[WIP][1.9.x-1.12.x] Scatterer-atmospheric scattering (0.0838 - 14/08/2022) Scattering improvements, in-game atmo generation and multi-sun support

[mcfunk0017]

I'd like to add to the question about the blue tinted spacecraft at high altitudes.

I'm using RSS with RSSVE in 1.4.5, with fresh installs of the recommended versions of scatterer and EVE across the board as suggested by the RSSVE install wiki for 1.4.5.

I don't have the weird planet clipping issue because I'm guessing the Camera01FarClip is set correctly via RSSVE.

I'm not sure what causes this though:

https://i.imgur.com/u7EdYxB.jpg

Scatterer is one the few amazing mods that I literally do not want to play this game without, so I hope this isn't taken as a criticism, but as an honest question about how to fix.

I mean, despite that weird blue SIVB, that's an amazing blue marble close up.

[Phineas Freak]

@mcfunk0017 Try and add the following two parameters to the RSSVE RSS patch and see if they fix it:

%cam00FarClip = 1251.0
%cam01NearClip = 1249.0

And yes, you guessed correctly about the far clip plane.

[Gwtheyrn]

So I'm getting this weird artifact issue with the ocean every time I exit the VAB to the launch pad. The only way I've found to temporarily fix it is to force scatterer to rebuilt the ocean. Notably, this does NOT happen when I enter the launchpad from the main KSP view, just when I launch from the VAB. Any ideas what's wrong?
 

[Citizen247]

On 4/5/2019 at 7:56 AM, Phineas Freak said:

@mcfunk0017 Try and add the following two parameters to the RSSVE RSS patch and see if they fix it:

%cam00FarClip = 1251.0
%cam01NearClip = 1249.0

And yes, you guessed correctly about the far clip plane.

Are these settings for scatterer configs?

[OhioBob]

@blackrack,

I'm experiencing some of the same problems reported by @evileye.x, @Citizen247, and @BadOaks.  But I'm working in regular stock scale, so the problems aren't just associated with rescaled systems.  I'd like to also add one additional observation.  People have commented that things look good once the transition to scaled space takes place.  I don't think that's it, at least not in my case.  For me it's when I cross the altitude of the final scatterer config point that things seem to fix themselves.  For example, in the following images my final config point is set at an altitude of 160000.  In the first screenshot I'm at an altitude of 161000, and in the second 159000.  You can see a marked difference between the two.  In this case my PQS fades out at 140000 and deactivates at 180000, so I don't think that has anything to do with it.

EDIT:  The dark artifact along the planet's limb appears between approximately, 30% cfgPoint1 + 70% cfgPoint2, and <100% cfgPoint3.  Either below or above that range, everything looks good with no dark artifact.

 

Edited April 8, 2019 by OhioBob

[CobaltShock]

Sorry if this has been answered in the thread, but I haven't been able to find a definitive answer on if scatterer doesn't play nice with Rescale, in particular the effect of losing the atmosphere while typically in near space. I could've sworn I've gotten it to work in the past (IIRC that was with a 3.2x Galileo's Planet Pack 1.4 save), but I haven't been able to replicate it, and now I'm attempting it in the stock KSP system. I also remember hearing some people resolve the issue. If that's not the case, then no worries. Just trying to find an answer on it. Thanks  

[Zah]

Is spotlights lighting up clouds on the dark side of Kerbin a Scatterer-related issue or should I be looking elsewhere?
https://imgur.com/a/3nIul9g

[MaeharaProjekt]

On 4/5/2019 at 12:47 AM, Gwtheyrn said:

So I'm getting this weird artifact issue with the ocean every time I exit the VAB to the launch pad. The only way I've found to temporarily fix it is to force scatterer to rebuilt the ocean. Notably, this does NOT happen when I enter the launchpad from the main KSP view, just when I launch from the VAB. Any ideas what's wrong?
 

That is a very spiky artifact. Kraken hair?

[Gwtheyrn]

I didn't think that the Kraken had hair, but this may be the case.

[OhioBob]

I've solved the problem of the dark limb artifact and the scatterer not rendering below the highest config point altitude.  Sorry, @blackrack, user error.  My mod has a bunch of installation options, so I actually have two planetsList for different types of installations.  I changed one list but forgot to change the other.  Adding  flatScaledSpaceModel = True  seems to have fixed the issue.

Now I just have an issue of a sudden brightness change when passing through the last config point.  It's much brighter above than below.  I'm still trying to debug.

EDIT:  I think I've traced the brightness problem to postProcessAlpha.  Changing postProcessAlpha alters the atmosphere brightness when below the final config point altitude, but not when above it.

EDIT2:  Correction... the issue with postProcessAlpha doesn't occur when passing through the last config point, it occurs when passing through PQS deactivateAltitude.

Edited April 12, 2019 by OhioBob

[iGGnitE]

On 3/15/2019 at 2:02 PM, Phineas Freak said:

It is a general issue when celestial bodies are rescaled (usually upwards). The stock KSP camera values are good enough for stock but not for custom planetary systems.

Camera clip values must be set via a plugin. Not sure about Sigma Dimensions but RSS (~10X rescale compared to stock) has provisions for setting these camera values for that reason.

Hey man,

I´m experiencing the same issue you responded to here. I´m not a modder or software developer so I don't know how to go about fixing this camera issue but it's a game-ruining glitch for me.
Could you help me out in setting different camera clip values?

[OhioBob]

15 hours ago, iGGnitE said:

I´m experiencing the same issue you responded to here. I´m not a modder or software developer so I don't know how to go about fixing this camera issue but it's a game-ruining glitch for me.

Could you help me out in setting different camera clip values?

I don't think it's a camera issue.  I had the problem because I failed to add flatScaledSpaceModel = True to the celestial bodies in planetsList.  Fixing that oversight solved the problem.

Here's an example of what it should look like:

Spoiler

Scatterer_planetsList
{		
	scattererCelestialBodies
	{
		Item
		{
			celestialBodyName = Kerbin
			transformName = Kerbin
			loadDistance = 100000000
			unloadDistance = 200000000
			hasOcean = True
			flatScaledSpaceModel = True
			usesCloudIntegration = True
			mainSunCelestialBody = Sun

 

 

Edited April 15, 2019 by OhioBob

[Phineas Freak]

So, let's convince everyone that this is a far camera plane clipping issue. Testing in KSP 1.6.1 with:

• RealSolarSystem v14.0
• Scatterer v0.0540
• RSSVE v1.4.5-1

Exhibit A (far camera clip value 1875000 meters - default RSSVE value):

Spoiler

<IMAGE REMOVED BY USER>

Exhibit B (far camera clip value 675000 meters - randomly selected value):

Spoiler

<IMAGE REMOVED BY USER>

Note the horizon appearance. For the record, the default far camera value for KSP is 750000 meters.

One solution for this issue could come from Scatterer: just have a configuration option (like the "nearClipPlane" parameter - let's call it "farClipPlane") that can be set by the visual mods themselves. Or, internally set this value by default to be larger than ~1000000 meters (it's not like it affects anything for "stock" CB scales).

Edited May 5, 2019 by Phineas Freak
Remove screenshots

[Poodmund]

The code for the above can be referenced here: https://github.com/KSP-RO/RealSolarSystem/blob/master/Source/Watchdogs.cs

[OhioBob]

7 hours ago, Phineas Freak said:

So, let's convince everyone that this is a far camera plane clipping issue. Testing in KSP 1.6.1 with:

@iGGnitE's problem is more than just a camera issue.  In his top image the scatterer effects aren't even rendering.

[Phineas Freak]

On 4/15/2019 at 7:38 PM, OhioBob said:

In his top image the scatterer effects aren't even rendering.

I fail to see how the effects are not rendering, i can clearly see the atmospheric fade and the surface post process effects. But, in any case, my post was not a reply to @iGGnitE's issue.

Edit 1: and a quick bug fix plugin for testing (unzip it and copy/move and merge the "GameData" folder with your KSP "GameData" folder).

(license, readme and source code files included)

Edit 2: if you downloaded the file previously then re-download it, as i have fixed a very minor but stupid error.

Edited May 5, 2019 by Phineas Freak
Removed download link

[Cart-o-graphers]

I've encountered a bug that causes the sky to turn white.
It's technically more complicated but... honestly I'm in over my head.
Computers are magic, and I'm no mage.

I'm on ksp version 1.6.1.
Further details in the following link:
https://imgur.com/a/r9BwUkm

Should you need anything more from me, let me know.
Tell me what you need, and instructions on how to get it, and I'll try to get it for you ASAP.

My deepest apologies if there's already a fix I'm unaware of, roughly an hour of searching turned up nothing useful.

 

[evileye.x]

18 hours ago, Phineas Freak said:

I fail to see how the effects are not rendering, i can clearly see the atmospheric fade and the surface post process effects. But, in any case, my post was not a reply to @iGGnitE's issue.

Edit 1: and a quick bug fix plugin for testing (unzip it and copy/move and merge the "GameData" folder with your KSP "GameData" folder).

(license, readme and source code files included)

Edit 2: if you downloaded the file previously then re-download it, as i have fixed a very minor but stupid error.

Thanks man, you were totally right about root cause. 

I've tried your fix in 6.4x and it is so much better, but unfortunately not perfect. There are some artifacts on horizon line still. 

Also, surface flickers in squares pattern when you look down perpendicular to surface, but I believe it's another issue. 

 

Can you please make value accessible via simple config file? May be to play with different values for different scales.? 

Or am I dumb and it can be done with MM? 

[Phineas Freak]

6 hours ago, evileye.x said:

There are some artifacts on horizon line still. 

I also noticed them but no matter what value i used (up to 7500000 meters) would fix it. Weirdly enough, less than 2000000 meters are required for RSS (a larger body that even 10.6x scaled Kerbin) so i assume that something else is causing that (see final note).

6 hours ago, evileye.x said:

Also, surface flickers in squares pattern when you look down perpendicular to surface, but I believe it's another issue.

Saw the same thing with just the default Scatterer distribution and a 10.6x rescale (see final note).

6 hours ago, evileye.x said:

Can you please make value accessible via simple config file? May be to play with different values for different scales.?

I...guess so? Give me some time and I'll whip something up.

Note: I would guess that both of these are caused by the fact that the default Scatterer configs/textures are not meant to be used "as-is" for rescales.

Edit: new version is up, now allows the user to define a custom clip value (located under "FarCameraFix/Configs/FarCameraFix_Settings.cfg"). Pinging @evileye.x for further testing.

Edited April 17, 2019 by Phineas Freak

[Heirloom]

Hi, I have a basic question about Scatterer. If I want to make the atmosphere of a planet appear darker, how should I do this? I'm currently working on a cloud mod, but with the stock scatterer configs then the Eve clouds are basically impossible to see. Plus I kind of find it a bit too pale. Is there anyway to make it a more darker purple, sort of like this? I looked at the configs,but since there is no documentation and I have no idea what each of the words mean, I find it kind of confusing and am completely lost. Thanks in advance!

Solved. Use the config tool on the literal front page of the mod.

Edited April 20, 2019 by Messier

[GameCheckTV]

I just installed Scatterer and EVE for my RSS / RO Mods. Everything work except of one thing. 

On the daylight side of the earh the whole atmosphere is very bright. It is very hard to figure out the continents. This problem occures from tracking station and from the orbit view. 

Can someone help me please?

[ricktheski]

On 4/5/2019 at 2:47 AM, Gwtheyrn said:

So I'm getting this weird artifact issue with the ocean every time I exit the VAB to the launch pad. The only way I've found to temporarily fix it is to force scatterer to rebuilt the ocean. Notably, this does NOT happen when I enter the launchpad from the main KSP view, just when I launch from the VAB. Any ideas what's wrong?
 

Any one have thoughts on this issue?  I'm having the same thing since the latest update.  I'd rather not downgrade to the previous version, but don't have any other ideas.

[Nightside]

1 hour ago, ricktheski said:

Any one have thoughts on this issue?  I'm having the same thing since the latest update.  I'd rather not downgrade to the previous version, but don't have any other ideas.

I’ve not seen this in my game. Maybe an issue with another mod?

what happens if you fly towards it?

Edited April 19, 2019 by Nightside

[ricktheski]

10 minutes ago, Nightside said:

I’ve not seen this in my game. Maybe an issue with another mod?

what happens if you fly towards it?

They are not static.  They thrust up through the ground like shards of glass, sometimes in one area, sometimes all around you.  Not solid objects, they clip through anything they come in contact with.  Artifacts.

Has no effect on gameplay, just ugly and distracting.  Only appears when loading at the launch pad or runway.

Does NOT appear when landed anywhere on Kerbin or other bodies.

Appeared on first boot after installing the current (new) version of scatter.  

Edited April 19, 2019 by ricktheski

[Nightside]

2 hours ago, ricktheski said:

They are not static.  They thrust up through the ground like shards of glass, sometimes in one area, sometimes all around you.  Not solid objects, they clip through anything they come in contact with.  Artifacts.

Has no effect on gameplay, just ugly and distracting.  Only appears when loading at the launch pad or runway.

Does NOT appear when landed anywhere on Kerbin or other bodies.

Appeared on first boot after installing the current (new) version of scatter.  

It doesn’t seem to be a common issue so I’d recommend following the issue reporting procedures on the OP.

If you have other visual mods you could try removing them to see if there is a compatibility issue.