RSS Overhaul

[PhineasFreak]

Major update for RSS to try and bring it up to current KSP/Kopernicus standards and fix some bugs:

• Should mostly be a non save-breaking update.
• Complete restructure of the directory tree (built upon Restructure Folders #306).
• All mod compatibility patches now reside under the (existing) "Compatibility" directory.
• All RSS-specific patches now reside under the "Config" directory.
• All RSS-specific patches are now prefixed with "RSS_".
• All Kopernicus body cache files are now managed by Kopernicus itself to avoid bugs when upgrading RSS versions.
• Added some Soviet deep space tracking stations to CommNet (ported from Realism Overhaul).
• Added fallback PQS materials wherever applicable (not really necessary but good to have).
• Added missing normal and height maps to Dione, Enceladus, Iapetus, Mimas, Rhea, Tethys and Triton.
• Added the dwarf planet Eris (2003 UB313).
• Added support for Tilt'Em. All bodies should now have proper axial tilt without requiring the use of Principia! 💯
• Renamed the KSCSwitcher patch from "LaunchSites" to "KSCSwitcher".
• Renamed the NIMBY patch from "RecoveryBeacons" to "NIMBY".
• Removed all stock PQS mods from all bodies (simplifies removal of various useless PQS mods).
• Removed the "cbNameLater" parameter from the Earth. EVE and Scatterer effects will now show in all their glory on the KSP main menu! 💯
• Removed all custom body indices for better compatibility with other RSS planet packs.
• Removed support for the "RemoteTech" mod (use https://github.com/DRVeyl/RealAntennas).
• Removed support for the "PlanetShine" mod (use https://github.com/LGhassen/Deferred).
• Removed support for the "SigmaBinary" mod (not working in the latest KSP versions).
• Removed the stock launch sites introduced with KSP version 1.12 ("Glacier Lake", "Cove", "Mahi Mahi", "Crater").
• Updated the CB configuration files to make use of the newer Kopernicus "OnDemand" system for dynamically managing ScaledSpace textures (this also allows the Earth and Moon textures to be unloaded when not used and save memory).
• Updated the Pluto and Triton rotation periods to use hard-coded values (RSS correctly now enforces the use of gravitational parameters for all bodies).
• Updated the Earth and Titan oceans to use custom settings for better visuals.
• Updated the MSFN CommNet stations to match the later, Apollo Network, configuration.
• Updated the Saturn rings to use the new Kopernicus ring shader and replaced the ring texture with a much higher resolution one.

Bug Fixes:

• Fixed the Sun light parameters for compatibility with the newer Kopernicus versions (this also allows for custom brightness curves versus distance from the Sun).
• Fixed the CommNet part patcher being unable handle parts with more that one "ModuleDataTransmitter" modules.
• Fixed the Venus, Earth, Mars and Titan AFG parameters for smoother edges.
• Fixed the overexposed specular reflections of all gas giants.
• Fixed the "TextureReplacer" mod compatibility patch to edit the existing node instead of creating a new one.
• Fixed the hard-coded description localization for Oberon and Umbriel.
• Fixed the PQS/ScaledSpace transition altitudes of many bodies.
• Fixed the oblate feature of all gas giants not working at all.
• Fixed the grass color and texture tiling of the KSC buildings (this does not apply if KSCSwitcher is installed).
• Fixed the incorrect, relative to Pluto, osculating elements of Charon.
• Fixed the missing AFG nodes of Neptune, Triton and Pluto.
• Fixed the orbital inclinations of Deimos and Phobos being relative to the ecliptic instead of the equator of the parent body (Mars).
• Fixed the Io, Europa, Enceladus and Triton color maps using false colors.
• Fixed the Enceladus biome map alignment issues and added an extra "Canyons" biome.
• Removed a duplicate gravitational parameter in the Titan CB configuration file overriding the proper one.
• Fixed some minor typos in the EN-US language pack.
• Fixed the incorrect horizontal mirroring and prime meridian of many bodies.
• Tweaked the brightness matching between PQS and SS transition for all bodies.
• Tweaked the initial rotation of the Moon (no Principia).
• Reverted all PQS material nodes to use stock KSP terrain detail textures instead of the RSS-supplied ones (workaround until they are fixed).
• Removed the custom PQS terrain quality settings from all bodies (possibly overwriting the user-selected terrain presets).

Known Issues:

• The KSC monolith anomaly cannot be removed (it is part of the space center mesh).
• The Sun has the stock yellow appearance instead of being white.

Other Notes:

• Packaged PR changes: https://github.com/PhineasFreak/RealSolarSystem/releases

[github-actions]

Download the artifacts for this pull request:

• RealSolarSystem.zip

[DRVeyl]

This bothered me when I saw it. Still does. It is critical that this patch runs before all other patches that add a Body node. Previously it relied on the lexicographical ordering: RealSolarSystem/RSSKopernicusSettings.cfg before RealSolarSystem/RSSKopernicus/. The "/" sorting after A-Z.

You don't have that pattern now. You have Config/RSS_Kopernicus.cfg compared with Config/Earth/. I didn't think MM patch ordering had a file-before-folder pattern, I thought it was strictly lexicographical.

My suggestion is move this patch to BEFORE[RealSolarSystem], making it clear and giving you a more obvious sorting of this setup patch versus the global ones.

[PhineasFreak]

That is a very valid point and it should be a BEFORE pass even without name shorting (stock KSP mods use AFTER[Kopernicus] for example).

[PhineasFreak]

As of 2239a63 a better MM pass is implementated. The new pass allows base RSS patches (celestial bodies), RSS general patches (CommNet etc) and RSS compatibility patches to coexist without conflicts.

[PhineasFreak]

If anyone around here is knownledgable about how textures are set up for use in KSP please do chime in. The terrain detail textures RSS includes have a very shiny-like, almost glossy appearance, which is...suboptimal.

[Clayell]

Surely this change would make this PR save breaking?
(github messed up the comment, this is referring to the cbNameLater commit)

[PhineasFreak]

As weird as it sounds, no! 100% drop-in replacement. Well, the Titan body configuration had a duplicate GM factor with less precision that overrode the proper one so there might be a very slight difference in the orbit (8.978138376543E+12 vs 8.9778648E+12, 0.00305%).

Edit 1: I could make a save-breaking change by reordering the body indices.

Edit 2: OK, I will break saves, I corrected the height offset of Vesta and Ceres when transitioning between PQS/SS (any landed vessels will float above the surface).

[Clayell]

If it is save breaking, then AssemblyInfo.cs can/should probably be updated as well. It's still reading 18.5.0.0!
I'm also surprised to see that there's no KSPAssembly attribute, which allows for other mods to declare a KSPAssemblyDependency on RSS. Can this be added?

[PhineasFreak]

I guess so, I am not well-versed with the C# side of KSP and mods (and should be done in a separate commit).

[PhineasFreak]

Poll: since there will be some save-breaking changes, would this be a good opportunity to remove all "flightGlobalsIndex" definitions?

[siimav]

There's different levels of save breakage. Pretty much nobody's going to care about vessels landed on Ceres. However every probe around every body getting deleted is a serious issue.

[PhineasFreak]

For the above changes add the following textures: https://github.com/PhineasFreak/RSS-Textures-Dev/releases/tag/v0.1.0

Select your pack according to the already installed RSS textures. Replace when asked.

[Clayell]

https://github.com/KSP-RO/RealSolarSystem/blob/restructure/Source/Watchdogs.cs Should be updated if the clip plane stuff is no longer in

[PhineasFreak]

Not sure what I will do with it, might still be needed. 750 km is too low for big bodies like the Earth but bigger numbers tend to break EVE and Scatterer effects (or so I think).

[eggrobin]

since there will be some save-breaking changes, would this be a good opportunity to remove all "flightGlobalsIndex" definitions?

Please bring back the flightGlobalsIndex. Besides the other save compatibility issues @siimav mentioned, this will be an instant crash on Principia, even if you do not add bodies. What problem are you trying to solve by removing those?

[eggrobin]

Let’s also remove Eris for now, or MM-condition it on the absence of Principia :NEEDS[!Princpia]. We can look into adding bodies later, but this needs to be done with care.

[eggrobin]

Please bring back the flightGlobalsIndex.

Correction: as discussed in #devtalk, these config values don’t do anything, and perhaps never have. They are not the actual values of flightGlobalsIndex in game.

We need to find some other way of handling this, probably by changing Kopernicus to allow setting the flightGlobalsIndex as @DRVeyl suggested. Longer-term we should make Principia key by name rather than flightGlobalsIndex, but I think it is easier for RSS to require a minimum version of Kopernicus than to do anything like that with Principia which is not on CKAN.