Procedurally generated craters on bodies other than the Mun.

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The addition of procedurally generated craters to the Mun back in v0.21 was fantastic. Not only did it add much smaller and sharper features that were fun to navigate to and around, but it also increased the realism of the Mun immensely. In the real world, we find that nearly all solid surfaces are totally covered with craters unless:

there is a thick atmosphere protecting the surface (like on Earth, Titan and Venus), or

the surface is very young, and subject to a lot of dynamic processes (like on Io, Europa).

As it stands now, the terrain on almost all bodies is very rolling and there aren't very many interesting features to visit that are in close proximity... making rover rides on Duna, for example, a tad bit tedious.

KSP should therefore add procedurally generated craters to the other bodies, and very the crater density and sizes where appropriate. It would add more interesting terrain to explore, hazards to avoid, and increase overall realism.

Thoughts?

[tater]

Yes, all airless bodies should be cratered

[Superfluous J]

All airless bodies should be cratered. Duna needs something else though. I dont' know what, but procedural canyons would be pretty cool. Make it have crisscross patterns like we used to think Mars had. Fissures, almost.

[Specialist290]

I could definitely get behind more procedural terrain generation. I've been playing around with SpaceEngine a fair bit recently, and I'm very impressed with the way proc-gen can produce interesting and highly varied terrain even on fairly low settings. They wouldn't need anything quite as intensive for KSP (as rendering terrain to quite the same level of detail takes quite a bit of time), but having something along the same lines would work quite well I believe.

[Bill Phil]

All airless bodies should be cratered. Duna needs something else though. I dont' know what, but procedural canyons would be pretty cool. Make it have crisscross patterns like we used to think Mars had. Fissures, almost.

Large canyons would be pretty awesome.

That and large craters...

And maybe have Duna Dust? Just for Duna, though. Like dust covering solar panels and equipment... Then a Kerbal could clean it. An Engineer would clean it 100%... Of course storms would be a necessity if Dust was introduced.

[sumghai]

And maybe have Duna Dust? Just for Duna, though. Like dust covering solar panels and equipment... Then a Kerbal could clean it. An Engineer would clean it 100%... Of course storms would be a necessity if Dust was introduced.

Duna dust can't be procedurally generated.

Instead, one could have a random number generator create a random seed that specifies the starting location, vector, probable path and duration of a particle emitter representing the source of the duststorm. Said emitter would sprinkle physical objects in order to realistically represent dust accumulation on / falloff from surfaces, blocking solar panels. The Kerbal's cleaning action would simply erase dust particles in a small vicinity.

[Bill Phil]

Duna dust can't be procedurally generated.

Instead, one could have a random number generator create a random seed that specifies the starting location, vector, probable path and duration of a particle emitter representing the source of the duststorm. Said emitter would sprinkle physical objects in order to realistically represent dust accumulation on / falloff from surfaces, blocking solar panels. The Kerbal's cleaning action would simply erase dust particles in a small vicinity.

It was an idea to make Duna more interesting...

[NoMrBond]

The voronoi cratering effect could definitely be applied to other bodies (perhaps moderated by atmosphere)

It would be cool if it was combined with other surface elements (i.e. a terrain scatter overhaul of which the crater distribution was a part) so you could have a variety of geological features (volcanism, gysers, cryovolcanism, undersea vents and black smokers, river beds, stone outcroppings, columnar basalt flows, lava sheets, glaciers, lots!)

An option to influence the scatter/crater/feature density on game creation would also be cool (if you think the Mun might just be a bit to crater pocked )

Edited February 26, 2015 by NoMrBond

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An option to influence the scatter/crater/feature density on game creation would also be cool (if you think the Mun might just be a bit to crater pocked )

I actually wish it was a bit more dense with even smaller craters.

[sumghai]

It was an idea to make Duna more interesting...

I'm not saying Duna dust storms are impossible.

I'm saying that a different method instead of procedural generation is more appropriate for dust storms.

[tater]

More would be better. Duna needs craters as well, atmosphere could alter the minimum size created.

[Bill Phil]

I'm not saying Duna dust storms are impossible.

I'm saying that a different method instead of procedural generation is more appropriate for dust storms.

I didn't say to make it procedural. I just said it would be a good way to spice up the place.

[sumghai]

I didn't say to make it procedural. I just said it would be a good way to spice up the place.

In which case, since it's not related to procedural generation, it would be more appropriate to start a separate thread for dust storms (or contribute to an existing thread on dust storms).

[r4pt0r]

It was an idea to make Duna more interesting...

I still support the addition of a duna version of Olympus Mons

[Bill Phil]

In which case, since it's not related to procedural generation, it would be more appropriate to start a separate thread for dust storms (or contribute to an existing thread on dust storms).

It was more of a side note......

Anyhow, procedurally generated terrain of any kind is awesome. Duna should probably have large canyons, valleys, and craters, Not to mention a huge mountain, as R4ptor said. Dres could use more steep slopes, to add some challenge...

[sumghai]

It was more of a side note......

In the future, please stay on topic. Side notes should generally be left for other threads.

Anyhow, procedurally generated terrain of any kind is awesome. Duna should probably have large canyons, valleys, and craters, Not to mention a huge mountain, as R4ptor said. Dres could use more steep slopes, to add some challenge...

Agreed.

[Bill Phil]

I ramble sometimes...

Sorry.

How did they do the procedural generation for the Mun?

[Robotengineer]

I would like procedural generation for all planets, and to have it be open to modders. RSS planets are pretty boring with pixelated terrain. One of my most memorable missions in stock was a Mun mission where I navigated from the Armstrong Memorial to the Mun Arch by rover, it was very cool terrain.

[NoMrBond]

How did they do the procedural generation for the Mun?

HarvesteR's blog about the craters

[Bill Phil]

HarvesteR's blog about the craters

That's very interesting. And the final result is a great visual. Ike could use some craters like this. don't know about Moho. Dres could perhaps have a steeper curve ( the curve for relating the cells to the actual altitude). Duna can have a flatter curve, and some way of having larger craters.

This stuff could change a lot about the game...

[NathanKell]

I highly recommend you all watch

where Mike talks about how planets/moons are made.

The voronoi crater system is just another PQSMod, same as the heightmap mod (which, let me point out, only some planets have) or simplex noise, or whatever. The terrain is already procedural for all planets and moons; the question is which mods are applied.

(Craters also aren't scatter; scatter doesn't support deformation anyway, just adding static meshes atop the terrain.)

Edited February 26, 2015 by DuoDex