   Distorted Sphere Projections
  I apologize in advance for what will probably be seen as a complete n00b question.Recently I played a game which contains 3D planets (spheres) inside what must be a typical skybox.  What jumped out at me was how distorted the spheres were projected when not viewed head-on.  As someone who would like to (one day!) make a full-fledged 3D space RTS, I'm curious as to how or whether this kind of distortion can be avoided.  Is it a simple matter of changing the camera settings, as it were?  Or is the issue more complicated than that?Thanks for any answers you can provide!   
  the bigger the FOV, the greater the distortion. For no distortion, you'd be looking at orthographic projection, which is used for 2D and isometric games. For 3D, you'll be kinda stuck.   ;Quote:Original post by oliiithe bigger the FOV, the greater the distortion. For no distortion, you'd be looking at orthographic projection, which is used for 2D and isometric games. For 3D, you'll be kinda stuck.Hmm.  Can the camera's FOV be tweaked to minimize the distortion?  Is its FOV measured linearly or angularly?   ;Quote:Original post by RobAU78Quote:Original post by oliiithe bigger the FOV, the greater the distortion. For no distortion, you'd be looking at orthographic projection, which is used for 2D and isometric games. For 3D, you'll be kinda stuck.Hmm.  Can the camera's FOV be tweaked to minimize the distortion?  Is its FOV measured linearly or angularly?You can of course minimise the FOV and massively zoom away.   ;Quote:Original post by phresnelYou can of course minimise the FOV and massively zoom away.Is that really a viable option? :PThe reason I ask about all this is because, to me, seeing such distortions on the screen significantly hampers the realism (and thus immersion) element of a game.  If it's something that really can't be helped, then I'll grin and bear it; otherwise, I'd like to know how to avoid that sort of thing in my own game(s).   ;Quote:Original post by RobAU78Quote:Original post by phresnelYou can of course minimise the FOV and massively zoom away.Is that really a viable option? :PIt's the only alternative to orthogonal projection I am aware of. Other alternatives might by cylindrical projections:But even they are not trouble-free in HW-rasterisers, and you'd need to subdivide your screen into many vertical tiles, because you have a projection onto a cylinder (or a part of it) instead of a flat plane.Though, otoh, I don't know what you can achieve with modern shaders, as I am more into software rendering.   