Why don't developers ever make textures for air?

[DecadeRiptide]

In games you have textures for water, stone, dirt, metal, paper, wood, plants, etc. But hwy don't developers make textures for air? Air is in every game yet developers never bother to texture it. It's so annyoing. They make textures for smoke and gasses so don't tell me it's not possible.

Developers need to start making sure they texture air.

[Tweed]

Can you please, like, never post again?

[KnightoftheWind]

If a game doesn't have fully modeled dust particles, is it even a game?.

[DecadeRiptide]

Can you please, like, never post again?

Maybe you need some air

[rusty_shackleford]

They do, it's called ambient particles

[Rand]

They make sound "textures" for air.

Play the original Thief games. There are varied omnipresent unobtrusive sound backgrounds that help immerse you in the world.
Being outside on the street feels different than being in a building or a sewer because they sound different, aside from activity or locational sounds.
And they have a lot to do with the environment, including the movement or stillness of the air.
Really masterfully done and rarely replicated.

[DecadeRiptide]

They do, it's called ambient particles

But those are like dust particles, volumetric rays, fog, and water particles, no? Those are just things that float around the air or can be seen amidst the air, or expose a limited visual of the surrounding air or even the flow of the air.

We need textures for air air, like the oxygen air y'know?

[DecadeRiptide]

Did you know 70-99% of a modern game world is just [textureless] air?

That is a lot of wasted space.

[J1M]

For performance reasons.

[DecadeRiptide]

For performance reasons.

How much performance are we talking? And could these concerns be mitigated with some specialized tech, like raytraced air or something?

[DecadeRiptide]

If there was a living room sized room, and it was filled with textured air, would a modern PC be able to simulate it?

[J1M]

If there was a living room sized room, and it was filled with textured air, would a modern PC be able to simulate it?

Only if you had opaque textures.

[DecadeRiptide]

If there was a living room sized room, and it was filled with textured air, would a modern PC be able to simulate it?

Only if you had opaque textures.

Would air have 0% opacity or would it be more like 1% or 2%?

[J1M]

If there was a living room sized room, and it was filled with textured air, would a modern PC be able to simulate it?

Only if you had opaque textures.

Would air have 0% opacity or would it be more like 1% or 2%?

You'd need high-dynamic range precision, not integer percentages. Think about how much air you'd be looking through.

[DecadeRiptide]

Also, if you were to simulate breathing with player characters, how many player characters could you put into a room before they run out of usuable air?

[DecadeRiptide]

If we put a full AI character into the room, and waited until it ran out of air, would this be considered unethical? Assuming it is considered to be somewhat "self aware"

[J1M]

If we put a full AI character into the room, and waited until it ran out of air, would this be considered unethical?

AI needs electricity, not air.

[DecadeRiptide]

If we put a full AI character into the room, and waited until it ran out of air, would this be considered unethical?

AI needs electricity, not air.

But I mean within a simulated environment, and programmed so it would need the air to survive.

[DecadeRiptide]

Well, back on topic, I think it would be cool to see a fully simulated environment, fully integrating elements of our real world. Even if it's only a small room sized simulation.

[DemoGraph]

But hwy don't developers make textures for air?

Oxygen Not Included.

[Bertram_Tung]

Quite a few games have air textures. Super Mario 64, Subnautica, Duke Nukem 3D to name a few... lots of games. It's easier to see them in game when you go underwater.

[J1M]

@DecadeRiptide air textures circa 2012 in Darksiders 2.

[DecadeRiptide]

@DecadeRiptide air textures circa 2012 in Darksiders 2.

Isn't that more like fog or mist? Also, the rest of the air isn't textured, so

[J1M]

@DecadeRiptide air textures circa 2012 in Darksiders 2.

Isn't that more like fog or mist? Also, the rest of the air isn't textured, so

Moving the goal posts?

[asf]

it is like making textures for the inside of your head

[stormvermin]

I'm from the future. Unreal Engine 6 allows for 2345834763576 times the level of detail, enabling texturing for individual molecules. Unfortunately it runs so poorly that the framerate is in the negative, which somehow resulted in my being sent back in time.

[J1M]

I'm from the future. Unreal Engine 6 allows for 2345834763576 times the level of detail, enabling texturing for individual molecules. Unfortunately it runs so poorly that the framerate is in the negative, which somehow resulted in my being sent back in time.

But still no air textures?

[stormvermin]

I'm from the future. Unreal Engine 6 allows for 2345834763576 times the level of detail, enabling texturing for individual molecules. Unfortunately it runs so poorly that the framerate is in the negative, which somehow resulted in my being sent back in time.

But still no air textures?

No. Expect someone who was forced to test UE7 any day now, they'll provide an update.

[Bertram_Tung]

again, plenty of air textures in plenty of games. just need to know where to look for them (under water usually)

[DecadeRiptide]

again, plenty of air textures in plenty of games. just need to know where to look for them (under water usually)

Cool but that is in the background or is part of the sky box? What about the air in the immediate surroundings of the character?