UPDATE!!!
I finally could find time to work again on this pack, so here is the "Red planet" update.
Change log:
- Mars has been polished, its terrain is much more detailed and realistic now. More details on this below.
- Ceres added to the pack - includes real terrain data collected by the Dawn probe!
- All planet files were updated to the latest version
- Heat damage has been balanced for the pack, though it may evolve in future versions
- a launchpad has been made available for Phobos, Deimos and Ceres (if you didn't know, the pack contains a launchpad folder with launchpads for every body, which allows you to start from anywhere)
More in details:
Mars map is now completely finished, some of its most famous features have been mapped from real data and adapted to IRIS scale. Here is the location of all those sites:
The areas presented are the following ones:
- Amazonis planitia: a vast and deep zone, it probably contained water long ago. The surface is nearly -1000 meters below the mean level, and the terrain is very friendly, making it one of the easiest landing zone.
- Hellas planitia: a huge depression created by a meteor. The surface is very deep in the center of the zone, the lowest point of Mars is located there, at nearly -2000 meters below the mean level. A very good choice for landing, though this zone is not as large, and the terrain is a bit harsher there. Try to aim for the center of the zone, as this is the deepest part of Hellas planitia.
- Elysium planitia: another plain, which level is also below the mean level, in which the terrain is very easy to land on. It's not as vast as the previous one, so it can be more difficult to aim for it, but still a very good choice as a landing zone.
- Elysium mons: a huge volcano that sits on Elysium planitia. It's approximately 3500 meters tall. Though it may be a very interesting zone to collect samples and discover more about the red planet, landing there will be a real challenge.
- Noachis terra: a very large plain, heavily craterized. At an average altitude, the terrain is kinda irregular, which makes it both an interesting and challenging landing zone.
- Valles marineris: a huge scar on the face of Mars, that very deep canyon is visible from space. Though this site is very deep, aiming for the canyon from space will be a difficult task, and the terrain is very irregular, making it a difficult landing zone.
- Arsia Mons: that's one of the three volcanoes of Tharsis Montes, a huge dome located next to the Olympus mons. With its 4300 meters above the mean level, Arsia Mons is one of the highest volcanoes of the planet, and the one that has the largest caldeira: it's 30 km wide!
- Olympus mons: here is it, the king of all volcanoes, the peak of Mars, and even of the solar system. This volcano is clearly visible from space, and is 5300 meters tall. Its caldeira is 15 kilometers large (ingame), which would make it able to contain most volcanoes on Earth. A very difficult landing zone, only the best will be able to land a probe in it.
Fortunately, Mars has an atmosphere, which allows aerobraking and the use of a parachute to slow down without spending fuel, but remember that it's very weak! Actually, only the deepest zones of the planet have a thick enough atmosphere for this, and some retropropulsion is still needed for a smooth landing. For most other zones, you won't get much help from a parachute.
I advise starting with Amazonis Planitia and Hellas planitia as landing zones, they are by far the easiest.
As usual, here are a few pics of the pack. Here are a few examples of the crazy martian structures:
Some epic landing scenes...
Believe me, it's harder than it looks at first
And some of the new stuff:
Special thanks: Credits to
Gurren Lagann for the Ceres terrain: he mapped it from real data!
Enjoy!