[Fyron]

Gandalf Parker said:
I had an idea although its way off course...
What if the images were monochrome patterns and the type/atmospheres connected to VGA color ranges? It would allow the same feel but with much more variety. A swirled medium sized planet might be image9. The map could record image9, color 1, color 2, atmosphere, etc, etc. If an image9 is displayed with blues and greens then its oxygen, shades of purple for methane, shades of orange for carbon dioxide, etc etc.

That would allow for alot of planet variance with the same files. Possibly even a sliding quality ties in with sliding colors ranges (perfect green and perfect blue would be optimal oxygen). It could also reflect a "closeness" to another type. Its a rotten oxygen planet but its close to methane and quickly converted (the scale of blue/green to purple)

I dunno... very few planet images look good as a different atmosphere just with different colors...