u/Jeb_the_killer

Has anyone built or seen a mod that streams real map/satellite imagery onto KSP terrain in real time as you fly (not a static texture pack)? I've got a proof-of-concept working with OpenStreetMap tiles on a Sol/RSS Earth and I'm curious if there's prior work I should look at before going further, especially for proper per-tile UV placement instead of a single repeating texture.

I'm a noob who is working on a KSP mod that streams real-world map tiles (currently OpenStreetMap) onto Earth in Sol. The idea is to replace the terrain colour dynamically as the player moves, rather than using one huge global texture.

My current approach is:

• Find PQSMod_VertexColorMap.
• Save the original MapSO.
• Download a map tile based on the vessel's latitude/longitude.
• Create a custom MapSO that returns colours from the downloaded tile only within that tile's geographic bounds, and falls back to the original map everywhere else.
• Assign the new MapSO to PQSMod_VertexColorMap.vertexColorMap.
• Force a RebuildSphere() so the terrain refreshes.

Everything appears to work from the code's perspective:

• PQSMod_VertexColorMap is found correctly.
• Tiles download successfully.
• The custom MapSO is assigned.
• RebuildSphere() definitely runs (and is very expensive).

However, nothing ever changes visually.

I also added logging inside my custom MapSO.GetPixelColor(), expecting it to be called during terrain generation, but it never logs at all. That makes me wonder whether my MapSO is actually being used.

I've already ruled out a few things:

• Initially I tested at KSC, but realised Sol uses higher-resolution bounded decals around the launch site, so I moved to a different location.
• I increased the streamed tile size substantially so it wouldn't just be too small to notice.
• The terrain still never changes.

The biggest practical problem is that RebuildSphere() freezes the game for 1–2.5 seconds every time a tile changes, so even if the rendering worked, rebuilding the entire planet per tile clearly isn't viable.

So I have two main questions:

1. Does Sol + Parallax Continued actually use PQSMod_VertexColorMap for close-range terrain rendering, or is the visible terrain colour coming from somewhere else entirely (triplanar textures, Parallax shaders, etc.)?
2. Is there a supported way to rebuild only the affected PQ/PQS quad instead of calling RebuildSphere() on the entire planet?

If anyone has experience with Kopernicus internals, PQS, Parallax, or has experimented with runtime terrain modification, I'd really appreciate any pointers. At this point I'm trying to determine whether I'm debugging the wrong system entirely, or if this project is feasible at all..

Lots of extreme weather recently, this summer is going to be exciting...

Hi, I'm going to alton towers on Tuesday with my school but I'm slightly worried that the heat is going to be a bit extreme. Currently a high of 32c. Any tips for not having a terrible time?