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Gaming's most beautiful skyboxes

M

MrOogieBoogie

BioShock Infinite is like playing some homeless guy's vivid imagination
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).
 
Yoshichan

Yoshichan

And they made him a Lord of Cinder. Not for virtue, but for might. Such is a lord, I suppose. But here I ask. Do we have a sodding chance?
The Burning Crusade

r77EA.jpg
 
M

-MikePriester-

Member
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.
 
M

MrOogieBoogie

BioShock Infinite is like playing some homeless guy's vivid imagination
DennisK4 said:
images
Click to expand...

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.
 
M

MrOogieBoogie

BioShock Infinite is like playing some homeless guy's vivid imagination
-MikePriester- said:
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.
Click to expand...

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

sykoex

Lost all credibility.
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
IxbIO.jpg


Nagrand's sky
Qdx7j.jpg
 
R

Raging Spaniard

If they are Dutch, upright and breathing they are more racist than your favorite player
-MikePriester- said:
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.
Click to expand...

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

MrOogieBoogie

BioShock Infinite is like playing some homeless guy's vivid imagination
DennisK4 said:
Mass Effect 2
Click to expand...

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.
 
J

JWong

Banned
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.
 
U

ultron87

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

Nagrand's sky
Click to expand...

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

V_Ben

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

Hot Coldman

Banned
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.
 
P

pigeon interrupted

Member
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.
 
F

fernoca

Member
MrOogieBoogie said:
the Call of Duty games have some of the ugliest skyboxes...
Click to expand...
Doesn't look that bad in some cases..I guess. :p

Call of Duty: Black Ops

Iq6Gk.jpg


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NopHD.jpg


SW6Xu.jpg



But overall, Halo Reach has some of my favorites.

Halo Reach

Vb52N.jpg


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8XoZy.jpg


1rNJ2.jpg


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bBZ9U.jpg
 
N

[Nintex]

Member
timetokill said:
Wind Waker's skybox Beautiful stuff.
Click to expand...
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.
 
S

Snuggles

erotic butter maelstrom
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.
 
B

brobban

Member
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.
 
F

Futureman

Member
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.
 
B

blazinglazers

Member
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

indigo-cyclops

Member
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.
 
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