[1.2.1] Outer Planets Mod (2.1) - Active development has moved, see first post for new thread

[CaptRobau]

Ok, thanks I reported it to the KAC guy.

[CaptRobau]

Just a little bit of fun: wanted to see how stock bodies would react to a makeover, as they now look like the odd one out with OPM 2.0s improved terrain/textures. Went for a volcanic look for Laythe. It was just a quick texture upgrade and more could be done, but it's a lot of fun so I might look into doing something with this after OPM 2.0 is released.

[The White Guardian]

1 hour ago, CaptRobau said:

Just a little bit of fun: wanted to see how stock bodies would react to a makeover, as they now look like the odd one out with OPM 2.0s improved terrain/textures. Went for a volcanic look for Laythe. It was just a quick texture upgrade and more could be done, but it's a lot of fun so I might look into doing something with this after OPM 2.0 is released.

That looks amazing! You know, perhaps you could even add a particle system to give the volcanoes some smoke. How to do it, I do not know, just a crazy thought.

[Warzouz]

@CaptRobau,

is it intended that OPM planets don't register in R&D "Science Archives" ?

[CaptRobau]

No they should of course. I'll keep an eye on it for OPM 2.0.

[CaptRobau]

22 hours ago, The White Guardian said:

That looks amazing! You know, perhaps you could even add a particle system to give the volcanoes some smoke. How to do it, I do not know, just a crazy thought.

While I like the idea, having taken a look at the Kopernicus particle system I don't think it's fine-grained enough for localized stuff. It might be possible in EVE to add localized clouds to some of the calderas, simulating the boiling water caused by underwater lava vents.

[The White Guardian]

10 minutes ago, CaptRobau said:

While I like the idea, having taken a look at the Kopernicus particle system I don't think it's fine-grained enough for localized stuff. It might be possible in EVE to add localized clouds to some of the calderas, simulating the boiling water caused by underwater lava vents.

Hmm... it could be done with Kopernicus, but it'd require spawning a 'particle core planet', which I don't think would be the best option. I think you're right, EVE would be the best option. In fact, I could add those clouds for you, it's a five minute job.

[Schaufel]

.

Edited May 20, 2016 by Schaufel

[cantab]

11 hours ago, Warzouz said:

@CaptRobau,

is it intended that OPM planets don't register in R&D "Science Archives" ?

I'm pretty sure this is a Kopernicus bug. If you start the game, load the save, and go straight to the R&D building then the mod planets appear in the science archives. But once you go to any other screen first, such as the VAB or Tracking Station, then go to R&D afterwards you just see the stock system.

[Warzouz]

OK, I've finish the stock exploration, do you have some recommendation for OPM planets exploration missions ?

[Diddly Feelerino]

@CaptRobau

Yeah, my Heavy Duna Lander got to an apoapsis of 17000m above the surface. That's with 3600m/s Delta-V. 

Then again, I tried a different ascent (this time climbing vertically) and I reached a height of 150,000m vertical (with a 3rd of a tank left).

UPDATE: On my 3rd try I got it by ascending like I would in Kerbin - I climbed vertically to 25km (instead of 10), then burned at 45 degrees until the apoapsis reached 100km up. Then it took 300-400m/s Delta-V to circularise.

Make sure when you thrust to keep your throttle low (just high enough to make sure you have an increase in speed as you ascend), otherwise you'll be wasting fuel. By the point you reach 25km you should start to accelerate naturally as the atmosphere thins out. You'll need a lander with around 3000-3500m/s Delta-V capability to pull it off. Just parachute down (the atmosphere negates the need for reverse thrust) and use the precious fuel for the ascent stage.

Hope this helps anybody else trying for a Tekto landing/return mission!

Pic related; my Tekto Lander on the surface with the happy crew!

Edited May 20, 2016 by Diddly Feelerino

[Kepler68]

when can we expect OPM 2.0?

(no I'm not begging go away haters)

[Warzouz]

52 minutes ago, Diddly Feelerino said:

@CaptRobau

Yeah, my Heavy Duna Lander got to an apoapsis of 17000m above the surface. That's with 3600m/s Delta-V. 

Then again, I tried a different ascent (this time climbing vertically) and I reached a height of 150,000m vertical (with a 3rd of a tank left).

UPDATE: On my 3rd try I got it by ascending like I would in Kerbin - I climbed vertically to 25km (instead of 10), then burned at 45 degrees until the apoapsis reached 100km up. Then it took 300-400m/s Delta-V to circularise.

Make sure when you thrust to keep your throttle low (just high enough to make sure you have an increase in speed as you ascend), otherwise you'll be wasting fuel. By the point you reach 25km you should start to accelerate naturally as the atmosphere thins out. You'll need a lander with around 3000-3500m/s Delta-V capability to pull it off. Just parachute down (the atmosphere negates the need for reverse thrust) and use the precious fuel for the ascent stage.

Hope this helps anybody else trying for a Tekto landing/return mission!

Pic related; my Tekto Lander on the surface with the happy crew!

Nice, I don't understand why you have this flight plan. Tekto atmosphere is 1.2 of kerbin. Even on Eve which atm is 5, we don't raise vertically up to 25km.

Is there a reason ?

[Diddly Feelerino]

18 minutes ago, Warzouz said:

Nice, I don't understand why you have this flight plan. Tekto atmosphere is 1.2 of kerbin. Even on Eve which atm is 5, we don't raise vertically up to 25km.

Is there a reason ?

Ja - The atmosphere after 25km really begins to thin out - I feel that between 10km and 25km it's still too thick to maximise your fuel efficiency.

Of course I could be wrong, but the method above worked wonders for me and I was able to get 2 Kerbals down and back with 10-15% fuel remaining.

[Poodmund]

I have posted it before elsewhere but this is the atmo curve for Tekto. As Diddly Feelerino has stated, Tekto's atmosphere drops off really fast.

[CaptRobau]

3 hours ago, Kepler68 said:

when can we expect OPM 2.0?

(no I'm not begging go away haters)

Why not right now?

Outer Planets Mod 2.0 ready to be played!

The long awaited patch 2.0 has just been released for OPM. The long development cycle was not without reason, as 2.0 is the single-biggest patch OPM has and probably will ever see. All the solid planets and moons have had a complete overhaul, fixing old issues and bringing the quality of each body to and, if you ask me, beyond the best what the stock planets have to offer. All the lessons that I have learned about planet creation in the past one-and-a-half years have been put to use, creating something that's finally come close to the vision that I had back in the day. It's been a blast reinventing and reacquainting myself with these creations and I hope you'll love the new look too.

Features

• Completely redid all the solid bodies, increasing the quality and detail of the terrain.
• Custom terrain textures and improved ground scatter have made the planets and moons never look so good up close, at almost not 
• A full set of KSPedia entries for OPM’s various bodies helps you to navigate the far reaches of the Kerbol system, courtesy of @Poodmund
• Improved third-party mod support and many, many bug fixes and changes

For more information, please see the full changelog below

Downloads

1. Download the mod from one of the mirrors. You can also use the CKAN mod manager to download and keep it updated automatically (could take a while for it to get 2.0).

 

2. Download Kopernicus, which is a third-party mode required for OPM to work

 

This version of OPM works best with Kopernicus 1.0.4. We can't give proper technical support if you use a Kopernicus version that a particular OPM update wasn't designed for.

3. Install both mods, by moving the unzipped contents of the downloads into the GameData folder. You should end up with the folders OPM, CTTP and Kopernicus in GameData.

4. (Optional) Check out the Mods section for third-party mods that OPM was designed to work with in the OP. For example, SigmaBinary makes Plock and Karen a true binary system like Pluto-Charon.

Installation note: If you're updating complex mods like this, please do not overwrite the old version with the new one but delete it instead. This can prevent issues, as incompatible changes can be made between versions. To uninstall just remove the OPM folder from GameData.

 

Compatibility

 

This update won't break any saves outright, but the changes are severe enough that problems can occur. If you want zero trouble, start a new save for this. For those who don't want to sacrifice their savegame, OPM 2.0 luckily is only a soft savegame breaking update. The game works the same as before, but because the terrains are so changed from before it's possible that spacecraft, landers, bases, etc. can be found above, in or under the new terrain. So if you want to try it on an existing save:

1. Backup the save first
2. Move all your vessels on solid OPM bodies (Sarnus, Urlum and Neidon are safe) to at least an orbit 10 km above the underlying terrain
3. Loading this save in OPM 2.0 now should not destroy any of your vessels

Alternatively save edit/HyperEdit all of your vessels to safe distance and once you're done move them back to the surface.

 

Screenshots

 

 

Changelog

 

Spoiler

Gameplay:

• Overhauled Hale's terrain, making it a bit more detailed and the cliffs slightly more imposing
• Set Ovok's min- and maxLevel to 1 to greatly reduce the spikiness by forcing the most simple terrain setting to always be active
• Overhauled Eeloo's terrain, adding procedural craters and improving terrain detail in general
• Overhauled Slate's terrain, making the volcano and mountains more imposing, adding procedural craters, improving terrain detail in general
• Overhauled Tekto's terrain, making the terrain a bit smoother, more detailed and lining up the ocean better with the color map
• Overhauled Polta's terrain, adding procedural craters and improving terrain detail in general
• Overhauled Priax's terrain, slightly changing the shape and increasing terrain detail to create a more chaotic, Hyperion-like feel
• Overhauled Wal's terrain, making the central ridge's height a bit shorter (more realistic), adding procedural craters, improving terrain detail in general
• Overhauled Tal's terrain, radically reducing spikiness and making it a more detailed and smooth body
• Overhauled Thatmo's terrain, adding 
• Overhauled Nissee's terrain, radically reducing spikiness and making it a more detailed and smooth body
• Overhauled Plock's terrain, reducing spikiness, adding procedural craters and increasing detail in general
• Overhauled Karen's terrain, reducing spikiness, adding procedural craters and increasing detail in general
• Added improved terrain scatter to all solid OPM bodies
• Reduced Slate's gravity from 0.85 to 0.692, to make it the Tylo Lite that it was intended to be

Visual:

• Added an community sub-mod to the download called CTTP that contains high-quality terrain textures
• Added custom terrain textures to all solid OPM bodies
• Added better quality height maps for Plock and Karen with less artifacts
• Added better quality color map to Tekto with less artifacts
• Replaced Slate's color map with a 4K version
• Re-imported height maps for Plock, Karen and Tal from source files to remove artifacts that had appeared through editing
• Downsized Nissee's height map from 2K to 1K to produce smoother terrain
• Downsized Thatmo's color map from 4K to 2K, as the moon did not need the extra resolution to look good
• Redid all ScaledSpace/PQS fades to make the transition smoother
• Removed cache files to save space, replacing them with a method to generate them on first launch at the cost of a few extra seconds loading time
• Redid normal maps for all solid OPM bodies
• Redid the contrasts for the OPM bodies to make the transition from ScaledSpace to PQS smoother

Interface:

• Added KSPedia entries for Outer Planets Mod, courtesy of Poodmund

Mod support:

• Added missing text for discovering Karen in the ResearchBodies config
• Redid all the existing OPM discovery texts in the ResearchBodies config

Bugfixes:

• Fixed a typo in the temperatureSeaLevel variable in Tekto's cfg
• Fixed Ovok's strange ScaledSpace lighting swirl at the poles
• Fixed Wal's normal map cutting off before the top of the equatorial ridge
• Fixed Nissee's North polar mountain

Miscellaneous:

• Changed the orders of the PQSMods to 10, 20, 30, etc. in order to make it easier to understand
• Shuffled the PQSMods in the cfgs so they matched their order
• Switched template of Slate, Tekto, Polta, Priax, Tal, Nissee, Thatmo, Plock and Karen to Moho to make the terrain overhaul easier
• Removed unnecessary PQSMods that were inherited by OPM bodies from their templates
• Updated the AVC version file
• Removed the Kopernicus license, since it is no longer bundled with the mod

For modders

The textures included in this download will become part of a community mod called Community Terrrain Texture Pack (CTTP). Using what I've made as a base, this crowd-sourced mod will provide high-quality textures for use by planet creators. This way everyone can use a standard set of detailed and good-looking textures for all sorts of terrain types, without forcing players to download dozens of similar rock, grass, sand, etc. textures. A common framework in the vein of the Community Resource Pack. I will set up a thread for this during the weekend.

I will also share all my knowledge surrounding terrain texturing through tutorials and the like. This you can also suspect in the future.

Future plans

I'm definitely not done modding yet. I will keep supporting OPM and already have plans for a biome overhaul. In the near future though I think I want to do an Inner Planets Mod of sorts, something that brings the advances in OPM 2.0 to the planets/moons of the stock game.

Credits

For this update I want to thank the following people:

• @Poodmund for the KSPedia entries
• @Thomas P. for help with Kopernicus
• @Sigma88 for help with planet creation
• @KillAshley for help with planet creation
• Everyone in the OPM and Kopernicus threads for helping out, supporting, etc.

Edited May 20, 2016 by CaptRobau

[Sigma88]

congrats on the release @CaptRobau!

[Diddly Feelerino]

Happy Days! Downloading now

[CaptRobau]

Thanks guys! The long haul is finally over. It's kind of annoying that I already have ideas what I want to do next and kind of feel like doing it immediately too

[spaceman_spff]

This is Great CaptRobau and everyone else on the team. I just did some landings on Eeloo and Ovak, the textures are better than stock!

 

 

 

[Diddly Feelerino]

Hale looks MUCH more rocky and mountainous. Fantastic job, CaptRobau and the OPM team!

 

[Starstrider42]

Congratulations on the new release! Unfortunately, SpaceDock doesn't seem to like it; I get a 404 error when trying to download.

[Warzouz]

30 minutes ago, Starstrider42 said:

Congratulations on the new release! Unfortunately, SpaceDock doesn't seem to like it; I get a 404 error when trying to download.

Yes on both mods. So CKAN doesn't work either.

Edited May 21, 2016 by Warzouz

[Bleddyn]

37 minutes ago, Starstrider42 said:

Congratulations on the new release! Unfortunately, SpaceDock doesn't seem to like it; I get a 404 error when trying to download.

I just downloaded it from SpaceDock without any trouble. Maybe it will work for you now if you try again

And thank you very much CaptRobau and everyone else who worked on this mod! 

 

Edited May 21, 2016 by Bleddyn

[Starstrider42]

Never mind; given that both of the people who can't download it are in Europe, it might be the CDN being slow to update. Just my luck that I try to download OPM a few hours after a new release...

EDIT: whatever the problem was, it's gone now. The download works fine.

Edited May 21, 2016 by Starstrider42