Semi-realistic star cluster in Godot
1 min read
An experiment in using semi-realistic cosmic data in Godot Engine. https://github.com/astra137/godot-star-cluster
I exported this project for web once, but it looks much less pretty. Use WASD to move, mousewheel to change speed, and 1-3 to fly to preset stars.
It features an extension written in Rust with gdext, random star placement in a cluster using a normal distribution, a Kroupa-like IMF for mass values, and blackbody-like colors.
It also features an attempt at emulated double precision in the shader that renders the stars. The experiment was partially successful: as the sky/starfield camera gets very, very close to a star (rendered as point mesh in a multimesh), the star visibly wiggles just before vanishing due to near clipping. The POV must get much closer before the sphere mesh of the star is large enough to be seen.
To improve the effect, I think an additional layer should be responsible for intermediate distances. It would functionally overlap with the far plane of the primary camera and the near plane of the starfield camera. Practically, it could be another render layer like the starfield. It could also be system of scaling, billboarded sprites that render just inside of the primary camera's far plane (which is similar to how stars currently work in this demo).