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[1.12.x] Whirligig World Planetary System: An Absurd Homeworld In An Alien Solar System. 0.13.0: Dermun! Ice worlds! Better Scatterer!


Whirligig Girl

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15 hours ago, GregroxMun said:

please note that this contains a spoiler about Imterril, so it'd be nice if you'd put it in spoiler tags!

It's a clever idea to make this, but to me it takes the fun out of it just a bit from the perspective of a new player, so I won't be putting it in the OP.

Huh. it never did occur to me that somebody in this game may launch an interplanetary mission without knowing what he'll find at the destination...

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On 11/11/2022 at 11:47 AM, GregroxMun said:

it has compatibility with an old mod called Interstellar Consortium, which handles homeworld swapping with other star systems installed, though i have no idea if that plugin still works.

the plugin kind of works, i recently tested it, but it messes up the graphics and changes the names of everything to be exoplanet-y

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On 10/5/2023 at 10:13 PM, warcrimeswilly said:

the plugin kind of works, i recently tested it, but it messes up the graphics and changes the names of everything to be exoplanet-y

that might be a result of how WW handles visual mods--Mesbin is technically "Kerbin," so if you have visual mods, and Mesbin is no longer Kerbin, then things could get weird. The names and descriptions are a result of a compatibility patch in Whirligig World itself.

https://github.com/GregroxMun/Whirligig-World/blob/master/GameData/WhirligigWorld/ModCompatibility/InterstellarConsortium/IC_Descriptions.cfg

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this mod is pretty revolutionary for whirligig world.

so now i'm prototyping a version of mesbin which uses a gravitational equipotential surface based on a point mass--essentially, gravity will be level everywhere on the planet instead of just the equator and poles. This is also somewhat more realistic, since we should expect Mesbin to have a dense core due to gravitational compression--although the actual realistic figure would probably be a little wider than this.

rTvZCd1.png

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5Z4kN1R.png

 

This particular shape is defined by keeping the mass, polar radius, and polar gravity constant, and then finding a rotation period (changing both the actual rotation period, and the rotation period setting in the new PQSmod) where the equatorial gravity was roughly the same as before. Except it turns out, through sheer coincidence, the equatorial surface gravity ended up being exactly the same as before.

The new rotation period is 1204s or 20 minutes, 4 seconds. Statmun and Thresomin have had their orbits lowered to account for the change.

The maximum aspect ratio of a lenticular planet with a point equipotential is 1:1.5. At that aspect ratio, the planet is spinning at a rate such that its equator is at zero gees and the equator comes to a sharp angular point. Any faster and the planet would just start tossing its crust into space rather than getting wider. This is a shame, because Mesbin's aspect ratio is such an iconic aspect of it, so I will also be playing with other shape settings which may be realistic enough (although they will not have a level surface everywhere in KSP) and preserve the original aspect ratio of roughly 1:1.7.

The trouble is, the mass is the same but you're closer to it. So even though it's not harder to get to orbit (since we're rotating faster), it takes noticeably more delta-v to visit the moons and to escape Mesbin. (Although the oberth effect might actually make it worth it when it comes to interplanetary transfers).

There is a branch on github where this prototype can be played with. I'm not sure if I'll ever make it the default or "canon", but it's at least an optional setting that can be enabled.

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The point equipotential shape above is cool because it's level everywhere... but it just looks so wrong. from a distance, it doesn't have remotely the right feeling.

So I made a new shape for Mesbin which blends between the point equipotential and an oblate spheroid, thereby keeping the dimensions and properties the same, making the planet a little closer to level everywhere, and it's a good guess for what Mesbin would look like if it were real.

7K4bJog.png

TpiNLkL.png

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I'm thinking this is going to be the new default.

But this will be something that can be switched using a new setting in Settings.cfg. Options right now are Classic (uses VertexHeightOblateAdvanced to make an oblate spheroid of the same shape as the original Mesbin), ClassicTexture (the current 0.13.0 mesbin which uses a heightmap and has some ring artifacting around the poles), PointEquipotential (shown in the previous message), and Blend (the one shown here).

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Love it!  This is exactly the reason I included Blend mode.  Pure PointEquipotential just doesn't quite look right for a lot of bodies, but blending with a standard oblate distortion broadens the lens enough to get something that looks really good!

Oh and as a side note, for ease of use for end users, it is perfectly acceptable, encouraged even, to distribute the VertexHeightOblateAdvanced  dll, readme, and license packaged with Whirligig World in GameData\000_DuckweedUtils\VertexHeightOblateAdvanced\

Edited by Lt_Duckweed
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As far as I'm aware, this is the first grand tour of the whole Kaywell-Limnel-Gememma system. I saw someone else trying, but failing.

I suppose I should warn there are spoilers inside, as every celestial body is landed on, often enough it's driven on with a rover or flown on with a plane, and described in detail.

A really great experience, despite all my complaints about the crazy amount of gravity assists I needed in the end to pull off the Ammenon landing and back in a fully reusable fashion.

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One of the biggest features of the next update is finished at long last--the long awaited Mesbin Revamp, finally bringing it up to just about the highest fidelity as is possible. Rather than being a sort of middling-quality planet that doesn't look interesting from up close, being something put there just for you to leave it, it is now one of the mod's true showpiece worlds. Here's just a teaser--this isn't even its best side!

n3iMsGG.png

 

And here's a teaser of the new Shol revamp:

Spoiler

SvB9rMm.png

And the final teaser:

rV91hUZ.png

details to come.

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On 5/13/2024 at 3:12 AM, Whirligig Girl said:

One of the biggest features of the next update is finished at long last--the long awaited Mesbin Revamp, finally bringing it up to just about the highest fidelity as is possible. Rather than being a sort of middling-quality planet that doesn't look interesting from up close, being something put there just for you to leave it, it is now one of the mod's true showpiece worlds. Here's just a teaser--this isn't even its best side!

n3iMsGG.png

 

And here's a teaser of the new Shol revamp:

  Hide contents

SvB9rMm.png

And the final teaser:

rV91hUZ.png

details to come.

HALLELUJAH

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When the update drops I might give whirligig another try... I've probably forgotten enough of it (and enough has been added) that it will seem brand new! Given how many times I complete 25% of a planet pack and then move on, maybe I should come back to one for once.

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Posted (edited)

Astronomers at the Southport Public Observatory have made the announcement of two major planets orbiting Gememma.

After the discovery that the blue planet next to Gememma, now called Mandrake and Rutherford, was in fact a double planet with its own moons, there was a rush of enthusiasm for finding more such planetary companions. Gememma was known to have another companion, though it spent much of its time hidden in Gememma's glare. New techniques have allowed the southern astronomers to determine that there certainly exists another planet, now known as Digress. Having been mistaken earlier in the year as distant planetary nebula Gildmore-17, it has now been conclusively identified as an apparition of Gememma's more transient visible planet. Digress has no large companion, but it does seem to have a system of satellites rivalling the complexity of that of Valyr and Mesbin, if not Reander.

Further, researchers at the Southport Public Observatory have run a replication study on the orbit of Ogilvy Mesoman's new planet, and have published new and more accurate orbital data on the planet. Planet Ogilvy was discovered beyond the ecliptic plane of the Gememma system late last month, quite unlike where any planets were expected to be found. Initial mass estimates put it at around the mass of Rutherford. One Southport astronomer claims to have detected a satellite, but this has not yet been confirmed photographically.

Whirligig World's next update will include two new planetary systems orbiting Gememma, bringing the tally of gas giants orbiting Gememma up from two to four.

Sao8fSo.png

  • Ammenon
  • Lowel
    • Ollym
  • Gannovar
  • G1 Gallant
  • Digress
    • Reginar
    • Snojii
    • Razthys
    • Monwaea
  • Mandrake
    • Rutherford
    • Lozon
    • Beagrid
    • Jancy
    • Tatian
  • Ogilvy
    • Surrey
    • Horsell
    • Erda
  • Pragnik

The new planets, bolded, have been designed and built by Wolf-Rayet (@Exo's Lab), as her style is artistically and stylistically a good match for Whirligig World. Her previous work in Whirligig World includes the Pragnik revamp from the last update, though her style has further progressed since then.

As a result of including Ogilvy, Pragnik has been moved outward from a 2:3 resonance with Mandrake to a 2:3 resonance with Ogilvy, in fact putting Pragnik at the end of a resonance chain.

The new objects bring Whirligig World up to a total of 60 planets.

Moon System (potentially minor spoilers)

Spoiler

eTGjVJJ.png
Digress, Reginar, Snojii, Razthys, and Monwaea

Mt120rM.png

Ogilvy, Surrey, Horsell, and Erda.

You may have noticed a few unaccounted for orbit lines...

THERE'S MORE TO EXPLORE HERE.

Edited by Whirligig Girl
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