Jump to content

[1.12.x] Waterfall - a framework for continuous, mesh-driven engine effects (Aug 2)


Nertea

Recommended Posts

 

KSP 1.12.x  

Waterfall [0.9.0] 
Last Updated Aug 2, 2022

screenshot42.png?width=2380&height=1339

I make a lot of engine effects, particularly for vacuum engines, which are really poorly handled by a traditional particle system, much less the gnarly butchered version of that system that KSP provides. Smokescreen helps, but when we're talking about really large, fast moving plumes, the number of particles you need to create high fidelity effects is really high. Performance gets low. To that end, I and some others (primarily @Nessus_ and some porcine aviator dude who shall not be named) have created a cool new way to create and drive engine effects. 

Project Goals

  • Design a framework to create mesh-driven engine effects for smooth rocket plumes
  • Support for atmospheric expansion and all kinds of dynamic effects
  • Cross-compatible with SmokeScreen for adding smoke effects
  • Ingame editor to create and drive effects. 
  • Provide a set of template effects for modders to use on their engines. 

Please note that this mod is a framework  it doesn't change anything or provide anything by itself, but provides the ability for you to do things.

Screenshots/Videos

Here's a few screenshots and videos from development over the last few months (credits to @Nessus_ and @DylanSemrau )

DmqTh5W.png

bmVHvwb.png

gr1THyD.png

For more, check out this Imgur album or look through the thread

 

Templates

A lot of preconfigured templates are available for anyone to use. These should cover most chemical engines in most mods. 

How to Use

Documentation

I wrote documentation. Read it! This is a work in progress and I have a bit of trouble keeping it up to date with new features that are added weekly. If you're having issues please review the thread and ask here.

Ingame Editor

To design plumes, you'll have a pretty fully featured editor to work with. Here are a few screenshots of it.

screenshot15.png

screenshot246.png

 

Downloads

 

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: I installed this and nothing happened, what gives?
A: Make sure you have mods installed that actually use the plugin.

Dependencies (Required and Bundled)

  • Module Manager 

Licensing

  • All content is distributed under a CC-BY-SA-NC-4 License.
  • All bundled mods are distributed under their own licenses.

Download
Mirrors


Tertiary (GitHub)

Issue Tracking and Source

 

Supported Mods

You need configuration packs for this to do anything. Currently there are only one; other mods will likely ship configs for this. If you release a mod that supports Waterfall you can let me know and I'll add it here. 

 

Edited by Nertea
Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 minutes ago, SpaceFace545 said:

so are we going to make every plume ourselves or are there going to be dev made plumes but we can change them. or like EVE with different configs

there can be pre-made templates that can be easily applied to engines via patch

Link to comment
Share on other sites

14 minutes ago, Starseeker said:

Oh, quick question: how does this interact with timewarp? With realplume, the plumes "stretch" back during physics timewarp; I'm assuming that the methods used here prevent that?

Correct, there's no difference in time warp

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, WarriorSabe said:

I can't wait to see this in restock

plQIapy.png

try it!

question: what if you have both realplume and waterfall installed? Since waterfall is very new and need some time for adoption, can part dev use waterfall instead of realplume when both detected with mm patch?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, Nertea said:

 

 

To that end, I and some others (primarily @Nessus_ and some porcine aviator dude who shall not be named) have been working on a cool new way to create and drive engine effects. 

Porcine aviator dudes are the best! Man, there's so many good people who've had such a good influence on this game.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, ssd21345 said:

question: what if you have both realplume and waterfall installed? Since waterfall is very new and need some time for adoption, can part dev use waterfall instead of realplume when both detected with mm patch?

That is up to the developer, I'm sure clever MM can account for both.

4 hours ago, SpaceFace545 said:

RIP zorg 

Zorg helped define the spec, he's involved in the project. 

5 hours ago, Starseeker said:

This looks incredible!! Are you planning to add this functionality to Cryo Engines, Kerbal Atomics, and/or Near Future series engines?

Eventually, there's a really large amount of work to do that though. I can say that this runs all the plumes in FFT. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just now, ssd21345 said:

only 5 engines atm, vector, ion, nuke, mainsail and poodle

Ah, I see. Well, my Moraine II and to a lesser extent the Precipice II should notice, I've got a couple launches of the latter planned for my current mission

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm trying to make a MM patch to generate effects for the panther engine, but that's making troubles as it is a engine that can switch between two modes. Could someone help me write a MM patch that allows me to make effects for both dry and wet mode of the engine?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...