Everyone is free to create and upload any additional planet or ring skins for this mod using the steps below.


1. Create new mod folder.

2. Create new texture files to define the skin. Requires _cm (color/metalness), _ng (normal/gloss), and _add (additive) textures as .dds files. All textures must have power of 2 dimensions (i.e. 512, 1024, 2048, 4096, etc.). Use enenra's materials guide for details on which color channels do what (https://spaceengineers.wiki.gg/wiki/Modding/Reference/Materials).

3. Add these files to the mod (preferably in the Textures folder).

4. Copy GasGiantDefaults.sbc from the RealGasGiants mod over to your mod for reference. The file contain 2 definitions for planet skins and 1 for ring skins. Remove the definitions you don't need.

5. Change the end of the SubtypeId of the Inventory definition to whatever identifier you want that is unique. The SubtypeId must start with "GasGiantType_" and whatever comes after will be your skin name (used as input for the PlanetSkin in the gas giant Config). Please avoid using any name with "Default" as I may add more to the base mod later.

6. Set the Inventory definition <Description> field to contain the local paths for your 3 textures separated by semicolons (just mimic the pattern in the default definitions).

7. Test by loading your mod with the RealGasGiants mod and changing the PlanetSkin value for one of the planets to your new skin name.

8. Upload and enjoy!

1. Create new mod folder.

2. Create new texture file to define the ring skin. Requires basic colormap texture with alpha used for alphamask transparency (any pixels below a certain alpha threshold are invisible). All textures must have power of 2 dimensions (i.e. 512, 1024, 2048, 4096, etc.). Material is drawn additive, so darker colors are more transparent. Bottom of texture maps to the inside of the ring, while the top maps to the outside. Ensure that texture is seamless tiled left/right.

3. Add these files to the mod (preferably in the Textures folder).

4. Copy GasGiantDefaults.sbc from the RealGasGiants mod over to your mod for reference. The file contain 2 definitions for planet skins and 1 for ring skins. Remove the definitions you don't need.

5. Change the end of the SubtypeId of the Inventory definition to whatever identifier you want that is unique. The SubtypeId must start with "GasGiantRingType_" and whatever comes after will be your ring skin name (used as input for the RingSkin in the gas giant Config). Please avoid using any name with "Default" as I may add more to the base mod later.

6. Copy the TransparentMaterials.sbc file from the main mod to your mod and remove every definition from it except for RingMaterialColor_Default. Change the end of the SubtypeId of the transparent material definition to whatever identifier you want that is unique. Please avoid using any name with "Default" as I may add more to the base mod later.

7. Set the <Texture> field in the transparent material definition to the path pointing to your dds texture. You can change the other values in the material if you want, but you don't need to.

8. Replace the transparent material name in the Inventory definition <Description> field with your own material. (Description should be the material name followed by a semicolon and a list of numbers separated by commas).

9. The list of numbers following the texture path in the <Description> are used to define what parts of the ring are considered occupied by actual material. They can be used to create multiple rings in the same plane spaced out with a single texture. Only in the ring space that is considered "occupied" will players see the ring particle effect, asteroids, and be able to collect resources.

The numbers must be between 0 and 1 and listed in ascending order (corresponds to going from the bottom of the ring texture to the top). Each number marks the point where the ring toggles its "occupied" state on or off, with it starting off. For example, if the numbers defined are "0.33,0.67", then the first third of the ring will be empty, the middle third will be occupied, and the last third will be empty. To make the entire ring occupied, the values can be set to "0.0,1.0".

10. Test by loading your mod with the RealGasGiants mod and changing the RingSkin value for one of the planets to your new ring skin name.

11. Upload and enjoy!