VertexColorMapEmissive

VertexColorMapEmissive is a custom PQS Mod intended for use by planet modders to give more control over planetary emissives than can be achieved with the current alternatives: EVE CityLights and Kopernicus Expansion EmissiveFX

Installation and Use

• Install ALL listed dependencies, following the links below
• Download and extract the VertexColorMapEmissive zip file
• Place the GameData folder into your KSP directory
• Once installed, simply add VertexColorMapEmissive nodes to the Mods subnode of your PQS Node and/or the Mods subnode of your Ocean Node, and to your ScaledVersion node

Reasoning behind creation:

• Qualities I believe an emissive mod should have
  • It should cover ScaledSpace, PQS, and Ocean emissives with a single unified and coherent format.
  • It should allow the use of a full color texture with transparency.
  • it should not have visual artifacts with stock ScaledSpace, PQS, or Oceans.

Features and comparison to alternatives:

• VertexColorMapEmissive
  • Pros
    • Full RGBA colormap support
    • Unified solution for ScaledSpace, PQS, and Ocean emissives
    • No ocean z-fighting
  • Cons
    • No detail texture for close range variation
• Kopernicus Expansion EmissiveFX
  • Pros
    • Supports ScaledSpace, PQS, and Ocean emissives
  • Cons
    • Flat color value
    • Map controls only alpha and brightness
    • Ocean z-fighting
• EVE CityLights
  • Pros
    • Detail texture for fine detailing up close
  • Cons
    • Flat color value
    • Map controls only alpha and brightness
    • Detail texture tiling can become apparent when map covers a large contiguous portion of the surface
    • Does not support Ocean emissives

Parameters and expected values:

• map: The RGBA texture to use as the emissive map
• brightness: global multiplier to the color channels of the map
  • default value: 1
  • values greater 1 increase brightness, values less than 1 decrease brightness
• transparency: global multiplier to the alpha channel of the map
  • default value: 0.5
  • values greater 1 decrease transparency, values less than 1 increase transparency

Examples

• ScaledSpace:

  • Place a VertexColorMapEmissive node in your ScaledVersion node

  

• PQS and/or Ocean

  • Place a VertexColorMapEmissive node in the Mods subnode of your PQS Node and/or the Mods subnode of your Ocean Node

  

Requirements

• ModuleManager
• Kopernicus

FAQ

• Q. I'm not a planet modder? Do I need this?
• A. You do not need to install it manually yourself, but if you found this in your GameData, it is because a planet pack you have/had needs/needed it and so it was either included with the mod or auto installed through CKAN
• Q. Is this compatible with Parallax?
• A. In all honesty, I have never downloaded Parallax before, so I do not know.
• Q. Is this compatible with Scatterer oceans?
• A. No, it will not function with Scatterer oceans, only stock oceans.

Licensing

• VertexColorMapEmissive is licensed under the MIT License