Fog.
I find that it really helps to set the mood of an area. Some areas are filled with dense fog (cut-off distance 30-45 meters), some I set at 100 meters (for a hint of distance and color), some (outdoors, clear weather) I set at 300 meters (for when I really want the fog out of the way).
Want something spooky? Make it foggy (with grey or black fog) so PCs can't spot everything coming a mile away.
Want an area to look like there's impending snow or rain? Grey fog set at around 60-75 meters will partially obscure things farther away, but still enable PCs to clearly see what's close.
Want a structure to appear a little more "looming"? Light fog in the area.
Want an area to have sort of an underwater feel? Blue fog (plus some blueish lighting,the brightness depending on the depth).
Want a murky swamp? You guessed it...fog.
Want a structure in the clouds? White fog (along with some drops into chasm/pit terrain).
I figure fog helps set about 1/3 of the "lighting" mood for an area (the rest is, of course, actual lighting). I have a demonic plane in my PW where the dominant lighting is reddish, with a reddish fog (the density of which varies with individual areas), and a darker custom skybox that changes from dark red near the horizon to dark orange as you look upward. I have a large desert region where the daytime lighting is tinted a darker yellow (which helps the default city tileset blend into the environment a little bit), with no fog (it's dry, after all).
I also use some custom scripting that controls the weather across my PW, and the fog amount gets increased from what I set the area at when it rains or snows (and sets it back when the precipitation passes).
Modifié par The Amethyst Dragon, 03 mars 2011 - 07:33 .
