I’m just after some ideas on how I can create nebula in a 3d space sim. I really want them to be fully 3D, so they will appear different when viewed from different viewpoints. Obviously they will need to be blended with stars to create a semi transparent area in space.
I’ll probably use coloured fog when the user is inside a nebula - that’s easy enough. It’s creating a realistic nebula to start with the is the problem.
Here’s an idea I’ve already had. Use fairly complex 3D models - render them to bitmaps, and use these bitmaps for billboarded quads. This is ok if the user isn’t moving to quickly. But what if the user if flying through a galaxy very quickly. Does anyone have any experience with the performance of rendering to textures in real time? If so - what kind of slow down can I expect?