What steps do I take to create a space environment? (Space Skysphere with stars on it just to begin with)

Question

At this point I want to keep my goal for the week simple. Create a level environment that looks like outer space. To complete this, a simple sky sphere with a material applied to it that has tiny stars on it will do. I have the texture/jpeg I want but how do I create an environment with just stars all around the player?

Later on, I'll worry about creating a Sun, some planets, and zero-g physics for player movement, but for now I want to keep each goal simple. Can you answer my question?

Best regards,

SabreFoxx

Accepted Answer

Hey [@SabreFoxx](https://forums.awsgametech.com/t/what-steps-do-i-take-to-create-a-space-environment-space-skysphere-with-stars-on-it-just-to-begin-with/6539/1#)

Lumberyard
uses its own sky sphere by default that can be manipulated by Time Of Day, but it is not suitable for space environment because it has no texture at bottom side.

In this case, you must use your own sky-sphere. Follow the steps:

1- add the following to *game.cfg* file inside your project directory:

```
e_Skybox = 0
e_Sun = 0
e_Fog = 0
```
2- create a level without terrain.

3- create a entity and add a mesh component with sphere as its asset.

4- set X/Y/Z **Scale** to 10000.0 and set X/Y/Z **Translate** to 0.

5- and finally, you need a material with Equirectangular texture as its diffuse-texture. ([this tool can help you](https://www.360toolkit.co/convert-cubemap-to-spherical-equirectangular) and [this](http://alexcpeterson.com/spacescape/))

Answer

@REDACTEDUSER

Answer

@REDACTEDUSER

Answer

Awesome to see Spacescape is still getting some use! Another option I've been toying with is removing the fog from the time of day system so there are just stars and then using pictures of nebula on distance clouds objects. Works OK, though you don't have a lot of control on how much the stars shine through in the nebulas.

Here's a zip that has a "space" time of day file and a level.cfg that turns off terrain visibility (e_terrain 0) and turns on some chromatic abberation and vignetting

[8425-spacelevelsettings.zip|attachment](upload://h3FWkwD8RlFAr0OSJQjcMRNCMLZ.zip) (2.06 KB)spacelevelsettings.zip

Answer

This is because you chose the wrong mesh asset that is affected by the culling system.

You should chose this mesh as asset:

```
Gems\PrimitiveAssets\Assets\Objects\_Primitives\_Sphere_1x1
```
And before that, make sure the relevant Gem is active (*Primitive Assets*).

Answer

Thanks so much!

Answer

Spacescape is very interesting and cool tool. Thank you for making it available to the public for free.

I tested the contents of the zip file, and that chromatic effect of the stars was interesting. The default sky in lumberyard (Dynamic Sky) looks good and I know that it is even more optimal and flexible than any custom sky. But in the static state (Static Skyboxes) there is a weakness and it is the lack of texture at bottom side of the sky-sphere. The last time I built a custom material for the static sky, the bottom side was not textureable!

Answer

@REDACTEDUSER

Answer

Thanks @REDACTEDUSER

What steps do I take to create a space environment? (Space Skysphere with stars on it just to begin with)

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