[WIP] [Kopernicus] Outer Reaches - Dwarf Planets for the Kerbol System

[ProtoJeb21]

The Kerbol system has always seemed a little small. There's so much room for more bodies, and so many minor bodies to put into Kerbal Space Program. In Outer Reaches, things will change. The outer Kerbol system will be a realm of mysterious, uncharted dwarf planets and Kuiper Belt Objects with unique characteristics and moons. Analogues will be made for the 4 outer dwarf planets, along with objects like Sedna and Orcus. There will even be an extra gas giant to keep Eeloo out of the fray and give it some use. Remember, this is an in-dev mod, so suggestions and comments are heavily recommended!

The Outer Reaches

• NETOOL: A gas giant 30% the size of Jool and an analogue to both Saturn and Neptune. It has striking, neon-purple-blue cloud belts crisscrossing a rather dark atmosphere.
• EELOO: The once-dwarf planet Eeloo will be placed around Netool. However, it will be retextured as an analogue to Mimas.
• RHEV: A Rhea analogue with a two-faced globe orbiting Netool. One side is dominated by bright ices ejected from a medium-sized crater, while the other side is white-orange and heavily cratered.
• MAEMAE: An analogue to Makemake that's really...red. There will be a few special crater sites, but I don't have any other ideas. Feel free to suggest some!
• ERIOS: The Eris analogue. Some of the planet is covered with orange patches of methane ice, but most of the surface is white with hints of blue and creme. Eroos also has some significant craters and mountain ranges, along with patches of Tholins.
• DYNS: A Dysnomia analogue that has 37% the mass of Eroos. They form a small binary system. Dyns is mostly covered in Tholins, but has some patches of methane and nitrogen ices.
• IXON: The smallest dwarf planet in the pack and the analogue to Ixion. Ixon is somewhat deformed and is covered in tan-white patches of methane and nitrogen ices.
• SENNA: The reddest body in the Kerbol system and the Sedna analogue. It is moonless but has a dynamic surface coated orange-red.
• OCULUS: An Orcus analogue named after Oculus Rift because of its similar name and dark coloring. The surface of Oculus is going to be covered with fissures and extinct cryovolcanoes.
• VIFT: Oculus' only moon that contains 52% the dwarf planet's size and 44% its mass. Vift is the analogue to Vanth and has an extremely varied terrain.

More bodies are coming soon. Suggestions are welcome!

Screenshots

Just images of Netool for now:

Development:

• Netool, Erios, and Dyns are being developed right now (2/22/16)
• Rings are being tested on Netool.
• Textures are being developed for Erios and Dyns.
• Trying to get Sigma Binary to work on Erios and Dyns.

Edited February 22, 2016 by ProtoJeb21
Development Updates, Netool Pics

[sDaZe]

Finally someone is making one of these what about adding the asteroid belt?

[Planetace]

Suggestion!:

Ex: a gas giant very recently discovered! it is 2x the mass and radius of jool, with a cool badass black red atmosphere, i suggest you use eve or laythe as a template, and make a very toxic ocean as its `surface`. with multiple cloud layers as its, well, clouds. Ex is the analogue of Planet X, which signs of its existence have been popping up recently!

[_Augustus_]

Can you make Rhev, Erroos, Dyns, and Senna compatible with OPM?

[ProtoJeb21]

11 hours ago, _Augustus_ said:

Can you make Rhev, Erroos, Dyns, and Senna compatible with OPM?

I'll work on that

Also, Rhev and Dyns are moons. I know I didn't mention that Rhev orbits Netool.

Edited February 19, 2016 by ProtoJeb21

[ProtoJeb21]

14 hours ago, Galacticvoyager said:

Suggestion!:

Ex: a gas giant very recently discovered! it is 2x the mass and radius of jool, with a cool badass black red atmosphere, i suggest you use eve or laythe as a template, and make a very toxic ocean as its `surface`. with multiple cloud layers as its, well, clouds. Ex is the analogue of Planet X, which signs of its existence have been popping up recently!

Well, Netool kinda fits the role as a planet X. Since this mod's primary focus is to add dwarf planets, Netool will be the ONLY gas giant in Outer Reaches. You can suggest a moon for it that relates to at least one of the moons of either Saturn, Uranus, or Neptune, or a cross between some of their moons. But one planned feature for Interstellar Adventure Revived is to add in several brown dwarfs, which were planned to look a lot like how you described Ex!

[Planetace]

Tarteirs: a Titan + Nereid Analogue, it is covered in large extinct cryogenic volcanoes, and has a thick atmosphere. its surface is blanketed by snow and has lakes of liquid Xenon (which would be purple/green). it has a large cryogenic volcano on its north pole and a large xenon lake on its south.

[ProtoJeb21]

The main plans for Netools rings: There will be three major, inner rings. The innermost will be darker than the outermost, and they will all be purple. Each of the 3 main rings have a space in between where a moon can easily fit. The outermost is planned to be a dust ring caused by the collision with Rhev.

[ProtoJeb21]

Time for a new body! To celebrate the discovery of the large Trans-Neptunian Object (and possible dwarf planet) 2015 KH162, I'm hosting a contest for people to suggest names for a recreation of the body in Outer Reaches. Remember:

• It must come from some ancient culture or mythology.
• The name should be a slightly edited version of that deity's name (like what I do with all the other bodies)
• It can only be a creation deity or an underworld deity.
• Provide a brief explanation of the name.
• Make sure everyone can pronounce it!

The contest will end on March 1st. Like the post with the name you like best. The name whose post has gotten the most likes wins the contest and will be the name of the body for Outer Reaches. Feel free to suggest any terrain features that will make 2015 KH162's recreation unique from other bodies. Here's an article about the discovery, written by Phil Plait:

http://www.slate.com/blogs/bad_astronomy/2016/02/25/_2015_kh162_a_distant_icy_world_past_pluto.html

[SAS123]

Is this mod still in development? Because it seems really cool and i would personally love it to be finished.

[ProtoJeb21]

It still is. The first release will be this month.

[Andy81le]

Will this be compatible with Outer Planets Mod?

[SAS123]

On 4/3/2016 at 9:56 PM, ProtoJeb21 said:

On 4/3/2016 at 9:56 PM, ProtoJeb21 said:

It still is. The first release will be this month.

Nice! I'll Download it and test it as soon as I'm Avaliable. I'm a bit Extreme with mods because i have Three separate Files for KSP for different planets packs (Uncharted Lands, New Horizons) and RSS and a folder for my modpack. I would love to add another one to the Planet Pack list. If you need a tester i can help.

[JacobJHC]

Is there a download link that still works? I'd love to play with this pack