[1.0.5] Harder Solar System (Kopernicus) v1.2.0 11/20/15 - Axial Tilt and More!

[_Augustus_]

Could you maybe add support for more planet packs?

[stevehead]

I might add support for a couple more popular packs that add planets, but I doubt I will for any packs that make significant changes to the stock planets (or in some cases, straight up replaces the entire solar system). Planet packs have been trending lately and there are a good number of them out there; if people have suggestions for a certain popular pack, let me know--and I stress popular because I don't have a lot of free time to add/maintain support for something only a couple of people may use. I've used Trans-Keptunian in the past, so that is one I may potentially do. Kerbol Plus is popular too, so that would be a potential candidate.

Edited November 11, 2015 by stevehead

[nikokespprfan]

Why the Name?

Because it makes the solar system harder. Actually, I'm terrible with creative names, and this was the best I could come up with... you should see the names of my spacecraft and launchers: Alpha 1, Beta 2 Heavy, Duna Explorer 1, Jool Atmosphere Probe 2, etc.

If you mainly want the mod to be based around the axial tilt thing, you could call it "planetary seasons", mod, or something along those lines.

If you want it to be based around harder physics in the kerbol system, inculding the axial tilt, you could call it hardcore physics mod.

Another option would be "hardcore orbital mechanics" or "hardcore trajectories".

Just trowing some ideas around.

I might add support for a couple more popular packs that add planets, but I doubt I will for any packs that make significant changes to the stock planets (or in some cases, straight up replaces the entire solar system). Planet packs have been trending lately and there are a good number of them out there; if people have suggestions for a certain popular pack, let me know--and I stress popular because I don't have a lot of free time to add/maintain support for something only a couple of people may use. I've used Trans-Keptunian in the past, so that is one I may potentially do. Kerbol Plus is popular too, so that would be a potential candidate.

The was in 0.90 a mod called OP+ (Outer planets plus), which was an expansion on OPM. I don't know whether it still exists though, but that could be a pack to look at.

Also related to OPM are the Sigma mod expansions. For your mod the Sigma Tilt, the Sigma PluronKhato, and the Sigma Binary packs could be something to look at.

http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/112095-1-0-4-Sigma-Mod-Expansions

http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/127820

[stevehead]

If you mainly want the mod to be based around the axial tilt thing, you could call it "planetary seasons", mod, or something along those lines.

If you want it to be based around harder physics in the kerbol system, inculding the axial tilt, you could call it hardcore physics mod.

Another option would be "hardcore orbital mechanics" or "hardcore trajectories".

Just trowing some ideas around.

Thanks for the suggestions on the names, but it's a little too late now since I've already "branded" this plugin with the current name. Overall, it is a harder solar system, so I have no problem with what I chose originally.

---------------------------------------

By the way, update incoming soon.

[Lucius]

By the way, update incoming soon.

WOO! can;'t wait

[stevehead]

Version 1.1.0 Released (potentially save-breaking if upgrading! see notes at bottom)

Increased gas giant masses. Increased inclinations for the "dwarf planets". High space science altitude threshold scales based on selected scale. Fixed runway orientation to be due East/West. Fixed Eeloo not scaling in OPM.

Link to Download

Note: You may have some problems if you are upgrading and have any of the following situations:

- Vessels at the KSC. Reason: KSC was rotated, vessels may respawn in buildings.

- Vessels headed to Dres, Eeloo (stock), or Plock (OPM). Reason: orbital inclinations changed, so therefore original encounters will not exist.

- Any vessels in or headed to Jool, Sarnus, Urlum and Neidon systems. Reason: gas giant mass increases will change delta-V requirements, moon encounters may change, etc.

[Xuixien]

Is there a way to install ONLY the scaling, and not the tilting..?

[frozenbacon]

Hey, a while ago I simulated a realistically sized kerbol system that was stable with n-body physics. I abandoned it because a lot of stuff was happening in my life at the time, but I can dig up the data gain if you wanna use it for this mod. It does make the game harder because kerbol is A LOT bigger (the current sized sun cannot sustain fusion), which pushes out the orbits quite a bit. I tried to respect the orbital periods in stock with the new sun, but I did have to space things out a little to make sure the orbits remained stabled. It is harder to get into orbit as well because with realistic densities, the planets had to be bigger as well.

[stevehead]

[B]Version 1.1.1 Released
[/B][I]No need to upgrade if you do not use AVC version checks (plugin not included). This version does not change the configs.
[/I]
- The .version files are fixed. Thanks to Olympic1 for finding and fixing the issue. This should help CKAN grab this mod again.

[URL="https://github.com/SteveheadSpaceAgency/HarderSolarSystem/releases/tag/v1.1.1"]Link to Download[/URL]

[COLOR=silver][SIZE=1]- - - Updated - - -[/SIZE][/COLOR]

[quote name='Xuixien']Is there a way to install ONLY the scaling, and not the tilting..?[/QUOTE]

I do not have a set of configs generating without the tilt. For this set of configs, I consider the tilt a core feature. If you do not care for the other changes (gas giant mass increase, dwarf planet inclination changes, etc.), check out [URL="http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/125357"]KScale2[/URL] by Paul Kingtiger. It is a double scale solar system. I also contributed an Outer Planets Mod config for KScale2, found [URL="http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/125357?p=2031390&viewfull=1#post2031390"]here[/URL]. As far as 3 or 4 scale solar systems, I don't know of anyone formally releasing a strictly stock version of those scales similar to KScale2.

If you wish to use my configs without the tilt, feel free to modify them however you please. You just need to remove inclination, argument of periapsis, and longitude of the ascending node from all the planets/moons; this will force the original values. This will, however, reset the Mun and Minmus inclinations, which I recommend setting to 5.145 and 0.5 respectively (see below for my double scale config):

[code]
@Body[Mun]
{
%cacheFile = HarderSolarSystem-2x/Cache/Stock/Mun.bin
@Orbit
{
semiMajorAxis = 24000000
inclination = 5.145
}
@Properties
{
radius = 400000
@ScienceValues
{
spaceAltitudeThreshold = 120000
}
}
}
@Body[Minmus]
{
%cacheFile = HarderSolarSystem-2x/Cache/Stock/Minmus.bin
@Orbit
{
semiMajorAxis = 94000000
inclination = 0.5
}
@Properties
{
radius = 120000
rotationPeriod = 57134.22792
@ScienceValues
{
spaceAltitudeThreshold = 60000
}
}
}

[/code]

Also, you will need to change Dres's inclination to 10.5, and Eeloo/Plock to 17 (Eeloo if stock, Plock if using OPM).



[quote name='frozenbacon']Hey, a while ago I simulated a realistically sized kerbol system that was stable with n-body physics. I abandoned it because a lot of stuff was happening in my life at the time, but I can dig up the data gain if you wanna use it for this mod. It does make the game harder because kerbol is A LOT bigger (the current sized sun cannot sustain fusion), which pushes out the orbits quite a bit. I tried to respect the orbital periods in stock with the new sun, but I did have to space things out a little to make sure the orbits remained stabled. It is harder to get into orbit as well because with realistic densities, the planets had to be bigger as well.[/QUOTE]

Hey that's awesome, I may consider using such data. It may be more suitable for a completely realistic solar system config, separate from this set of configs which aims to only provide additional challenge but retain as much stock values as possible. I'll PM you if I decide to do so. I will very busy going into the holidays, so my time is going to be very limited. Edited November 17, 2015 by stevehead

[damerell]

[quote name='Xuixien']Is there a way to install ONLY the scaling, and not the tilting..?[/QUOTE]

Ah, there are about a dozen scaling mods and AFAIK this is the only axial-tilt mod.

@stevehead: do the gas giant masses change in 1x scale?

[stevehead]

[quote name='damerell']do the gas giant masses change in 1x scale?[/QUOTE]

Yes they do. Jool's mass is increased by a factor of 2.88, which results in an escape velocity 1.69 times stock, and a sphere of influence increase of 1.53 times stock. See the OP for comparisons I just added. Edited November 17, 2015 by stevehead

[_Augustus_]

Sarnus' rings aren't moved out further...

[stevehead]

[quote name='_Augustus_']Sarnus' rings aren't moved out further...[/QUOTE]

A new version of Kopernicus came out today after my release. That might have affected how the rings are scaled. I cannot take a look at it until Thursday.

[stevehead]

A few things I found regarding my configs and Outer Planets Mod:

For one, I goofed and made a tiny mistake with how the science altitude threshold was being rendered by MM in the configs for Outer Planets Mod compatibility. Was throwing errors on load, which I should have caught, but I probably was AFK as I usually am when loading KSP. This has been fixed in my develop branch.

Second thing is the rings in Outer Planets Mod. Some change in Kopernicus no longer requires me to scale the rings for 2x, 3x, and 4x scales; doing so as before shrinks the rings instead. This has also been fixed in the develop branch. This will unfortunately force me to bump the minimum KSP version to 1.0.5 in the AVC version file, therefore rendering any future release incompatible with KSP versions older than 1.0.5.

Third, I am going to remove the tilt for Urlum's inner moons so that they are more aligned with the rings, as they are in unmodified OPM. This will be in the next release.

[One-Way Films]

...Yes. This is perfect for my new career mode save. Thank you!

[stevehead]

[B]Version 1.2.0 Released - 64K Support!
[/B]- Generic config added that supports 64K and should support most other stock-like solar systems by default.
- For OPM users, Urlum's inner moons now aligned with rings like Sarnus's inner moons and fixes for science altitude errors and rings.

[URL="https://github.com/SteveheadSpaceAgency/HarderSolarSystem/releases/tag/v1.2.0"]Link to Release[/URL]

[I]The generic config has not been CKAN indexed yet. Will do a pull request for them this evening.[/I] Edited November 21, 2015 by stevehead

[.50calBMG]

will this work with the kerbin 365 mod?

[abowl]

The devs should consider adopting this because honestly alot of thought has been put into it and the axial tilt has very interesting side effects. Rarer eclipses which is nice. They become more epic when they happen. The 24h daylight, during summer at the pole. Thats just too good. These small little details is what makes a good game great. The difficulty will be slightly higher, but it shouldnt be an issue once you become affiliated with rocket building and space faring.

[stevehead]

[quote name='.50calBMg']will this work with the kerbin 365 mod?[/QUOTE]

Just tested with Kerbin 365 and it looks like it works fine with it. The generic config does not work with OPM at the moment, however.




[quote name='abowl']The devs should consider adopting this because honestly alot of thought has been put into it and the axial tilt has very interesting side effects. Rarer eclipses which is nice. They become more epic when they happen. The 24h daylight, during summer at the pole. Thats just too good. These small little details is what makes a good game great. The difficulty will be slightly higher, but it shouldnt be an issue once you become affiliated with rocket building and space faring.[/QUOTE]

I remember reading not too long ago a post that said that the devs could have implemented real axial tilt per planetary body, but decided not to because it was very complicated to get working with Unity 4. I'm hoping Unity 5 could possibly make it easier to implement. The problems with the method used by me and RSS are that [B]1)[/B] I can only specify axial tilt for one body (Kerbin in this case) while all others get a random tilt based on their orbital elements, and [B]2) [/B]the reference plane is the original ecliptic used in stock, so any mod that gives orbital readouts (MechJeb, KER) will have these exaggerated values (instead of Kerbin having an inclination of 0, it is [COLOR=#333333]23.4).[/COLOR]

[Errol]

Would it be possible to make texture replacer images for a tilted galactic plane version of the sky box, to match the solar system's tilt?

[Jim Meillente]

[quote name='stevehead'][B]Version 1.2.0 Released - 64K Support!
[/B]- Generic config added that supports 64K and should support most other stock-like solar systems by default.
- For OPM users, Urlum's inner moons now aligned with rings like Sarnus's inner moons and fixes for science altitude errors and rings.

[URL="https://github.com/SteveheadSpaceAgency/HarderSolarSystem/releases/tag/v1.2.0"]Link to Release[/URL]

[I]The generic config has not been CKAN indexed yet. Will do a pull request for them this evening.[/I][/QUOTE]

Thank You.

[.50calBMG]

I got it to work with both 365 and OPM by using the generic one and then installing the X3 version over it and overwriting the parts from the generic file.

[stevehead]

[quote name='Errol']Would it be possible to make texture replacer images for a tilted galactic plane version of the sky box, to match the solar system's tilt?[/QUOTE]

I'm not big into graphics and such, so I wouldn't be the one to do this. I'd say it is possible, but just remember that the point of these configs is to keep the stock feel but make some things a little more realistic: one being that the galactic plane and ecliptic are not the same plane.



[quote name='.50calBMg']I got it to work with both 365 and OPM by using the generic one and then installing the X3 version over it and overwriting the parts from the generic file.[/QUOTE]

Great! Glad you got it working with OPM too. I'll probably add OPM support for the generic config in the next release.

[VenomousRequiem]

This mod has become a must have to be completely honest. As well as Kerbal Launch failure. Keep up the good work, yo.

Can someone please provide me with space shuttle that can get into orbit in the 3x scale? :P

[stevehead]

[quote name='VenomousRequiem']This mod has become a must have to be completely honest. As well as Kerbal Launch failure. Keep up the good work, yo.[/QUOTE]

Glad you enjoy it and thanks! I've been unfortunately neglecting Kerbal Launch Failure. My free time is really limited, and plugin mods require a little more work.


-------------------------

Just a heads up to everyone, the new changes to heating with 1.0.5 may render my 4x scale config unplayable with out-of-the-box settings. I tried a reentry from LKO with the Mk1-2 pod and 2.5 heat shield and it burned through just about all the ablator, so Mun/interplanetary returns would kill the shield (and ultimately the vessel). I've never played around with the heat difficulty slider when starting a new game. Does that decrease how much ablator is burned off? If so, lowering that could be temporary solution. Same may apply for the 3x config, but I have not tested that one yet.

Same deal with 64K but worse; that will need to be fixed by the 64K crew as my generic config has nothing to do with the heat settings and atmosphere density, etc. Edited November 23, 2015 by stevehead