Allrighty - few WIP screenies so that I can prove the demo really is progressing... :) The last image is there just to give you an idea how the planet map looks (real one is 2048*1024). I forgot to clean-up the "low water" effect I made with PhotoShop filters to the coastlines and that's why the left and right side have a "seam" that's not supposed to be there... Screenies below demonstrate at least these points, more or less:
1. Night side has "citylights"... cool.
2. Clouds cast shadows although it's bit hard to see in these small screenshots.
3. Clouds (+ shadows of course) rotate also independently, and that too is bit hard to see from a still image...
4. Planet athmosphere can be colored together with the clouds/land etc. with a simple change of light (sun) color. Sunrise/sunset effect might be bit overdone but who cares if it isn't 100% physically correct... artistic freedom and all that. You can also shift the weight/thickness of the athmosphere towards the sun... looks nice IMO when the dark side has "thinner" glow/halo/whatever than the sunny side.
5. Water is specular and you might even see it from to close-up shot... plus the fact that land isn't specular. That's because real-life land is mostly matte material (sand, rock, vegetation) but water is of course highly reflective thus it has to be specular/glossy on my demo too.
6. Starfield and nebulas are still missing from these shots.
1. Night side has "citylights"... cool.
2. Clouds cast shadows although it's bit hard to see in these small screenshots.
3. Clouds (+ shadows of course) rotate also independently, and that too is bit hard to see from a still image...
4. Planet athmosphere can be colored together with the clouds/land etc. with a simple change of light (sun) color. Sunrise/sunset effect might be bit overdone but who cares if it isn't 100% physically correct... artistic freedom and all that. You can also shift the weight/thickness of the athmosphere towards the sun... looks nice IMO when the dark side has "thinner" glow/halo/whatever than the sunny side.
5. Water is specular and you might even see it from to close-up shot... plus the fact that land isn't specular. That's because real-life land is mostly matte material (sand, rock, vegetation) but water is of course highly reflective thus it has to be specular/glossy on my demo too.
6. Starfield and nebulas are still missing from these shots.