XFile Creation and XFileClasses Effects

[Suicide Junkie]

"Effects added to the planet" is stormcloud like things as I understand it. You'd have to make them small and numerous in order to have them wrap around and follow the surface of the planet.
You don't want to use a large sprite, since they always face the camera, and that would look quite wrong when the effect reaches the edge of the model (part sticking into the planet, part sticking out into space, instead of lying on the surface.

As a completely separate idea, planets could be made as a single sprite with a very long and complex animation sequence.

[MasterChiToes]

I think I understand... I was referring to effects as listed in the XFileClasses_Stellar.txt, like Planet Glow, which is facing the camera, regardless of the planet orientation.

[Suicide Junkie]

So am I.

If you make them small enough, you can use a cluster of sprites in an arc that hugs the planet surface, and then make them rotate around the z axis either with or against the planet's rotation.

My warppoint generator can be set up to do something somewhat like that, although only in thin bands without some custom tweaking...
Think something like the FQM black hole animation, except wrapped around a planet, and using a cloudy white colour instead of incandescent blackbody spectra.
Also, much MUCH smaller, and shallower, and not contiguous

[MasterChiToes]

How do you control "rotate around the z axis" in the effects?

[Suicide Junkie]

Code:

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Effect 1 Rotate Z                                    := 0

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[MasterChiToes]

I get it... you mean rotate in position, where I meant rotate in orientation. Yeah, that would work for small sprites around a planet.

Anyway, I agree that wouldn't be practical for clouds, but it might be nice for asteroids or sub-tiny moons for huge worlds, or maybe planetary infestations.

[MasterChiToes]

Question:

I created an Effect, that I want to retain the original bitmap's color, without any transparency or 'brightness' recoloring. How do I do that?

Blend_Zero seems to result in a silhouette... and Blend_One seems to result in transparency.