R-T-B

Unity's shadow cascade system can do something like that but I'm no expert on the exact settings to get there. You'll have the tools to experiment though. I must caution you though it is possible, nothing is "free" here. It will likely come at the expense of shadow casting distance, performance, or both.

If the launcher runs in the background that very well could be. Epic Games Store is pretty heavy like that. Anything that remains resident has that potential really.

Yeah, don't get me wrong, it's not a bad thing to download or anything (more .net versions are actually used all over the web, so probably good to have), just trying to make it even easier heh.

Linux and Mac do not have the new launcher, so I'll be making a new release sometime soonish without the dependency on .net core download as we don't need linux/mac support. You don't need to update if you already got it working, but the change will be helpful for new users I think who want to install it for the first time.

It's designed to be a prepackaged solution, yeah. Later I'll make it not depend on some oddball version of .net, if I have time.

The shadows are based on stock unity shadow cascades, and indeed, more tuning can be done than just the distance parameter I expose. This is planned for the next upcoming release, in the next few weeks. That release will contain a few new solar flux options (more realistic flux vs stock gameplay with a toggle to turn on the more scientifically acurate ones, you can see the new model on the bleeding edge right now), a few bugfixes, and a bunch of new shadow parameters similar to what scatterer offers (but without the heavy atmo scatterer part).

Just gonna drop this here: From steam at least, it ignores the command line parameters set there by the user, which is not horrid, but is annoying.

To follow up on that, my KSSL launcher is windows only right now and requires the .net core, but the good news is that core (what I use) is cross platform and I should be able to support other KSP platforms/OSes (this is why I didn't just go with straight .net framework). If anyone wants to get me the executable names of the launcher and the main game on the other platforms, I can probably support them too. This is provided of course the launcher is on other platforms. If it isn't, I'll probably just port the code to .net framework 4.5 (we all have that) and forget about cross platform.

yeah I went with the newest .net core version because it has linux/mac support. Ironically, it doesn't help much/any because there are no linux/mac builds of this launcher yet (as it is unaware of their executable names), so need to either a.) add explicit linux and mac support or b.) use an older .net framework that doesn't need the extra download. Just thinking outloud. Anyone know if the *nix builds ship this new launcher gizmo? If it doesn't then why am I bothering lol? If it does, what's the executable names of the launcher and main game binary there?

ah, different platforms different executable names. Fun. I could make my bypasser program fire an external editable script file, and then maybe it could be used to defeat a variety of launchers that just launch another executable. That's not a bad idea actually. In the meantime, if you want to hack on it, feel free. The code is incredibly basic. Or use any of the other methods (was ambiguous what you were referencing).

As long as it's not a hard dependency for GU then yes, that should work.

UPDATE: I hated all the existing solutions and made my own. If anyone finds it useful, here we go in tools and applications:

This is just a wrapper launcher for Kerbal Space Program steam installs to bypass Take Twos KSP2 oriented launcher. Fully passes steam command lines to the KSP exe (unlike Take Twos) and properly sets up the working path, source code is here for all to view. Releases are here: https://github.com/R-T-B/KSSL/releases Install To install, simply extract a release zip into your [KSP Install folder]/PDLauncher This is a .net core 3.1 app and will prompt you to install that if not present. May work crossplatform if you can install it too, no idea, I only tested on windows. It could probably be compiled to run under standard .net framework but I didn't want to bother because that's supposedly dying or something. I do not plan to do much more with this, but on the other hand, not much more needs to be done! Hope it is useful... License: MIT Source: https://github.com/R-T-B/KSSL If you ask for screenshots, please see your steam window, because it handles the launching and this has no GUI to speak of. EDIT: Fixed atrocious phone formatting, very cool white on black-background text, thanks google dark mode thingy.

Oh wait, does GU only add planets? Then maybe that's alright... I'm still getting up to speed on parallax. I know it fights with RSS and other system replacers though. If that DOESN'T fix your issue post back here and I'll take a second look.

This is because you have Parallax and GU installed. AFAIK, Parallax only supports the stock planets natively. You'd need to find a support pack of some kind to use something else. This goes for everyone installing Parallax, as I'm getting a lot of similar error reports like this: Unless you know what you are doing, assume parallax works with stock planets only!

This. I think Kopernicus can handle this scenario but I really doubt all mods will be ready for it. These directions are better suited, as they preserve the working directory.

They may be tiled rings. IIRC those types have been broken for a bit, and I don't have the knowledge to fix it unfortunately. Also, minor PSA here: Please Please please if Kopernicus is not loading, check if you have RSS and Parallax installed together, it seems these are incompatible without a custom pack and/or a lot of work. I've gotten way too many bug reports that end in that conclusion.

That's odd. What platform are you on? It isn't an OpenGL one is it? (linux / mac)

This is a beta release of some planned fixes for distant heating bugs, amongst other heating system issues, please test. Please note these fixes were contributed so testing is especially needed here.

The below is mostly a beta for next stable release, please help test! New in this latest version UBE-86 (beta 1 of stable release-140): 1.) Beta release testing new flux logic and some hazbod fixes. Please test so we can mainline this and find any bugs asap! Heat related bug testing much appreciated! Known Bugs: 1.) Not exactly a bug, but worth mentioning: The Kopernicus_Config.cfg file is rewritten when the game exits. This means any edits made while playing the game will not be preserved. Edit the file only with the game exited, please. 2.) At interstellar ranges, heat can sometimes behave strangely, sometimes related to map zoom (be careful zooming out). It is best to turn off part heating when traveling far far away. 3.) When zooming out all the way out in map view at interstellar ranges, the navball furthermore sometimes behaves oddly. We are working on this and monitoring all the interstellar bugs actively. 4.) Very Old craft files may complain about a missing module. This is a cosmetic error and can be ignored. Reload and re-save the craft to remove the error. Known Caveats: 1.) The 1.12.x release series works on 1.12.x,1.11.x,1.10.x, and 1.9.x. The 1.8 release is for 1.8.x. 2.) Multistar Solar panel support requires an additional config file, attached to release. 3.) As of release-107, scatter density underwent a bugfix on all bodies globally that results in densities acting more dense than before on some select configs. Some mods may need to adjust. Normally we'd not change things like this, but this is technically the correct stock behavior of the node so... if you need the old behavior, see config option UseIncorrectScatterDensityLogic. 4.) As of Release-119, LandControl createColors is no longer obeyed, it is forced on to avoid another bug. Very few mods to my knowledge use this parameter, but a few do (JNSQ for example). You can work around this if affected by setting your LandControl color to be all zeroes. See attatched cfg for a mod that does this. 5.) The "collider fix" as it's called, which fixes the event in which you sink into the terrain on distant bodies, is off by default. If you have a system larger than stock, please see Kopernicus_Config.cfg option DisableFarAwayColliders, read about the fix/workaround, and set it as you feel appropriate.

I'm sorry all, I know I've been somewhat absent lately. To be frank, Kopernicus will likely be in "maintainence mode" for some time with bugfix support only due to increased workload at home. That and a new puppy that is taking a lot of training (but is also a lot of fun!) I would ask if others that are capable can look over support request log files for now, and where possible, spot the obvious things, that'd be a great contribution you can do to help this project. I'll try to be back at it shortly. I still want to do one final bugfix for a few fixable things before KSP 2 is upon us. It worked for me with a module manager as of a month ago. I'd hazard a guess his is older, or maybe something newer broke it... But perhaps I will change it in the next version just to be sure.

Wow, I didn't even notice this until today! Thank you, it's been an honor and a privilege sincerely to work on something so integral to so many mods. I feel my personal touch to this mod has been adding in broad version support rather than version locking it, as the code is now multiversion aware and able to adapt all the way back to 1.8.0! Pretty cool, actually.

lol right when I got slammed with work. I did not even notice! Very cool! No, but I could expose the cascade split settings in a future version if it's needed. Right now I simply expose a simple distance parameter, which admittedly is a bit simple and limiting. Anyways, new release now that I am freed from cubicle land: Kopernicus release-139 New in this latest version release-139: 1.) Fixed a hard limit on vertices on scatters that would result in visual corruption on some mods (GU, etc). 2.) Readded atmospheric extinction as an option, using optimized code. See Kopernicus_Config.cfg GUI option EnableAtmosphericExtinction for details. Basically fine to turn on for planet packs without large numbers of worlds. False by default. Known Bugs: 1.) Not exactly a bug, but worth mentioning: The Kopernicus_Config.cfg file is rewritten when the game exits. This means any manual (not in the GUI) edits made while playing the game will not be preserved. Edit the file only with the game exited, please. 2.) At interstellar ranges, heat can sometimes behave strangely, sometimes related to map zoom (be careful zooming out). It is best to turn off part heating when traveling far far away. 3.) When zooming out all the way out in map view at interstellar ranges, the navball furthermore sometimes behaves oddly. We are working on this and monitoring all the interstellar bugs actively. 4.) Very Old craft files may complain about a missing module. This is a cosmetic error and can be ignored. Reload and re-save the craft to remove the error. Known Caveats: 1.) The 1.12.x release series works on 1.12.x,1.11.x,1.10.x, and 1.9.x. The 1.8 release is for 1.8.x. 2.) Multistar Solar panel support requires an additional config file, attached to release. 3.) As of release-107, scatter density underwent a bugfix on all bodies globally that results in densities acting more dense than before on some select configs. Some mods may need to adjust. Normally we'd not change things like this, but this is technically the correct stock behavior of the node so... if you need the old behavior, see config option UseIncorrectScatterDensityLogic. 4.) As of Release-119, LandControl createColors is no longer obeyed, it is forced on to avoid another bug. Very few mods to my knowledge use this parameter, but a few do (JNSQ for example). You can work around this if affected by setting your LandControl color to be all zeroes. See attatched cfg for a mod that does this. 5.) The "collider fix" as it's called, which fixes the event in which you sink into the terrain on distant bodies, is off by default. If you have a system larger than stock, please see Kopernicus_Config.cfg option DisableFarAwayColliders, read about the fix/workaround, and set it as you feel appropriate.

Truth. It's still not a bad idea, but no longer needed.

Kopernicus release-138 New in this latest version release-138: 1.) Fixed a bug that prevented non-Kerbolar stock sunflares from appearing. Known Bugs: 1.) Not exactly a bug, but worth mentioning: The Kopernicus_Config.cfg file is rewritten when the game exits. This means any manual (not in the GUI) edits made while playing the game will not be preserved. Edit the file only with the game exited, please. 2.) At interstellar ranges, heat can sometimes behave strangely, sometimes related to map zoom (be careful zooming out). It is best to turn off part heating when traveling far far away. 3.) When zooming out all the way out in map view at interstellar ranges, the navball furthermore sometimes behaves oddly. We are working on this and monitoring all the interstellar bugs actively. 4.) Very Old craft files may complain about a missing module. This is a cosmetic error and can be ignored. Reload and re-save the craft to remove the error. Known Caveats: 1.) The 1.12.x release series works on 1.12.x,1.11.x,1.10.x, and 1.9.x. The 1.8 release is for 1.8.x. 2.) Multistar Solar panel support requires an additional config file, attached to release. 3.) As of release-107, scatter density underwent a bugfix on all bodies globally that results in densities acting more dense than before on some select configs. Some mods may need to adjust. Normally we'd not change things like this, but this is technically the correct stock behavior of the node so... if you need the old behavior, see config option UseIncorrectScatterDensityLogic. 4.) As of Release-119, LandControl createColors is no longer obeyed, it is forced on to avoid another bug. Very few mods to my knowledge use this parameter, but a few do (JNSQ for example). You can work around this if affected by setting your LandControl color to be all zeroes. See attatched cfg for a mod that does this. 5.) The "collider fix" as it's called, which fixes the event in which you sink into the terrain on distant bodies, is off by default. If you have a system larger than stock, please see Kopernicus_Config.cfg option DisableFarAwayColliders, read about the fix/workaround, and set it as you feel appropriate.