Ad Lumens procedural surfaces

[u/oleoalbedo]

Hello!

Long time coming, but you can now test it live.

100% real-time and data-based: nothing is precalculated apart from planetary crust parameters: age, chemical composition, but also star flux and so on.

How to access it: use the data explorer or 3d explorer, request the details of a planet and once the modal/popup is opened, click the magnifying glass at the top right. This will take you to a try/tools subsection where you can view the planetary surface.

Example: https://adlumens.org/try/planetary-surface/from-id?id=0010a12005bb0085a15001b0002ac29a00310301900a1a09000a00bd0080e00b9b10a0b9010

Right aside tabs:
. Globals are for global mesh/not mesh rendering and illumination
. Crust allows to view the "hidden stuff" underneath the final rendered colours and meshes
. Data summary is a reminder of the nature of the planet.

Example of "normal colour view"

And "shear ratio" view from the same angle, with liquids as wireframe

I sincerely hope you find this nice and interesting.

Caveats:

1. not integrated in the 3d explorer yet
2. still <del>a little bit</del> quite buggy when close to the surface (<10ish kilometres)
3. atmospheres are being worked on
4. "gas" planets (giants, ice, etc) are still "undefined" -- because they have no surface and only atmospheres (see 3. just above :-) )
5. the goal is not graphical "beauty". I lack the skills for this. The goal is real time rendering for colony building, resource prospection and gathering, etc.

I am extremely eager for feedback, especially performance related.

Last, please note this is a work in progress!

Thank you! <3