Angelo Kerman

Yup, always great to see what people come up with

Having built SunkWorks and submarine parts for Buffalo 2, I second this. I know it's Kerbal Space Program, but if there was more to do underwater (explore anomalies, go fishing, learn about oceanography, build colonies, etc.), I'd love to see boat and submarine parts. If nothing else, boat parts would be a great addition to KSP - possibly as a DLC - for use in capsule recovery craft. For Chris: - KSP 1 and 2 currently has the Shuttle cockpit for large space planes and aircraft. As a concept designer, how would you go about designing a second Mk3-class cockpit part for use in airplanes? - How detailed do you go into when creating concept parts? Do you unwrap & paint them like a modded KSP 1 part? - Just how do you pronounce "Nertea?" - Though not exactly parts, how would a modder create "parts" for kerbals to wear and use in KSP 2? Jeb needs SCUBA gear, and Bob would like a tricorder... - When creating part plugins for KSP 2, are there any considerations for kerbal skills? Will kerbal skills appear in KSP 2?

This looks great! I love the breakdown of how you made the city and sank it. I’m curious to know why SunkWorks ballast didn’t help; I designed the plugin to drop part buoyancy to zero when there is no IntakeLqg, so in theory it should have worked. With 40 parts you might have needed more ballast tanks but it’s been awhile since I looked at the code. for the save and load, the ballast not being saved sounds like a bug. I’ll look into it. Thanks again, I too wish there was more to do underwater despite the game being about space programs…

They should have Omni storage but only if you install Wild Blue Tools. I don't recall if I made B9PS configs for them as well. @kurgut made an awesome Kerbal Subnautic Program video that features the Buffalo 2 sub parts and an amazing city, check it out! Buffalo 2's IVAs were definitely inspired by Subnautica, and some of the parts were inspired by the Sea Truck as well. @kurgut I like the changes you made to the Guppy's IVA, are those available somewhere? Once again, great video!

This is amazing and very well done! I love the changes you made to the Guppy IVA too

KFS 1.1.1 is now available: - Updated the FX for the standalone gravitic engines. - Bug fixes in Wild Blue Tools.

Where are the Space Marines when you need them- or at least Space Vikings!

DSEV 3.2 is now available: - Added new texture variants to the Nautilus Centrifuge. - Added new texture variants to the 2.5m station parts. NOTE: The Nautilus Centrifuge and the S2 Cargo Bay parts have to use the stock texture switcher, while the rest can use the Wild Blue texture switchers as before. It's a bit of a kludge, but it works and no parts had to be retired. - Removed BARIS configs from the 2.5m station parts.

Buffalo 2 v 1.6.0 is now available: New Parts - B2 Workshop Module (Short): A half-sized version of the B2 Workshop Module. - Support Unit Endcap: A Stilt Lift Module without the stilts. Changes - Increased the B2 Workshop Module's Sandcastle printing capacity to 800 liters. - Added Superstructure part variant to the B2 Endcap. - Fixed wrong node size on the Stilt Lift Module. - Fixed AuXEN requiring Breaking Ground DLC. - Fixed missing texture on the Mineshaft.

@Nertea This is a great explanation of the design goals for KSP 2's thermal system. Having seen you struggle with KSP 1's system- and running into the problems of heat management after timewarp or after being away from a vessel for a long time- it's good to know that factors like these are being taken into account in KSP 2.

There's supposed to be a converter utility in Pathfinder to turn them into regular astronauts. Are you saying that doesn't work? I still recommend KIS/KAS for Pathfinder; the parts were specifically designed for it. They technically work with the stock EVA Construction, but given its less-than-optimal implementation, you can't snap parts to the correct angles, and some Pathfinder parts won't node-attach. It would take a whole new Pathfinder mod to use stock EVA Construction, something that I sadly don't have time for right now.

The biggest thing keeping me from modding KSP 2 is a lack of official modding support. Someday they might include it, then someday I might mod the game. That's one big difference between KSP 1 and KSP 2: in KSP 1, the designers provided modding support early on. I wasn't around before KSP 1's 0.23.5, but by then they had modding.

This would be for advanced users, but the ability to set part, suit, and flag colors via RGB and/or hex values would be immensely useful.

Question: Are there plans to add, perhaps for advanced users, the ability to set rocket and suit colors via RGB and/or HEX values?

Question: Longtime players of KSP 1 know that throughout its development, rocket parts had varying levels of texel densities, styles, and mesh qualities, which resulted in community projects like Restock (spearheaded by @Nertea, who is now part of IG). KSP 2 is already following suit, with different numbers of faces on cylindrical parts of the same size, disparate texel densities, and different art qualities, such as the exterior of the Mk3 shuttle cockpit not matching the other Mk3 parts. In terms of texel densities, number of faces for cylinders/number of polygons for parts in a set, and color palettes, how does the the art department ensure a consistent look and feel for part sets so that another Restock isn't necessary, and will modders be provided with the art standards ? Side note: A part quality standards guide would be immensely useful as part of a modding toolset.

Chapter 11 Bolstered with the success of their first outing, Dudmon authorized another outing- after repairing and upgrading the Buffabus. While the Buffabus crew rested, Tobias handled repairs to the rover as well as stocking up its repair kits. He also attached additional propellant tanks to the outside of the factory building for storage of liquid fuel and oxidizer. Once Emma got some rest, all three engineers worked on the additions to Buffabus. To investigate the anomalies further away from Duna Base, Buffabus needed to be more self-sufficient. That required additional facilities to handle contingencies. To expand its capabilities, the vonKerman engineers planned to dock support rovers to the sides of the bus and drive them as a single unit- much like how the two Buffalo rovers joined together during DBE-1’s landfall. Both support rovers had the same basic design with a standardized chassis, sloped front, a docking module, a set of retractable solar arrays, and an aft-mounted large-scale fuel cell array and drill. But that’s where the similarities ended. The port support rover had a small 3D print shop and a galley, while the starboard rover had a sickbay and a gym. Together, the three linked rovers essentially formed a mobile base to conduct extensive research with. By the time they were done, the Buffabus was fully stocked with resources, ample repair kits, work lights, exo skeletons, and science experiments. “I wish I could go with you,” Dudmon lamented, but he knew that he couldn’t. As the only pilot, he had to remain behind to fly the Endeavour into orbit and bring DSEV-02 back to Kerbin. Instead, Ferwin, Calbro, and Emma set out once again into the vast rusty desert to see what other sensor anomalies would reveal… Their first anomly site was a whopping 387km away from Duna Base and it took a day to reach. On the trip over, Emma vonKerman took the time to take her engineering exam, and she passed. “Congratulations, you’ve earned your 3-star rating,” Tobias radioed. The explorers finally located the anomaly- a pair of discolored sand dunes out in the Midlands. The larger of the two had what appeared to be a camera mast sticking out of it. From the looks of it, the team had discovered a second rover. Emma carefully examined the mast and compared it to pictures of the one from the old rover that they’d found a week ago. The two designs were very similar. “I wonder what caused this one to become buried in sandstone,” she asked. Neither scientist had an answer. After taking detailed pictures of the site, Calbro decided that they would stop for the night and set up a science station in the morning. As Calbro prepared a meal in the galley, Ferwin got some exercise time in the gym while Emma did some work in the exploration module. After dinner, Calbro and Ferwin insisted that Emma sleep in the hab module, while they stretched out in the two support rover’s airlock modules. There wasn’t a lot of space in the Buffabus even with the additional support rovers, but there was enough for each crewmember to have their own sleeping quarters. The next morning, while Calbro made breakfast, Emma and Ferwin set out the first set of science instruments to study midlands biome. It didn’t take long for them to complete their task; they set up the basic infrastructure along with instruments like the seismic sensors, graviolium detector, and the cosmic ray detector. Once that was completed, Emma attempted to diagnose the problem with the retractable solar arrays on the support rovers. They would extend ok, but for some reason they kept retracting, and nothing in the control software appeared to command them to do that. Frustrated, she entered the print shop and printed up a set of non-retracting solar arrays and attached them to the sides. Finally, she deployed the drills and started the converters to replenish their liquid fuel and oxidizer reserves before sitting down to breakfast. After their morning meal, the explorers tapped in the coordinates to their next anomaly, a site known as FRN-3G- the rock cropping that Duna Copter 1 discovered over 4 years ago. At just under 400km away, it would be a hard day of driving for the rover autopilot, but they’d break their previous record for the longest off-world road trip. Before they set out, Buffabus drove over to the nearby “Duna Blueberries” and the sand dune to scan them with their scanning arm. With the results of the scans stored in the B2 Laboratory Module for analysis, the Buffabus set out for its next destination… Along the way, Emma finally sorted out the software issues preventing the retractable solar arrays from staying deployed. It took them the better part of a day to drive the long distance, but by sundown, they arrived at the strange rock outcropping. After the team stepped outside to take a quick look at the anomaly- and the mangled remains of the Duna Copter that crashed years ago- Emma took a moment to install a core sampling drill before they went back inside for dinner. “I just heard back from Wernher,” Emma said while working out in the gym, “some of the vonKerman Rocketry Corps ballistic missiles from the Last War were technically capable of launching a probe towards Duna if they were modified. But he hadn’t heard of any space program from back then. If they did launch probes, they were very quiet about it. He thinks it’s the most likely explanation though.” The next morning, Emma and Ferwin set up another science station- the map said that they were in some notable mountains- before Emma programmed the Buffabus to auto-drive to the next anomaly a “mere” 687km away… As the Buffabus drove itself, the team took core samples at various locations, and in the highlands, they discovered 33,838 units of graviolium! It was the first source of graviolium discovered on another planet, and the largest concentration of graviolium outside of the Magic Boulder. The team carefully noted the location and continued towards their destination… Two days later, they arrived at the next site after sundown. In the glow of the rover’s lights, they found it- but what they found was astonishing. The explorers deployed the drills and then stepped outside for a look before bedding down for the night. “Why- how- is there a Kermantian monolith on Duna,” Ferwin asked. * Back in Kerbin orbit, yard workers at the Ministry of Space’s Space Operations Center just finished docking Halley (DSX-02) to the airlock module’s ventral docking port and unfolded its habitat ring. The command hull and habitat ring needed a lot of interior work to finish, its sensors needed to be wired to the ship’s flight computers, volumes of code needed to be written, and its revolutionary graviolium-catalyzed fusion engine had yet to be tested, but the shipwrights celebrated nonetheless; they completed the hull of the Halley ahead of schedule- and more importantly, before Orbital Dynamics and their team completed the Newton. The construction crew held a brief celebration before immediately getting back to work. * The next morning, Emma installed a pair of radiators to handle some heat issues with the drills. “We’re lucky that the drills didn’t explode,” Emma noted. The radiators made quick work of the heat buildup threatening to cook the occupants alive. Then, Ferwin and Emma got to work setting up a new science station specifically to study the “Dunalith” as Calbro dubbed it. By the time that they finished, Mission Control informed them that they were working on locating Adsii Kerman, the foremost expert on the Kermantian Empire. According to Orbital Dynamics, he was currently on sabbatical, and they didn’t know his current whereabouts. In the meantime, the Buffabus’ spectral analysis showed that the “Dunalith” was made of granite- just like the one at KSC. The only difference was that the one on Duna had a green tint due to some feldspars such as Amazonite. There didn’t appear to be any variable densities like the one at KSC, nor were there any magnets nearby to enable the stone slab to levitate. The monolith also had some writing on it that appeared to be different from the one at KSC. With nothing more to gain from staying at the site, the team double-checked the cameras that they set up and verified that the data links were solid before programming the rover autopilot for their next destination, known as Zone 6-HML. It was “only” 445.6 km away… Two days later, the team arrived at the next anomaly after navigating some treacherous mountains. The anomaly turned out to be another rock formation like the one that Duna Copter 1 found several years ago. Strangely, it appeared to have the same arrangement of rocks, suggesting that the formation was deliberately constructed. Given the previous anomaly suggested that somehow, Kermantians landed on Duna despite not having the technology to do so, it’s possible that they assembled the rock formations. The team took the time to set up a small research station by the monument before plugging in the coordinates to the next anomaly on their list and heading out. They had a 146 km dogleg maneuver to get around the mountains before they could reach their next target, known as Sector R6-V… After three days of driving, the Buffabus finally arrived at Sector R6-V. The crew was tired- Ferwin was already snoring in the lab- since they arrived at local midnight. Emma and Calbro looked at the anomaly through the Buffabus’s cockpit windows. “Should we wake Ferwin,” Emma asked. “Nah,” Calbro answered. “It’s just a large boulder. It can wait until morning. Let’s get some rest…” * Arrow Space Corporation’s completion of the Halley inspired the Orbital Dynamics- led team to step up the pace and as a result, a week after Halley slipped free of the Space Operations Center’s construction dock, shipwrights at Magic Boulder docked the Gravitic Propulsion Module to the Newton. As with the Halley, the Newton’s engineering team still had a lot of work to do to outfit the ship’s interior, but they were proud of their handiwork. The ship’s design remained virtually unchanged from the initial proposal with the only difference being the addition of a docking ring on the front of the cockpit cupola. Though it sacrificed a small amount of forward visibility, the docking ring provided an additional location to dock other modules to the vessel. Newton also gained an experimental version of the Buffalo Shuttlepod, docked to its ventral docking port. Unlike the standard shuttlepod, “Pod 1,” as it was called, had the ability to separate its cockpit and engine section from the passenger cabin. Chassis couplers mounted to the roofs of the engine section and cockpit enabled Pod 1 to dock to a cargo frame. In theory, that would enable the shuttlepod to deliver various cargo modules to the surface of a planet or moon. Designers weren’t sure if the modular approach was better than having a dedicated cargo shuttle for a DSEV, but that’s why test projects existed. At any rate, with the main hull completed, both DSX teams had just over a month to complete their respective spacecraft and basic systems testing before the three space agencies evaluated the craft and chose the winner. * The team slept for what felt like weeks, but the next morning, the intrepid explorers of the Buffabus stepped outside to look at the seemingly non-descript boulder. “Huh,” Ferwin said, adjusting his helmet. He tilted his head. “Almost looks like a pair of eyes…” “What,” Emma asked. “The outcroppings at the top of the boulder. They look like- eyes.” The trio walked towards the large boulder to get a closer look. Calbro examined the rock’s surface. “Those look like chisel marks,” he said. “Yeah,” Ferwin said, lost in thought. “Emma, can I borrow your jetpack?” “Sure,” she responded, “It’s in the port storage compartment.” A few minutes later, Ferwin returned to the rock face after rummaging around in the storage compartment to find Emma’s jetpack. “Found it in the starboard compartment, he said.” “Oh, sorry,” Emma apologized, “I thought I left it in the port one. Anyway, the jets aren’t powerful enough to lift you off the ground, so you’ll need to jump and hit the jets at the same time.” Ferwin did as he was told- though it took a couple of tries- and was rewarded with an amazing sight. “Incredible,” he exclaimed. “What, is,” Calbro asked. “If we had any doubts that the ‘Dunalith’ was made by kerbals before, there should be no doubt now. This entire rock is a carving of a kerbal’s head.”

The Flapjack was originally a proof-of-concept craft that I created to determine if modular, saucer-shaped craft could be built and flown in KSP 1. While the Mk2-S is a project that I'm using to learn Blender, it could potentially turn into a new saucer part set. If so, then the Mk2-S would essentially be a Restock version of the Flapjack. The Mk2-S would have the same stats as the Flapjack, but employ a new shape that lets it integrate with Mk2 parts and leverage the art experience that I gained since making the original. I don't plan on making adapters to go between the Mk2-S and the Flapjack (it was made in a 3D program that I no longer have the license for). I also don't see the Mk2-S artwork as a drop-in replacement for the Flapjack since the Mk2-S is slightly larger. If the Mk2-S ends up as a new part set, I could either retire the original Flapjack parts or let the Flapjack and the Mk2-S work side by side.

More doodling/learning. Below are some cross-sections. I learned how to use the measuring tool today. Top: Mk2-S (tentative name) cross-section, 8.75m-diameter saucer. Middle: Typical B2 IVA cross-section. Bottom: Mk2-S cross-section, 7.5m-diameter saucer. I think the 7.5m saucer would have enough floor space for IVAs. Here is another doodle, this one prototyping how the gravitic engine would look on a 7.5m-diameter saucer: The rotating section would have more glowing bits on it. I'm using a higher-resolution for this Mk2-S, potentially something like what you'd see in KSP 2, but perhaps a lower-resolution version of the gravitic engine would be possible for KSP 1.

Since the license on my previous 3D program ran out at the end of last year, I've been on a 3D modeling break for a few months, but I've had the goal of learning Blender this year. Last couple of days I took the first few steps in that direction. This is just me noodling around, but I thought it might be worth a look. This is based on the Mk2 form factor. While not as sleek as the existing craft, it does give more options for combining parts.

Personally, I still think that KSP 2 has a lot of potential, but it also has a long way to go. I remain cautiously optimistic.

This is a great reporting tool. By chance does it produce a boilerplate text (e.g. system information) for the start of a forum post? That might be helpful for users who post bugs on the forums. Then it would be a matter of opening the boilerplate output and cutting and pasting.

Oh no worries, this is all a few months down the road. The KSP 2 roadmap won't have resource extraction for a long time, for instance, and there's no telling when official mod support will be available.

One of the things that I want to address in KSP 2 is the common origins of graviolium. In a nutshell, have a small suite of mods under the Blueshift banner for gravitic tech, FTL tech, and saucer tech. They'd all have a common core, so you can mix and match as desired.

Kerbal Flying Saucers 1.1.0 is now available: - Gravitic engines will no longer accelerate a vessel past 99.99% of light speed. - Added "Boost Mode" to WBIGraviticEngine. Boost Mode is only available when a vessel is orbiting, sub-orbital, or on an escape trajectory. When enabled, Boost Mode increases acceleration- and fuel consumption- by a factor specified by the boostModeModifier. The default is 10, meaning that when enabled, Boost Mode will consume 10x the propellants and also multiply max acceleration 10x.

Blueshift 1.9.5 is now available: - Added new entry for settings.cfg: interstellarResourceConsumptionModifier. This modifier reduces the resources required to power warp engines while in interstellar space. It is a percentage value between 0 and 99.999. The default value is 10. You can override this global setting by specifying this value in the WBIWarpEngine config. - WBIWarpEngine: Added new interstellarResourceConsumptionModifier that will reduce the resource consumption of all WBIModuleGeneratorFX part modules when the vessel is in interstellar space. This is a percentage value between 0 and 99.999. The default is 10, meaning that all generators will reduce their input resource consumption by 10% while keeping the output rates the same. Bottom line: This reduction will enable ships to consume less graviolium while out in interstellar space.