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Real Stars
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Type: Mod
Mod category: Block, Skybox, Planet
File Size
Posted
Updated
1.538 MB
2 Feb, 2024 @ 9:20am
21 Mar @ 8:03pm
75 Change Notes ( view )
Required items
This item requires all of the following other items
Links
On Youtube (External link)
Created by
Echthros
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Real Stars

Description
Tired of the old skybox sun that you can never reach? Wishing you could explore a real solar system or three? Want to burn yourself to ash diving into the stellar plasma? Well now you can!

With this mod you can construct as many solar systems as you like in a world with stars of whatever size, color, brightness, and incinerative capacity that you desire. So whether you want to set up a cozy little vanilla system around an authentic sun or travel between exotic systems in search of the perfect planetoid, the skybox is no longer the limit.

The wait is over. It's time to get some sun.

Features
1. The skybox sun is removed entirely.

2. A new star "planet" is added than can be placed anywhere and adjusted via config file. There are no limits on size, brightness, gravity, etc.

3. The global sunlight will adjust in strength and orientation as you move around the system (or between them) to match the current position of the nearest star. The sun direction is NOT synced between client and server, so every player will see the sunlight from their own perspective.

4. Each planet will have its own day/night cycle which is configurable from the Config file. While players are in space, the stars and skybox will be fixed. While near a planet, the stars and skybox will rotate around the planet and simulate the normal day cycle. There is a visual crossfade between zones when the player approaches or leaves a planet. No grids, GPSs or voxels are actually moving.

5. Solar blocks will also respect the sun direction from their perspective and adjust output based on star distance and brightness.

6. Stars will damage grids and players that get too close (values are fully configurable).

7. Fully compatible with the Real Orbits mod, so feel free to set the solar gravity falloff to 2 and try orbiting a star!

Limitations
1. Sunlight angle can only rotate around the Up-axis, so the light may look like it's coming from the wrong direction if you get too high above or below a star. Try to construct each solar system in roughly the same plane to avoid oddities (the stars will draw some helper lines in the world as you're placing planets to help keep them straight).

Fix Slanted Sun Axis
If the sunlight axis in your world is slanted and you want it to be flat (light orbits around planet equators), then you'll need to either edit your save file to fix it, or make sure to start with a default Star System world and delete the planets before building your world.

DO NOT START WITH THE DEFAULT EMPTY WORLD UNLESS YOU WANT THE SUN AXIS TO BE SLANTED!

How to Fix Sun Angle in Save Files:
Edit Sandbox.sbc
<BaseSunDirection x="0" y="0" z="1" />
<SunDirectionNormalized x="0" y="0" z="1" />

Edit SANDBOX_0_0_0_.sbs
<SunAzimuth>3.14159274</SunAzimuth>
<SunElevation>0</SunElevation>

Delete SANDBOX_0_0_0_.sbsB5

Preset Worlds
3 Systems:
https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3159754894
3 Systems (No Asteroids):
https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3164575082

Custom World Setup
1. Create a new world with the Star System preset (this preset has the sunlight rotate around the planet equators) and delete all of the planets. Add this mod.

2. Use the planet spawn menu (Shift+F10) to spawn whatever stars you want (RealStar planet) at whatever positions you want. Save and quit.

3. Go to the save folder for the world and look for the Config.xml inside of the Storage folder (...\Roaming\SpaceEngineers\Saves\<SteamId>\<SaveGameName>\Storage\3152436752.sbm_RealSun\Config.xml).

4. Edit the Config.xml to adjust the settings for the world and each individual star. Make sure to set <OverrideFromConfig> to true. Save the file.

5. Load back into the save and place whatever planets you want around the stars. Try to keep the planets in the same plane as the guide lines drawn around the nearest star.

6. Enjoy exploring!

Real Stars Config Values
https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/workshop/filedetails/discussion/3152436752/4206994473255087421/

Real Stars API for Modders
https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/workshop/filedetails/discussion/3152436752/4339851480050769308/

Special thanks to Digi for scripting assistance!




Try with "Real Orbits" Mod!
https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2609118808

Other Mods:
https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/id/adrsquared/myworkshopfiles/?appid=244850

Join My Discord for Mod Discussion and Bug Reports
Mods by Echthros[discord.gg]

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Popular Discussions View All (2)
9
13 Apr, 2024 @ 4:20pm
Real Stars Mod API
Echthros
6
13 Oct, 2024 @ 10:27am
PINNED: Config Values
Echthros
279 Comments
< >
GigaCars 12 Jun @ 2:39pm 
tbh it would be cool if you could collect materials from a collector by flying near a star, like in elite dangerous where you can fuel scoop near stars

could even have a custom material for hydrogen only just called "Hydrogen" that takes the shortest time possible to refine in a O2H2 or Refinery whatever you want to use and only gives Hydrogen(or the lowest amount of O2 possible aswell if Hydrogen only isn't a thing)

could also give more reason to fly near a star besides "For solar power"
Justducky2407 5 Jun @ 2:24pm 
im having an issue with solar power and also confused which direction is "up" with the star..
i have my grid on the side where the yellow lines are and it isn't producing a lot of power when im in between the lines (most im getting is 700kw sometimes only 200kw) but when im above or below the lines i get max output (1.60 MW) unless i go on the direct top / bottom which i only make a few watts of power same when im in (i think) exact equator which i make 0 power

if any of this isn't making sense the only other way i can make it more clear is by showing but i think i made it as clear as i could
Rumina Nero 20 May @ 1:18am 
This is probably a very stupid question so apologies in advance, but is there a way to make stars visible from further without changing the light reach?

I'm using the the real solar systems mod and I wanna make systems around 200+ light seconds apart (making warp drives have light second distances using mods so its actually possible to travel between), but I cant make the stars visible from that far without massively increasing star size, messing with system proportions.
Dragnoxz 3 Mar @ 8:12am 
Ok, I noticed that when I crossed the star. So, basically just put the planets to one side to create the illusion they are illuminated by it ? I have made it work like this so far, all the planets chilling to one side, using multiple stars at different latitudes (up/down) and off to the side. Creativity is best for this. Thanks for explaining.
Echthros  [author] 2 Mar @ 10:33am 
The stars do not actually produce light. The global directional light is just rotated around based on how close different stars are to the camera. You will see the light swing around if you fly the camera over to the other side of the star. There is no fix for this, unfortunately, since the sunlight is just a single directional light.
Dragnoxz 2 Mar @ 4:24am 
Ok, so I am having an issue with the stars light facing one side of planets, so all the planets I set are on one side, if I put them on the other side they will be night time on the star side. If I put another star in the same spot facing the other way it may work but then the game could get glitchy, is there a way to make it shine from the star out in all directions or is this just a thing we have to deal with ?
Darian Stephens 5 Feb @ 5:22pm 
Are you sure you're doing it on the right plane?
The light-casting invisible sun can only be rotated about a single axis, so if your planets aren't aligned with that, the angles will never match up with the sun in the sky.
P H É L 5 Feb @ 1:00pm 
Unfortunately I ended up giving up on the mod (incredible mod) because I can't synchronize the rotation with day and night, and even if I do it through settings in the folders it would be horrible because I need 30 planets configureds
Green_Lightning 27 Jan @ 7:52am 
The red one looks too pink and not red enough.
Echthros  [author] 12 Jan @ 11:41am 
@Galax Only if you use the "Real Solar Systems" mod.

@Peace&Death There should be if you get close. The damage range is customizable.