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[J4g3r]

Always a huge plus for me, especially in games with day/night and weather cycles.

It's definitely something that is often overlooked too which is a damn shame, as it's a lot more than just a giant wraparound texture that is used to make the world you're in seem a lot bigger than it actually is. It can add a variety of atmosphere, depth and even be used to mark progression in a video game.

A few examples I can think of include:

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

Some of the best day/night and weather cycles I think I've seen in a video game, and these are always accompanied by a beautiful skybox which just adds so much to the atmosphere of the game. I always find myself getting distracted when on Skellige, truly remarkable.

Bloodborne

In Bloodborne; the sky changes as you progress through the game hitting certain milestones and is heavily tied into the game's lore, even in the recent Old Hunters expansion - Which people are still unraveling.

There's definitely plenty of other examples that I can think of (Destiny, Mass Effect, Halo) these are just what stood out for me this year.

What has stood out for you?

2011 thread.

 

[johnnydrama]

Besides those two games? Destiny and Halo games.

 

[User 479360]

Mad Max

 

[Pan0u]

Mad Max is my winner.

The photo mode has never been as useful in any other game as it was in this one.

 

[lazygecko]

Unreal had some pretty nice skyboxes for its time. Sometimes you could see stuff like floating islands in the distance.

 

[Phediuk]

Bungie always nails their skyboxes.

 

[$h@d0w]

Jazzpunk had some crazy amazing ones.

 

[Widge]

I remember some jaw dropping moments on Planetside 2 actually, specifically the icy planet. As day faded into night, huge assault on an installation framed by aurora Borealis streaking through the sky.

Stills do nothing for it, it's all about the transition, the movement, the situation. Wonderful.

 

[cchum]

/

RAGE has great ones.

 

[Freeman76]

Destiny, Witcher 3, Rage spring to mind

 

[AcademicSaucer]

Dreamcast games.

 

[FlyingSaucer]

Stalker with mods (and even without).

 

[Coen]

World of Warcraft. I'm on mobile so it's hard to post examples, but WoW has some spectacular skyboxes.

 

[tiebreaker]

Driveclub

 

[maximrace]

Yeah Halo has some amazing looking skyboxes

 

[themagicalkitsune]

Might hardly count but I like gazing around in Mario Galaxy.

 

[High Prophet of Regret]

Final Fantasy XIII

 

[Phreakuency]

Destiny

 

[J4g3r]

Unreal had some pretty nice skyboxes for its time. Sometimes you could see stuff like floating islands in the distance.

The amount of UT2K4 I played back in the day on Face Classic, I should have mentioned it. Ridiculously good for it's time.

 

[69wpm]

The game is nice to look at, especially with the changing weather and other stuff going on in the sky:

 

[Conkerkid11]

Mad Max

Final Fantasy XIII

 

[Bear Force One]

Destiny is the once and future king.

 

[AerialAir]

Hyrule Warriors DLC

 

[mntorankusu]

Dreamcast games.

The sky in Shenmue is actually the only part that I think has aged particularly poorly. It appears to be a 2D background that just scrolls as the camera rotates. Or maybe it just moves weirdly. Either way, it's been pretty distracting to me ever since I first noticed it.

 

[The Albatross]

Skybox doesn't have to just be sky. Half life 2s skybox was largely city scape. They used it very well to make the world seem much larger than the generally pretty small levels.

 

[SolVanderlyn]

Unconventional answer, but I loved looking out at The Citadel's "skyline" in Mass Effect.

 

[Stone Ocean]

Destiny

It still amazes me how fucking beautiful artistically that game is

 

[Acinixys]

RAGE has great ones.

Rage

 

[Guerrillas in the Mist]

For all people knock the technical/artistic aspects of Bethesda games, Skyrim had done gorgeous skyboxes. Even better when enjoyed with Jeremy Soule's score.

I'll throw some pics up once I'm off my phone.

 

[Markitron]

Agree with most of em so far, but I'd add Rise of the Tomb Raider. There is always something stunning to look up at in that game.

Pity only about 12 people have played it.

 

[Makoto-Yuki]

grand theft auto v has amazing sky/weather effects.

 

[J4g3r]

The game is nice to look at, especially with the changing weather and other stuff going on in the sky:

This is going to be my New Years game for sure, technical marvel.

 

[mcz117chief]

Welcome to Reach

 

[jeemer]

Jakku DLC for Battlefront is pretty bloody impressive. Not got a screenie for you though.

 

[E92 M3]

Bungie make some of the best skyboxes in gaming.

 

[tesqui]

Bloodborne sky boxes are nice, but the gross seams and low res texture ones ruin it.

 

[Corvo Jensen]

oh man, i need to buy a ps4 and play bloodborne those screens look unreal.

 

[BigTnaples]

Bungie. The thread.


Also, Bethesda.

 

[Zack Zavage]

Bungie games are the first that come to mind. I remember Halo:CE having the most impressive skyboxes I've seen back to its time. Especially in the second mission when

Spoiler

crashing on Halo

.

Looking at the pictures in this thread reminds me how great Bloodborne holds up in this regard.

 

[TheLetdown]

Jakku DLC for Battlefront is pretty bloody impressive. Not got a screenie for you though.

This is the truth.

But a part of how great the skybox is in that map is the movement. Watching a Star Destroyer slowly crash and the battle that continues on after is just great.

 

[StayDead]

Is this a World of Warcraft thread?

 

[Shin Kojima]

Bloodborne skybox looked glitchy for me at some point when loading. I thought it was kind of trippy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GbGZpD8CrF4

 

[Noobcraft]

Halo.
https://photosynth.net/view.aspx?cid=bf48d6d0-856d-4956-8afe-b734549d7648

https://photosynth.net/view.aspx?cid=f60bc63c-8edb-435d-8093-3bc660a7fb1b

Driveclub.
https://photosynth.net/view.aspx?cid=36499787-0b6a-4587-9184-94b0fc64f39a

 

[Dennis]

I am going one-shot this thread. Clear Skies.

 

[VE3TRO]

Some recent ones I've been playing I'd say Destiny, Mad Max and Project Cars.

 

[Ryouji Gunblade]

I am going one-shot this thread. Clear Skies.

Are those clouds animated too?

 

[J4g3r]

I am going one-shot this thread. Clear Skies.

Actually thought this was real until I scrolled all the way down, damn.

TKO.

 

[UnluckyKate]

Bungie always had stellar skyboxes, Halo CE, Halo 2, 3, Reach, Destiny...

 

[BigBeauford]

Battle fronts are pretty great.

 

[ZeroRay]

Morrowind

Hell, all Bethesda games since Morrowind. Only parts of their games they haven't dumbed down