SKYBOX ARCHIVE READY FOR DOWNLOAD

[speaker]

Hi,

I have created a set of archives that contain Q3A skyboxes collected from various WEB sites. Following is the 'readme' of the archive set:

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Disclaimer:
These skyboxes have not been produced by me, I take no credit whatsoever
for them. I have put them together in these archives for convenience and
made a few slight modifications / improvements.

This archive contains a lot of (actually 79) different skyboxes
collected from various WEB sites all around the world. This is the
result of my frustration as a mapper (due to the lack of good skyboxes
in the standard distros of Q3A, Openarena and Nexuiz).

As far as I could determine, these skyboxes are all free to use
non-commercially. Some of them may even be released under the GPL. You
have to check the individual 'readme' files included in the separate
skybox folders. If in doubt, connect the original author, provided that
the e-mail is still valid which is not very likely

Each skybox has a working Q3A shader script, these are stored in the folders
'0_scripts'. Some of these scripts were made by me because the corresponding
original works did not include any.

I have checked the sun's direction & elevation values in every single
skybox in the archive. I used a simple test map for this. The MAP file and
textures necessary to build this test map are in the archive Q3SKYINF.ZIP
(see below). I also included a text file containing instructions on how to
use the map.

The archive is split to several sub-archives because the full lot is
about 128 MB compressed. This would be too large for someone who wants to
download just one specific skybox. On the other hand, if each box would
be a separate archive the whole thing would be a PITA to manage. The archives
are named Q3SKY01.ZIP, Q3SKY02.ZIP, etc.

There is an additonal small archive called Q3SKYINF.ZIP, this contains a
galery of the available skyboxes (one representative image for each box)
as well as a table of the location of the boxes in the different archives.
It also contains the special test map I mentioned above. You should download
this archive first.

I hope that these packs are going to be useful for mappers all around. If
you have a nice skybox (made by you or downloaded) which is not yet in these
archives, just let me know and I will include it if you wish.

Enjoy!

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A couple of teasers





Right now the files are kept on my personal WEB page, but I will try to submit them to LvL for wider accessibility. Download locations:

http://menczel.extra.hu/q3sky.html

mod edit removed dead links

[Rad Ished]

Woah these are awesome, nice one dude, I'd love to use one in a map im making.
I've been playing around with blender making skyboxes for a while but nothing like this.
What apps are you using?
I made a few in pshop also but that's kinda limited.
When rendering from blender i had many problem with pixelated skybox textures, they just looked awful in game.
Are you on irc?
nexuiz.editing has quite a few nexuiz mappers in it. Erm... most of them actually , pls stop by and visit

[speaker]

Hi,

I am glad you like the skyboxes. But there must have been a slight misunderstanding: these were not made by me (as it is clearly stated in the README). I just collected them in an archive for easier access. You are free to use them in your maps (but see the remarks about TerraGen below).

AFAIK the boxes were made using the TerraGen utility (see http://www.planetside.co.uk/terragen/). This is a commercial program, but there is a free version you can download and use for non-commercial applications. So unfortunately unless you buy a license you may not put your work produced by TerraGen under the GPL

[GreEn`mArine]

license type ?

You know what licensing is ... riiiiight ??

[dIM]

Whats with the negative attitude lately GreEn`mArine?
He wrote in his first post that you have to look in the individual readme files for information on the license.

[Grasshopper]

Hey great work ! if i get some time i will go through them all and see which ones are gpl keepers and post which ones to throw away .

[speaker]

Hey great work ! if i get some time i will go through them all and see which ones are gpl keepers and post which ones to throw away .

Thanks. And it would be a great help if you could really sort out the GPL compatible ones for Nexuiz mappers. But please, don't throw away the rest. They are useful as long as you don't want to get your map in the official Nexuiz release.

When you post the list of GPL compatible boxes, I will include it somewhere in the README for everyone to see.

[Grasshopper]

Ok . I took some time to sift through all the readme's in each skybox folder .
here are the results

these have no definate yes or no for free to use . although they give directions on how to install the skybox , they have no real permission or denial of use for any licensing . you may want to contact the author just to be sure its ok and get written consent with email.

darkgloom
sb_devilpunch
sb_desert
oasisnight
nec_night
nec_hell
mp_whirlpool
mp_velcor
mp_titan
mp_sandcastle
mp_rainforest
mp_perdicus
mp_northlight
mp_majestic
mp_hexagon
mp_goldrush
mp_drakeq
mp_di
mp_cybtech
mp_blood
mp_aft
mp_5dim
mnight
lmcity
sor_sea
sor_mars
sor_land
sor_lake2
sor_lake1
sor_hills
sor_cwd
sor_borg
sor_beach
sor_alien
siege
sb_strato
sb_nightball
sb_mars
sb_iceflow
sb_graveyard
sb_frozendusk
sb_frozen
sb_emerald

these next few have specifically stated that you must contact them and let them know you will be using the skybox . after that it is ok to use

elbrus
nec_city
mudskipper
morose
misty

These would be a good idea to find the original post and get permissions for use as well because it is stated , quote"Don't distribute my zips, If you want the originals go back to the Wadfather and download a fresh set. end quote" unless these are where you originally got them . the email and sites are included for contacts info . i really ddnt know what to do with these so i felt it best to post these to make absolutely sure to check into .

mp_toh
mp_sorbin
mp_moonwaw


Other than that the rest of the files seem to be in order and free to use as long as you include the readme file. Plus its a good idea to contact all authors no matter what to let them know you are using thier work .

Speaker:
this is what i found from the individual readme files . I know some sites you got these from probably had a " free to use " paragraph somewhere close to the downloads , but wasnt included in the pk3's . so i hope this list helps for the specific ones needed to follow up on . and thanx for your work for the extended readme's and for finding all of these

[torus]

Hmm, interesting stuff. I looked through them all, and there are a few great ones, a couple good ones, and a lot of really bad ones . Luckily, most of the ones I feel are great are GPL

For anyone interested, I separated the ones I think are the cream of the crop into their own pack, which you can get here:

http://torus.mkzelda.net/q3Skyset.zip

I've removed ones that just look bad in my eyes, for whatever reason (low-res artifacts, ugly colors, ugly geometry, etc), but your taste might be different than mine

[speaker]

@Grashopper:

Thanks for the lists, I knew that this should be done but just hated the idea. I have already spent far too much time with this damned sky box archive.

FYI: The boxes prefixed by 'mp_' were made by a guy who calls himself 'Mighty Pete'. They (and a lot more, altogether 150 from him!) can be found on the WEB site http://wadfather.planethalflife.gamespy.com. His license says 'in the public domain but only non-commercial use' (which seems to be a contradiction although IANAL). Anyway, I wrote him a letter asking permission to distribute under the GPL. If he agrees, it will be a real boon for the mapping community here.

@torus:

Thanks. I agree that many of the boxes are not so great, but I lacked the energy to properly sort them out. I also considered that someone may like the ones I hate. It's a matter of taste as you said yourself.