Orbital Survey [v0.9.4 for KSP2 v0.2.1]

[Falki]

Orbital Survey

Scan celestial bodies from orbit

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

Spacedock: https://spacedock.info/mod/3519/Orbital Survey

Source: https://github.com/Falki-git/OrbitalSurvey

Authors: Falki

FEATURES

• Scan surfaces of all celestial bodies and generate 2D maps. Available maps are: Visual and Region
• Display an overlay of the acquired map in 3D space (Flight view) or in Map3d (Map view)
• Display vessel positions, names and geographic coordinates in the mapping UI
• Create waypoints that will show in Map UI, Flight view and Map3d view
• Zoom, pan and track active vessel in the mapping UI
• Experiments trigger in Exploration mode when mapping milestones are achieved at 25%, 50%, 75% and 100% of the scanned surface

(GIF not updated to current UI)

 

REVIEW

 

 

HOW DOES IT WORK?

• Antenna parts gain an ability to start scanning
  • Each antenna part in the game with a maximum range of >1 Gm gains an orbital survey module
  • Each antenna part can do either Visual or Region mapping. See the descriptions in R&D and OAB to see which mode it has

 

• Initiate the scans by parking your vessel in orbit and enable scanning (right-click the antenna part and toggle scanning)
• Open the Orbital Survey map and watch as your vessel collects scanning data by orbiting the body
• Toggle the Planetary overlay to see your scans overlayed on the body in real time

(GIF not updated to current UI - each antenna has a fixed mode that cannot be changed)

• Each scanning mode – Visual and Region – has an ideal altitude at which the scanning area is optimal. Being at lower or higher altitudes applies a progressive penalty for the scanning area. Below the minimal and above the maximal altitude scanning is no longer possible.
• Ideal, Minimum and Maximum Altitudes depend on the Body Category the vessel is orbiting. E.g. Minmus -> Small, Mun -> Medium -> Kerbin -> Large

 

• Experiments trigger in Exploration mode
  • When mapping milestones are achieved at 25%, 50%, 75% and 100% of the scanned surface, experiments will complete and their Research reports will show up in the Research Inventory
  • Research reports are generated on all vessels that participated in the creation of that report
  • When experiments are complete, a notification will pop up to notify you about the event. If you're not controlling a vessel that participated in that mapping, switch to it so that you can transmit the report and collect that juicy Science

 

• Create Waypoints by right-clicking on the Map UI
• Delete already created Waypoints by right-clicking on their marker icon and selecting Remove

 

• For best results park your vessel in a polar orbit, as close as possible to 90° inclination as that orbit covers the entirety of the orbiting body
• Be careful not to lock yourself into a resonant orbit. If you notice your map isn't being revealed, that your vessel keeps orbiting over the same patches of land it already scanned, you're likely in a resonant orbit. Tweak your apoapsis and periapsis a bit to leave orbit resonance. You don't have to be exactly at the Ideal altitude.

 

NOTES

• Kerbol (the star) cannot be scanned
• "Always show Map view overlay" setting can be found in Settings -> Mods -> Orbital Survey. If toggled, Map view overlay will always be applied to every body in game. This effectively makes all bodies "hidden" in Map view until you scan them.
• 2.5x Kerbolar System is supported

 

INSTALLATION

Automatic

• It's highly recommended to use CKAN to download Orbital Survey (and any other mod really) as it will take care of mod placement and installing dependencies
• Grab the latest version of ckan.exe from here: https://github.com/KSP-CKAN/CKAN/releases
• Open CKAN and point to the location of your KSP2_x64.exe (commonly located in C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Kerbal Space Program 2)
• Select Orbital Survey from the list and click on Apply changes

Manual

• Install BepInEx + SpaceWarp + UITK for KSP2 + Patch Manager + Premonition For SpaceWarp (see Dependency chapter)
• Grab Orbital Survey .zip file from SpaceDock
• Extract the contents of the .zip into your KSP2 installation folder (commonly located in C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Kerbal Space Program 2)
• Mod folder will be placed in ..\Kerbal Space Program 2\BepInEx\plugins\

 

DEPENDENCY

• Space Warp + BepInEx - v1.9.2 or later
• UITK for KSP2 - v2.4.2 or later
• Patch Manager - v0.9.0 or later
• Premonition For SpaceWarp - v0.2.0 or later

 

ATTRIBUTION

• Icon by flaticon.com - Satellite icons created by mattbadal - Flaticon

--

NOTE

• Some Regions are quite rare on certain bodies so they could be considered spoilers. You've been warned! Toggle off the setting for the legend if you want a fully spoiler free playthrough

 

CHANGE LOG

Spoiler

v0.9.4 Fixes and QoL

Fixes

• Fixed: science button won't flash anymore for Visual/Region mapping experiments - FYI Spicat
•  Speculative fix: "Experiment interrupted. Not enough Resources" notification should no longer show up during high warp. This doesn't retroactively fix the notification spam for existing vessels, but it should work for new vessels - reported by Argon

Other

• All vessels that participated in scanning of the current level of the mapping milestone (25%/50%/75%/Complete) will gain the research report in their Research Inventory, so any vessel can transmit back the report to gain science. Of course, each report can only be transmitted once
• Internal rework of how research reports are triggered, with insight from Kuriosity Science. If you notice some weird behavior with triggering reports (25%/50%/75%/Complete) please report it
• Added Giant celestial body category. All bodies in the stock game are keeping their current categories (Small, Medium & Large). This is just a support for the 2.5x Kerbolar System and future mods that will add bodies with larger radii

Note: in order for Visual and Region mapping research experiments to show up correctly in Science Arkive, you'll need to update that mod to the latest version

 

v0.9.3 Waypoint loading fix

• Fixed waypoints not being loaded when first booting up the game - reported by @Kayser
• Increased the hitbox of the map marker (vessel & waypoint) so it'll be easier now to right-click on the existing waypoint in order to edit/delete it

 

v0.9.2 Map Body selected automatically

•  Changed: on opening the map UI from the app bar, current body of the active vessel will be automatically selected. MapType will be set to Visual if nothing was previously selected - requested by @rogerawong
• Fixed: styling of the "track vessel" button that broke with the previous version

Dev notes:

• Updated SpaceWarp.Template to the newest version (UI Toolkit Unity project is now bundled with the main c# project)

 

v0.9.1 "I Want To Paint It Gray"

 Added a new config setting "Always show Map view overlay" - requested by @123man

• When toggled, it will always display bodies with a hidden visual overlay in Map view. This effectively makes all bodies hidden/textureless until you scan them.
• This settings defaults to OFF so you need to toggle it in Mod Settings if you want it. Main Menu -> Settings -> Mods

 

v0.9.0 "Wayfarer's Waypoints"

Added Waypoints

• Add, Edit or Remove Waypoints by right-clicking on the Map canvas
• Waypoints show in the Map UI, Flight view and in Map3d view
• You can define Waypoint names and colors, however in Flight and Map3d view waypoints will always be yellow (limitation of the game)
• Mouse-over Waypoint markers to show their name and geographic coordinates
• Toggle the side controls to permanently show Marker names and Geo coordinates

Note: waypoints will be usually created on the surface of the celestial body, however if you create a waypoint on a body that isn't loaded (for example you're controlling a vessel on Kerbin, but you're adding a waypoint on the Mun), then the waypoint will be created at a certain altitude above the surface of the body (several kilometers). That's normal behavior.

Mouse-over shows Region names and Geo coordinates

• Toggle the side "NAM" and "GEO" controls to activate showing of Region names and/or Geographic coordinates while mousing-over the Map canvas
• LAT/LON will display if "GEO" control is toggled
• Region names display if "NAM" is toggled, but only if the body is 100% mapped

Other

•  Chinese translations updated by @fengyuan0529
•  French translations added by @Olympic1 & @Spicat
•  German translations updated by @Olympic1

 

v0.8.0 Revamp of Min/Ideal/Max altitudes

• Introduced Body Categories to which every Celestial Body belongs to. For example: Minmus -> Small, Mun -> Medium, Kerbin -> Large. Each Body Category has different altitudes requirements and for each type of scan.
• Field Of View for each part has been reduced to fit this revamp
• You should notice a significant improvement in performance, especially when scanning small bodies like Gilly, Pol or Minmus
• Gilly Region mapping can now be performed, all bodies are now scannable
• Scanning will now be more difficult, since the scanners cover a smaller area of the body (time warp is your friend)
• To see what altitudes are required you have several options: 1) R&D and VAB part descriptions (press SHIFT for more info), 2) In VAB in PAM (right-click on a part) you can see a preview of required altitudes for any body category, 3) In Flight view when scanning is enabled you'll see the category of the body you're orbiting and altitude stats for it, 4) Wiki here

Dev note on interoperability

• Categories are not hardcoded. They are defined in a Patch Manager library found here. Other mods can override these config values, rename categories or even add new categories when custom planets will be available (x2.5 rescale, RSS, etc.)

Other

• Fixed "KerbinMountain" region localization

 

v0.7.0 "Who needs glasses anyway?"

Features:

• Canvas can now be resized
• Zooming is now possible, up to x10
• Active vessel can be tracked when zoomed in
• Mouse-overing vessel markers now shows vessel names and geo coordinates - requested by @DimiBD

Other:

• After mapping 100% of the body's surface, a higher resolution texture (2048x2048) is loaded to give a much clearer picture when zooming
•  Added Italian translations - by @leonardfactory

Fixes:

• Updated Eve's Olympus region color to black so it's easier to differentiate from other regions - reported by @dolphin263
• Fixed Chinese fonts not displaying properly in some cases - reported by @fengyuan0529
• Fixed vessel marking coloring for vessels that have more than one antenna with the same scanning mode - reported by @schlosrat
• Replaced region names with the localized version (e.g. Biggest Crater -> Rayed Crater)

 

v0.6.0 "There and Back Again"

• Added vessel markers, vessel names and geographic coordinates to the mapping UI
• Vessel markers are colored:
  • gray: inactive/disabled
  • red: invalid state
  • yellow: suboptimal altitude
  • green: ideal altitude
  • white: complete
• Added UI toggles for vessel names, geo coords and overlay
• Overhauled visual styles of the controls to be more in line with the stock UI
• Added UI sounds for toggle and dropdown controls
•  Fixed a bug where unloaded vessels on game load weren't performing active scanning (map wasn't immediately updated) - reported by @bmcmahonwrx

 

v0.5.1 Chinese (Simplified) translation added by @fengyuan0529

 

v0.5.0 "Region is where your heart is"

• Biomes are replaced by Regions
  • With the For Science! update a new concept of Regions was introduced for science gathering that doesn't align with previously available Biomes
  • To help with finding different Regions, previous Biome mapping is now replaced with Region mapping
  • Maps have been refreshed; Regions for each body have hand picked colors to fit that body better.
  • Discoverables are NOT displayed on Region maps
  • If upgrading from a previous version, existing vessels, parts and gathered maps will be updated to the new scanning mode
• Legend that contains colors and keys for Region mapping is now visible on the mapping UI
  • For the legend to be revealed you need to fully scan the body (Region mapping at 100%)
  • If you don't want the legend, you can toggle it off in Settings -> Mods -> Orbital Survey -> Show Region legend

 

v0.4.0 "This was a triumph!"

• Scans now trigger Experiments in Exploration mode!
  • Experiments trigger when mapping milestones are achieved at 25%, 50%, 75% and 100% of the scanned surface
  • When an Experiment completes transmit the report to get some juicy science!
• To better fit the Exploration mode antennae have been revamped
  • Each part can now do either Visual or Biome mapping, but not both
  • Part progression is also added, higher tier parts will now have higher Field Of View, but also increased EC consumption
  • Check part descriptions in the R&D and OAB to find out what part has what mapping mode
  • Old saves will still work, but your in-flight vessels will be updated with the revamped parts
• Other
  • Scans are now disabled if the part that requires deploying is not deployed
  • Minimum scanning radius is now set to 1 pixel, meaning scanning should be always performed while inside the Min-Max range. This prevents confusion when vessel is inside the Min-Max range and map is not being updated/revealed
  •  Fixed a localization bug where language wouldn't default to English if the translation is missing - reported by @-dbv-
  •  German localization added - thanks to @-dbv-!
  • Jool can now be scanned, it will be hard, will require a long time, but it's doable
  • All constants are now defined as Patch Manager configs in ../BepInEx/plugins/OrbitalSurvey/patches/configs so they can be easily edited manually by players or overridden by other mods

 

v0.3.0 "Overlay^2"

• Added Map3d planetary overlay
•  Mapping UI's Body dropdown control now only shows celestial bodies thar have scanning data - requested by Unknow P
• Further optimized analytical scanning. Discontinuity in scanning area (spotty scanning) should no longer be present.
• Added config settings for "time between scans". You can find them in Settings -> Mods -> Orbital Survey. If you're having trouble with performance during high warp, try increasing these values.
• Mapping UI window's position now persists in save game files
• Fix log spam if orbiting body isn't configured (e.g. Kerbol)
• Added support for future UITK for KSP2 v3.0.0

 

v0.2.0 "I Hope You Brought Batteries"

• Scanning now consumes Electric Charge. Visual scans are 1 EC/s, biome scans are 2 EC/s
•  Changed Eve's visual texture to the one that shows its seas - reported by @Michk
•  Fixed closing window not properly updating the toggle button state - reported by @Unknow P

 

Edited March 3 by Falki

[kennyc222]

Oh nice! Now I have something to do for my satellites which were previously just for decoration only! Just in time for Science Update!

Edited December 8, 2023 by kennyc222

[Sir Eskomaz]

keep the mods coming

[Jaypeg]

Lesgooooooo!

[Jaypeg]

put it on the reddit!

[Zimbaa]

Looks great! Can't wait to try this out!

I would love a "contracts pack" for scanning whole planets when missions get released

[RUD Everyday]

Good job on this mod, one of the greatest mods I have ever seen from the KSP2 community ever since Utik

[Superfluous J]

That is awesome!

This would totally rock alongside a mod that lowered the resolution of the surface drastically until you scanned it.

[Falki]

5 hours ago, gfdgfherytrey said:

Good job on this mod, one of the greatest mods I have ever seen from the KSP2 community ever since Utik

That's a high praise, hope it will live up to it

 

38 minutes ago, Superfluous J said:

That is awesome!

This would totally rock alongside a mod that lowered the resolution of the surface drastically until you scanned it.

Uuuuh, that's an awesome ideal!

[Falki]

v0.2.0 "I Hope You Brought Batteries"

• Scanning now consumes Electric Charge. Visual scans are 1 EC/s, biome scans are 2 EC/s
•  Changed Eve's visual texture to the one that shows its seas - reported by @Michk
•  Fixed closing window not properly updating the toggle button state - reported by @Unknow P

     

[Falki]

v0.3.0 "Overlay^2"

• Added Map3d planetary overlay
•  Mapping UI's Body dropdown control now only shows celestial bodies that have scanning data - requested by Unknow P
• Further optimized analytical scanning. Discontinuity in scanning area (spotty scanning) should no longer be present.
• Added config settings for "time between scans". You can find them in Settings -> Mods -> Orbital Survey. If you're having trouble with performance during high warp, try increasing these values.
• Mapping UI window's position now persists in save game files
• Fix log spam if orbiting body isn't configured (e.g. Kerbol)
• Added support for future UITK for KSP2 v3.0.0

 

Edited December 17, 2023 by Falki

[Andrewthepika]

0.2.0.0?

[Gargamel]

7 minutes ago, Andrewthepika said:

0.2.0.0?

Please give modders more than a few hours to update their mods.   

[Andrewthepika]

Just now, Gargamel said:

Please give modders more than a few hours to update their mods.   

0.2.0.0 has been out for 2 days. Also I was asking if a 0.2.0.0 release was even being planned.

[Gargamel]

Just now, Andrewthepika said:

0.2.0.0 has been out for 2 days. Also I was asking if a 0.2.0.0 release was even being planned.

Modders have real lives out side a ksp mod, badgering them for updates is not recommended.   If you want to ask a question, please use full sentences, otherwise the meaning of your post is up for interpretation.   
 

 

[Falki]

Orbital Survey technically works with 0.2.0 but I haven't marked it as compatible since with 0.2.0 there was a change to parts not consuming resources when unloaded, so the effect is that currently scans don't consume EC when you exit flight view. A fix will be released with the next version of Space Warp which should happen momentarily soon.

Edited December 22, 2023 by Falki

[Infinite Aerospace]

This looks like a rather cool little mod. Are all if the planets shrouded until you perform said scans? I really like that idea! You got plans to add missions for it?

[Falki]

1 hour ago, Infinite Aerospace said:

This looks like a rather cool little mod. Are all if the planets shrouded until you perform said scans? I really like that idea! You got plans to add missions for it?

They're not shrouded at the moment, although I'm toying with the idea of bodies being pixelated in Map view until they're scanned. Something like this:

But there are some kinks I need to work out.

Yes, there are plans for For Science!; so many plans, so little time

 

[Spork Witch]

If you haven't already, you should get in touch with DMagic to collaborate.  This is a nice start, but altimetry data and anomaly scanners are massively useful, and actually requiring dedicated parts enhances things greatly.

 

[Falki]

SCANsat is a huge inspiration of course. There are plans to add everything you stated, though it will take time.

[Spork Witch]

That's why I suggested reaching out; he's done it before, it could help speed progress ^^

[SirWise]

On 12/22/2023 at 6:24 AM, Falki said:

They're not shrouded at the moment, although I'm toying with the idea of bodies being pixelated in Map view until they're scanned. Something like this:

But there are some kinks I need to work out.

Yes, there are plans for For Science!; so many plans, so little time

 

I love the pixel planet idea haha. It sounds very kerbal.

[wefightforpeace]

Is it possible the locations of biomes changed in 0.2? I know this hasn't been updated yet but just curious how the biomes are determined. Hunting for science on the Mun, I keep hopping from red to green on the survey map and am able to identify only one biome (highlands) instead of two.

[Falki]

1 minute ago, wefightforpeace said:

Is it possible the locations of biomes changed in 0.2? I know this hasn't been updated yet but just curious how the biomes are determined. Hunting for science on the Mun, I keep hopping from red to green on the survey map and am able to identify only one biome (highlands) instead of two.

Yes, biomes changed, or rather it's that a new concept was introduced.

Copy-pasting from another server:

Quote

Yeah, Biome scans are based on "Biome" maps that were implemented in the very first version of the game. I think they're using Biomes to generate the terrain (sand, mountains, snow, etc.).
With 0.2.0 they added "ScienceSituations" (Landed, Atmosphere, Splashed, etc.) and "ScienceRegions", with Regions being a similar thing to KSP1's biomes (KSC, Grasslands, Water, etc.). And the combination of Body, Situation and Region is used as a unique identifier that triggers location based science experiments.
So in effect Biomes from Orbital Survey are not useful to get to different locations for gathering science, unfortunately.
I'll need to see how to generate Region maps and add that as a different scanning mode. Although I need to be careful as Discoverables are also considered to be different Regions, so I need to remove them from the map to avoid spoilers.
Discoverables could be yet another type of scan, similar to KSP1's Anomalies, and for those we need to figure out a system that won't easily reveal all hidden locations. 

 

[wefightforpeace]

Ah, that makes a "world" of sense! Thank you! Keep up the good work.