Tutorial:Making a planet
It was never very easy to create planets in KSP - it often required decompiling, which is against the EULA. After a long time looking, a mod called Kopernicus was released and found, making it easy to make planets.
Specifications
- Length: 15-30 minutes
- Difficulty: Medium
- For version: 1.0.x
Steps
1. Obtaining the prequisites
You will need:
- A text editor
- An image editor
- Kopernicus 0.1
Many developers prefer text editors like Notepad++, a rather advanced program. Image editors usually are advanced, but even Paint would work. You can find Kopernicus here. Updated forum information can be found here.
2. Setting up the basic file
Create a file, and name it: PLANET.cfg Change PLANET to your planet or moon's name. Inside the file, write this in:
@Kopernicus:AFTER[Kopernicus]
{
Body
{
}
}
This declares that the file is a Kopernicus configuration file and a celestial body.
3. Adding the essential modules
Kopernicus configs are broken up into different segments described as in this tutorial as modules. An @ symbol before a module overrides the existing module - allowing for Kerbin to turn orange or something. It is unknown whether children of modules are affected by the parent's overriding.
The 2 required modules are Properties and Orbit. They require several parameters, listed here:
Properties
{
description = in game description
radius = half of the diameter of the planet - used to define size of sphere with texture
geeASL = planet's gravity in Kerbin gravities
rotationPeriod = day in seconds
rotates = whether it rotates | true or false
tidallyLocked = is one side of the planet locked towards it's parent | true or false
initialRotation = distance in degrees from the rotation point of origin
isHomeWorld = is the space centre on this planet | true or false
timewarpAltitudeLevels = set the altitude for 1, 5, 10, 50, 100, 1,000, 10,000 and 100,000x timewarps | example for allowing every level at sea level: 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
ScienceValues
{
landedDataValue = multiplier for science points provided by surface samples or ground EVA reports
spashedDataValue = same as ^, but for oceans
flyingLowDataValue = same as ^, but for EVA and crew reports whilst flying below the flyingAltitudeThreshold
flyingHighDataValue = same as ^, but for flying above the flyingAltitudeThreshold but below the spaceAltitudeThreshold
inSpaceLowDataValue = same as ^, but for flying just above the spaceAltitudeThreshold
inSpaceHighDataValue = same as ^, but for flying high above the spaceAltitudeThreshold
recoverValue = multiplier for all science transmitted back
flyingAltitudeThreshold = < in metres from sea level
spaceAltitudeThreshold = < in metres from sea levels
}
}
Orbit
{
referenceBody = body the planet is orbiting, Kerbol is Sun
inclination = distance at ascending node from horizontal in degrees, relative to the parent's equator
eccentricity = unknown, likely the eccentricity of an ellipse (as KSP uses conics for orbits)
semiMajorAxis = average of pe and ap: pe + ap / 2 = this
longitudeOfAscendingNode = set to 0 to be safe; angle from reference plane to ascending node
argumentOfPeriapsis = set to 0 to be safe; angle from ascending node to periapsis
meanAnomalyAtEpoch = set to 0 to be safe; angular distance from pericenter which body would have if in a circular orbit with constant speed and same orbital period as actual object
epoch = keep at 0; used to define specific epoch of the orbit
color = use rgb, but change values to 1/255*value
}
4. Choosing what to do
Use the code bible below to help you find what you want to do.
Code bible
Contents:
- Atmospheres
- Adding an atmosphere
- Adding an atmosphere effect NOT DONE
Adding an atmosphere
Add into the Body module and edit as necessary:
Atmosphere
{
lightColor = tint of the light, in r,g,b format.
enabled = true | you want one don't you?
containsOxygen = true/false on oxygen in atmosphere
altitude = height from sea level in metres
PressureCurve
{
key = use altitude pressure format | simple example of Kerbin:
key = 70000 0
key = 0 1
}
TemperatureCurve
{
key = use altitude temperature-in-celcius forumat | simple example of Kerbin:
key = 70000 -270
key = 0 18
}
}
Done!
At the moment, coding in Kopernicus is not completed, due to the enormity of the subject. It will be done soon.