I have made a couple of skybox mods by way of extracting images from Space Engine http://spaceengine.org/ Among other things, Space Engine allows you to travel through the universe as it is currently mapped and export skybox images based on your location. Today I came across Spacescape http://alexcpeterson.com/spacescape/ Which allows you to create and export custom skybox cubemaps In addition to not being a programmer, my resume also includes not being a graphics artist but this looks to be something I could play with and generate some interesting results. From the sample skyboxes included, it looks like you can have at least 15 layers to help creating a nice 3D effect. Today I focused on developing a process for going from a Spacescape export to a functional mod in PA. (in 3 easy steps! ) The images need to be manipulated differently than the ones exported from Space Engine and, for my process, I needed to switch the names between the "Front" and "Back" images. In the next few days I'll publish the skybox mod I made from one of their sample cube maps. I'm calling it "Purple Haze"
I have found that, at least on my setup, most of the skyboxes look better in game than viewing the source images. I think it's because you are zoomed into the images so they can wrap around you. If I double the size of the source image, it looks closer to what I see in game.
