RoverDude

Agreed That's why MKS ends at a closed system (and at the extreme end-game, one that doesn't even require drilling up more stuff due to recycling). I think I spent more time in Excel than I did in Visual Studio and Blender.... I think the question is how you get to that point. MKS is at one extreme end, a 2-ton part is at the other. I think the 'game balance' size would be something where a five year journey of supplies weighs as much as the corresponding part, so anything under five years, just send stuff. Over that, add the part and deal with launching it. Although usually the issue is less launching a part that big, and more of landing it

Actually, if someone wanted to give me some ORS configs for minerals, ore, and water, I'd plug it in as an option for the next push

Not opposed at all really. From my standpoint it's just an alternate set of configs. And once I have the core stuff wrapped up, I would not mind having a couple of alternate resource generation packs (I have no ties directly to Kethane the resource, just use it for resource distribution). And yeah, MKS is (intentionally) meant to be making an actual self-sustaining lights-off colony hard. That being said, you can pretty much stop at three modules (Kerbitat, Greenhouse, and Terraformer [for it's purify function]) and still be able to greatly extend your time between supply runs (supplies are about half the cost). And with a config change, even turn that dependency off (tho I think it kinda defeats the whole 'This is a HARD problem' angle). It's a fine line... if you OP a greenhouse too much, LS becomes meaningless. For me, it's the fun of managing what ends up being a 10-15 in-game year project in addition to my other launches, etc. so MKS is definitely angled at a more end-game crowd.

Probably a relatively newb question, but how do I create an animation that toggles interior lights on (specifically, the windows in a part like I see in numerous part mods)? Normally I see a second texture associated with these where I see everything is black other than the lighted area themselves? Any pointers on how this works? Thanks!

Very nice!

Not going to go into the details (has as much to do with the design at hand as ham does with hamsters), but something that gave the net effect of taking a solid asteroid model and from the player's standpoint transformed it into two halves, or pieces, or a torus or hollow egg , or made it sprout chia hair and glow green, would not really be a big deal. I think you're focusing on the 'how' vs. presenting to the player the net effect. PM me if you want to chat further on this topic, since it's OT from what's being developed.

Not really, it's just a collision mesh, so something technically doable, just not sure as to the why And not what the mod had in mind.

Depends on how you define actually hollow. If it's asteroid shaped, has capacity, IVAs, etc... it's 'hollow' - you won't be able to fly a probe inside of it, but it's almost trivial to have 20 Kerbals board one and fill it with Kethane (or Kittens, assuming Kittens were a resource...). There will be no need to modify the mesh files

So I am helping WaRi out with this - just got a model working that incorporates the same functionality as the claw from the ARM pack Will provide some updates shortly once I get some coding done, WaRi gets updated models done, and we finish hashing out details on functionality. Some very rough initial thoughts: Extensible resource storage, with a longer range option to include habitable caverns with IVA, and a scanner probe to let you scan asteroids for resources and harvest these as part of the hollowing out process. Stay tuned

And more a question for Taranis - is there a current plan to revise TAC numbers / mass / etc. (I know there are some community patches, etc. out there) as part of the official package? Reason I am asking is that I want to make sure all of the MKS numbers make sense given the next version of TAC before I move it over to an official release. TIA

A couple of considerations when adding to a LS mod (based on my time building MKS as well as some mods before that for my own use) On the one hand, you want to make sure you do not have an instant 'I Win' button. If the mod is too overpowered (and making food by adding a single part that only weighs a few tons qualifies) then it kinda negates why folks install TAC-LS - i.e. to add in both realism and the real logistical challenges of keeping Kerbals alive for long journeys (I've been reading tons of papers on food generation for NASA mars missions, and it's an interesting problem space). As an example, a part I had modded to do the Waste/CO2 to Food/Oxygen conversion came in at about 10 tons per Kerbal - so it was pretty non-trivial and you had a high breakeven point vs. just sending food. The other, for those making bases, is (in my opinion) to have some kind of path to a closed system, so that there's an end game where you can just set it and forget it. this is what MKS does, it just makes it REALLY expensive to do so, so in a lot of cases, it makes more sense to just send in the supplies unless you're making a permanent base. Just my $0.02

Sorry about that - was a case sensitivity thing in the config, all MKS parts should now properly be set to show up as bases (this is fixed in GitHub but not in the ZIP yet).

To add onto the previous question about Chemicals... one of the deeper ideas is that for a settlement to truly be self sufficient they need a lot more than food - you need replacement parts for broken equipment, and for this you need manufacturing, components, and raw materials. This is why the path to construction is easy, even life support is relatively simple, but to finally break all ties from Kerbin and be 100% self sufficient, Kerbals will have to build a manufacturing base from scratch. Raw materials are refined (minerals to chemicals for example). Refined materials become components (like electronic or mechanical parts) Components are assembled into consumables (robotics, computers, or modular parts for patching up things) All of these components combined are packaged as Colony Supplies which represent the stuff you need for daily wear and tear on a settlement. It's still twice as efficient to haul in colony supplies vs. hauling in food, but the intent is for there to be a long, hard path towards actual self sufficiency. Also, you could easily set up a full settlement on, say, Laythe and have ColonySupplies to spare to feed your resource gathering satellite bases elsewhere in the Jool system. The VERY long term vision is to have MKS as a whole be the 'pioneer' part of the system, then have the capability to build truly huge and expansive structures that can only realistically be built from scratch in-situ, consisting of hundreds of tons of resources. But that's a future phase once I get the first batch out the door

Yeah I had that same problem, so I just replaced it (this is now on Github not in the ZIP yet) with a fully symmetrical part kinda like the stock station hub, that way you can rotate it however and get it to fit the way you want (with the same peculiarities you see in the station hub). You can grab just this part if you'd like from Github. And glad folks are enjoying it, makes it worth all of the long nights

Sure, but IMO TAC has done a very good job, so might as well take the dependency (same as Kethane has an excellent resource extraction system that I leverage). Chemicals are used as part of the manufacturing chain, which at the end, makes the consumable Colony Supplies.

Yep, I found this bug myself - so right now MKS is in easy mode till the update there's new code in GitHub but not a new ZIP as I am vetting it out this week

Additional PSA/Notes. There is some new experimental code up on GitHub - plugs in the new hub (symmetrical, so you can rotate it like the station hub), fixes some config issues (Required Resources were not working properly), and renames GreenMesaIndustries to UmbraSpaceIndustries so that I'm alphabetically below TAC, which gets rid of my need to inclue the TAC DLL in MKS, and also fixes a reported incompatiblity with Stretchy SRBs. This is NOT yet in the ZIP yet, I'll be doing that later this week (band rehearsal tonight), and I want to finish off the new PDU model and do a complete shakedown of my test colony before zipping up again. Note that once this goes to public release, all bets are off with folder structures, etc., I am just maintaining full backwards compatability while in alpha. Public release will be AFTER .24 because I want to work in contracts (and see if I can have it give you $K for sending back stuff made at your Colony, making them an option for generating funds). Also integrating a science-generator in-line with what KSP-I has, so folks without KSP-I can get the benefit of gradual science generation (will be a lower rate for balance issues).

I have no idea what their building scheme is But if it's just a matter of a few configs, I have no aversion to adding some more bits in. Currently working on a new PDU (based off of the refinery model) that combines a bunch of batteries and RTG's in a much larger package for power generation (thus saving on parts).

Renewed via composting which is one of the requirements to keep the greenhouse rolling (and where their nutrients come from). EnrichedSoil is one of the two non-consumed resources (not unlike starting a boxed garden bed - you establish a base then just have to refresh it with other materials over time).

I'll take a look - it should be taking in recycleables and dumping out metal, polymers, and chemicals.

Going to dog-ear this I have a long-term roadmap for the project (very large-scale constructibles, underground colonies, etc.) and always good to hear interesting ideas. And yeah, I think the egg theory makes as much sense as anything else

Another quick update - currently working through some adjustments to proximity logistics. Specifically, have the range affected by the number and quantity of Kerbals serving in the logistics distribution part. So brave Kerbals will be more willing to go out of that airlock to deliver supplies, while stupid ones will tend to be... well... stupider. So it will be a combination of both stats that in the end determine range. There will also be a ColonySupply and ElectricCharge consumption rate - this will be tied to the number of Kerbals that are servicing the distribution module. There's also a replacement for the docking hub part - it does not actually dock, and the six nodes are a pain - so I made it a cube that you can rotate, and am keeping the docking port as a separate part. Will also add an 'Airlock' module for completeness/aesthetics with a crew capacity and a functioning hatch. (I'm doing a revamp of the larger tubs (changing the collider as well as lowering the landing strut anchor points for consistency), but will not be breaking any alpha saves (these will have an MKS_014x prefix, where x is an incremental letter). Note that when this does go live, I will be renaming all of the parts to their final designation so that I don't break anyone's saves (they will all revert back to the MKS_ designation with no version prefix), but you may want to deprecate the parts/etc. on your own or change configs as appropriate.

Awesome! I'm trying to tighten everything up before a public release, so feedback is really encouraged and appreciated

Ahh good to know Short versions - KSP loads mods for whatever reason alphabetically, and I come alphabetically before TAC so if TAC is not loaded, my mod gets very sad (this is probably why the toolbar mod is in a '000_' folder. Suprised it caused an issue, so I'll have to go back and see what I can sort out, if it's a solveable issue (other than the horrible hack of renaming my root folder in GameData). If MKS fails to work, go ahead and rename the GreenMesaIndustries folder to zzMKS or something and see if that fixed it after deleting my copy of the TAC dll?

New version is up - includes nifty bits for docking (four-way hub, tube, and docking port)