A long time ago when I was a youngster, I would go out on very cold, clear, winter nights with a pair of binoculars and my prized 40x power Tasco telescope to look at the stars and the Moon. Bundled up to the point of near immobility by my mom, I would set the telescope up on the picnic table that my dad built, point it at the Moon, and marvel at the craters that I could see along its terminator.
When I first played Silent Hunter III, I was, of course, appalled at the sorry looking moon that was in the game, and replaced it with a modded version first chance I had. However, none of the Moon mods, fine as they may be, gave me the warm (cold?) feelings and sense of wonder that I remember when looking at them through the in game binoculars. So I figured I might try to make one myself.
After weeks of searching for the right images, touching up, manipulating, and resizing them, and trying to figure out alpha layers...this is the result.
Maybe not quite as sharp as people would like, since I didn't want to use a 4 meg targa file, but I think it is pretty good. The intent is to look like a real Moon as seen from the Earth and through the atmosphere...and I wanted to look at the craters again.
Special Note:
The images used to make this mod are from photos taken by John French, who is the
Planetarium Production Coordinator for Abrams Planetarium at Michigan State University.
Visit his website:
http://www.pa.msu.edu/people/frenchj/
and his Moon Photo Page:
http://www.pa.msu.edu/people/frenchj/moon/
to see them as he explains the Moon's various features as they come into view.
Download Link:
KJF_Moon_v1.1.zip
SmallMoon version:
KJF_SmallMoon.zip (For those who don't like movies or looking at craters.)
