Visual Real Atmospheres

Brimfyr · Sunday at 4:44 PM

Real Atmospheres

Atmospheres, hazes and clouds for Kitten Space Agency's Solar System, derived from each body's composition and particle optics. A StarMap mod.
No game files are modified. At launch the mod builds patched copies of the game's shaders and system XML and loads those instead. If a game update changes a patched part of the XML, that patch is skipped. A game update that changes the atmosphere shaders can stop them compiling, so use a release built for your KSA version.

Download

Borea
SpaceDock
GitHub

Features

Mars

Rayleigh scattering from a 95% CO₂ atmosphere at 6.1 mbar
Dust scattering from Mie theory, with a 9 km scale height
Exact Mie phase function for Martian dust, giving the blue sun halo and blue sunsets
Double-exponential dust density profile
Water-ice cirrus at 22–29 km, in 2D and volumetric

Venus

Dense CO₂ Rayleigh scattering, at 53× Earth's surface density
Blue-absorbing haze below the clouds

Jupiter

H₂/He Rayleigh scattering, with a 25 km scale height
Cloud decks at real altitudes: lower deck −1 to 12 km, main deck from 15 km, storms up to 96 km

Saturn

Rayleigh scattering above a thin haze, with methane colouring and a 52 km scale height
Volumetric clouds, with cloud height following the planet's map
Colour map at 2048 px per cube face (stock: 1024)

Uranus & Neptune

Methane absorption, with a thin Rayleigh limb and haze
Volumetric clouds, with cloud height following the planet's map
Colour maps at 2048 px per cube face (stock: 512)

Titan

Stratified upper haze, animated with simulation time
Detached haze layers at 230 and 290 km

Triton & Pluto

N₂ Rayleigh scattering from measured surface pressure and temperature
Forward-scattering haze, visible as a ring when looking toward the Sun
Stratified haze bands, animated with simulation time
Nitrogen-ice clouds on Triton at 4–6.5 km

Installation

Requires StarMap. Each release is named with the KSA build it was tested on.
With Borea: install Real Atmospheres from the mod list.
Manually:

Install StarMap and run the game once through StarMap.Loader.exe.
Extract the release into Documents\My Games\Kitten Space Agency\mods, giving mods\RealAtmospheres\RealAtmospheres.dll.
Launch the game once and close it. KSA adds new mods to manifest.toml disabled: set this mod's entry to enabled = true.
Launch through StarMap.

To uninstall, delete mods\RealAtmospheres and mods_RealSharedShadow.

Building

deploy.ps1 builds the mod and installs it into your mods folder. package.ps1 -Version x.y.z -GameBuild vYYYY.M.D.NNNN builds a release archive in dist. Set StarMapDir to your StarMap folder.

Credits

Saturn map mixed by JCP-JohnCarlo, from work by HellcatF6F, MrSpace43-Celestia, FarGetaNik and Snowfall-The-Cat.
Uranus map by Askaniy, CC BY-NC-SA 3.0. Our modified Uranus map, cloud mask and flowmap are released under the same licence.
Neptune map by Askaniy, CC BY 3.0, modified.

The code is MIT. Because of the Uranus map, the release as a whole is for non-commercial use. CREDITS.md gives the source and terms of every shipped file.

just a normal keeper · 2026-09-25T23:14:28+0100

Hello!
i found a bug with the mod.
this looks like a REALLY good mod but i just cant seem to start the game when the mod is enabled...
no other mods are enabled.

And when the game starts loading, the game freezes on Solite, then the game crashes...

I'm REALLY hoping that this gets fixed...

Logs

16:59:36.807 INFO loaded settings from C:\Users\▉▉▉▉\AppData\Local\Borea\Instances\a72fc4ab-aa1d-43d6-b72e-d4bc3341683f\settings.toml
16:59:37.215 DEBUG Found dedicated compute queue family at index 2
16:59:37.215 DEBUG Found dedicated transfer queue family at index 1
16:59:37.221 DEBUG Multi view supported: True
16:59:37.222 INFO Present wait supported: True
16:59:37.223 DEBUG Ray query acceleration structure support:True
16:59:37.765 INFO Swapchain created with 3 images at 1920x1048 (surface current 1920x1048, min 1920x1048, max 1920x1048, window 1920x1048, framebuffer 1920x1048, present FifoKHR)
16:59:37.960 DEBUG Kitten Space Agency (KSA) v2026.9.22.5482 initialized
16:59:38.645 INFO KittenExtensions: Patches/EnhancedEngine.xml: 1 patch operations applied.
16:59:38.645 INFO KittenExtensions: Patches/HyperbolicBodies.xml: 3 patch operations applied.
16:59:38.645 INFO KittenExtensions: Patches/AutoStageButton.xml: 1 patch operations applied.
16:59:38.648 INFO found mod 'Core'
16:59:38.736 DEBUG found system 'SolLite'
16:59:38.736 DEBUG found system 'Test'
16:59:38.746 INFO found mod 'RealAtmospheres'
16:59:38.746 INFO found mod 'KittenExtensionsContinued'
16:59:38.747 INFO found mod 'ShaderExtensions'
16:59:38.747 INFO found mod 'KSP-Redux'
16:59:38.747 DEBUG found system 'KerbolOnly'
16:59:38.748 DEBUG found system 'StockSystem'
16:59:39.238 INFO loaded Situation Template 'Gemini7StartingSituation'
16:59:39.239 INFO loaded Situation Template 'RocketStartingSituation'
16:59:39.239 INFO loaded Situation Template 'HunterStartingSituation'
16:59:39.239 INFO loaded Situation Template 'BanjoStartingSituation'
16:59:39.239 INFO loaded Situation Template 'PolarisStartingSituation'
16:59:39.458 INFO loaded Instance of Situation Template 'Gemini7StartingSituation'
16:59:39.458 INFO loaded Instance of Situation Template 'RocketStartingSituation'
16:59:39.458 INFO loaded Instance of Situation Template 'HunterStartingSituation'
16:59:39.458 INFO loaded Instance of Situation Template 'BanjoStartingSituation'
16:59:39.458 INFO loaded Instance of Situation Template 'PolarisStartingSituation'
16:59:39.460 DEBUG loaded system 'SolLite'
16:59:39.460 INFO loaded Instance of Situation Template 'Gemini7StartingSituation'
16:59:39.460 INFO loaded Instance of Situation Template 'RocketStartingSituation'
16:59:39.460 INFO loaded Instance of Situation Template 'HunterStartingSituation'
16:59:39.460 INFO loaded Instance of Situation Template 'BanjoStartingSituation'
16:59:39.460 INFO loaded Instance of Situation Template 'PolarisStartingSituation'
16:59:39.460 DEBUG loaded system 'Test'
16:59:39.521 INFO loaded Instance of Situation Template 'Gemini7StartingSituation'
16:59:39.521 INFO loaded Instance of Situation Template 'RocketStartingSituation'
16:59:39.521 INFO loaded Instance of Situation Template 'HunterStartingSituation'
16:59:39.521 INFO loaded Instance of Situation Template 'BanjoStartingSituation'
16:59:39.521 INFO loaded Instance of Situation Template 'PolarisStartingSituation'
16:59:39.521 DEBUG loaded system 'KerbolOnly'
16:59:39.522 INFO loaded Instance of Situation Template 'Gemini7StartingSituation'
16:59:39.522 INFO loaded Instance of Situation Template 'RocketStartingSituation'
16:59:39.522 INFO loaded Instance of Situation Template 'HunterStartingSituation'
16:59:39.522 INFO loaded Instance of Situation Template 'BanjoStartingSituation'
16:59:39.522 INFO loaded Instance of Situation Template 'PolarisStartingSituation'
16:59:39.522 DEBUG loaded system 'StockSystem'
16:59:39.529 INFO registered language 'English (United States)'
17:00:43.402 INFO loaded Situation Template 'Gemini7StartingSituation'
17:00:43.402 INFO loaded Situation Template 'RocketStartingSituation'
17:00:43.402 INFO loaded Situation Template 'HunterStartingSituation'
17:00:43.402 INFO loaded Situation Template 'BanjoStartingSituation'
17:00:43.402 INFO loaded Situation Template 'PolarisStartingSituation'
17:00:43.591 ERROR unknown enum type 'AfcAutoStageToggle'
17:00:43.675 INFO loaded Situation Template 'Gemini7StartingSituation'
17:00:43.675 INFO loaded Situation Template 'RocketStartingSituation'
17:00:43.675 INFO loaded Situation Template 'HunterStartingSituation'
17:00:43.676 INFO loaded Situation Template 'BanjoStartingSituation'
17:00:43.676 INFO loaded Situation Template 'PolarisStartingSituation'
17:00:43.718 INFO loaded Instance of Situation Template 'Gemini7StartingSituation'
17:00:43.769 INFO loaded Instance of Situation Template 'RocketStartingSituation'
17:00:43.776 INFO loaded Instance of Situation Template 'HunterStartingSituation'
17:00:43.777 INFO loaded Instance of Situation Template 'BanjoStartingSituation'
17:00:43.777 INFO loaded Instance of Situation Template 'PolarisStartingSituation'
17:00:43.778 DEBUG loaded system 'SolLite'
17:00:43.794 DEBUG loaded planet mesh collection 'Default'
17:00:43.795 DEBUG loaded planet mesh collection 'EarthScale'
17:00:43.795 DEBUG loaded planet mesh collection 'OceanEarth'
17:00:43.796 DEBUG loaded planet mesh collection 'Asteroid'
17:00:43.797 DEBUG loaded planet mesh collection 'MarsScale'
17:00:43.816 DEBUG loaded planet heightmap collection 'Default'
17:00:43.843 DEBUG loaded planet mesh collection 'EveOcean'
17:00:43.843 DEBUG loaded planet mesh collection 'LaytheOcean'
17:00:43.844 DEBUG loaded planet mesh collection 'KSP-Default'
17:00:47.187 INFO loading star binary 'briars_binary_dimmer_better_99k_stars.bin'
17:00:47.223 INFO loading star binary 'briars_binary_dimmer_better_99k_stars.bin'
17:00:47.223 DEBUG loading 99038 star binaries from 'Content/Core\briars_binary_dimmer_better_99k_stars.bin'
17:00:47.301 INFO instantiated 'SolLite' system
17:00:47.352 ERROR System.NullReferenceException: AstronomicalTemplate is null for 'Sol'
at KSA.ModLibrary.Get[T](String id)
at KSA.AstronomicalReference.CreateInto(CelestialSystem celestialSystem, IParentBody parent, String id)
at KSA.CelestialSystem.CreateTreeFromRoot(AstronomicalTemplate rootTemplate)
at KSA.CelestialSystem..ctor(SystemTemplate template) .ctor (in C:\prototype-planet\KSA\CelestialSystem.cs:123)
17:00:47.547 ERROR Unhandled exception System.Reflection.TargetInvocationException: Exception has been thrown by the target of an invocation.
---> System.Exception: No Home Body found in system 'SolLite'
at KSA.CelestialSystem..ctor(SystemTemplate template)
at KSA.Universe.LoadSystem(String id)
at KSA.Universe.LoadDefaultSystem()
at KSA.Program..ctor(IReadOnlyList`1 inArgs)
at KSA.Program.Main_Patch2(String[] inArgs)
at System.Reflection.MethodBaseInvoker.InterpretedInvoke_Method(Object obj, IntPtr* args)
at System.Reflection.MethodBaseInvoker.InvokeDirectByRefWithFewArgs(Object obj, Span`1 copyOfArgs, BindingFlags invokeAttr)
--- End of inner exception stack trace ---
at System.Reflection.MethodBaseInvoker.InvokeDirectByRefWithFewArgs(Object obj, Span`1 copyOfArgs, BindingFlags invokeAttr)
at System.Reflection.MethodBaseInvoker.InvokeWithOneArg(Object obj, BindingFlags invokeAttr, Binder binder, Object[] parameters, CultureInfo culture)
at System.Reflection.RuntimeMethodInfo.Invoke(Object obj, BindingFlags invokeAttr, Binder binder, Object[] parameters, CultureInfo culture)
at System.Reflection.MethodBase.Invoke(Object obj, Object[] parameters)
at StarMap.GameSurveyer.RunGame()
at StarMap.Program.Main(String[] args)
at StarMap.Program.<Main>(String[] args).
17:01:32.261 WARN Last chance dump: Failed Write dump failed - HRESULT: 0x80004005..

Specs
Processor	AMD Ryzen 5 5600G with Radeon Graphics
Video Card	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060
Operating System	Windows 11
RAM	16 GB

Brimfyr · 2026-09-26T15:25:33+0100

just a normal keeper said:
Hello!
i found a bug with the mod.
this looks like a REALLY good mod but i just cant seem to start the game when the mod is enabled...
no other mods are enabled.

View attachment 2029

And when the game starts loading, the game freezes on Solite, then the game crashes...

View attachment 2028 View attachment 2027
I'm REALLY hoping that this gets fixed...

Logs
16:59:36.807 INFO loaded settings from C:\Users\▉▉▉▉\AppData\Local\Borea\Instances\a72fc4ab-aa1d-43d6-b72e-d4bc3341683f\settings.toml
16:59:37.215 DEBUG Found dedicated compute queue family at index 2
16:59:37.215 DEBUG Found dedicated transfer queue family at index 1
16:59:37.221 DEBUG Multi view supported: True
16:59:37.222 INFO Present wait supported: True
16:59:37.223 DEBUG Ray query acceleration structure support:True
16:59:37.765 INFO Swapchain created with 3 images at 1920x1048 (surface current 1920x1048, min 1920x1048, max 1920x1048, window 1920x1048, framebuffer 1920x1048, present FifoKHR)
16:59:37.960 DEBUG Kitten Space Agency (KSA) v2026.9.22.5482 initialized
16:59:38.645 INFO KittenExtensions: Patches/EnhancedEngine.xml: 1 patch operations applied.
16:59:38.645 INFO KittenExtensions: Patches/HyperbolicBodies.xml: 3 patch operations applied.
16:59:38.645 INFO KittenExtensions: Patches/AutoStageButton.xml: 1 patch operations applied.
16:59:38.648 INFO found mod 'Core'
16:59:38.736 DEBUG found system 'SolLite'
16:59:38.736 DEBUG found system 'Test'
16:59:38.746 INFO found mod 'RealAtmospheres'
16:59:38.746 INFO found mod 'KittenExtensionsContinued'
16:59:38.747 INFO found mod 'ShaderExtensions'
16:59:38.747 INFO found mod 'KSP-Redux'
16:59:38.747 DEBUG found system 'KerbolOnly'
16:59:38.748 DEBUG found system 'StockSystem'
16:59:39.238 INFO loaded Situation Template 'Gemini7StartingSituation'
16:59:39.239 INFO loaded Situation Template 'RocketStartingSituation'
16:59:39.239 INFO loaded Situation Template 'HunterStartingSituation'
16:59:39.239 INFO loaded Situation Template 'BanjoStartingSituation'
16:59:39.239 INFO loaded Situation Template 'PolarisStartingSituation'
16:59:39.458 INFO loaded Instance of Situation Template 'Gemini7StartingSituation'
16:59:39.458 INFO loaded Instance of Situation Template 'RocketStartingSituation'
16:59:39.458 INFO loaded Instance of Situation Template 'HunterStartingSituation'
16:59:39.458 INFO loaded Instance of Situation Template 'BanjoStartingSituation'
16:59:39.458 INFO loaded Instance of Situation Template 'PolarisStartingSituation'
16:59:39.460 DEBUG loaded system 'SolLite'
16:59:39.460 INFO loaded Instance of Situation Template 'Gemini7StartingSituation'
16:59:39.460 INFO loaded Instance of Situation Template 'RocketStartingSituation'
16:59:39.460 INFO loaded Instance of Situation Template 'HunterStartingSituation'
16:59:39.460 INFO loaded Instance of Situation Template 'BanjoStartingSituation'
16:59:39.460 INFO loaded Instance of Situation Template 'PolarisStartingSituation'
16:59:39.460 DEBUG loaded system 'Test'
16:59:39.521 INFO loaded Instance of Situation Template 'Gemini7StartingSituation'
16:59:39.521 INFO loaded Instance of Situation Template 'RocketStartingSituation'
16:59:39.521 INFO loaded Instance of Situation Template 'HunterStartingSituation'
16:59:39.521 INFO loaded Instance of Situation Template 'BanjoStartingSituation'
16:59:39.521 INFO loaded Instance of Situation Template 'PolarisStartingSituation'
16:59:39.521 DEBUG loaded system 'KerbolOnly'
16:59:39.522 INFO loaded Instance of Situation Template 'Gemini7StartingSituation'
16:59:39.522 INFO loaded Instance of Situation Template 'RocketStartingSituation'
16:59:39.522 INFO loaded Instance of Situation Template 'HunterStartingSituation'
16:59:39.522 INFO loaded Instance of Situation Template 'BanjoStartingSituation'
16:59:39.522 INFO loaded Instance of Situation Template 'PolarisStartingSituation'
16:59:39.522 DEBUG loaded system 'StockSystem'
16:59:39.529 INFO registered language 'English (United States)'
17:00:43.402 INFO loaded Situation Template 'Gemini7StartingSituation'
17:00:43.402 INFO loaded Situation Template 'RocketStartingSituation'
17:00:43.402 INFO loaded Situation Template 'HunterStartingSituation'
17:00:43.402 INFO loaded Situation Template 'BanjoStartingSituation'
17:00:43.402 INFO loaded Situation Template 'PolarisStartingSituation'
17:00:43.591 ERROR unknown enum type 'AfcAutoStageToggle'
17:00:43.675 INFO loaded Situation Template 'Gemini7StartingSituation'
17:00:43.675 INFO loaded Situation Template 'RocketStartingSituation'
17:00:43.675 INFO loaded Situation Template 'HunterStartingSituation'
17:00:43.676 INFO loaded Situation Template 'BanjoStartingSituation'
17:00:43.676 INFO loaded Situation Template 'PolarisStartingSituation'
17:00:43.718 INFO loaded Instance of Situation Template 'Gemini7StartingSituation'
17:00:43.769 INFO loaded Instance of Situation Template 'RocketStartingSituation'
17:00:43.776 INFO loaded Instance of Situation Template 'HunterStartingSituation'
17:00:43.777 INFO loaded Instance of Situation Template 'BanjoStartingSituation'
17:00:43.777 INFO loaded Instance of Situation Template 'PolarisStartingSituation'
17:00:43.778 DEBUG loaded system 'SolLite'
17:00:43.794 DEBUG loaded planet mesh collection 'Default'
17:00:43.795 DEBUG loaded planet mesh collection 'EarthScale'
17:00:43.795 DEBUG loaded planet mesh collection 'OceanEarth'
17:00:43.796 DEBUG loaded planet mesh collection 'Asteroid'
17:00:43.797 DEBUG loaded planet mesh collection 'MarsScale'
17:00:43.816 DEBUG loaded planet heightmap collection 'Default'
17:00:43.843 DEBUG loaded planet mesh collection 'EveOcean'
17:00:43.843 DEBUG loaded planet mesh collection 'LaytheOcean'
17:00:43.844 DEBUG loaded planet mesh collection 'KSP-Default'
17:00:47.187 INFO loading star binary 'briars_binary_dimmer_better_99k_stars.bin'
17:00:47.223 INFO loading star binary 'briars_binary_dimmer_better_99k_stars.bin'
17:00:47.223 DEBUG loading 99038 star binaries from 'Content/Core\briars_binary_dimmer_better_99k_stars.bin'
17:00:47.301 INFO instantiated 'SolLite' system
17:00:47.352 ERROR System.NullReferenceException: AstronomicalTemplate is null for 'Sol'
at KSA.ModLibrary.Get[T](String id)
at KSA.AstronomicalReference.CreateInto(CelestialSystem celestialSystem, IParentBody parent, String id)
at KSA.CelestialSystem.CreateTreeFromRoot(AstronomicalTemplate rootTemplate)
at KSA.CelestialSystem..ctor(SystemTemplate template) .ctor (in C:\prototype-planet\KSA\CelestialSystem.cs:123)
17:00:47.547 ERROR Unhandled exception System.Reflection.TargetInvocationException: Exception has been thrown by the target of an invocation.
---> System.Exception: No Home Body found in system 'SolLite'
at KSA.CelestialSystem..ctor(SystemTemplate template)
at KSA.Universe.LoadSystem(String id)
at KSA.Universe.LoadDefaultSystem()
at KSA.Program..ctor(IReadOnlyList`1 inArgs)
at KSA.Program.Main_Patch2(String[] inArgs)
at System.Reflection.MethodBaseInvoker.InterpretedInvoke_Method(Object obj, IntPtr* args)
at System.Reflection.MethodBaseInvoker.InvokeDirectByRefWithFewArgs(Object obj, Span`1 copyOfArgs, BindingFlags invokeAttr)
--- End of inner exception stack trace ---
at System.Reflection.MethodBaseInvoker.InvokeDirectByRefWithFewArgs(Object obj, Span`1 copyOfArgs, BindingFlags invokeAttr)
at System.Reflection.MethodBaseInvoker.InvokeWithOneArg(Object obj, BindingFlags invokeAttr, Binder binder, Object[] parameters, CultureInfo culture)
at System.Reflection.RuntimeMethodInfo.Invoke(Object obj, BindingFlags invokeAttr, Binder binder, Object[] parameters, CultureInfo culture)
at System.Reflection.MethodBase.Invoke(Object obj, Object[] parameters)
at StarMap.GameSurveyer.RunGame()
at StarMap.Program.Main(String[] args)
at StarMap.Program.<Main>(String[] args).
17:01:32.261 WARN Last chance dump: Failed Write dump failed - HRESULT: 0x80004005..

Specs
Processor AMD Ryzen 5 5600G with Radeon Graphics
Video Card NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060
Operating System Windows 11
RAM 16 GB

Thanks for trying the mod. Someone else found this bug at the same time. On Windows set to a number format with a decimal comma, such as German, French or Spanish, Real Atmospheres wrote a few numbers as 0,389 instead of 0.389. The game can't read those, so its planet file failed to load. Version 1.0.4 should fix it, but if it still happens, please post your KSA log and say which region format your Windows uses so I can take another look. It's on GitHub and SpaceDock and currently waiting for the Borea listing to go through.

Visual Real Atmospheres

Brimfyr

New Member

Real Atmospheres

Download

Features

Mars

Venus

Jupiter

Saturn

Uranus & Neptune

Titan

Triton & Pluto

Installation

Building

Credits

just a normal keeper

New Member

Brimfyr

New Member

Similar threads

Visual Real Atmospheres

Brimfyr

New Member

Real Atmospheres​

Download​

Features​

Mars​

Venus​

Jupiter​

Saturn​

Uranus & Neptune​

Titan​

Triton & Pluto​

Installation​

Building​

Credits​

just a normal keeper

New Member

Brimfyr

New Member

Similar threads

Real Atmospheres

Download

Features

Mars

Venus

Jupiter

Saturn

Uranus & Neptune

Titan

Triton & Pluto

Installation

Building

Credits