MOD IDEA Real exploration

[Lord_Lofty]

Hello there kerbonaughts! 

This post is particularly aimed at those of you with a talent for modding or a keen desire for a more real and progressive way to explore the kerbol system.

I was watching some videos of various landers and rovers that have touched down on Mars (curiosity and Viking) , Titan (Huygens) and many other celestial bodies in our solar system when it occurred to me just how much information these un-maned devices have allowed us to explore the far eat reaches of our solar system. That started me thinking , I wonder if there is a KSP mod that can emulate this, one that removes the ability to look at other planets through the radar dish array at the KSC but instead requires the player to build space telescopes in order to see images of the target planet and then require te deployment of unmanned orbiters/landers/rovers to said planet in order to actually see it in detail and send maned missions following that. 

I did some digging and found 1 or two mods that implemented space telescopes but nothing quite like what I am envisioning.

If there are any misdeed out there who may be interested in taking on this project , this is my idea thus far....

Firstly remove the ability for te player to see all other planets except kerbin from the radar array at the KSC, and then implement space telescopes .. If the player I thinking of traveling to a planet , the telescope with allow them to gain basic images of the target and identify its orbital path.

next would come a rejig of the tech tree , putting these new telescope parts early on , followed by the unmanned technology that woul first be required to visit these bodies. 

once the player has discovered te planet/moon they wish to visit then they may send an unmanned mission (lander,orbiter or rover) to the target in order to gather information about the surface of the body (consequently 'unlocking' it in the radar array back on Kerbin so the player may look at it in more detail and decide weather or not to send a manned mission for science) 

 

Personally, I feel this mod would fit in nicely with the other realism overhaul mods that are currently out there as it is a more realistic progression of discovery, to identification to visiting new planets and moons, and therefore I think it would make a great addition to the kerbal mod selection.

I say again this is just an idea that I think would be a lot of fun to play through , but I lack te modding skill to make a reality myself , so I turn to you, the fantastic community!!! Feel free to play with my idea as much as you like, but te premise of nothing else , I believe could serve as the building block for a potentially fantastic realism exploration mod. 

Thank you for taking the time to read through this and I look forward to seeing any ideas anyone has

All the best

Lord Lofty

[technicalfool]

Moved to Add-on discussions!

[JPLRepo]

I think my plans for ResearchBodies and Tarsier Space Tech are pretty close to the first part of your vision...
That feature is Currently in development.

 

[Lord_Lofty]

Ahh, Fantastic!!! i look forward to seeing how it plays out.. please keep me up dated, I would love to hear how things are going!!! 

[JPLRepo]

33 minutes ago, Lord_Lofty said:

Ahh, Fantastic!!! i look forward to seeing how it plays out.. please keep me up dated, I would love to hear how things are going!!! 

Refer to my ResearchBodies thread for progress and updates.