Bending Reality Magazine August 2014 | Page 42

Click the skybox you wish to use and then select the Load button to apply your selection.

Now you will want to set the lighting to match your skybox.

The reason we start with the skybox first is that some skyboxes have a sun or light source on them. Because of this you may wish to adjust the light to accommodate where that light source is coming from. This gives a more natural and realistic feel to your area.

Lighting in NuVera is real time. In game terms this means it happens dynamically, just as it would with having a lamp on in your house. It causes shadows and shows any movement your avatar makes when in the light source.

If you have not done so already, close the Skybox inventory and then choose Atmosphere Controls (the icon right beside it).

The new menu may look a bit confusing but from experience I can tell you it can be a lot of fun to play with all the buttons and sliders :)

To begin you will want to adjust the colour of the lights. Each colour will affect not only the colour cast by the sun but the overall area of effect in the ambient overlay. For example if you make your sun red and your ambient yellow you will have an orangish hue on your avatar and anywhere the sun reflects on the ground outside of the shadows.