[KSP >= 1.3.1] Distant Object Enhancement (DOE) /L - Under new Management - 2.1.1.16 - 2024-0428

[Lisias]

ANNOUNCE

Release 2.1.1.16 is available for downloading, with the following changes:

• Updates KSPe.Light to the latest, mitigating that pesky collateral effect on KSP when users brute-force their way into the Steam's Launcher options trying to get rid of the infamous PD-Launcher.

Additionally, this release also includes (obviously) the fixes from 2.1.1.15 that wasn't announced here on Forum:

• Closes issues:
  • #37 Parallax may be inducing DOE to bork the Flares (invalid)
  • #32 Body Flares are being deactivated when Dynamic Dimming Skies are

See OP for the links.

— — — — —

This Release will be published using the following Schedule:

• GitHub. Right Now.
• CurseForge. Right Now.
• SpaceDock.  Right Now.

Being a simple fix release, I published it on everything and the kitchen's sink at the same time.

[Errol]

@LisiasThank you so much for your continued support of this amazing mod.

I have a feature request. At first I thought this was a bug, perhaps a mod conflict with kopernicus or scatterer because I know they mess with how suns work (kopernicus has to even replace stuff for solar panels to be able to work in multi sun systems)... So I tried DOE in a clean install with nothing else to observe if this is expected behavior, and it seems like it is.

Anyway, the issue I'm having/noticing is that dynamic skybox dimming seems to be getting applied whenever the camera is pointed at the sun, regardless of if you are being occluded by a celestial body. So in low orbit near sunrise and sunset you don't get to see the stars at all, you are just in complete blackness if you point the camera where the sun is being hidden. On higher orbits when you are being eclipsed briefly, again if you look towards the planet/eclipse the whole sky goes black. I tried fiddling with all the DOE settings, but none of them seemed to be able to make the star visible behind planets, but not visible when just looking at the sun unobstructed.

I'm not sure how difficult it would be to detect when your craft is being shadowed rather than lit up by the sun due to a celestial body in order to disable dynamic skybox dimming, but this would go a long way on improving visuals. It would make scatterer eclipses way more dramatic.

[Lisias]

5 minutes ago, Errol said:

@LisiasThank you so much for your continued support of this amazing mod.

I have a feature request. At first I thought this was a bug, perhaps a mod conflict with kopernicus or scatterer because I know they mess with how suns work (kopernicus has to even replace stuff for solar panels to be able to work in multi sun systems)... So I tried DOE in a clean install with nothing else to observe if this is expected behavior, and it seems like it is.

Anyway, the issue I'm having/noticing is that dynamic skybox dimming seems to be getting applied whenever the camera is pointed at the sun, regardless of if you are being occluded by a celestial body. So in low orbit near sunrise and sunset you don't get to see the stars at all, you are just in complete blackness if you point the camera where the sun is being hidden. On higher orbits when you are being eclipsed briefly, again if you look towards the planet/eclipse the whole sky goes black. I tried fiddling with all the DOE settings, but none of them seemed to be able to make the star visible behind planets, but not visible when just looking at the sun unobstructed.

I'm not sure how difficult it would be to detect when your craft is being shadowed rather than lit up by the sun due to a celestial body in order to disable dynamic skybox dimming, but this would go a long way on improving visuals. It would make scatterer eclipses way more dramatic.

Yep, it's a known issue: https://github.com/net-lisias-ksp/DistantObject/issues/31

I tried some stunts, but got unhappy with the results. On one, I did too many raycasts trying to figure out how much part of the Sun is covered by something, on another I tried to calculate projections of the Sun over whatever is between me and the Sun and see how much of it would be covered. These stunts kinda worked, but I found them clumsy or too computing intensive to be used on the Unity's Update.

I'm currently looking for a shortcut - I'm betting something in the game already calculated something that could be reused, saving me the trouble to do it again.

[Errol]

I mean, the transitions are generally pretty short, why not just make it binary? Like, on or off, is any part of the sun exposed or not? And then just have the dimming fade in or out as a (relatively short/quick) fixed time animation?

As for what is in the game already, what about the shadows? Like, the planets cast shadows on the vessels, can you detect when that is happening?

[Lisias]

34 minutes ago, Errol said:

I mean, the transitions are generally pretty short, why not just make it binary? Like, on or off, is any part of the sun exposed or not? And then just have the dimming fade in or out as a (relatively short/quick) fixed time animation

This is not a problem (it's already implemented), except by being too fast. There's an issue about it here: https://github.com/net-lisias-ksp/DistantObject/issues/26

This #26 is on the backburning, because I think there's things more important on queue, but perhaps I should prioritize it as a low hanging fruit.

 

37 minutes ago, Errol said:

As for what is in the game already, what about the shadows? Like, the planets cast shadows on the vessels, can you detect when that is happening?

Considered that, but on a "thought experiment", it would create some visually awkward situations:

• The sky not dimming while orbiting/passing by big asteriods (that are "crafts" in the game); and/or
• The sky dimming while orbiting/passing by small asteroids (ditto)

Additionally, using something that would be tied to the Sun itself would allow the thing to be easily "ported" to Kopernicus.

[Jacke]

6 hours ago, Lisias said:

I'm currently looking for a shortcut - I'm betting something in the game already calculated something that could be reused, saving me the trouble to do it again.

Real wild guess here, but is there anything to do with solar panels that could be repurposed?  Both the angle of direction to the Sun as well as eclipsing?  Or are those functions not exposed to reuse?

[Lisias]

1 hour ago, Jacke said:

Real wild guess here, but is there anything to do with solar panels that could be repurposed?  Both the angle of direction to the Sun as well as eclipsing?  Or are those functions not exposed to reuse?

You know, the idea is not bad - but I would do some calculations the same just for it, and I think I found a dirty trick to get it for free.

I don't have the time to try it in the short term (things are somewhat hairy on DayJob©), so I'm reticent to open my big mouth without proper grounds (I had to eat my words recently on MM/L on something about :HAS, I think it's a good idea to try to avoid doing it again! )

Edited Wednesday at 08:43 PM by Lisias
Better phrasing. Some idiomatics from my language translate badly to EN!! (sorry)

[Errol]

5 hours ago, Lisias said:

... so I'm reticent to open my big mouth without proper grounds...

Too late, all aboard the hype train!!!! Woo Woo!!

I only jest. But on a more serious note....@Lisias  do you have a patreon or something?

Also, not sure if this is helpful, but the solar panel suggestion made me think that there's also the comm net planetary occlusion thingie. Could set up the sun as a hidden really long range transmitter, and all vessels as hidden receivers of this hidden transmitter. This could(?) have the advantage of not caring about orientation of the vessel at all.

Edited Thursday at 02:27 AM by Errol

[Lisias]

23 hours ago, Errol said:

@Lisias  do you have a patreon or something?

Yep! They are in the project's github page, on the section "Sponsor this Project".

https://github.com/net-lisias-ksp/distantobject

However... There're some inconveniences while trying to sponsor a Brazilian, the fees are... hummm... inconvenient.

(it's the reason I like CurseForge - I can accumulate the points and take them every a year or two, making just one transaction and saving a ton of money in the process)