Minetest Mod Review: Skybox

Skybox is a Minetest mod available on ContentDB. This mod adds several different skyboxes, which are basically backgrounds to a games’ map, in this case the sky. The way the mod works is that is it has six images (back, down, front, left, right, up) arranged in a cube, and sets the sky to the selected skybox textures. The mod comes with six skyboxes, DarkStormy, CloudyLightRays, FullMoon, SunSet, ThickCloudsWater, and TropicalSunnyDay. By default, the skybox is disabled, but you can set the skybox by typing “/skybox “, then one of the six names mentioned above, or by typing in numbers 1-6, each number corresponding to one of the skyboxes respectively. Each skybox has a preset time and light source, and thus overrides the current time and light when the skybox is enabled. This mod is compatible with any Minetest game, but due to the way that this mod works, shadows from Minetest’s shaders do not function. If you look at the third image below, you’ll notice that there are in fact shadows enabled and working. This is because I had downloaded another skybox mod called Skygen v2, which allows Minetest’s shadows to work, and then typed in “/skybox 6” to set the skybox for the Skybox mod, which temporarily made the shadows appear in the world alongside the Skybox mod. When I moved around after taking the screenshot, the Skygen mod overrode the Skybox mod and the worlds’ skybox changed to the skybox set by the Skygen mod (with the shadows still working).