Making KopernicusTech Planets [UPDATED]

[Candlelight]

Making rocky planets

So, this tutorial is mostly for total newbies to the planet making world.This is how i make planets, some people have different ways.So, let's get started:

First things first: what do i require?

You will need these main things:

- Latest version of KopernicusTech here.

- Space Engine for textures here.

- GIMP or Photoshop for editing textures.

- Good graphics card

- This online normal map tool here.

So that's 5 things.Next is getting the textures.

First open up your SpaceEngine and wait for a bit if you are loading it for the first time.

Now go to Planetarium and when you load up you will be somewhere near a planet randomly in the universe.As much as i wanna get into controls and all of that, it will make this tutorial too long.Read this guide here for controls and all of that.

Now, here you can just search around the universe.Now i assume that you are a beginner, so look for a decent rocky planet that you like.Once you found one do this in the following order:

1. Press Esc

2. Press Editor

3. Press Export Planet

Now you should have a window pop up like this:

Now once this window pops up, uncheck everything except "Color Map" and "Elevation Map".

Now the resolution depends on the strength of your graphics card.If you have a medium strength one like mine, type in 2048 and it should automatically recognize the resoultion(it will say 2048x1024).Now click Export.BTW, if you have a stronger graphics card, type in 4096, and if you have a weaker graphics card, type in 1024.

Now wait until it says 'Done' in the window.Now you can close SpaceEngine.

Now go to C:\Program Files\SpaceEngine 0.97x\export.You should see two textures, surface_diff and surface_bump.Now cut those textures, then go to KSP_win/GameData/Kopernicus/Textures and paste those textures there.Rename surface_diff to Planet_color and rename surface_bump to Planet_height.Now for the normal map.Go to the online normal map tool and make sure you have your folder with your textures opened.Now drag and drop your heightmap into the window the white arrow points at.Now wait a few seconds until it generates a normal map(window next to your height map).Now look down, and you should see a textbox.Type Planet_normal into it and then click the Download button below.Now you should have your normal map downloaded with the name you typed into the textbox.Now just move the normal map into the folder where your other maps are.Now go back to your Kopernicus folder, now go to the Config folder and create a new text file.Rename it to Planet.cfg.If it displays you a warning about changing the file format/type, click 'Yes' anyway.Now open it up with Notepad and paste this code in:

 

 

@Kopernicus 
{
    Body
    {
        name = Planet (The name of your planet)
        flightGlobalsIndex = Delete this text and type in any number but not too big.
        Template
        {
            name = Tylo (This the stock planet your planet will be based off of)
        }
        Properties
        {
            radius = 600000 (pretty self-explanatory)
            geeASL = 1 (The surface gravity of your planet at sea level.Kerbin's is 1).
            mass = 4.2332635e+22 (The mass of your planet.This is Kerbin's)
            description = Description of the Planet.
            ScienceValues
            {
                landedDataValue = 100
                splashedDataValue = 0
                flyingLowDataValue = 0
                flyingHighDataValue = 0
                inSpaceLowDataValue = 40
                inSpaceHighDataValue = 30
                recoveryValue = 5
            }
        }
        Orbit
        {
            referenceBody = Sun (The body your planet orbits around).
            inclination = 0 (The rotation of your orbit in degrees)
            eccentricity = 0 (Self-explanatory)
            semiMajorAxis = (Here, you can type in the distance of your planet in metres from your parent body in numbers)
            longitudeOfAscendingNode = 0
            argumentOfPeriapsis = 0
            meanAnomalyAtEpoch = 0
            epoch = 0
            color = 1,1,1,1 (The color of your orbit using RGBA)
        }
        ScaledVersion
        {
            Material
            {    
                texture = Kopernicus/Textures/Planet_color (The colored map of your planet.Make sure to type in the right path.Don't put GameData at the beginning)
                normals = Kopernicus/Textures/Planet_normal (The normal map of your planet.Make sure to type in the right path.Don't put GameData at the beginning)
         }
      }
   }
}

 

UPDATE:

 

- Set your normal map opacity to 50% with GIMP or Photoshop or any image editing tool to fix the "wrong side of the planet is lit up" bug or just export your file as .dds.

- Go to KittopiaSpace/SaveLoad and create a .cfg file with the name of your planet: for example Yourplanetname.cfg

Open it with any text editor and paste this code in:

 

 

[COLOR=#333333]PlanetYourPlanetName
[/COLOR]{
    AdditionalData
    {
        Stock = False
        AddAtmoFx = False
        AddOceanFx = False
        OceanLoadTextures = False
        UnlitOcean = False
        ModScaledAtmoShader = False
        AddRings = False
        AddParticles = False
        DisableOrbitRenderer = False
    }
    PQS
    {
        PQSMod_HeightColorMap
        {
            modEnabled = False
        }
        PQSCity
        {
            modEnabled = False
        }
        PQSMod_VertexHeightMap
        {
            heightMap = GameData/YourPlanetPack/Textures/TutLargeMoon_height.png  //Change this with your bump map texture path.Make sure to include GameData at the beggining!
            heightMapDeformity = 2500  //Basically determines the height of your mountains
            heightMapOffset = 0  //If your planet has oceans, set this to a negative number.Don't make it to deep though.Something like -5000 will flood almost all of your land on your planet.
            scaleDeformityByRadius = False
        }
        PQSMod_VertexColorMap
        {
            modEnabled = true
            vertexColorMap = GameData/YourPlanetPack/Textures/TutLargeMoon_map.png  //Change this with your colored map texture path.Make sure to include GameData at the beggining!

        }
        PQSMod_VertexSimplexHeight
        {
            seed = 95374         // Any random number
            deformity = 300 
            octaves = 8          // All of these change your terrain, i recommend not to touch the persistence and frequency unless you know what you are doing.
            persistence = 0.5  
            frequency = 12
        }
        PQSMod_VertexSimplexHeightAbsolute
        { 
            seed = 637926             //Any random number
            deformity = 100  
            octaves = 3               //What i said above, changes your terrain, but don't touch the persistence, frequency and octaves unless you know what you are doing.
            persistence = 0.5
            frequency = 0.8
        }
        PQSMod_VertexSimplexHeightMap
        {
            modEnabled = False
        }
        PQSMod_VertexHeightNoiseVertHeight
        {
            modEnabled = False
        }
    }
}

 

- To make oceanic planets, do the following steps:

1. Change the template to Laythe in the Kopernicus config.

2. In the Kittopia config, under the PQS_VertexHeightMap section, change the heightMapOffstet to a negative number.Feel free to go over -1000 if you want.This will determine the depth of your ocean.Experiment with it, altough if you make it too big, like -5000, it will completely flood the land and leave nothing but tiny islets.If you want to make your oceans really deep, i suggest you increase the height map deformity and whiten the areas on your height map where your land is.

3. Open up your height map for you planet and change or paint the sections where you want you lakes/oceans to be completely pitch black, so that the RGB reads 0,0,0 (RGBA 0,0,0,1).

 

Making Gas Giants

Making gas giants is the second easiest thing to make, but not as easy as asteroids, which i will be covering later.

You won't even need the Kittopia config, just the Kopernicus config.

Create a new file with the name of your gas giant and change it's extension to .cfg.Ignore any warnings about changing file extensions if you recieve them

Just copy this code into any text editor and follow the sidenotes:

 

 

@Kopernicus 
{
    Body
    {
        name = GasGiant
        flightGlobalsIndex = 12345    //Delete this text and type in any number but not too big.
        Template
        {
            name = Jool                  //Don't change this
        }
        Properties
        {
            radius = 6000000                                  //The radius of your gas giant in meters.This is Jool's.
            geeASL = 0.8                                       //The gravity of your gas giant.This is Jool's.
            mass = 4.2332635e+24                         //The mass of your gas giant, this is Jool's mass.
            description = Description of the Planet.    //Type anything here and it will appear in the Tracking Station planet info window.
            ScienceValues                                      //Change these numbers if you would like.I prefer making them larger if your planet is really far away.
            {
                landedDataValue = 100
                splashedDataValue = 0
                flyingLowDataValue = 0
                flyingHighDataValue = 0
                inSpaceLowDataValue = 40
                inSpaceHighDataValue = 30
                recoveryValue = 5
            }
        }
        Orbit
        {
            referenceBody = Sun     //the body your gas giant orbits, DO NOT rename this to Kerbol, it's named the sun in-game
            inclination = 0              //Self-explanatory
            eccentricity = 0            //Self-explanatory
            semiMajorAxis = (Here, you can type in the distance of your planet in metres from your parent body in numbers)
            longitudeOfAscendingNode = 0
            argumentOfPeriapsis = 0
            meanAnomalyAtEpoch = 0
            epoch = 0
            color = 1,1,1,1    //The color of your gas giants' orbit (RGBA)
        }
        ScaledVersion
        {
            Material
            {    
                texture = Kopernicus/Textures/GasGiant_color    //the path to your gas giant texture, including the texture name.Type the name of the texture EXACTLY.If you miss a letter, it's not gonna work.
          }
      }
   }
}

 

After you modified this code, just save it, not save as.

Now run the game and be amazed!

Edited December 4, 2015 by Candlelight
tweaks and updates

[_Augustus_]

Nice tutorial.

[Candlelight]

Nice tutorial.

Thanks for reading (if you read it) .Do you personally think this tut will help new planet makers?

[_Augustus_]

Thanks for reading (if you read it) .Do you personally think this tut will help new planet makers?

Uhh, you don't use the online normal map maker, you export the scaled space in Kittopia and use the normal map it makes.

Planet making is a bit harder than this.

[Thomas988]

Uhh, you don't use the online normal map maker, you export the scaled space in Kittopia and use the normal map it makes.

Lately I haven't even been exporting planets in KT. I take the exported Space Engine height map, open it in Gimp, use the normalmap plugin and set the scale really high (like 11). Then I set the opacity of the new normalmap to fifty and throw it into KT. Works like a charm!

Of course, exporting could be a better option, but my method hasn't failed me yet. I'm even planning to use it in my Odysseus pack.

[pozine]

It does not work in RealSolarSystem. The when I added ScaledVersion in the config, the game did not load the planet anymore.

[Lillz]

Lately I haven't even been exporting planets in KT. I take the exported Space Engine height map, open it in Gimp, use the normalmap plugin and set the scale really high (like 11). Then I set the opacity of the new normalmap to fifty and throw it into KT. Works like a charm!

Of course, exporting could be a better option, but my method hasn't failed me yet. I'm even planning to use it in my Odysseus pack.

There's a normalmap plugin for gimp?

[Candlelight]

There's a normalmap plugin for gimp?

Yes there is actually.

[Thomas988]

There's a normalmap plugin for gimp?

Yup! It's awesome! Here's the link: http://code.google.com/p/gimp-normalmap/

And just so you don't stress over how to install this plugin like I did, here's a tutorial on the plugin that shows how to install it at the beginning. It also shows how to use it!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Jdo3ZmtPWk

[Olympic1]

Thx for the great tutorial. I'll add a link on my wiki to this.

[Candlelight]

Thx for the great tutorial. I'll add a link on my wiki to this.

Great! Thank you!

And BTW, you should put this in the Tutorials section.

Edited March 2, 2015 by Candlelight

[Olympic1]

Great! Thank you!

And BTW, you should put this in the Tutorials section.

I'm still busy with getting my templates to work for the planets. If you want you can make a tutorial page (or someone else).

[sdj64]

I think this is a little misleading since it tells players to create a heightmap using Space Engine but doesn't tell them how to put it in game using KittopiaTech. Their planet will look nothing like their heightmap (and normal map, since using the normal map tool you are making one from the unused height map).

[Astrofox]

How do you create oceans for planets, I've tried, but it does not work. Please help,

Thanks,

Astrofox

[Candlelight]

How do you create oceans for planets, I've tried, but it does not work. Please help,

Thanks,

Astrofox

Thanks for the question!

From what i heard, it mostly has to do with the heightmap.Make the areas in your heightmap where you want oceans to be pitch black (RGBA 0,0,0,1).Then in your Kittopia config, you have to play with the offset untill you are pleased with the results.

[Whirligig Girl]

I just want to note that the aesthetic of SpaceEngine planets don't really work with the stock planets. It's the same as with Realistic vs Stockalike parts packs. Planets have their own stockalike aesthetic as well, and Space Engine doesn't really fit that. That said, if someone were to create much more realistic versions of the stock planets, that would be awesome.

What I mean is that craters on the Mun look rather different than those of the Moon.

The KSP planets, like everything in the Kerbal universe, are stylized for a cartoonier aesthetic. THis doesn't mean they don't look good, but it does mean that this:

Doesn't work in the context of KSP planets.

But it would be so cool to see someone try to make Kerbal Planets look realistic, especially the biggest offenders: Bop, Gilly and Pol*

*Pol has to be unrealistic because it's pollen.

[Olympic1]

I just want to note that the aesthetic of SpaceEngine planets don't really work with the stock planets. It's the same as with Realistic vs Stockalike parts packs. Planets have their own stockalike aesthetic as well, and Space Engine doesn't really fit that. That said, if someone were to create much more realistic versions of the stock planets, that would be awesome.

What I mean is that craters on the Mun look rather different than those of the Moon.

http://wiki.kerbalspaceprogram.com/w/images/thumb/9/93/Mun.jpg/270px-Mun.jpg

http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/image/planetary/moon/gal_moon_color.jpg

The KSP planets, like everything in the Kerbal universe, are stylized for a cartoonier aesthetic. THis doesn't mean they don't look good, but it does mean that this:

http://i.imgur.com/lIDEh.jpg

Doesn't work in the context of KSP planets.

But it would be so cool to see someone try to make Kerbal Planets look realistic, especially the biggest offenders: Bop, Gilly and Pol*

*Pol has to be unrealistic because it's pollen.

Some people just copy textures from Space Engine without changing anything which makes the planets not suitable with the other KSP bodies. Most planet creators make sure they fit in KSP.

Also RSS changes the stock planets into the realistic analogs, but it doesn't work with KopernicusTech.

[Astrofox]

Will anyone take over this mod from Planetfactory and re-create it for Kopernicus,

Thanks,

Astrofox

[Astrofox]

I have a small problem with the orbital period of a small celestial body I've been working on; its orbital period is faster than that of Moho's, and I need it to be in synch with Eve's orbit. Any suggestions as to how I fix it?

[Candlelight]

Can you please tell me the apoapsis and periapsis?

[Astrofox]

FOUND THE PROBLEM

Ok, I found out how to sort of fix it, but now it orbits too slow (slower than that of Moho and Eve). I want the orbit to sweep just outside of Duna's orbit, but closer than Eve's.

- - - Updated - - -

I also found that the Semi-major Axis is ~ 9900000256 meters (I think) and eccentricity is 0.8, inclination is 1.75 degrees.

- - - Updated - - -

I could not find the Apoapsis and Periapsis, but I hope this information will suffice. (also LAN is 120)

Thanks,

Astrofox

Here is the config I have:

@Kopernicus

{

Body

{

name = 67K

flightGlobalsIndex = 2000

Template

{

name = Moho

}

Properties

{

description = Some sort of comet, I believe.

radius = 4200

mass = 2.0700853e+16

geeASL = 0.0005

}

Orbit

{

referenceBody = Sun

color = 0.3,0.6,0.6,1

inclination = 1.76

eccentricity = 0.6

semiMajorAxis = 48000000000

longitudeOfAscendingNode = 0

argumentOfPeriapsis = 120

meanAnomalyAtEpoch = 0

epoch = 0

}

ScaledVersion

{

Material

{

texture = Kopernicus/Textures/MiniWorlds/67K_color

normals = Kopernicus/Textures/MiniWorlds/67K_normal

}

}

}

and textures

Are Here

FOUND THE PROBLEM

Edited March 16, 2015 by Astrofox
Found the problem

[SmashingKirby148]

Seems like a good tutorial, but what about setting the ground bumpyness in the config for kittopia?

[SmashingKirby148]

Ok, I have a problem with ScaledSpace. From far away my moon for Eve looks like a perfect sphere with a texture, which I do not want.

It only turns bumpy when I get close enough and then it turns into Tylo.

[Candlelight]

I updated the tutorial, AstroGamer, read the bottom section.

Read sdj64's tutorial, he explains you a lot more than me, even how to create oceanic planets and gas giants.

Read it here.

- - - Updated - - -

FOUND THE PROBLEM

Ok, I found out how to sort of fix it, but now it orbits too slow (slower than that of Moho and Eve). I want the orbit to sweep just outside of Duna's orbit, but closer than Eve's.

- - - Updated - - -

I also found that the Semi-major Axis is ~ 9900000256 meters (I think) and eccentricity is 0.8, inclination is 1.75 degrees.

- - - Updated - - -

I could not find the Apoapsis and Periapsis, but I hope this information will suffice. (also LAN is 120)

Thanks,

Astrofox

Here is the config I have:

@Kopernicus

{

Body

{

name = 67K

flightGlobalsIndex = 2000

Template

{

name = Moho

}

Properties

{

description = Some sort of comet, I believe.

radius = 4200

mass = 2.0700853e+16

geeASL = 0.0005

}

Orbit

{

referenceBody = Sun

color = 0.3,0.6,0.6,1

inclination = 1.76

eccentricity = 0.6

semiMajorAxis = 48000000000

longitudeOfAscendingNode = 0

argumentOfPeriapsis = 120

meanAnomalyAtEpoch = 0

epoch = 0

}

ScaledVersion

{

Material

{

texture = Kopernicus/Textures/MiniWorlds/67K_color

normals = Kopernicus/Textures/MiniWorlds/67K_normal

}

}

}

and textures

Are Here

FOUND THE PROBLEM

Set the eccentricity lower and lower the semi-major axis.

And a suggestion Astrofox, change your template to Gilly if you are doing a comet or an asteroid.

Edited April 8, 2015 by Candlelight

[SmashingKirby148]

I updated the tutorial, AstroGamer, read the bottom section.

- - - Updated - - -

Set the eccentricity lower and lower the semi-major axis.

Wait, that has to do with the orbit. My problem is with how it looks.