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Can I force BG to add its surface features to an existing game? YES [solved]


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Posted (edited)

I started this save-game with intent to build infrastructure; mining and colonizing the whole system. The distribution of ore turned out to be exceptionally suitable for this plan; it's very unlikely that I'll ever have another save with such a good distribution of ore on Minmus or an ore-rich Mun crater in the right position for direct-ascent launches to LKO. This save has both. However, being one of my early games, I started it before I installed Breaking Ground. I miss the surface features.

So, can I force BG to add surface features to this existing save? There are as yet few bases, no colonies, and most mining ships are in flight. I intend to make a backup before adding the features, and if any bases or ships are damaged by features appearing where they are, I can load the backup, move them, then re-add the features.

Or, can I generate a new save with the same random seed? I could then move my ships bases and everything to the new game. As above, if something is damaged, I can go back to the old game, move it, and re-transfer.

I'm trying some things, but if anyone really knows, I'd love to hear about it.

Edit: I think I've found it. Copying Seed and ROCSeed from the save in question to a new save made the new save's ore distribution the same as the old and removed surface features. I think this is because ROCSeed is -1 in the old save but a positive number in new saves. In the morning, I'll try setting the old save's ROCSeed to some positive value and see what happens.

Edited by eekee
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Posted (edited)

It is ROCSeed. I copied its value from a newer save, and found BG surface features.

Testing was the hard part; they don't spawn in instantly, so I twice thought it hadn't worked. For my first test, I cheated a rover to Vall as its features are some of the easiest to see. I drove around a bit and saw nothing to the point that I was starting to think it hadn't worked. Then, I turned around and saw 5 or 6 cryovolcanoes erupting simultaneously. :) (I think they do that when they're newly spawned.) I still had a question: were they forming because I'd changed ROCSeed or because I hadn't been to Vall before, in this save? So, I had to explore Kerbin too. I drove a rover for quite a while without seeing anything, but I didn't think to turn around. Seeing no baobabs on the grasslands, I cheated the rover to the middle of a mountain range to look for crystals and immediately found a baobab. This left me wondering if they were only spawning in regions I hadn't seen before, so I looked at an area I've seen more of than any other, the grasslands between KSC and the mountains, and found a baobab there. I think it's safe to say all the bodies have BG surface features now, and the cause can only be changing ROCSeed.

Incidentally, I thought I saw 2 ROCSeed lines in one of my saves. Both had the same value. When changing it, perhaps search the file in case there is a second instance.

Edited by eekee
Mention multiple ROCSeed lines
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