MoonHeadJohn

That video is great, thank you! Do you know of any more sources of info regarding their PQS mod system? It comes across as a bit ambiguous when it talks about the particular technique used. I know they mentioned Simplex Noise within the later stages of the talk but is the same technique used to create Height data for all if not most planets in KSP? I know Kerbin has some hand drawn features but it's the rest I'm interested in. I want to avoid misinterpreting any info they gave us in the video.

I think there was mention of implementing a discovery mechanic in future to find other worlds within the solar system rather than know exactly where they are from the start. I like the idea of having a space telescope to produce science, but I'd prefer the idea of a 'live' feed from the telescope. And I'm mostly thinking of a live feed for planets and moons within the system rather than looking at Stars, Nebulae, or (more unlikely) Extrasolar Planets. Seeing as there's no interstellar element yet (something far, far, far, far... far down the line), this'd be the best bet for now. But if it should happen in future then maybe something like the data you'd see from Planet Hunters would be good. Honestly, post count is by no means indication of intelligence of a user and really shouldn't be used as another means of judging the merit of someone's post. Just comes across as petty, regardless of the content posted by the respective user.

I'm not 100% sure if this would be the best place for a subject like this so apologies if it should have gone elsewhere. I've been looking around for a while now but had no luck finding any sources from the devs stating exactly which terrain generation techniques they use. I've been told that fractals are used to create the height data. I've found an old blog post from about 2 years ago which talks about how the data is used and applied, but the only hint towards the methods used is old and may or may not used within the current version of the game. Would anyone happen to have a link to one of the Devs themselves talking about the techniques used in a blog or forum post?

Eos:

What pack are those satellite dishes part of on your ship? Been wanting better looking ones for a while. The stock part ones don't really work on all ship designs

Yep, jumped in there, but at least it expands a bit on why it's not possible. Also, surely it wouldn't take a finite amount of time but rather an infinite amount of time and more fuel than there is matter in the universe?

This wouldn't be possible. The universe expands faster than the speed of light, so you would never reach the edge.

This wouldn't be possible. Anything that falls into the event horizon of a black hole cannot escape as any and all possible paths lead further into it.

Do you happen to know if they post a blog or give in depth details about the coding techniques they use?

Thanks. Every little bit helps. I'll be asking one of my lecturers for possible resources as well and I have a friend who did this for his project last year (he did a really good job but he didn't seem satisfied with it ) so he can provide some info. I suppose this thread could also be used to help others if they're interested or in need

Hi there, I'm about to enter my final year of study at university and conduct a final year project. I've been toying around with ideas for a while now and the most interesting area I would like to look into is (as the topic suggests ) efficient planet terrain generation. It goes well with my Games Programming course and brings me a step closer to being able to create realistic worlds. As anyone will know, the first step towards achieving anything like this is research. Would anyone be able to point me towards good books, research papers or websites to help me develop a better understanding of the methods available for achieving such a thing? I currently own a copy of Frank Luna's "Introduction to 3D Game Programming with DirectX 11" (a book I'd recommend to anyone wishing to get into the field; it's like gold) which in later chapters looks into terrain generation and tessellation (vital steps towards planet generation), and I've been told that Perlin Noise can be used as well to produce decent results. But I want to look into more methods to evaluate the best method. Any information or tips aiding my research will be greatly appreciated.

I think the first image is okay but the second one has far too many trees and other objects in the background drawing attention away from the ship. The blurring of the ship itself probably doesn't help either. Not an expert on those sorts of things but I do remember coming across comments in the past saying to aspiring shoopers and photographers to avoid scenes with too much noise and distractions which draw attention away from the intended focus of the image.

One more image I wanted to put up earlier but had some unwanted warp text in the middle of the shot

Got ideas for a rover mission to the Mun thanks to someone in this thread so copied the module design. You'll also notice a very similar design to one of Scott Manley's lifters from the reusable series. Just thought it was a really cool looking shot. I was running a refuelling mission to tug the rover to Mun. Took this from one of my Geo-sync satellites while an eclipse was taking place. I know it occurs more often than a real life eclipse but still looks cool.