Editing Update of the Avatar/Update 228 (section)

===<span id="1">Moondial Effects First Look Video</span>===
As a recap, we recently did some re-ordering of the celestial bodies in the heavens. There are now more game systems directly tied to the positions of these celestial bodies. Due to these changes, Richard “Lord British” Garriott has decreed that we update our orreries to not only accurately reflect these new sequences, but also add the constellations in an outer ring.

Here is a video of the Ornate version of the Moondial that we talked about in last week’s update. This moondial version will go in the Add On Store and will come in a variety of sizes ranging from tabletop to a giant version that you can walk under! These versions are due to make an appearance in Release 42:

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With the completion of the last details of the models, the textures, and the core functionality, it was finally the time to take the Ornate Moondials to the next level! Utilizing the skills of Justin to allow us to include new additions to our particle shader, as well as the talents of Damon to bring numerous VFX online, we’ve given these assets a final makeover and last-minute polish pass that really creates a stunning impression. Once you have a chance to approach one of these works of art, you’ll be able to witness first-hand the way these new VFX work together!
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Having worked up the code that allows the constellations in our night sky to shimmer and seemingly animate, Justin added this same code to our existing particle effect shader to open up new doors for us when creating the kinds of ambient energies that might surround or emanate from objects in our game using “aetheric energy”. In addition to the standard additive glow of particles, Justin’s additions allow us to set up two different “layers” of animating “noise” that can be used to make large and randomly changing patches of “glow” that allow for the slow shimmer you’ll see when you look at the constellations and similar elements on that texture used to surround the Ornate Moondial, as well as smaller noise patterns that randomly mix and blend in various directions to create a sort of “scintillating” effect that touches all elements at a much smaller, granular level… The overall blend of these two parameters is subtle-yet-rich!
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As for the added particle systems themselves, Damon took his cues from the earlier works on the generators, but utilized actual animating textures to create some very beautiful arcing bolts of aetheric plasma which emanate from the Ornate Moondial’s interior capacitors as they pulse outward and upward toward the metal support structures, and toward the world-sphere itself at the center of the construct. Additionally, he added twinkling star effects to the celestial sphere, not only filling it with smaller stars that wink in and out, but actually matching the location and color of the larger constellation stars which will also flash into visibility from time to time. Now consider that all of these effects had to be specifically scaled to work with each of the four different sizes of the Moondial, and you get an idea of how impressive of a feat this was to achieve!

All in all, I’m overjoyed by the effort and outcome of the Ornate Moondials. They’ll certainly leave an impression, whether they end up as a small work of functional art displayed on a decorative den table, or whether they tower over you as you visit someone’s majestic keep!

Learn more about my Moondial work here.

''Scott “Scottie” Jones''<br>
Senior Environment Artist

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