Okay, all the "rock" roids look really neat now: the bone roids, the carbon roids. Hell, even the VanAzek roids look pretty nice with the new lighting model. However, the IceYo's still look incredibly ugly under OpenGL, and a bit strange under DirectX. Here's what I would really like to see:

1) The specular reflections on the IceYo's should actually work. They shouldn't move with your viewport. That makes things look really weird.

2) Bumpmapping under OpenGL. Don't tell me it's impossible, 'cause it ain't.

3) Better bumpmapping all around

Just, ya know, when you get some free time 'n stuff.

I was told recently that "IceYo's" were to turn to liquid when heated.

Now, it wasn't clear if that was meants as a goal for them to actually do so, or just a physical observation of what should be. But it'd be cool to have dancing water bubbles.

Until then, I think IceYo's should simple not reflect as if they were polished gems.

i personally think that the ice roids should have a unique skin to them, bits of dirt lodged inside them, transluscent (not transparent) but definitely not like polished gems. working with these roids would entail a LOT of hard work, especially for making these things as lifelike as possible; so i dont think we would see these things in a long time.

but it would be cool to see a concentrated beam coming out of an ice roid from the sun (just like a prism).

Eh!

What if some ice roids had ship wrecks embedded? Like, parts of cap ships that were blown out and smashed INTO a IceYo?

Oh. And the obligatory iceman too.

And a dinosaure.

don't forget the shape-shifing aliens

Seriously.
The Ice needs to be clear.
Even if it kills our FPS.
Make it an option.

I still find it very odd that Ice roids look like they've been subjected to extreme pressure. I mean honestly, how often do you expect a crystalline structure like that?

"Ice" in an interplanetary sense, is made up a lot more than just water.

Actually if you were to heat an "ice" roid you wouldn't have water. In space (o pressure) there is no melting point, only sublimation ( ie it becomes a gas) The problem I can see with that is that an "aquaceous" asteroid heated at about 100-130k would start emitting alot of gas, and if one were to heat it at say 300k (which I already did) There wouldn't be much of it left in about 10 minutes...
Also at the rate at which our rays heat up the roids, they would simple explode :D Boom! and you loose all that Ishik and your moth :D

If ice roids become vaporizable people will surley rid sedina b8 of them, hell the ice yo in d14 would probably eventualy be destroyed jsut because its there

Yes, I'll get to improving the ice sometime when I have a chance. It's something I want to do. But, I don't have any free time right now. And it really isn't very important. I'm doing "low-hanging fruit" when I have a chance.. sprucing up the asteroids and planets was pretty easy (the lighting was a bigger deal, but worth it). New ice would be a bit more development time on my part, and probably on ray's part too. We'll have bigger fish to fry in the short term.

Well, I always wondered, why those roids have the same temperature, as star surface even without heating

Vendetta Space is so warm?

10 K? that's not the same temp as a stellar surface, that's 10 degrees above absolute zero...mightily cold.

Stellar surfaces are around 5000 K.

Zed: Well, look at comets, they are in a constant state of being blasted apart by internal chaos, and yet they still make their rounds...very regularly too.

in context, star sounded like a typo for start...

I think there should be one with a plastic fly embedded in it...

I don't think the 'yo's look so bad. This is another one of those things where truth isn't as interesting as fiction. They should look like big, dull snowballs.

They look so much better under DirectX than under OpenGL, though... Plus, the specular reflections are based on where you're pointing (instead of where you are), so they look really freaky...