OpenGFX Mars

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OpenGFX Mars

Post by Zephyris »

From: Wruntway City Mayor (mayor@wruntcity.hellas.mars)

Subject: Welcome!

Received: 24:14 62/12/1950[Martian]

Welcome to Mars! I heard your ship just landed, thank you so much for coming. We need your help! As you know the population of Wruntway City is really starting to grow, and we desperately need your keep our city supplied with the goods and passengers it needs to thrive. I'm sure your expertise from Earth will let you do an incredible job, although there will be stiff competition from other companies; I heard Grewood just paid to ship a transportation expert in from Earth too...

Good Luck!

Wruntway City Mayor

> Delivered by interplaNET - The interplanetary network company
OpenGFX Mars

It is the Martian year 1950, and after nearly two thousand years the colonies on Mars are really starting to grow. People are finally able to set up major industries, are increasing inter-colony trade, and are generally moving beyond self-sufficiency. For the first time in human history a budding economy is forming on another planet! Unfortunately growth is stalling. There is simply no infrastructure for moving raw materials, goods, and life support material from A to B. Colonies are taking the problem into their own hands though, shipping in transportation experts from Earth and giving them massive loans and subsidies to establish the transportation infrastructure Mars desperately needs.

Mars has changed a lot since humans first arrived through a massive terraforming effort, trying to warm Mars and give it an atmosphere humans can survive (or at least not die too quickly) in. A huge amount has changed: Water, pumped from underground ice aquifers over huge areas of the planet, covers significant areas of the planet's surface. The increased air pressure and increased temperature means it is even, for the first time in billions of years, liquid! The atmosphere has changed greatly too, and is now much thicker than it has been for billions of years. Unfortunately it is still far to low in pressure and full of carbon dioxide for humans to survive on the surface without a Mars suit, though the first plants (mostly genetically modified salt and cold tolerant cacti) now grow freely on the surface. There are even the first rivers, still forging their path across the planet's surface.

The global trade work is gradually forming, with major industries extracting gases from the air, purified water from the aquifers and oceans, and chemicals and metal ores from the ground. The colonies are also starting to demand goods and transportation, as they are finally freed from the pressures of a self-sufficient existence. Efficient land, air and water vehicles have all recently been developed, custom designed for the challenges of a planet where there is no oxygen in the thin atmosphere and low gravity.

Will you use these tools and take up the challenge of meeting the colonists needs?

Sections
Terrain - Trees
Rail
Towns - Large Towns
Cargos & Industries - Electrolysis Plant, Regolith Mine, Aquifer Pump, Ice Mine, Air Mine, Ore Mine, Farm, Chemicals Factory, Metal Works, Terraforming plant, Goods Factory, Fusion Power Plant
Vehicles - Monorail, Guided Ground Trains

EDIT (planetmaker):
Sources for all NewGRFs can be found at https://kallithea.openttdcoop.org/opengfx-mars (and in the therein linked sub-repositories)
Compiled NewGRFs are found at http://bundles.openttdcoop.org/opengfx- ... es/LATEST/
Last edited by planetmaker on 19 Mar 2019 10:18, edited 18 times in total.
Reason: Added direct links to sources and NewGRFs to this posting
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Re: OpenGFX Mars

Post by Zephyris »

Terrain

For the colonists on Mars it is easy to forget the huge diversity in terrain on the planet; to a typical person their world is the few rooms they live and work in. It is simply too dangerous to go outside to experience the range of landscapes Mars has.

Just like Earth, the climate of Mars ranges from the equator to the poles. Despite the efforts of the terraformers Mars is a dry and cold place, with enormous cold dust deserts circling the planet near the equator. Well, most of the planet is technically a dry dusty desert, but the equator has big areas which are even drier and dustier than average. [Desert/Equatorial, replaces Sub-Tropical]

As you head away from the equator you reach the temperate zone. It is this area where plant life is really starting to thrive on the Martian surface, taking advantage of the sparse rain and relatively warm temperatures to grow. Around this region water is mostly liquid. [Temperate, replaces Temperate]

Heading further towards the poles and in the highlands plant life struggles more. Here water never falls as rain, always as snow, giving amazing snow topped peaks. The ground is extremely salty though, and as the snow melts when it mixes with the salts in the ground it flows and forms rivers and oceans. [Arctic/Highlands, replaces Sub-Arctic]

Near the poles the planet is still in a permanent deep freeze with a combination of water and carbon dioxide snow coating the landscape, although intrepid colonists still live in some regions! Water has no chance of being liquid at these temperatures, no matter how salty it is, and the oceans and lakes are perpetually frozen into treacherous ice oceans. [Polar, replaces Toyland]
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Re: OpenGFX Mars

Post by Zephyris »

Rail
Mars presents some difficult challenges for vehicles, especially those that run on rails. The biggest problem is oxygen, which I will talk about in the vehicles section. The second biggest difference (which is often a problem) is the low gravity. A train running on rails is simple and efficient because there is very little friction between the train and the track. This causes a problem when starting the train because low friction means not much force can be applied to get the train moving. This problem is much worse on Mars where the low gravity reduces the friction either further! Conventional trains on two rails simply don't work efficiently. Three different technologies have popped up in its place:

Most 'rail' traffic is carried by guided ground trains. The tracks are simply a guide rail and radio signalling posts which guide the train along a path, while the train itself runs directly on the ground using big wheels or tracks. This is actually surprisingly efficient as the rough ground surface provides plenty of grip, but the low gravity helps reduce the friction once the train is actually rolling. These trains are typically high powered with very good acceleration, but a relatively low top speed.

The second most common form of railed transport is monorail. This system is designed to adapt the advantages of normal rails to a low gravity environment. The train doesn't run on the top of the rail, but instead uses actuators to clamp it to the rail. This lets the train use a high clamping force when it needs to accelerate, allowing good acceleration, but a weaker clamping force once running to let it roll efficiently at high speeds. These trains provide a good acceleration with moderate top speeds.

The final form of railed transport is maglev. This system is just like its Earth counterparts, which have become advanced. Unfortunately it is also limited by the low Martian gravity, and test tracks have shown trains which attempt to accelerate quickly tend to launch off the track! Once moving maglevs are extremely efficient though, cutting through the thin Martian air with very limited friction, allowing them to reach extremely high speeds. These trains therefore provide extremely high top speeds, but with quite poor acceleration.
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Re: OpenGFX Mars

Post by Zephyris »

Towns
Mars poses problems for building. On a world where a tear in a Mars suit can cause instant carbon dioxide poisoning prefabrication of building parts instead of conventional construction is the only practical solution. As a result typical colonies are extremely homogeneous in building style, with buildings assembled from flexible modules. The carbon dioxide and nitrogen atmosphere is also very non-reactive, allowing many buildings to simply be plain metal. The resulting cityscape is a uniform grey sight.

People rarely go outside because of the difficulties and safety risks with Mars suit, and colonies are built with extensive connecting passage ways to allow easy access on foot from one building to the next. Airlocks, and the safety airlocks which separate buildings, are completely standardised to facilitate this and the pathways extend in a network across the colony. Many buildings even have dedicated pathways through them to maximise the ability for people to move around without going outside. In larger settlements with taller buildings similar connecting passageways are often found at higher levels, providing access on foot over roadways.

Public buildings like stations connect to this foot network through the standard airlock interconnects, and the stations then connect to the vehicles by a second standardised airlocks.
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Re: OpenGFX Mars

Post by STD »

Looks very nice. Excellent work :D . Waiting for more screenshots of this theme :P .
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Re: OpenGFX Mars

Post by Katve »

This surely looks awesome ! Can't wait for release ! Since someone posted little concept thread with Opengfx+ ground tiles styled to Mars theme I have been hoping that someone will make set like this.
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Re: OpenGFX Mars

Post by SquireJames »

I like the style. Reminds me of UFo Afterlight.

Oh and "don't drink the water" ;)
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Re: OpenGFX Mars

Post by Zephyris »

Thanks! It is something I have been considering making for years, and I have a very detailed plan in my head. I do need to recruit a coder though (and preferably someone who can use the OpenTTD coop repo) because I have enough time to draw, but not enough time to code too! So far I have made most of the terrain and infrastructure (road, rail, stations, depots, tunnels, bridges) graphics and have set up a modular component system for drawing the industry and town buildings... I also have detailed plans for how aircraft and ships will work, and the cargo chains in different climates. So, anyone feel like coding?
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Station complexes should look pretty cool, with a complex network of walkways.
Station complexes should look pretty cool, with a complex network of walkways.
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Re: OpenGFX Mars

Post by marqjc »

Good topic! It's nice to read the introduction to the article. Waiting for more!
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Re: OpenGFX Mars

Post by Muzzly »

@Zephyris

Cool !!! I like mars theme.

If you need some sprites or inspiration about mars, there is a one nice flash game call "Mars Collonies" ( Home page, some screenshots )

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Re: OpenGFX Mars

Post by Zephyris »

Cargos & Industries

The industrial capacity of Mars, like Earth, is centred around raw materials and their extraction. The focus of industry is quite different though! On a planet where the environment is lethal the absolute priority of much industry is the generation of supplies for life support. The primary extracted materials are the trace oxygen from the air, and water from aquifers and concentrated ice reserves. To support this industry the homogenous compacted debris from millennia of bombardment, the surface regolith, and rarer metal ore deposits which feed into supporting the life support industry. The ultimate products of oxygen and food are required for the growth of towns, while fertilizers and machinery boost industry production and additional water can boost colony growth.

These cargos require 7 primary vehicle types:
Water tanker (water)
Gas tanker (nitrogen, oxygen, hydrogen)
Chemicals tanker (chemicals, fertilizer)
Bulk cargo (regolith, mixed ores)
Container (plastics, components, machinery)
Pressurised container (food, goods)
Passenger carriage (passengers)
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Re: OpenGFX Mars

Post by Dave »

Stunning work.

Those colonies will be brilliant.

Such a great job dude!
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Re: OpenGFX Mars

Post by YNM »

Could there be spaceports ? (for transporting thing to Earth and receive additional supplies)

A bit silly to see N2 and O2 being extracted from the air there... (it's really thin, no ? also it's full of CO2 ?) Water should come from underground ice (as recent studies actually show). Power should be coming from solar arrays, but I guess we can't transport electricity...
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Re: OpenGFX Mars

Post by kamnet »

YNM wrote:Power should be coming from solar arrays, but I guess we can't transport electricity...
We can't? http://www.tt-forums.net/viewtopic.php? ... 5#p1053785
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Re: OpenGFX Mars

Post by juzza1 »

Excellent stuff. I've also had similar concepts in my mind, so it's great to see someone thinking alike, and actually realizing their ideas.

When will you publish the source files for the graphics etc.? I'm already eager to have a look at them. :D
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Re: OpenGFX Mars

Post by Zephyris »

YNM wrote:Could there be spaceports?
I'm not too keen on the idea of space ports. The initial plan for this set is a basic industry chain though, there would be plenty of room for addon grfs to add industries like spaceports.
YNM wrote:A bit silly to see N2 and O2 being extracted from the air there... (it's really thin, no ? also it's full of CO2 ?)
It is really thin, and it is full of CO2, but where else are you going to find oxygen and nitrogen in the elemental form? In terms of plausibility it is possible to use fractional distillation to extract CO2 from Earth's atmosphere (where it's at 0.035%), so extracting O2 (0.13%) and N2 (2.7%) from Mars's current atmosphere isn't exactly implausible.
juzza1 wrote:When will you publish the source files for the graphics etc.? I'm already eager to have a look at them. :D
Once I have a OpenTTDCoop DevZone repository up and running. There are already too many files for it to be easy to post them on the forum!
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Re: OpenGFX Mars

Post by planetmaker »

Zephyris wrote:
YNM wrote:Could there be spaceports?
I'm not too keen on the idea of space ports. The initial plan for this set is a basic industry chain though, there would be plenty of room for addon grfs to add industries like spaceports.
YNM wrote:A bit silly to see N2 and O2 being extracted from the air there... (it's really thin, no ? also it's full of CO2 ?)
It is really thin, and it is full of CO2, but where else are you going to find oxygen and nitrogen in the elemental form? In terms of plausibility it is possible to use fractional distillation to extract CO2 from Earth's atmosphere (where it's at 0.035%), so extracting O2 (0.13%) and N2 (2.7%) from Mars's current atmosphere isn't exactly implausible.
I expect to see O2 extraction running on basement rock. The rock can be galvanically reduced so that at least oxygen is freed as well as possibly some hydrogen. This would serve a dual purpose of giving oxygen and metal content while reducing the carbon in CO2 would only yield carbon (but maybe that's also interesting).
On Mars it's also expected that large(r) reservoirs of sub-terrain ice sheets to be found according to satellite observations of humidity, precipitation as well as surface measurements - but you have that in your industry chain. As to possible sources of nitrogen, I have no real clue - but maybe that's indeed easiest to extract from the atmosphere: http://journals.cambridge.org/action/di ... id=8500853
Zephyris wrote:Once I have a OpenTTDCoop DevZone repository up and running. There are already too many files for it to be easy to post them on the forum!
I created the repo or rather the repos. For details see my reply to the issue you raised at the DevZone.
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Re: OpenGFX Mars [coders needed!]

Post by SkiddLow »

or find the about emission CO2, their you can result here
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Re: OpenGFX Mars [coders needed!]

Post by planetmaker »

SkiddLow wrote:or find the about emission CO2, their you can result here
you know that Mars has - in absolute terms - twenty times the CO2 pressure on its surface compared to Earth's CO2 pressure?
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Re: OpenGFX Mars [coders needed!]

Post by YNM »

http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/factsheet/marsfact.html wrote: Martian Atmosphere

Surface pressure: 6.36 mb at mean radius (variable from 4.0 to 8.7 mb depending on season) [6.9 mb to 9 mb (Viking 1 Lander site)]
Surface density: ~0.020 kg/m3
Scale height: 11.1 km
Total mass of atmosphere: ~2.5 x 1016 kg
Average temperature: ~210 K (-63 C)
Diurnal temperature range: 184 K to 242 K (-89 to -31 C) (Viking 1 Lander site)
Wind speeds: 2-7 m/s (summer), 5-10 m/s (fall), 17-30 m/s (dust storm) (Viking Lander sites)
Mean molecular weight: 43.34 g/mole
Atmospheric composition (by volume):
  • Major : Carbon Dioxide (CO2) - 95.32% ; Nitrogen (N2) - 2.7%; Argon (Ar) - 1.6%; Oxygen (O2) - 0.13%; Carbon Monoxide (CO) - 0.08%
  • Minor (ppm): Water (H2O) - 210; Nitrogen Oxide (NO) - 100; Neon (Ne) - 2.5; Hydrogen-Deuterium-Oxygen (HDO) - 0.85; Krypton (Kr) - 0.3; Xenon (Xe) - 0.08
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