Getting a glow-up! Experiencing heat is one of the big dramas of spaceflight - whether it's a boiling plasma cloud around a capsule on re-entry, the glow of a heatshield, or propulsive thrust of an engine during ascent.
We're endeavouring to embrace all of this (controlled) chaos in KSA, helping to ground the game with beautiful effects that convey the power of nature and the extreme lengths engineers had to go to tame it.
Updates to our emissive shader and the work of Max and Gravhoek means our suite of engines can now come alive during burns; each authored with an emission map that visualizes the effects high temperatures have on parts. Each nozzle is different - the large vacuum engines feature red ablator (asbestos and cork) that is pressed into a frame and attached as a nozzle extension, giving the part longer cooling endurance for burns in vacuum. The smallest engine's real life namesake featured a very thin lightweight metal nozzle comprised of Niobium, an expensive but extremely heat resistant metal that is also soft and easily crushed. The booster engine has metal stringers interwoven with ductwork that routes fuel over the bell, cooling it regeneratively as it is pumped to be burned.
As we go forward, we'll use emissive maps to add dynamism to other parts - helping give depth and believability to the experience of spaceflight with glowing immersive windows, hatches, consoles, and lights (but engines are much more fun!).
Development is defenetly Heating Up
