Subscribe to download
Cinematic Skybox Flares

UPDATED: View the changelog.

Replaces all 8 ambient skybox profiles used between the 340 different sectors currently in game. Skybox profiles are not the same as the skybox textures, so a pure skybox texture mod would be compatible with this.

While this doesn't try to capture full realism, it works for a characterization of space that feels appropriate within the existing design of SG2.

Features:

• Smooth occlusion. If your ship or another large object occludes a large star, it should slowly adjust the brightness of the star rather than a drastic fade.
  
  
• Subtle dynamics. There are many barely visible flare effects being used at once to make looking at each star a different experience when seen in motion, attempting to properly represent their brightness or glare factor.
  
  
• Each star has had their brightness, color and position carefully considered to best match the pre-existing lighting in the skybox texture. There is even one skybox with no visible star just to have some darker sectors.
  
  
• The lighting and specular definitions have been adjusted for each skybox to provide a wider variety of brightness levels across skyboxes.
  
  
• Attempts have been made to add subtle varieties of color to some skyboxes to increase visual appeal when spending long periods of time in the same skybox, though this is a work in progress.
  
  
• Stars may appear differently if they are shining through a nebula, adding some character to the many stars.

Installation:

• Subscribe
  
• Start Starpoint Gemini 2
  
• Go to the Mods section in the menu in-game.
  
• Select CinematicSkyboxFlares and click the "Install Mod" button.
  
• Click the "Installed" checkbox next to the mod name.
  
• Play SPG2. You should not need to restart the game.

Manual / GoG Installation:

• Download the mod by clicking here.[drive.google.com]
  
• Extract the .7Z using 7-Zip: http://www.7-zip.org/
  
• Place the CinematicSkyboxFlares.sgm file into your "Starpoint Gemini 2\Mods\" directory.
  
• Start Starpoint Gemini 2
  
• Go to the Mods section in the menu in-game.
  
• Select CinematicSkyboxFlares and click the "Install Mod" button.
  
• Click the "Installed" checkbox next to the mod name.
  
• Play SPG2. You should not need to restart the game.

FAQ:

• Will this hurt my performance?: It should have little to no impact on your framerate. Let me know if you experience otherwise.
  
  
• Do my graphics settings have to be maxed out for it to look good?: No, however you do need your Environment setting in the graphics options to be set to Medium or higher.
  
  
• Does this change any flare or skybox textures?: No. All of the flare textures used to create the final results are default flares that come with SG2. This mod is also unrelated to the skybox textures themselves, so skybox texture mods are compatible. These flares are optimized visually for the default skyboxes, however, and may look terrible with different skybox textures.

Todo:

• I've not spent much time adding minor nearby stars in the distance, but it will be important to add these to help populate the sky in a few of the skyboxes.
  
  
• Some skyboxes are still using the default lens glares, though they have been faded to be more subtle. There may be room for improvement.