P99 Sky Graphics Revamp

[Telin]

In an effort to make Project 1999 more reminiscent of the Classic era, I'd like to announce some upcoming sky changes!

The classic sky was not like you currently see in game. I was able to make many changes to the current sky to bring back some of the classic look and feel. Some changes are subtle while others are more noticeable.

These initial changes are for the default sky. This will affect all zones that you see transition through a night and day cycle. Future updates will include more changes to forests, planes, and other specific zones that had special sky graphics.

Here are some of the changes:

--Fixed a bug where the sun and moon would disappear before setting and shortly after rising.

--Replaced the moon and sun with classic art.

--Removed several cloud types that were not classic and replaced them with softer-looking cloud textures.

--Increased the movement speed of all clouds.

--Changed the daytime sky color to a classic blue.

--Changed the daytime cloud color from yellow to white.

--Changed the daytime fog color from brown to grey.

--Changed the evening and morning sky color to purple.

--Changed the evening and morning cloud colors from a dark pink to orange/yellow near the sunset/sunrise.

--Extended morning and evening times by about 2 game hours.

--Slowed the transitions between all times of day.

--Darkened the night sky to a dark navy.

--Darkened the night clouds to various shades of blue.

--Removed the large stars and planets from the sky.

--Removed the black horizon from the night sky.

--Removed the sun and moon from sight during any weather events.

--Removed darkened clouds from rain and snow storms.

--Adjusted the rain and snow skies to transition from a very light grey during the day to a dark grey at night.

Titanium Sky (Before):

Day:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/252108328/Daybefore.jpg

Sunrise:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/252108328/sunrisebefore.jpg

Night:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/252108328/nightbefore.jpg

Sky After Changes:

Daytime:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/252108328/EQ002929.jpg

Sunsets:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/252108328/sunset2.jpg

Night:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/252108328/Night.jpg

Vivid Morning and Evening Skies:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/252108328/crushbone2.jpg

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/252108328/crushbone.jpg

Day Rain/Snow:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/252108328/PrcpDay.jpg

Nighttime Rain/Snow:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/252108328/PrcpNight.jpg

[Laugher]

This is awesome!

[khanable]

These look fantastic, are they going to be included in a patch or a stand alone download?

[BlkCamel]

These look fantastic, are they going to be included in a patch or a stand alone download?

[captnamazing]

Wow, so cool!! I LOVE the moon :)

[Aandolaf]

These look great, infinitely better than what we have now

[Plaxico Burress]

outstanding!

[Ziggy]

really great job!

[Telin]

These look fantastic, are they going to be included in a patch or a stand alone download?

It'll be patched!

[myriverse]

Pras the sky god, Telin!

[maskedmelon]

I likes! Very nice and thank you ^^

[Arterian]

Sweet!

[PDX0621]

I actually found myself stopping the other day to look at the sky in game. Sunrise/sunset over Oasis or Frontier Mountains really does look great, especially for a 15 year old game. Nostalgia/immersion was at an all time high. Great work, for real!

[tolpa]

This looks awesome!

[Telin]

Moon Rise!
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/252108328/EQ002960.jpg

[Master Roshi]

Moon Rise!
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/252108328/EQ002960.jpgAnd they said Luclin wouldn't be in game? Well looky there!

[myriverse]

That's not Luclin. That's the other moon. Luclin is hidden from sight.

[Sadre Spinegnawer]

My immersion thanks you

[Telin]

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/252108328/EQ002965.jpg

[khanable]

Oh Telin, you tease

[Villia]

10/10. Would view again.

[Hastley]

thank you for this update!!!

[Swish]

In an effort to make Project 1999 more reminiscent of the Classic era, I'd like to announce some upcoming sky changes!

http://images4.fanpop.com/image/photos/14800000/Daffy-Duck-daffy-duck-14817689-400-300.gif

[Grimjaw]

Telin - Nice! Keep up the great work, pal!

Swish - your GIF isn't loading. Please step your game up. Notice how the link redirects you like 5 times when you click it.

[NizmerThafen]

With all respect, will it be possible to have this as an optional patch or an option to turn on/off these changes?

[Swish]

Telin - Nice! Keep up the great work, pal!

Swish - your GIF isn't loading. Please step your game up. Notice how the link redirects you like 5 times when you click it.

working here without any redirects, but just in case...

http://www.imageupload.co.uk/images/2015/02/27/Daffy-Duck-daffy-duck-14817689-400-300.gif

Can't wait to see these on my horizon <3

[maskedmelon]

With all respect, will it be possible to have this as an optional patch or an option to turn on/off these changes?

D:

But why? *sniffles*

[Swish]

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/252108328/EQ002960.jpg


And they said Luclin wouldn't be in game? Well looky there!

http://www.imageupload.co.uk/images/2015/02/27/roflbot.jpg

[Bill Tetley]

Great job! This is totally cool thank you!!!

[Grimjaw]

working here without any redirects, but just in case...

http://www.imageupload.co.uk/images/2015/02/27/Daffy-Duck-daffy-duck-14817689-400-300.gif

Can't wait to see these on my horizon <3

ya sorry I think it was just my work's connection having issues

[Telin]

Working on heavier rainfall. It needs scaled down a little bit, but this is better than sprinkles and thunder!

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/252108328/EQ003061.jpg

[Nirgon]

could you degrade all the textures so they look like original eq some how

more pixelated u kno?

[mudd]

Pretty

[Telin]

I did that to the night clouds so far.

[Ravager]

I love it when fixes like this are made. It's awesome that details most people forgot about are still under scrutiny. Every time a fix like this comes up it rekindles that nostalgia feeling I came here for. Keep up the good work!

[Telin]

Dusk in Dreadlands:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/252108328/EQ003075.jpg

Night as seen by a Human:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/252108328/EQ003076.jpg

Sun Setting in Dreadlands
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/252108328/EQ003080.jpg

[khanable]

when

[aaronp]

I want.

[iruinedyourday]

you are AWESOME

[Rararboker]

So wait, nightvision/ultravision will be useful again?

Awesome.

[Telin]

So wait, nightvision/ultravision will be useful again?

Awesome.

No sorry, that screenshot is darker than I am used to as a wood elf, and why I pointed that out. There's still a difference between race vision, it's just not like the classic extremes.

[Dac321]

I played the classic era tutorial the other day just so I could see the classic sky. Thank you for this upgrade Telin.

[Caridry]

Hmmmm.... I wonder if this had anything to do with daybreak? Either way, INCREDIBLE!

[Baler]

You mentioned that you "downgraded" night time sky to give it more of that classic look (pixel-ated) Will you be offering a non "downgraded" version that looks 'crisp and hd'?
The amount of time spent in eq, I'd prefer not to look at pixel-ated images, not matter how varying in degrees of notice ability they are.

I take a lot of screenshots of zone's skys due to how pretty it makes the zone look. The sky is a large part of the games appeal for me.

PS. for any of you classic drones ready to attack... I do use classic textures, models and spell effects.

[Telin]

You mentioned that you "downgraded" night time sky to give it more of that classic look (pixel-ated) Will you be offering a non "downgraded" version that looks 'crisp and hd'?
The amount of time spent in eq, I'd prefer not to look at pixel-ated images, not matter how varying in degrees of notice ability they are.

I take a lot of screenshots of zone's skys due to how pretty it makes the zone look. The sky is a large part of the games appeal for me.

PS. for any of you classic drones ready to attack... I do use classic textures, models and spell effects.

You're not going to notice in screenshots as much. The color of the clouds change colors in a less refined gradient. It's really only noticeable during the animation. I can't do this the the daytime because the classic sky was a texture that combined the sky and clouds, and it wouldn't look right.

[webrunner5]

I bet there will be a lot LESS Human, Barbarian toons on after the Patch lol. :eek: At least at Night Time.

[dealicious]

When, please tell us WHEN! :)

[Swish]

I bet there will be a lot LESS Human, Barbarian toons on after the Patch lol. :eek: At least at Night Time.

Human sight was so bad. My first ever character was a human and I was surprised at the difference when I made a high elf.

[jarshale]

10/10

[Telin]

This is ready for a public test!

Backup your resources folder just to be safe.

Unzip the patch and move the resources folder provided into your EQ directory and be sure to overwrite and merge all!

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/252108328/P99%20Sky%202.4.zip

[Clark]

This is awesome!

[Dac321]

The color looks great! I don't have any clouds however.. Did I transfer something wrong possibly?

[Telin]

The color looks great! I don't have any clouds however.. Did I transfer something wrong possibly?

Your sky setting must be at complex. Is it?

[Dac321]

Yes. I had copied the folder over incorrectly, but I am running into this problem now. Any idea?

http://i1029.photobucket.com/albums/y358/dac321xm/EQ000235.png (http://s1029.photobucket.com/user/dac321xm/media/EQ000235.png.html)

[Madbad]

looks cool

[Telin]

Yes. I had copied the folder over incorrectly, but I am running into this problem now. Any idea?

http://i1029.photobucket.com/albums/y358/dac321xm/EQ000235.png (http://s1029.photobucket.com/user/dac321xm/media/EQ000235.png.html)

If you incorrectly patched at first, it may have erased some files. That would explain the screenshot. I included an improved cloud texture in the next update below!

[Telin]

New version here includes an improved cloud texture I forgot to include.

Download: P99 Sky Update (https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/252108328/P99%20Sky%202.5.zip)

a) unzip
b) place new Resources folder into your P99 directory.
c) overwrite and merge all
d) requires game restart
e) sky type: complex in order to show multicolor clouds

[Dac321]

Thanks Telin, works great now!

[Rooj]

I have been waiting for this for soooooo long! I LOVE YOU!

[Bweetza]

I was under the impression that modifying the texture files was not allowed (http://www.project1999.com/forums/showthread.php?t=188168).

I'm so confused. Can anyone help?

[khanable]

I feel like every time I log in it's freaking raining

but otherwise this is great, thank you for the hard work Telin!

[Telin]

I was under the impression that modifying the texture files was not allowed (http://www.project1999.com/forums/showthread.php?t=188168).

I'm so confused. Can anyone help?

You shouldn't, and you were linking to modifications relating to the zones like the terrain textures which could affect the gameplay.

This project has support from P99 staff, and is in line with its goal to recreate Classic EQ. So there is a difference.

[Bweetza]

You shouldn't, and you were linking to modifications relating to the zones like the terrain textures which could affect the gameplay.

This project has support from P99 staff, and is in line with its goal to recreate Classic EQ. So there is a difference.I wasn't clear in my post. I had wanted to modify my character model textures, not zone terrain. The examples were just similar posts I found.

Thank you for the clarification.

[-Catherin-]

wow this is great

[aaronp]

Looks really nice.

Couple notes:

Clouds are sometimes a little fast. Is this intended? Also, sometimes the clouds will jump back and forth slightly.

[Telin]

Looks really nice.

Couple notes:

Clouds are sometimes a little fast. Is this intended? Also, sometimes the clouds will jump back and forth slightly.

Thank you for your feedback!

As far as the speed goes, I will slow it down slightly. It is supposed to be faster than what is Currently in game since classic did move at a fairly good clip. I have it set to randomize the velocity between two variables, and I'll lower the maximum slightly for the next update.

[Rooj]

Started using it and love it! <3 However I honestly don't remember seeing stars in the sky in classic EQ. Maybe it was just too long ago or my computer was terrible, or they were impossible to see on my tiny monitor.

[Telin]

Started using it and love it! <3 However I honestly don't remember seeing stars in the sky in classic EQ. Maybe it was just too long ago or my computer was terrible, or they were impossible to see on my tiny monitor.

There weren't stars in Classic, but those are hardcoded and not easily removed. I could only remove the large stars from the sky.

[Rooj]

There weren't stars in Classic, but those are hardcoded and not easily removed. I could only remove the large stars from the sky.

New something was fishy. :P Also, commence tears! :(

[TheRusty]

AGHMAGAH I LOVE.

I never thought I'd say this, but i logged in my barbarian and it was pitch-ass black out there and I was so happy. No, it's not perfect, but this is as close as i think we can get for now... so... whee!

[StrangeTech]

Walking backwards through the tunnel from Everfrost to BlackBurrow to make sure I'm not endlessly running into a wall... The nostalgia is strong!

[Telin]

Clouds are now slowed down to a more natural velocity!

Download:

P99SKYSUM15 (https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/252108328/P99SKYSUM15.zip)

Extract zip.
Overwrite and merge resources folder in your P99 directory.

[dealicious]

YOUUUUUUUUUUUUUU ROCK!

[Faited]

These look awesome! TY for your hard work & contributions.

[Laugher]

This is awesome!

Thanks again for the hard work on this :D looks great!

[Chou]

The moon!!! Awesome work!!

[Telin]

Just after sunset in North Karana
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/252108328/sunsetnk.jpg

[Telin]

Clouds are now slowed down to a more natural velocity!

Download:

P99SKYSUM15 (https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/252108328/P99SKYSUM15.zip)

Extract zip.
Overwrite and merge resources folder in your P99 directory.

^Highly recommend if you enjoyed the classic colors and moon/sun art. Also--this extends the evening sky by about 2 hours. That means no more premature night skies at 6pm. That wasn't classic!

[bakkily]

How would I fix this so I have a classic sky? I love the classic sky more, even the night sort of. Love stars, but classic seems better.

[Glasken]

I found the titanium sky to be an eyesore, so much so that I turned the sky off entirely.

This.

This is amazing.

Skybox has had color restored!!

[Axlrose]

"--Removed the large stars and planets from the sky."

And how am I suppose to find my way to Jita now...?

*looks at the game screen again.

Oh, sorry - wrong game *smirks*. From the images posted here, this looks wonderful!

[Telin]

I'm going through each zone from Classic to Velious to touch up environmental details. These changes will require a patch. For example, I made a color change to Plane of Hate to match classic.

Plane of Hate on P99 now:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/252108328/hateplanebefore.jpg

Plane of Hate after update:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/252108328/hateplaneafter.jpg

[Telin]

Neriak Before:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/252108328/OldNeriak.jpg

Neriak After:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/252108328/NewNeriak.jpg

[khanable]

awesome, when?

[Telin]

Temple of Veeshan Before:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/252108328/veeshanbefore.jpg

Veeshan After:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/252108328/veeshanafter.jpg

[Telin]

I'll need about a week from this point to get everything done. Perhaps next patch or two if it's too soon.

[khanable]

Looks great. Looking forward to it!

[Telin]

I'll need to figure out how to get those classic red sparkles on that diamond above Vulak! I think I know how..

[Axlrose]

Perhaps it is how I see it but Neriak now appears to be in a blue fog. And removing the black from the Temple makes it loose its depth and the red makes it look "flat".

Just my opinion.

[Telin]

Well these are classic color changes. They would've been correct before if it weren't for some tricky zone settings.

[Tiewon Shu]

You should also do a graphics revamp on the character models!

[Telin]

Ak'Anon Before
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/252108328/Akanonbefore.jpg

Ak'Anon After
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/252108328/AkanonNew.jpg

Sleeper's Before
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/252108328/SleepersBefore.jpg

Sleeper's After
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/252108328/SleepersAfter.jpg

[Champion_Standing]

Thanks Telin looks great ur the best

[Mendrik]

Hmm - I Seem to get a few graphic display errors on the sky. Any way to revert to the original sky w/o having to reinstall? I did not make a backup because I am stupid :p

[Telin]

Hmm - I Seem to get a few graphic display errors on the sky. Any way to revert to the original sky w/o having to reinstall? I did not make a backup because I am stupid :p

Can you be more specific on what you're experiencing.

[Telin]

P99Sky-Live (https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/252108328/P99Sky-Live.zip)
Here's the latest version.

[dragolyche]

Great job.

Thanks

[Mendrik]

Thanks for the quick reply - well it seems to me that the sky (for example in EJ) is just an unidentifiable mass of grey mist and does not exactly look any good. not sure if that is intended or not.

Are there any steps besides just installing the files? Maybe I did something wrong..

[Axlrose]

The rain effects are very nice - an in-your-face feeling.

While it would not be ~classic~, would it be possible to randomly have during a thunderstorm a louder clap of thunder and longer flashes of lightning, as if the thick of the storm is directly above you. Perhaps if the storm is on a timer, it may or may not occur around the middle of the timer.

Perhaps a bit more wind sounds too if possible.

Thank you again for the great work!

[Era'viss]

Sunrise:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/252108328/sunrisebefore.jpg


PRAISE THE SUN!!!

https://38.media.tumblr.com/20c4a8b330495264bef4f6ca81202070/tumblr_n01tcfxmld1tpr2nno1_250.gif

[Kekephee]

Oh, my, yes please

[Telin]

Thanks for the quick reply - well it seems to me that the sky (for example in EJ) is just an unidentifiable mass of grey mist and does not exactly look any good. not sure if that is intended or not.

Are there any steps besides just installing the files? Maybe I did something wrong..

About half of the zones do not use the skybox. Instead it is a solid fog color. Emerald Jungle is supposed to be a greenish grey. Right now it probably looks blue/grey and that'll be fixed soon . The color for many fog-only zones won't be correct until the next patch because they require server-side changes.

[vorpal_raddish]

Perhaps it is how I see it but Neriak now appears to be in a blue fog. And removing the black from the Temple makes it loose its depth and the red makes it look "flat".

That's exactly how those zones originally looked.

Seeing that screenshot of Neriak is what convinced me to finally download this and I am very pleased with what I've seen so far. While the wife and I were raiding in PoS yesterday she looked over at my screen and commented on how awesome the sky looked.

Thank you very much for your hard work, I'm going to recommend this to all my friends.

[Telin]

That's exactly how those zones originally looked.

Seeing that screenshot of Neriak is what convinced me to finally download this and I am very pleased with what I've seen so far. While the wife and I were raiding in PoS yesterday she looked over at my screen and commented on how awesome the sky looked.

Thank you very much for your hard work, I'm going to recommend this to all my friends.

I'm glad you like the changes! Those updated fog effects will be in next patch. Like this one for Velketor:

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/252108328/velkbefore.jpg
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/252108328/velkafter.jpg

[Ostros]

Dude HELL yes. Original skybox? I hardly remember what it was like before they changed it on live, and I was there for that patch.

Solid work guys. I love it.

[captnamazing]

PRAISE THE SUN!!!

https://38.media.tumblr.com/20c4a8b330495264bef4f6ca81202070/tumblr_n01tcfxmld1tpr2nno1_250.gif

Love this

[Telin]

Dude HELL yes. Original skybox? I hardly remember what it was like before they changed it on live, and I was there for that patch.

Solid work guys. I love it.

I cannot restore original sky box sadly because of how it's coded into client, but I am modifying what is possible for now. I was able to restore the original sun and moon graphic for example, but not the original clouds and their exact color scale. It'll be much closer to it though.

[Ostros]

I cannot restore original sky box sadly because of how it's coded into client, but I am modifying what is possible for now. I was able to restore the original sun and moon graphic for example, but not the original clouds and their exact color scale. It'll be much closer to it though.

Hey don't sweat it. The closer you can make it, the better. I'm impressed you lads are going this far. Do it up man :D.

[tolpa]

Pras

[rayeatts]

All the hard work people are putting into p99 is amazing. It's like an old hot rod tuner car is except 10x better!

[kriven4437]

How do I download these?