Allow planet creators to use maps with equirectangular projections to build planets.
Pros:
+ Easier to get specific results when you can directly control the height and color maps in a photo editor
+ Allows for real bodies or bodies from other properties (i.e. unofficial Kerbal planets) to be implemented.
+ Easier to use in general.
Cons:
- Low detail up close, requires small scale noise to hide the lumpiness.
- Depending upon implementation, can result in pixelated or terraced terrain.
- Is generally lazier than procedural implementations, can lower barrier of entry to planet making to such a point that you end up with unoriginal, poorly made bodies
- Textures are generally larger than .xml files, requiring more resources on the server end to store.
Possible solution would be to require modders using textures to host their mods separately from the SR2 workshop.
Notes:
* The current implementation of planet editing through xml files is actually very confusing to wrap one's head around, speaking as a planet creator for Kerbal Space Program, which also uses config file editing to build planets. Part of this is that the XML files have a lot more structure in them than the cleaner configNode system KSP uses, but part of it is that the procedural terrain system is just hard to understand (having spent several hours on a few separate occasions trying to deal with it).
* Multiple heightmaps should be usable at a time, allowing for, for instance, an asteroid with a low-resolution heightmap describing its broad shape, and a higher resolution heightmap with craters, mountains, etc...