Upcoming improvements
I've been working on a few features for the next release.
Flowmaps
One thing I wanted to do was to bring Jool to life, I wanted it to be dynamic looking, and to do the storms and swirls justice. In order to do that I've added support for flowmaps, which allow for localized movement/flow within the clouds. The flowmaps can be used to create vortices, moving bands, tornadoes and have a very dynamic look. An in-game painter allows for easily painting movement by dragging or creating clockwise or counter-clockwise vortices via a vortex creation tool.
Example on Eve's pillars clouds:
The flowmaps can also be applied to the 2d clouds to easily make moving bands:
Images of Jool storms:
Short video showcase using Eve: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYfgmJFmWXw
Higher quality loop of Jool storm: https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/717082994657067090/1090364389946826782/Kerbal_Space_Program_2023.03.28_-_13.24.59.03-1.m4v
Particles, lightning and thunder
I made a GPU particle system, with the goal of adding custom particles, it can be used to make rain, snow, or dust particles, it also has a function for adding splashes on contact with surfaces
Flying through rain gives a feeling of speed
Lightning strikes can now be added to clouds, they cast lights on the clouds and on objects in the scene, and lightning bolts are visible
Both rain and lightning come with sound effects. Watch my youtube video to see how the sounds work: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bkpT-iX1tI
Wispy high-altitude clouds
I'm currently experimeting with a feature to emulate the look of cirrus and high-altitude clouds, which are sorely missing from the current release. This is probably the most experimental feature right now, and while it can look very right it also still looks off in many ways, so it might come in a separate update
Other
There have been a number of bug fixes, eclipses applying correctly to clouds and atmosphere will probably be very appreciated
Thank you so much for the support, and stay tuned for the next update!
Comments (118)
we’re lucky to have you here, even after all this time
Yeah I did notice that, ok
Hi again, just wanted to point out that I made a video, and you are probably aware of this but when physics timewarp is used in Jool while visualising the deepest layer, (like 30k to 70k final storm layer) there is a lot of flashing, I showed this in a video of mine, https://youtu.be/x4yr71ciSpw?si=D-rhHCmxdZS6EFta and I was wondering if you are working on fixing it. Or if it’s just too ambitious and difficult?
It's the lightning. I disable it in regular timewarp.
Hey backtrack, just wondering that I have had the mod for two months or so, and only now I’m reading about the cirrus cloud updates and I’m getting curious as I don’t have that in my version of the mod. I also realised that Duna is supposed to have dust storms but even when using paintbrush I am unable to see them, could there be a mod like Scatterer being the culprit.
I never got the cirrus right so it's not ingame. The top layer on Kerbin has been made a bit wispier but that's about it. The big dust storms on duna only appear every few weeks or so go to map view, start timewarping and wait until you see them sweep the planet like a tsunami, you will see the small diffuse ones more often but wait for those to go away.
Hi all just subbed to this, can anyone point me to the area where i can download the cloud mod etc? im trying to follow a youtube vid for a great ksp experience and this (blackrack cloud mod) was one of the reccomendations :)
It's in this post: https://www.patreon.com/posts/true-volumetric-83345531?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link Make sure you match the tier if you can't see the post
Hi, clouds on Kerbin are semi transparent for me and horizon line is visible through them which spoils the effect. Should I adjust something on config?
Can you share screenshots of what you're seeing? You can use imgur.com
Let him cook, he's probably working on it now.
Hi, Do you know when the new update would release?
I'm packaging it now, so in a few hours if I don't find any issues or tomorrow.
have you any plans to add auroras?
Yes I plan to add them
also just saw the Jool video. Very cool! the lightning is very noice. cant wait to make a cloud city there!
Least ominous city :)
Gorgeous. I simply wish I had such skills.
Just saw the Jool video - what you not happy about?
Let's just say that I I was trying to put everything in one big interconnected layer with swirls, vertical towers of various heights and everything moving smoothly in-between but that was too complicated to do in one layer and I couldn't get enough variety that way. So now I'm working on what you see in the video where it's multiple layers. Anyway, below what you see in the video there's one layer where only a little light gets through and then below that is another layer that is in total darkness but gets lit up only by the flashes of lightning.
Hey!!! its May!!! hope we get that update soon!! we are paying monthly for a mod that hasnt been updated since Jan.. i know im pointing out the obvious, but.. im sure a lot of us are jonesing for an update
Sorry about that, as pointed in the comments above I'm trying to release this week-end. In the future I'll try to make smaller but more frequent updates.
Hey Blackrack! Absolutely stellar work! I'm running a 10x stock rescale, and the clouds look a bit janky. I'm not very experienced with configs; could you provide a few pointers regarding which parameters should be changed to increase the resolution? Thanks so much!
Hey, so this is not easy to do, you need high resolution cloud texture maps that are tuned for that scale with added detail. One easy solution is to use RSS configs and just rename the planets. Let me know if that would work or you want to down the rabbit hole of making high-res maps.
I agree. I think your work is truly wonderful! Dont get hung up on the limits imposed by the tools and the game. No one should ever expect it to be a perfect simulation. But I can relate to viewing your work as art and not wanting to release parts you're not happy with. Glad to hear we're in for stormy weather!
Thank you!
When do you think you'll be ready to release? It looks great as it is! But I don't understand much about mod development...
Aiming for a release around this week-end, even if I'm not fully happy with Jool volumetrics, since they are very time-consuming and fiddly
What should be the specifications for a PC that can run this update? If you don't have an answer, that's perfectly fine as you probably could not test this update on multiple computers other than your own. Thanks
Same requirements as the current release, maybe a little bit slower in some cases but if you can run the current version you shouldn't have any issues.
Nice!
Bro this update is going to be the greatest triple A game release this year, ong
Hey, is there any news about volumetric clouds update?
Still working on it, I'm not totally happy with what I have for Jool yet
Hey, In the future, would it be possible to add more variety to the overall clouds "shape", not speaking of cloud types (since I know you're working on them < 3), but more the "coverage" : right now, most of the clouds form a dense carpet layer with holes, which seen from orbit, can give a "cartoonish" look, would be nice to scatter the general shape/make it more random and thus better looking/realistic ! I'm sorry if I missed some points where you were talking about that, but the above screens look very promising already ! Keep going, cheers : )
That's something I want to do but don't have a way yet of getting it to look varied enough from orbit.
Never-mind I read through the responses again on the other mod and understand the limitations!
Hey ! I Noticed you were on the mod forums for the kerbal weather project last year. Any collaboration with that mod in the works?
Sadly no, I was interested in how to generate planet-wide weather and cloud data for a long timeframe but it doesn't look like it's practical at the moment.
Give it a month get it to your likingn and enjoy doing it. Its art.
Hi Blackrack, what's the projected ETA on a next feature release, you think? Loving your stuff.
Thank you. Not very long, everything is basically ready to go but the Jool volumetrics which I need finish up some stuff on. So I'm thinking maybe a couple of weeks but as usual take it with a grain of salt in case something unexpected comes up.
Those are the best looking clouds in the industry (maybe MS Flight Sim is comparable). Can't wait for the update. Have you thought about adding red sprites and blue jets to storms?
Not really, they seem like a very niche thing. They probably can be done with the current lightning system just by tweaking the settings.
Did you upload it at 21:37 on purpose? Love the mod btw :D
I'm not sure what that means
Wow this is amazing ! Thank you for making space exploration even more awe inspiring. Why don't you post some of the screenshot on reddit ? I think people would love it.
Thank you, people did post them for me :)
Yeah, you (and Linx with Parallax) made my KSP1 look not only better than KSP2, but as good as MSFS and in some cases, better. More importantly, my kids enjoy the game and learn a little about rockets.
I would be shocked if intercept games is not trying to recruit you as a developer for KSP 2
Is there any simple way of adding clouds to existing planet packs? For example OPM Tekto? Reusig Eve clouds is Tekto atmo configs? I was trying to find somesort of information but unfortunately didn't find any. Kcalbeloh planet pack has some implementation. Maybe there is a way to add clouds by yourself?
You can just copy one of the stock configs and use it on any planet of your choice. That'd be the simplest.
Do the volumetric clouds work with Sigma Dimensions/Rescale?
Yeah but they don't look good if you rescale them, you get large uniform patches of clouds. Better to get a config made for a larger scale like RSS
I put off playing KSP anymore until this is complete! It looks so nice!
I am having persistent NRE spam any time I'm close to the ground with this version installed. [EXC 18:00:08.861] NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object Atmosphere.DeferredRaymarchedVolumetricCloudsRenderer.Cleanup () (at :0) Atmosphere.DeferredRaymarchedVolumetricCloudsRenderer.OnDestroy () (at :0) UnityEngine.DebugLogHandler:LogException(Exception, Object) ModuleManager.UnityLogHandle.InterceptLogHandler:LogException(Exception, Object) UnityEngine.Debug:CallOverridenDebugHandler(Exception, Object) [ERR 18:00:09.929] Error: Screen dimensions not evenly divisible by 4 and 2: 6 6 Link to complete log: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1i1-S6m_6qmxmQIPjs8rBm1K9Po0wXbpr/view?usp=share_link
This is an issue between the current version and some camera mods, if you switch temporal upscaling to 4x it should fix it. Check here how to do it: https://github.com/LGhassen/EnvironmentalVisualEnhancements/wiki/Temporal-upscaling-and-noise-detiling next version will fix this automatically.
Hey I have noticed this white half sphere around Duna and the dust storms seem to be a little higher than usual while on the surface https://prnt.sc/FuKtH1JTG6bx
I think you have another mod installed which overrides the scatterer configs. Can you post your KSP.log file or a screenshot of your GameData folder?
this is madness! THANK YOU!
Holy wow, I didn't know this could get so much better
Happy Easter if you're celebrating it today Blackrack and anyone else who reads this :)
im down with it being realistic. the games that have instant thunder kindof mess it up for me how about an option to pick one or the other?
I did mention above there is a setting.
The delay of thunder vs. lightning. should it depend on atmospheric density and stuff?? or does it take away from realism with the delay
The delay has a configurable setting that goes anywhere in-between instant to realistic. Atmospheric properties are ignored though and the speed of sound on earth is used if you chose to use realistic (I don't think it's really needed to go so far for this). I found that instant works better for me in-game otherwise it just feels random.
just wow. I didnt even know this was possible in ksp, let alone by a community modder. Absolutely fanstastic work. Just to put an idea out there, is it possible to add something like cloud and ship interaction such as a poof when exiting a cloud?
Possible yes, it's very complicated though so not sure I will work on it.
will the lightning effects be visible from orbit? Not fully rendered, just flickers through the clouds
For now they will only be visible while the volumetric clouds are loaded, which is currently in low orbit. Although that can be changed.
ah yes nice mod! G I M M E D E M C L O U D S . btw jool looks great! it seems to have a lot of effort put in it right now. overall this mod is gonna be in the ksp hall of fame for sure by its completion.
Lightinin' and tha-thunda.. Tha-tha-thunda!
Gah damn this looks amazing!.
Wooow, KSP already looked incredible with the volumetrics clouds but with that I won't even open KSP 2 again before you release the same mods for it !! Can't wait !! Any idea for the date of release ?
Thank you. As I've commented above, I'm aiming to release this in less than a month but please take this as gospel in case I run into issues.
I'll be the goober that asks, just wondering if you have a ballpark idea of when you'd like to release this next update and if its "soon" or a bit far off. Not asking you to commit to dates or even a month because I know some people will take it as gospel and get upset when it doesnt arrive.
+1 for an estimate
Hey Blackrack, forgive me if this is a selfish question but since you say the cirrus clouds can look a bit off, but look right in some instances, would it be possible to release a separate file that has them included even if they aren't perfect? That is, if the problem is they can look a bit weird, I understand if it isn't possible because they aren't completely functional.
Hey, I will think about it but I don't like to release things I'm not happy with (and wouldn't use in my personal install) even as an optional download.
with the storms on kerbin will there be other things like tornadoes or hurricanes added along with them?
Not sure yet, dust devils will be on duna, maybe an occasional tornado on Kerbin but don't know yet
I'm a big fan of the rain, do you think we will see other forms of precipitation such as snow in the poles at some point? possibly even accumulation of snow via retexture of the terrain (making it slightly white) to represent seasons?
Snow yes, accumulation is not really planned at the moment, and there are no seasons in KSP due to no axial tilt.
this looks amazing
Looks awesome! very excited particularly for the high alt clouds. With your particle system upgraded, does it still break on transition between floating origin and ground proximity? And if not, is there a chance you might pick up work on the heat blur mod again? Waterfall may have added some distortion, but with no blur and no world relative trails it really is lacking compared to the early alpha you had given me of the heat blur. Would be awesome to see the heat blur from the engines again while flying through the clouds!
This is really a custom system for "environmental" particles which doesn't have that floating origin issue by design, it's not adapted for engine particles though. I want to work on an alternative heat effects system at some point (I do belive I may have it listed in the patreon goals/description), it may br far off in the future though.
Beautiful. Feels like you're having fun :)
This is surely the most impressive modding I've ever seen! It's like on the same level as MSFS. When parallax 2 came out it was a game changer, but it still felt like it could be done in KSP; this is on a whole different level, and it must involve some kind of dark magic. You're making it real easy to stick with KSP1 until KSP2 hopefully gets itself sorted out, and you're not losing my support any time soon.
Thank you!
Is there a beta path to assist in testing, discord etc?
So the "beta" will be here when it's ready. I don't have an official discord but I do hang out in the EVE and Scatterer channels of the Kopernicus discord https://discord.com/invite/uA69S3zZqf
its its its.... beautiful
This is bringing a tear to my eye, oh my god
Please make those features compatible with rss
It would be so awesome!
Upping my sub x4 and I still don't feel like I'm paying enough. Just incredible. Incredible!
Thank you!
This is simply fantastic man. I am working on a KSP fan film and your mod is stunning. I am happy to support your efforts :)
holy crap. Intercept Games should really be hiring you or licensing your code!!!!
Wow very impressive blackrack
Duuude, that's some AAA class, multi million budget game shit right there!
This is unbelievably cool! Those loops of Jool are legitimately terrifying! I can’t help but imagine how it would be to get close and then have your ship ripped apart by the storms in there (I know weather physics are an entirely different beast and not possible rn but I can just RP it with some c4 :D)
This is some incredible work. I've never had any sense to sign up and sub or donate to anyone really until I had seen them early shots of your stuff which lead me to actually go ahead and join. Hope this is the stepping stones for you to get noticed and get a job you really enjoy doing which we can all see from what you've done up to now.
Ok, finally I have the motivation to learn to fly to other planets. Because that Jool clouds look gorgeous
i neeeeeeed it!
I always thought that Jool was supposed to be the systems Jewel(wink) from an aesthetics point of view. Your amazing work is finally doing the angry gas giant justice. Keep it up friend, your drive and passion are enviable.
You mad man. This is unbelievable. Thank you so much for your hard work, I can't wait to try this out!
Holy...! This is beyond amazing.
m8 you are an absolute magician
Amazing work!
A custom particle system you say? Does this mean it’s possible to make an improved version of other particles like booster smoke and reentry particles as well?
This is custom because it doesn't do anything on the CPU, that way it can push a huge number of individual particles for rain and snow. It's a bit different from how I would do smoke and reentry, while those are possible to improve as well they'd be a different approach.
Are you trying to give the ksp2 devs a complex? If someone were to find the time and motivation to rip apart and improve the terrain system as well, we'd just flat out have a new game. Maybe sometime in the next couple years chatgpts successor will be able to help someone do that in a reasonable amount of effort.
Yeah I think the terrain generation is one of the "last frontiers" that are untapped in this game. I think no one wants to deal with the stock system's convoluted code though so you are right about chatgpt successor.
Oh my word... I can't believe what I'm looking at, this is incredible work.
That's ridiculously cool
🤯🤯
😍