[1.8.1 - 1.12.3] Realistic Atmospheres

[Gnoyze]

7 minutes ago, OhioBob said:

The code below will give Eve a Venus-like atmosphere.  Eve's surface temperature and pressure will be comparable to the planet Venus.  With increasing altitude, temperature and pressure varies in such a way that Venus' real-life temperature-pressure relationship is preserved.  However, both temperature and pressure decrease more rapidly than on Venus, which is partly due to Eve's greater surface gravity, and partly due to the scaled-down size of the KSP solar system.

To use, install the mod Realistic Atmospheres.  Find the file RealisticAtmospheres.cfg and open it using a simple text editor like Notepad.  Carefully copy and paste the code below into RealisticAtmospheres.cfg, replacing the existing code for Eve.  Save the file and you should be good to go.

If you want to change only Eve while keeping the stock atmospheres for the other planets and moons, then delete the content of RealisticAtmospheres.cfg in its entirety and replace with the code below.
 

 

Thanks man, you're awesome. First thing I'm gonna do is see what "floats" in the atmosphere.

 

5 hours ago, FungusForge said:

Probably not quite what you're looking for, but AFAIK its the only mod out there that can save in flight vessels.

 Thanks man, I was thinking of using this too (until I can figure out a work-around and make the atmo an ocean(which really is just a tweaked atmo now))

[jokerman231]

Does anyone know if this mod is compatible with the 1.1 prerelease?

[OhioBob]

I don't have the prerelease, so I can't test it.  @NathanKell might know because this mod uses his Bodyloader mod.

[RA3236]

Here is a quick way for compatibility with Kopernicus for you:

BTW Module Manager is required:

@CELESTIALBODIES:AFTER[Kopernicus]//Ill let someone decide on this.
{
	//Basically, this is where you call in the function. @ means edit (AKA @Eve means edit Eve) and % means edit or create (AKA %Eve means if there is a node that has Eve, then edit it, overwise create one)
	@Kerbin
	{
		@atmospherePressureCurve
		{
			... //do whatever here
		}
	}
	//Here we are going to make a new part for another planets that is not stock. We put % because another mod may already have the node defined.
	%Sarnus //A planet from OPM
	{
		atmosphereTemperatureCurve
		{
			...
		}
	}
}

Put this in the planet cfg and you could be good to go!!!

[NathanKell]

@OhioBob I haven't had a chance to touch bodyloader. It should be ok after a recompile, probably? And it remains up for grabs

[Windspren]

Do the various changes show up in the Tracking Station info?

[OhioBob]

44 minutes ago, Laythe Dweller said:

Do the various changes show up in the Tracking Station info?

Yes.

[Proot]

I love this idea! Could I add this by default in KSPRC? (of course under your authory and license!!)

And btw, @OhioBob seems that you know about atmospheres and so on... could you tell us the correct settings for your atmospheric values using the Scatterer's config tool?

http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/index.php?/topic/103963-wip11-scatterer-atmospheric-scattering-v00244-17042016-11-compatible-faster-loading/

To have the most realistic and accurate parameters for the visual side of the atmospheres is something that is itching me since so much of time...

[Dr. Jet]

WOW! Eve atmosphere change... 

Eve lander video with it? Anyone? 

[Windspren]

My only worry is that the Trajectories mod won't work with this.

[OhioBob]

10 hours ago, Proot said:

I love this idea! Could I add this by default in KSPRC? (of course under your authory and license!!)

Sure, you have my permission to include if you want to.

You might want to wait until I can verify that it works with version 1.1.  I don't use Steam, so I don't have access to the pre-release.  We'll have to wait for the official 1.1 release.

 

10 hours ago, Proot said:

And btw, @OhioBob seems that you know about atmospheres and so on... could you tell us the correct settings for your atmospheric values using the Scatterer's config tool?

http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/index.php?/topic/103963-wip11-scatterer-atmospheric-scattering-v00244-17042016-11-compatible-faster-loading/

To have the most realistic and accurate parameters for the visual side of the atmospheres is something that is itching me since so much of time...

I'm not very familiar with that.  I'll have to study it an get back to you.

[OhioBob]

On ‎4‎/‎17‎/‎2016 at 0:32 PM, Dr. Jet said:

WOW! Eve atmosphere change... 

Eve lander video with it? Anyone? 

This mod changes Eve's atmosphere quite a bit.  The surface conditions are the same, but the atmosphere thins out much quicker and is only 50 km deep.  In the stock game, the scale heights of the atmospheres of Eve and Duna are far off from what they should be, which is the main reason I was motivated me to write this mod.  In Realistic Atmospheres the scale heights are correctly computed for each planet's physical and atmospheric characteristics.  Eve's atmosphere works out to be much shallower and Duna's much deeper.

I experimented a bit with launches from the surface of Eve, comparing the difference between the stock atmosphere and the mod atmosphere.  I don't remember now what the results were, but I'm thinking it was about 500-1000 m/s easier with the mod atmosphere.  It also helps if you use,

 

Edited May 12, 2016 by OhioBob

[OhioBob]

11 hours ago, Laythe Dweller said:

My only worry is that the Trajectories mod won't work with this.

I have not used that mod, so I can't verify.  If I get a chance, I'll run some experiments.

I have no idea how that mod works, but if it performs its computations using atmospheric properties pulled from the configuration files, then it will likely work.  I see from the Trajectories thread that there is some dispute as to whether or not it works with Real Solar System.  If is works with Real Solar System, then I think it should work with Realistic Atmospheres.

The only problem I've noticed so far using Realistic Atmospheres is that there may be incompatibilities with some of the orbit contracts.  I recently accepted a contract to put a satellite in orbit around Duna that had a periapsis altitude of something like 65 km.  I forgot that the mod atmosphere goes to 90 km.  What I ended up having to do was to insert into an orbit that matched in every characteristic except the periapsis altitude.  Then, when I got to apoapsis, I performed a small burn to drop the periapsis, got credit for completing the contract, and then immediately raise the periapsis back to a safe altitude.
 

Edited April 18, 2016 by OhioBob

[Proot]

10 hours ago, OhioBob said:

Sure, you have my permission to include if you want to.

You might want to wait until I can verify that it works with version 1.1.  I don't use Steam, so I don't have access to the pre-release.  We'll have to wait for the official 1.1 release.

 

I'm not very familiar with that.  I'll have to study it an get back to you.

The config tool for that mod allows to generate new precomputed tables for the Scatterer atmospheres, is the way to tweak the appareance (altitudes, colors and so on).
Rg is planet radius (says diameter but is wrong), Rt is height of the atmosphere, RL is the limit of the atmosphere. I can manage this to get decent visuals, but not with accurate/realistic data.

But above all, what I don't control/understand at all are the half heights.
Would be amazing to have accurate a rightly done stock configs; even better if the configs are according to your new atmospheres.

Edited April 18, 2016 by Proot

[OhioBob]

WE ARE EXPERIENCING TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES - PLEASE STAND BY

Regrettably, Realistic Atmospheres/Bodyloader does not work with KSP version 1.1.0.  I'm aware of the problem and will try to get it fixed as soon as I can.  Please check back later.
 

Edited April 21, 2016 by OhioBob

[OhioBob]

Realistic Atmospheres version 1.1.0 is now available.

Realistic Atmospheres has been updated to use Bodyloader 0.2.0.0, thus making it compatible with KSP 1.1.0.  Special thanks to @NathanKell for his prompt work on Bodyloader.

I also took this opportunity to rework the each planet's atmospheric model.  In the first release of Realistic Atmospheres, each atmosphere was extended until the atmospheric pressure fell to a set value.  Although this made sense from a physics standpoint, in terms of gameplay, it produced some undesirable situations.  For instance, consider the atmosphere of Duna.  Because of its low gravity, Duna's thin atmosphere extended all the way to an altitude of 90 km.  Couple this with the fact that entry velocities at Duna are low, an approaching spacecraft would have to pass through tens of thousands of meters of atmosphere where the air was too thin to produce significant aerodynamic effects.  This resulted in a relatively long wait time, without high-speed time warp, until we got to see any significant and interesting drag and heating effects.

With the new release, hopefully this situation has been remedied.  I've revised the upper boundaries to be based on the aerodynamic effects the atmosphere has on an incoming body traveling at escape velocity.  Within the first several seconds of an encounter, an incoming body should experience similar initial drag and heat conditions regardless of the planet.  Of course this similarity changes quickly as the body dives deeper into each planet's unique atmosphere.  Although this revision focused on the upper atmospheres, in some case small changes to the lower atmospheres resulted (probably not even noticeable).  The new atmosphere heights are:

Eve	55 km
Kerbin	70 km
Duna	70 km
Jool	400 km
Laythe	60 km

 

Edited April 24, 2016 by OhioBob

[Drew Kerman]

is any Outer-Planet support planned? (Tekto, Sarnus, etc) I haven't really seen any plans past stock other than the Eve-as-Venus config so curious as to what comes next.

Great work so far!

Edit: apologies to CaptRobau if in fact tweaks to any of OPM's atmospheres are not actually needed

Edited April 23, 2016 by Gaiiden

[OhioBob]

45 minutes ago, Gaiiden said:

is any Outer-Planet support planned? (Tekto, Sarnus, etc) I haven't really seen any plans past stock other than the Eve-as-Venus config so curious as to what comes next.

I've thought about that.  I haven't studied in detail the atmospheres of the OPM planets/moons, but I'm planning to take a closer look at them.  If it looks like there is anything there that I can make improvements on, I'll probably contact @CaptRobau first to see if he's willing to consider some suggestions.  I think it makes more sense to incorporate any changes directly into OPM, rather than writing a mod to a mod.

In the time I spent looking at OPM, I didn't see any red flags.  The temperature curves looked really good to me, so there's no need to do anything there.  What I'm curious to see is how the pressure curves stack up.  All I have to do is put the temperature-height profile and surface conditions into my spreadsheet, and it will compute a lifelike pressure curve.  When I did this for the stock planets, I saw disparities, which is what prompted me to write Realistic Atmospheres.  If I see any big disparities with OPM, I'll bring them the CaptRobau's attention.
 

Edited April 23, 2016 by OhioBob

[Gnoyze]

@OhioBob Will I need to edit the Venus-like Eve config or should it still be fine with the 1.1 version?

[White Owl]

I love this mod! So happy to see it updated. 

[OhioBob]

48 minutes ago, Gnoyze said:

@OhioBob Will I need to edit the Venus-like Eve config or should it still be fine with the 1.1 version?

The config file should work just fine.  The only change that you must make to get it to work with 1.1 is to update to the new BodyLoader.dll.
 

Edited April 24, 2016 by OhioBob

[CaptRobau]

Realism is important for OPM so if there's anything that could be changed and doesn't have detrimental gameplay effects I will gladly change it. 

[OhioBob]

10 minutes ago, CaptRobau said:

Realism is important for OPM so if there's anything that could be changed and doesn't have detrimental gameplay effects I will gladly change it. 

I've already worked up several of these atmosphere models (this mod and RSS), so I'm getting to be an old pro at it.  I'm happy to help out with OPM in any way I can.  I'll try to take a look at it sometime this week.  I'll send you a PM and let you know what I find.

[Gnoyze]

@OhioBob Adding the Venus-Eve config to the new RA config. Here's hoping it works.
Also thought about adding Kerbal Wind and giving Eve some Venus-like wind. Will have to find that thread.

[OhioBob]

While working on the OPM planets, I took a second look and Jool and decided to tweak its pressure curve.  It's not a big change but it brought about the need for an updated release - version 1.1.1.