Discovery Starsphere Upgrade Project

[Durandal]

As a mod which adds a large number of systems to the vanilla game, and until now without a reliable way to reproduce vanilla quality starspheres, Discovery Freelancer has many systems with recycled or otherwise hacked together starspheres, with a few outliers like Omega-2 and Zurich, which, while cool, deviate greatly from Freelancer's art style.

With the release of @Treewyrm's MAXLancer tool for 3dsmax, we now have the capability to reproduce starspheres in vanilla's style, combining both proper UV unwrapping to hand tailored geometry, with the subtleties of vertex color and alpha, allowing us to blend, shade, and fade out textures seamlessly.

With these tools at our disposal, the development team will be giving each Discovery system (likely with the iconic exceptions untouched or only remastered in higher quality, not reimagined) its own custom starsphere. These starspheres will be designed in vanilla style, with their astronomical features placed and scaled relative to their system's position on the navmap. I've already started chiseling away at the very long list ahead of us, and the first two of our Vanilla style Discovery starspheres are already done.

Click to enlarge the images below.

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Ontario

As one of the older, more established Discovery systems, Ontario was an intimidating starsphere to tackle. It had to be cold, it had to be bleak, but it still had to feel like a Liberty system. Using Kepler's darkened sphere as a point of reference, the new Ontario sphere's icy tones are meant to chill to the bone.









Poole

Poole had a dense, dark ambiance that evoked mystery and a sense of distance from the rest of the sector, but there were things its recycled Edinburgh sphere could have done better. The Walker Nebula was far too distant, as well as the Barrier which it sits right against. There was also not a hint of white to the south, where Exeter - or Omega-49 if you're a Zoner - lies. This has been corrected.







Thuringia

Thuringia received a full set of custom assets including a starsphere upon its introduction. Unfortunately, this starsphere made use of the same repeating tiles on all six sides, and generally did not reach a level of artistic quality that we strive for. The new Thuringia backdrop has been reimagined in a sickly green, befitting of the system's eerie nature.









Tottori

Previously using Magellan's starsphere, Tottori was very out of place, including a walker cloud to the south, not visible from any of Kusari's systems. Tottori's new starsphere has been designed as a synthesis of a Kusari system and a northernly Tau, as per its location on the navmap.









Vespucci

While Vespucci's appropriation of the Omega-3 starsphere wasn't the worst, it did have some quirks. Only the northern portion of the barrier was visible, abruptly ending as it met the system's wall. The barrier was also a little too close to the system as well, making it appear as though Vespucci were located directly at the end of the nebula.

The new starsphere provides a more appropriate barrier piece, close to but not intersecting the system, as well as removing the odd Bentus Harborship nebula visible from Cambridge, Omega-3, and Omega-5, which would have been too distant to see from Vespucci.







This thread will be updated as additional starspheres are created. More to come soon!

[Nika]

Shame the images will not really load with my network quality right away, but what i am confident about is that doing something "the vanilla" way in case of Freelancer is a good thing. Looking forward to see the updates on this.

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[Charo]

That's pretty neato ngl

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[Jeuge]

good work

[Kokopelli]

Looks great!

Adherence to Vanilla, I think, is one of the key things that help Discovery stay afloat. There's a certain charm to Freelancer's universe that keeps people drawn to it after all these years.

Keep up the good work!

[Megaera]

Looks nice

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[Jonathan Seabourne]

I'm always amazed by how much a labor of love this mod is. The starspheres have no direct impact on gameplay, but you're going out of your way to not only make each system look unique and pretty, but also to ensure it fits into the established lore of the Freelancer universe. It's a level of passion and attention to detail that I tip my hat to!

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[SlappyTheRoach]

Nice here's to having more prettier systems now.

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[Durandal]

Updated with Poole & Thuringia!

[Enkidu]

There are gorgeous. Great work.

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