements: SkyBox
• DiRT (Drop-in Replacement Textures)
• TextureReplacer

Install Instructions:

1. Download and install Module Manager and your choice of texture replacement mod via the links above.
2. Download this mod and extract the GameData folder within the .zip file into your Kerbal Space Program directory.
   • If you want to use multiple skyboxes on your install (1 per game save only) delete the file GameData\PoodsSkyboxes\*SkyboxName*\OtherSkyboxBlocker.cfg out of all of my skybox mod folders that you install.
   • If you want the skybox to appear at a random rotation and possibly mirrored (randomised per game save), please edit the file GameData\PoodsSkyboxes\*SkyboxName*\*SkyboxName*.cfg and change the parameters "mirror = false" and "rotate= false" to true or vice-versa.

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Deep Star Map Skybox

Skybox of our night sky made using reference images from the Bright Star, Tycho-2, and UCAC3 star catalogs. This provides a very nice constant star coverage across the whole 360 degrees in the x, y and z planes.

Download Link - SpaceDock

  

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Calm Nebula Skybox

Skybox that presents the Kerbal Solar System system within a sparse Nebula. Features a subtle Galaxy star-line and patches of Pink/Blue Nebula proto-Star fields. To the polar South a very energetic solar nursery can be seen.

Download Link - SpaceDock

  

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Milky Way Skybox

Skybox based on the famous Milky Way images taken by NASA presenting you with the classic night sky that we all know and love.

Download Link - SpaceDock

  

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Licensing: All mods listed here are listed under the CC-BY-NC-ND-4.0 license. Any source material used was listed under the GNU GPL license and has been used as such.

Changelog:

• v.1.3.0 (17th Jan 2019) - Updated mods to allow for the use of the skyboxes with either of the following mods: TextureReplacer, Sigma Replacements: Skybox or DiRT (Drop-in Replacement Textures).
• v1.2.0 (21st Jan 2018) - Removed TextureReplacer & TextureReplacerReplaced support in favor of Sigma Replacements: Skybox as a dependency.
• v1.1.0 (03rd Nov 2017) - Added compatibility for TextureReplacerReplaced
• v1.0.0 (28th Aug 2016) - Initial release

Edited March 9, 2022 by Poodmund

[Greythorn032]

I like the Calm Nebula skybox, really adds uniqueness to the Kerbal solar system. Also great for taking dramatic screenshots.

[Wyzard]

Out of curiosity, what's the motivation behind dropping TextureReplacer support?  I use TRR and I'd never heard of Sigma Replacements before, and I noticed that a bunch of LonesomeRobots part mods were also updated recently so that they don't use TextureReplacer anymore.  Did something happen with TextureReplacer that's leading people to move away from it?

[Poodmund]

14 hours ago, Wyzard said:

Out of curiosity, what's the motivation behind dropping TextureReplacer support?  I use TRR and I'd never heard of Sigma Replacements before, and I noticed that a bunch of LonesomeRobots part mods were also updated recently so that they don't use TextureReplacer anymore.  Did something happen with TextureReplacer that's leading people to move away from it?

I am in close contact with Sigma88 on a daily basis and I can communicate with him if there are any issues/bugs/features that need to be fixed or added etc, Sigma Replacements: Skybox is a lightweight plugin that allows me to do everything that TR did but in a way that is very strongly directive (only affects the skybox) and finally I trust Sigma in his direction and decision making and I appreciate the hard work that he commits to the KSP community and therefore I feel as though I want to repay that dedication and generosity by utilizing the great Sigma Replacements pack, in particular, this Skybox module.

[Dafni]

Thank you for this. The Deep Star Map might be just what I was looking for, as my current screen has a bit of color banding with very dark colors. Generally it is hard to see and it doesn't bother me much in game(s), just the stock KSP skybox irks me still.

[Poodmund]

3 hours ago, Dafni said:

Thank you for this. The Deep Star Map might be just what I was looking for, as my current screen has a bit of color banding with very dark colors. Generally it is hard to see and it doesn't bother me much in game(s), just the stock KSP skybox irks me still.

If you install Distant Object Enhancement, you could adjust the maximum brightness of the skybox using DOE to erase these bands of dark grey to suit your liking.  

[Dafni]

1 hour ago, Poodmund said:

If you install Distant Object Enhancement, you could adjust the maximum brightness of the skybox using DOE to erase these bands of dark grey to suit your liking.  

Thank you, I am doing this already. It helps to an extend. Surprisingly it looks the best with DOEs  brightness maxed out. It's an issue with the screen, on another screen it looks as smooth as ever, but on my new screen the banding persists no matter what I try. GPU settings, screen settings... I think I have it optimized pretty good now, and like I said, it really only bothers me on the KSP skybox still.

[Wyzard]

On 1/22/2018 at 2:22 PM, Poodmund said:

I am in close contact with Sigma88 on a daily basis and I can communicate with him if there are any issues/bugs/features that need to be fixed or added etc, Sigma Replacements: Skybox is a lightweight plugin that allows me to do everything that TR did but in a way that is very strongly directive (only affects the skybox) and finally I trust Sigma in his direction and decision making and I appreciate the hard work that he commits to the KSP community and therefore I feel as though I want to repay that dedication and generosity by utilizing the great Sigma Replacements pack, in particular, this Skybox module.

Thanks.  I wasn't using TRR for anything but the skybox, so I switched to Sigma. 

11 hours ago, Dafni said:

Thank you for this. The Deep Star Map might be just what I was looking for, as my current screen has a bit of color banding with very dark colors. Generally it is hard to see and it doesn't bother me much in game(s), just the stock KSP skybox irks me still.

7 hours ago, Dafni said:

It's an issue with the screen, on another screen it looks as smooth as ever, but on my new screen the banding persists no matter what I try. GPU settings, screen settings... I think I have it optimized pretty good now, and like I said, it really only bothers me on the KSP skybox still.

I don't know about the stock skybox (haven't used it in a long time), but I bought a new monitor (Dell U2515H) a few months ago and noticed that some edges/corners of the Milky Way skybox cube map suddenly had very noticeable brightness discrepancies between the cube faces.  I figured it was just a quirk of the monitor, but it's less prominent after I switched from TRR to Sigma, so it might be partly TRR's fault.  (But I can still see the seams now that I know what to look for.)

Anyway, I switched to the calm nebula skybox, which doesn't seem to have any brightness seams.

[Gilph]

@Poodmund, Happy Sunday

I downloaded today and tried this using the newest Sigma Replacements Skybox 0.3.0, and it did not work. The Sigma comments state that there was a syntax change to make it compatible with TR/TRR, but does not seem to explain the syntax change. I tried playing around with the syntax but could not get it to work. Reverted to the sigma version just prior and everything was fine.

Would you know what to change to make it compatible?

KSP 1.4.3, MM 3.0.7

Thanks

Edited May 27, 2018 by Gilph
add versions

[Dafni]

You dont realize how much of a difference in the KSP experience it makes to have a nice skybox until you try it. A big Thank You to @Poodmund for these amazing skyboxes! All three of them look amazing and work perfect in my KSP 1.3.1 installs.

[Freshmeat]

@Gilph You need to rename the textures in the \GameData\PoodsSkyboxes\CalmNebula\ . Rename CalmNebulaXN.dds to CalmNebula_NegativeX.dds and so on.

 

[Aeroboi]

I have KSP 1.4.1.
I have MM 3.0.7. I.
I have Sigma Replacements: Skybox
I have Deep Star Map

All installed to GameData folder. But only the stock skybox is visible. Am I to assume one can only install these Skyboxes on ksp 1.3.1?

If this is the case what other alternative skyboxes are out there. I'm searching but I'm always directed to Poods thread as if this is all that's out there. Can anyone help me?

[Wyzard]

16 hours ago, Aeroboi said:

But only the stock skybox is visible.

Look at the previous few posts: the latest version of Sigma Skybox expects a different naming convention for the skybox files, for compatibility with Texture Replacer.  Pood's skyboxes used the Texture Replacer format in the past, but were changed to use the Sigma format instead, and haven't yet been changed back to Texture Replacer format following the Sigma change.

So, you can either:

• Download the previous version (v0.2.2) of Sigma Skybox, to use with the latest version (v1.2.0) of Pood's skyboxes, or
• Download the previous version (v1.1.0) of Pood's skyboxes, to use with the latest version (v0.3.0) of Sigma Skybox.

I use the first of those options and it works fine in KSP 1.4.  I haven't tested the second option but I expect it should work too.  (Edit: No, it doesn't.  Go with option 1.)

Edited June 25, 2018 by Wyzard
Option 2 doesn't work

[Vaga]

2 hours ago, Wyzard said:

Look at the previous few posts: the latest version of Sigma Skybox expects a different naming convention for the skybox files, for compatibility with Texture Replacer.  Pood's skyboxes used the Texture Replacer format in the past, but were changed to use the Sigma format instead, and haven't yet been changed back to Texture Replacer format following the Sigma change.

So, you can either:

• Download the previous version (v0.2.2) of Sigma Skybox, to use with the latest version (v1.2.0) of Pood's skyboxes, or
• Download the previous version (v1.1.0) of Pood's skyboxes, to use with the latest version (v0.3.0) of Sigma Skybox.

I use the first of those options and it works fine in KSP 1.4.  I haven't tested the second option but I expect it should work too.

I just renamed the textures and use them with the DiRT mod.

https://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/index.php?/topic/172055-143-drop-in-replacement-textures-v1430/

Edited June 24, 2018 by Vaga
Added link

[Wyzard]

Well, I tried my alternate suggestion of using a v1.1.0 skybox with Sigma v0.3.0, and it doesn't work.  Turns out that the Sigma v0.3.0 change was just the naming convention for the texture files; it still doesn't look in the TextureReplacer folder to find them, so it still doesn't work with a skybox made for TR.

In light of that, I'm not really sure what the point of the Sigma Skybox v0.3.0 update was.  There was nothing wrong with the old naming convention, aside from being incompatible with TR, and the change broke compatibility with existing Sigma-format skyboxes but didn't add support for TR-format skyboxes.

Until Pood's skyboxes are updated to follow the Sigma change, the simplest thing is to just stick with the previous version (v0.2.2) of the Sigma Skybox mod.  It works fine with KSP 1.4.

[Aeroboi]

13 hours ago, Wyzard said:

Look at the previous few posts: the latest version of Sigma Skybox expects a different naming convention for the skybox files, for compatibility with Texture Replacer.  Pood's skyboxes used the Texture Replacer format in the past, but were changed to use the Sigma format instead, and haven't yet been changed back to Texture Replacer format following the Sigma change.

So, you can either:

• Download the previous version (v0.2.2) of Sigma Skybox, to use with the latest version (v1.2.0) of Pood's skyboxes, or
• Download the previous version (v1.1.0) of Pood's skyboxes, to use with the latest version (v0.3.0) of Sigma Skybox.

I use the first of those options and it works fine in KSP 1.4.  I haven't tested the second option but I expect it should work too.

I see, thanks, it works now.

[PokerFaceProductions]

could you maybe make a video to show how to download as well because i've been doing what the instructions say and it wont work 

[PataSolar]

Hey there. Should I be able to see the skybox when on the ground of, for example, Kerbin (at night time of course)?

EDIT: Hmmm it seems to have come right. When it did work, it was faint but Distant Object Enhancement's slider can fix that.

Edited September 1, 2018 by PataSolar

[Tyko]

Can I use these skyboxes without Sigma Replacements? It's way out of date. I thought I could use TextureReplacer, but couldn't get it working.

Thanks!

 

[Vaga]

1 hour ago, Tyko said:

Can I use these skyboxes without Sigma Replacements? It's way out of date. I thought I could use TextureReplacer, but couldn't get it working.

Thanks!

 

I use DIRT and just rename the files to the original default names.  Works fine for me.

[Poodmund]

4 hours ago, Tyko said:

Can I use these skyboxes without Sigma Replacements? It's way out of date. I thought I could use TextureReplacer, but couldn't get it working.

Thanks!

 

Sigma Replacements: Skybox still works fine in 1.4.5 but if you don't want to use that, you can do as Vaga has said above. I'm trying to come up with a way I can support SR:S, TRR and TR (Not heard of DIRT before) but unfortunately TR is holding back a way for me to do so in a non-egregious way that will work with CKAN and other skybox mods.

It may just be some time before a good solution presents itself.

[Wyzard]

9 hours ago, Poodmund said:

Sigma Replacements: Skybox still works fine in 1.4.5 but if you don't want to use that, you can do as Vaga has said above. I'm trying to come up with a way I can support SR:S, TRR and TR (Not heard of DIRT before) but unfortunately TR is holding back a way for me to do so in a non-egregious way that will work with CKAN and other skybox mods.

However, your skyboxes currently don't work with the latest (0.3.0) version of Sigma Skybox.  If the "everything" solution isn't in the near future, you may want to do a quick update just to fix that.  (It's just a matter of renaming the files, e.g. XN -> _NegativeX.)

[Sigma88]

16 hours ago, Tyko said:

Can I use these skyboxes without Sigma Replacements? It's way out of date. I thought I could use TextureReplacer, but couldn't get it working.

Thanks!

The mod works fine, it has no problems as far as I know, and nobody has reported any issue anyways.

If by "out of date" you mean it was published a long time ago then yes, it was. But there are no updates needed. (if it ain't broken....)

12 hours ago, Poodmund said:

Sigma Replacements: Skybox still works fine in 1.4.5 but if you don't want to use that, you can do as Vaga has said above. I'm trying to come up with a way I can support SR:S, TRR and TR (Not heard of DIRT before) but unfortunately TR is holding back a way for me to do so in a non-egregious way that will work with CKAN and other skybox mods.

It may just be some time before a good solution presents itself.

Feel free to ping me on discord if you need help with writing a cfg to make SR and TRR work together

2 hours ago, Wyzard said:

However, your skyboxes currently don't work with the latest (0.3.0) version of Sigma Skybox.  If the "everything" solution isn't in the near future, you may want to do a quick update just to fix that.  (It's just a matter of renaming the files, e.g. XN -> _NegativeX.)

There is no reason to prefere the latest sigma skybox over the previous version. Pood's skyboxes are designed to work with v0.2.2 so you can safely use that version

 

The only difference in 0.3.0 is that it uses a new syntax that will allow cross compatibility with TRR, but that requires a change in syntax and that is why it fails with the current pood skybox, (and it is also the reason why changing the file names fixes the issues for you)

[Poodmund]

3 hours ago, Sigma88 said:

Feel free to ping me on discord if you need help with writing a cfg to make SR and TRR work together

I already have it set up and working perfectly locally for some time but there is no good way to also implement TR support within the same download. Secondly CKAN doesn't handle mod dependencies that provide the same function very well, currently, there is no way for me to say pick either SR:S or TRR as the plugin provider. You can only list them all as dependencies or suggestions which doesn't really give a good solution in this case.

I did bring this up on the CKAN thread and HebaruSan did confirm that CKAN doesn't support this kind of intelligent handling at this time and suggested I raise an issue about it on the CKAN Git repo but in all honesty, I couldn't really be bothered to go through all the rigmarole.

[Sigma88]

what is the holdup with TR?

as for CKAN, my mods are not on CKAN anymore... so either you put TR as dependancy, or you don't put anything as dependancy and let the user install SR manually