An option for a randomely generated solar system

[Poryy]

Sometimes... I get bored of the small amount of planets we have to land on and crash into. So I am suggesting an option in the "Create new save" Menu to create a randomly generated Kerbol system. This table does not add new planets per se, because the player could get bored of those as well. Instead, each planet is generated individually. However, The player always starts on Kerbin, which is orbited by the Mun. The Mun and Kerbin are too iconic of the game to be lost.

Generation Tables:

First, the Game decides the amount of planets it wants in the solar system, using a random number generator. There can be a minimum of 5 planets, and a maximum of 12.

Next, the game flags up to 3 planets (That do not include Kerbin) as gas giants. The rest of the planets are Terrestrial.

Gas Giant's characteristics are decided using this table.

Name:

Size: (Jool to 1.7x Jool

Gravity: (Eve to 1.7x Jool)

Color:

Rings: (Yes or no)

Number of moons (1 to 7)

Each gas giant would simply be a recolored and differently sized Jool with different gravity, so VERY LITTLE retexturing work would be needed.

Terrestrial Planet's Characteristics are decided using this table.

Name

Size: (Mun-1.5x Kerbin)

Gravity: (Mun-Eve)

Atmosphere: (No atmosphere to Eve atmosphere)

Type: (Volcanic (Beyond 5th planet=Cryovolcanic) Earthlike, Desert, Ocean, Barren, Icy. If planet has no atmosphere, than it can only be Barren or Icy.

An unlimited and random number of secondary types: (Magnetic storms, Artifacts, Radiation, Mountains, Resource-rich, Resource-poor) If no atmosphere, the planet cannot have storms.

Color (Within reason for planet type. I.e. No pink oceans.

What do these Types and Secondary Types do?

Secondary Types:

Magnetic Storms: A map feature that can be found with a barometer. They cause control difficulties and drain power.

Radiation: Could kill Kerbals on EVA after a while. Radiation shielding is on the tech tree.

Artifacts: Give a bonus to the .22 science module's production rate.

Mountains: Make the planet very rocky and mountainous. Think of the mountains to the east of KSC.

Resource-rich: If resources are added, this contains a large amount of them.

Resource poor: If resources are added, this contains a very small amount of them.

Types:

Earthlike: Very much like Kerbin, with large landmasses and a variety of features.

Desert: Very little water, covered in sand. Sand does not do anything.

Ocean: Planets like Laythe, with scattered archipelagos and 1-2 large landmasses

Icy: A class of planets like pluto in real life. Very... cold and ice-y.

Barren: A class of planets like Dres, often with no atmosphere.

Volcanic: Covered in solid lava flows, with a landscape like Venus IRL. Lakes of lava spawn on these planets on world generation. No, volcanoes do not erupt and destroy your stuff. This would be unnecessarily annoying. Yes, if you land in lava, you overheat.

Examples of planets created like this:

Kerbin, the third planet in a system of 10. Terrestrial.

Type: Earthlike

Gravity: Medium

Size: Medium

Atmosphere: Medium

Secondary types: Resource-poor (Why mine off-world if Kerbin has tons of resources)

Moons: 2 (Mun and Minmus)

A fictional planet that could be generated:

Aare, the sixth planet in a system of 12. Terrestrial.

Type: Cryovolcanic

Gravity: Medium

Size: Small

Atmosphere: Thin

Secondary types: Radiation, Artifacts, Resource-Rich

Moons: 1 (Pan)

Even moons could be generated this way!

An example moon generation table:

Planet orbiting:

Size: (Gilly-Tylo)

Gravity: (Gilly-Tylo)

Type: (Ocean, barren, icy)

Secondary Type: (Artifacts, Resource-rich, Resource-poor, Radiation)

Color: (Any color within reason. Vall and bop are good examples of well-colored moons.)

To show how many variations can be created, try making your own planet!

Blank Table:

Type:

Gravity:

Size:

Atmosphere:

Secondary Types:

Moons:

Terrestrial Planet Dice Roll Table of SCIENCE!

Type:

1. Oceanic

2. Desert

3. Earthlike

4. Barren

5. Icy

6. Volcanic

Atmosphere:

1. None

2. Thin

3. Medium

4. Thick

5-6. Roll again

Gravity:

1-2. Low

3-4. Medium

5-6. High

Amount of Secondary Types:

1-2. 1

3-4. 2

5-6. 3

Secondary Types:

1. Radiation

2. Magnetic Storms

3. Artifacts

4. Resource-Rich

5. Resource-Poor

6. Mountainous

TL;DR:

Read the post, you illiterate moron.

Notes:

1. Names are randomly generated, like Kerbal names.

2. This is an OPTION. The original system will not be deleted.

Edited September 27, 2013 by Poryy

[Poryy]

I've done some testing, and found that there are literally INFINITE planets just waiting to be generated.

[SuperWeegee4000]

Someone should code a generator.

[Poryy]

You can really just roll a die or something and make a unique planet.

No need for a coded generator when you can just use a Random Number Generator when making you planets.

[Arbolus]

If it's possible to do this with the KSP engine then I'd be all for it. Unfortunately, considering the amount of work that's put into each individual planet at the moment, I'm not at all confident that it is.

[Holo]

Some random gas giants I made using this system:

Radius - 9300000 m

Gravity - 1.3 g

Colour - Dark Blue

Rings - Yes

Number of Moons - 3

Radius - 6600000 m

Gravity - 1.6 g

Colour - Brown

Rings - Yes

Number of Moons - 3

Radius - 6600000 m

Gravity - 1.6 g

Colour - Dark Blue

Rings - No

Number of Moons - 5

Radius - 6100000 m

Gravity - 1.5 g

Colour - Grey

Rings - Yes

Number of Moons - 7

[Poryy]

Some random gas giants I made using this system:

Radius - 9300000 m

Gravity - 1.3 g

Colour - Dark Blue

Rings - Yes

Number of Moons - 3

Radius - 6600000 m

Gravity - 1.6 g

Colour - Brown

Rings - Yes

Number of Moons - 3

Radius - 6600000 m

Gravity - 1.6 g

Colour - Dark Blue

Rings - No

Number of Moons - 5

Radius - 6100000 m

Gravity - 1.5 g

Colour - Grey

Rings - Yes

Number of Moons - 7

Just imagine if they were in the game, with their moons having cool characteristics too. That's what this system could create! I was also thinking of a cfg where you can make custom planet names.

[sumghai]

I prefer keeping the current Kerbol system as statically generated, so that the vast majority of players have a common frame of reference when comparing early achievements.

Procedural or random planetary systems should be reserved for those well outside the Kerbol system, and relegated for when FTL in KSP becomes feasible.

[Poryy]

I prefer keeping the current Kerbol system as statically generated, so that the vast majority of players have a common frame of reference when comparing early achievements.

Procedural or random planetary systems should be reserved for those well outside the Kerbol system, and relegated for when FTL in KSP becomes feasible.

Did you read the entire post?

So I am suggesting an option in the "Create new save" Menu to create a randomly generated Kerbol system. This table does not add new planets per se, because the player could get bored of those as well. Instead, each planet is generated individually. However, The player always starts on Kerbin, which is orbited by the Mun. The Mun and Kerbin are too iconic of the game to be lost.

You can still play in the default system, but if you turn this on, you create a random system.

[sumghai]

Did you read the entire post?

You can still play in the default system, but if you turn this on, you create a random system.

Yes, I read the entire post, but no, I prefer that the starting Kerbol system to remain the same under any circumstances. Random content should be for other planetary systems.

[LostElement]

That would be really awesome. The possibilities would be truly endless! But that would require ALOT of work. Maybe, just maybe someday. Perhaps when KSP is released to full?

[rkman]

Squad has mentioned they eventually want a universe with many solar systems, and those will not all be hand crafted. In other words: eventually there almost certainly will be procedurally generated stars and planets.

[sumghai]

Squad has mentioned they eventually want a universe with many solar systems, and those will not all be hand crafted. In other words: eventually there almost certainly will be procedurally generated stars and planets.

Correct.

I have no problems with procedurally generated planetary systems in general, but I feel that under NO circumstances should the home Kerbol system itself be randomly-generated. Consistency is the key to make early achievement between players comparable.

[thereaverofdarkness]

I like this idea.

[Poryy]

I like this idea.

Thanks! Have you tried making your own planet yet?

[thereaverofdarkness]

nope. But I have ideas for planets I want to see.

I want to see:

1.) planet with oxygen atmosphere and lower gravity than Kerbin (lower than Laythe's 80%), but thin atmosphere too. Like Duna with Oxygen.

2.) planet with atmosphere thin like Mars. (Duna's is way thicker)

3.) planet with atmosphere thick like Venus. (Eve's is way thinner)

4.) oblong potato-shaped planetoid, similar to Amalthea

5.) A KSP-sized Deimos analog, ie. 1.2km across

6.) a huge terrestrial much larger than Kerbin with at least 2.5G, with no or almost no atmosphere

7.) huge terrestrial with an atmosphere

8.) a red dwarf star that acts as a minor light source in addition to the sun

9.) a gas giant with a fat ring section which is actually comprised of ice particles that you can land on (procedural generation makes this possible)

10.) a planet with an atmosphere that has a really high scale height, like 25km or so

[Dooz]

Im not sure really ksp barely runs on my computer i don't think. Unity can handle infinite planet unless the system is like the planet generator in spore but adding scifi would kill the realism but still good idea

[Poryy]

nope. But I have ideas for planets I want to see.

I want to see:

1.) planet with oxygen atmosphere and lower gravity than Kerbin (lower than Laythe's 80%), but thin atmosphere too. Like Duna with Oxygen.

2.) planet with atmosphere thin like Mars. (Duna's is way thicker)

3.) planet with atmosphere thick like Venus. (Eve's is way thinner)

4.) oblong potato-shaped planetoid, similar to Amalthea

5.) A KSP-sized Deimos analog, ie. 1.2km across

6.) a huge terrestrial much larger than Kerbin with at least 2.5G, with no or almost no atmosphere

7.) huge terrestrial with an atmosphere

8.) a red dwarf star that acts as a minor light source in addition to the sun

9.) a gas giant with a fat ring section which is actually comprised of ice particles that you can land on (procedural generation makes this possible)

10.) a planet with an atmosphere that has a really high scale height, like 25km or so

All of those can be generated using this.

[Aphox]

Squad has mentioned they eventually want a universe with many solar systems, and those will not all be hand crafted. In other words: eventually there almost certainly will be procedurally generated stars and planets.

Eventually is a key word here.

At the moment, according to the presentation at Unite 2013, each planet is hand-placed and their parameters are all set manually. It can't be said if this is going to remain permanent, or if they'll find a way to randomly generate infinitely stable systems.

[leax256]

somewhat related, why do peole keep saying duna has no oxygen, I thought it did.

[SuperWeegee4000]

somewhat related, why do peole keep saying duna has no oxygen, I thought it did.

It doesn't.

[boomerdog2000]

It has an atmosphere but no oxygen, same as Eve.

[liamthom]

I would love this so much and with the procedural generation i think these could be done, though to be honest i can do when it come to programing is something that does math for me on my calculator. But any ways i would love to see this!!!

[Poryy]

OK, first solar system using the dice roll method complete!

First Planet: Veiden

Type: Earthlike

Gravity: Medium

Size: Small

Atmosphere: Thick

Secondary Types: Artifacts, Resource-poor, Magnetic Storms

Moons: 3

Second Planet: Aun

Type: Icy

Gravity: Low

Size: Large

Atmosphere: Thick

Secondary Types: Magnetic Storms

Moons: 4

Third Planet:

(Kerbin)

Fourth Planet: (Gas Giant) Aethiriy

Size: Medium

Gravity: Low

Color: Red

Rings: Yes

Number of moons: 1

Fifth planet: Vinne

Type: Barren

Gravity: Medium

Size: Large

Atmosphere: None

Secondary Types: Resource-rich, radiation, artifacts

Moons: 4

Sixth Planet: (Gas Giant) Pann

Size: Large

Gravity: Low

Color: Blue

Rings: Yes

Number of moons: 6

[rkman]

Correct.

I have no problems with procedurally generated planetary systems in general, but I feel that under NO circumstances should the home Kerbol system itself be randomly-generated.

"Procedurally generated" and "random" are not the same thing, procedural does not mean it is random.

Consistency is the key to make early achievement between players comparable.

As long as all use the same seed numbers for the "procedure" that generates the KSP universe (no reason not to), the game universe will be the same for all players.