[MrOogieBoogie]

I think skyboxes are some of the most unappreciated aspects of visual technology in games. Take, for instance, Oblivion, which I believe to have the very best dynamic cloud system of any game. Often I'll find myself gazing up into the sky and just watching the clouds hover overhead against a gorgeous blue backdrop. Same goes for the night sky in Oblivion, which I don't think has been ousted yet by any other game. It's mesmerizing, really.

One thing I cannot stand are static clouds. Fucking hate looking up to see a pasted image. Red Dead Redemption has this to an extent (clouds move, but don't look nearly as good as Oblivion's), Grand Theft Auto IV suffers from this, the Call of Duty games have some of the ugliest skyboxes... It doesn't completely affect my enjoyment of the game, but it's something that if done well really, REALLY enhances my experience. This is especially true for open-world games, where I find myself admiring the visual landscape more often than not.

This is one reason why I cannot wait for Skyrim. I just know the night skies in that game will be wonderful. Can't wait to watch the intergalactic spectacle of stars and aurorae amidst snowy mountain backdrops.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5nnka8Yvug

Just beautiful (wish I could find better quality footage, though).

[Lyphen]

Halo: Reach. Simply beautiful stuff.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51ZIr2aBONY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dq6qdGq5YBE < Mute this one for your own safety.

[Dennis]

[Yoshichan]

The Burning Crusade

[-MikePriester-]

Red Dead has some awesome skyboxes, if not a little too many stars at night. It does add to the atmosphere of the game. I'll give a quick mention to Forza 3 aswell, not to everyones taste but it can look really nice at times.

[timetokill]

Wind Waker's skybox, and Red Dead Redemption's. Beautiful stuff.

[Raging Spaniard]

Warhawk has great ones, hard to find proper images though

[coopolon]

stuff

What game is that?

[spats]

GT5.

[SneakyStephan]

Halo CE's were memorable.

The best are probably stalker games with complete mod and maybe a weather mod.

JC2 has an amazing HD skybox mod and volumetric clouds.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gyHWxTOfTE0

Youtube vids do not do it justice

[MrOogieBoogie]

images

Is that Call of Pripyat? That game is similar to Red Dead Redemption in that the clouds look good in stills and in time lapse videos, but in-game they just look pasted into the sky. It's hard to describe.

[Granger Danger]

(hard to find good pics of WW)

[Dennis]

[MrOogieBoogie]

Red Dead has some awesome skyboxes, if not a little too many stars at night. It does add to the atmosphere of the game. I'll give a quick mention to Forza 3 aswell, not to everyones taste but it can look really nice at times.

Maybe my brightness is way off, but I don't remember many stars in Red Dead Redemption.

[sixteen-bit]

I'm playing Red Dead Redemption now and they seem pretty nice.

[sykoex]

WoW has the best sky boxes. Each area has it's own uniquely designed skybox that really fit with the environment.

A couple of my favorites:

Icecrown's sky


Nagrand's sky

[FiRez]

Infinity Blade and Halo:CE considering the technical limitations of their platforms

[Raging Spaniard]

Red Dead has some awesome skyboxes, if not a little too many stars at night. It does add to the atmosphere of the game. I'll give a quick mention to Forza 3 aswell, not to everyones taste but it can look really nice at times.

No pollution back then, hence more starrs than you would see today.

[MrOogieBoogie]

Mass Effect 2

That's a perfect example of a poor skybox, in my opinion. The planets and clouds and atmosphere just look pasted on. I guess that's what a skybox essentially is, but again, I like to see dynamic cloud movement like in Oblivion, which very few games seem to do.

[JWong]

I'd post some more of WoW if I was at home. They really hit homeruns with the artstyle in the skybox rather than realism.

Notable ones are Icecrown, Storm Peaks, and the area near Bastion of Twilight.

[scorpscarx]

I think almost all modern games have great sky boxes, another one that I like is DIrt2's.

[ultron87]

WoW has the best sky boxes. Each area has it's own uniquely designed skybox that really fit with the environment. Nagrand's sky

Nagrand is one of my favorite zones. The skybox is at least 50 percent of the reason for this.

[V_Ben]

The ones in Brutal Legend really are something to behold. No images to hand, but I'll find some in a bit.

[TheExodu5]

Was expecting Denis to post STALKER Complete. Was not disappointed.

[Ysiadmihi]

Yeah Nagrand's is pretty incredible.

[Granger Danger]

[Hot Coldman]

Does Mario Galaxy count? The way that game flips from starry skies to sun and clouds is still damn amazing. Shame the second game kinda dropped heavy use of that trick.

[blame space]

i like fallout 3 at night.. what's the best fallout 3 skybox mod?

[Baby Jesus]

Heh. As soon as I read the thread title I thought Oblivion. Amazing that it has never really been surpassed. It probably has been bettered, but it was still awe inducing at the time and still in the top few percent (out of the box) today.

I remember waiting for some dark soul gems to cook at midnight (or some crap) and being mesmerised by the depth of the night sky. Red Dead was beautiful to look at, but didn't feel as dynamic.

One of my pet hates is grainy/low res skies in games.

[adelante]

Halo: Reach. Simply beautiful stuff. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51ZIr2aBONY

Woah...the different rolling clouds and smoke, lightning flares and silhouettes (you can even spot a covenant cruiser!)... so much subtle detail put into that one skybox.

[fernoca]

the Call of Duty games have some of the ugliest skyboxes...

Doesn't look that bad in some cases..I guess. :p

Call of Duty: Black Ops










But overall, Halo Reach has some of my favorites.

Halo Reach

[[Nintex]]

Wind Waker's skybox Beautiful stuff.

I believe it was called 'color banding' and damn did it suck.

I must say Mass effect had some awesome skyboxes, sometimes you'd just visit a random moon or planet with an amazing skybox.

[Deadly Cyclone]

Anything Bungie.

Examples from Halo: Reach...

[XNarte]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pROWml_4sYQ
This video always reminds me of why I liked the skyboxes in Red Dead.

It also demonstrates another thing I like in games: Cloud shadows. Red Dead, Assassins Creed, and Virtua Tennis on Dreamcast are some of my favorites in terms of this.

[DeathIsTheEnd]

Halo's (Reach here) are awesome.

[birdcity]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5TQDeoump4


Red Dead Redemption, no contest.

[-MikePriester-]

Maybe my brightness is way off, but I don't remember many stars in Red Dead Redemption.

Hmm. Loads of stars if I remember right, I'm questioning my own sanity now. ha.

Ahh, found video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K56zb...eature=related

Check your brightness man, it looks beautiful (not in that video though).

[jim-jam bongs]

i like fallout 3 at night.. what's the best fallout 3 skybox mod?

I haven't found any specifically for sky-boxes, but Fellout does make them a lot prettier.

[XNarte]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5TQDeoump4 Red Dead Redemption, no contest.

Ah I see I'm not alone!

[throwawayname]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5TQDeoump4 Red Dead Redemption, no contest.

Listen to this man.

[Snuggler]

I can't remember if they move or not, but Assassin's Creed: Federation of Bros had some amazing looking clouds. I'm not at my home PC so I don't have my pics to post, but Dennis should hook us up.

Also, I loved Vanquish's skyboxes. They weren't actually clouds, but parts of the city that were above you and you could see the war raging out.

[jooey]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5TQDeoump4 Red Dead Redemption, no contest.

I agree, but if/when we get to the point where they can make dissipating clouds, that'll be the shit. Right now it's like a cloud uncanny valley.

[Alxjn]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5TQDeoump4 Red Dead Redemption, no contest.

Definitely. RDR's sky is incredibly beautiful. Love it when a storm is clearing up at sunset and you can see the orange sky shining through the dark clouds, reflecting off the puddles.

[brobban]

Red Dead Redemption
Wind Waker
Halo Reach

The fact that they are dynamic does a lot. Don't understand why not more developers invest more effort into it.

[Futureman]

WW is one of my favorite games, but the dude who posted that shot above is either drunk or trolling. Can't remember if the game actually has nice skyboxes, but that example is crap.

[blazinglazers]

This thread was made for Halo Reach.

Skyboxes with incredible depth and animation. Small ships battling it out. Cloud shadows rolling over everything around you. Truly beautiful stuff.

//edit//
Yeah as far as open world / real-time cycles go, nothing touches the Red Dead.

[INDIGO_CYCLOPS]

Wow, I didn't realize how nice Reach's were. I love to evaluate skyboxes in different games. Definitely one of the must under-appreciated aspects. Games like STALKER, RDR, and modded Oblivion.

[MrOogieBoogie]

Hmm. Loads of stars if I remember right, I'm questioning my own sanity now. ha. Ahh, found video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K56zb...eature=related Check your brightness man, it looks beautiful (not in that video though).

The fuck? My game did NOT look like that.

[bloodydrake]

Nevada Skies for New Vegas looks pretty cool

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-ZgPxHSfLM

[Forsaken82]

Does Eve: Online count? You can practically print screen at any point in that game and have Wallpaper worthy screenshots