ProtoJeb21

I've made yet another dropship-like craft in my SCIENCE! mode save. They're called STUPS (Super Tiny Utility ProbeS), and they can be used in more ways than just a dropship. More stuff about them coming soon!

Heads up! KottabosGames just did a review on the mod! Also, this pack is amazing.

While going through the forums, I found a thread for a challenge mission to send a manned craft to Comet ISON in Kerbal Space Program. I found that very interesting, but just one problem: No comet. So I though, "How about creating a mod that adds in comets for different level of KSP challenges?" You probably can guess where that idea went to... The Process The Kopernicus Komet Challenge Mod is both a planet pack, but a challenge too. It will add in 5 new comets to the Kerbol system, living up to what that other thread couldn't live to see. Each comet is a different difficulty level, from super-easy (depending on your Kerbal's cooperation) to highly difficult. There will also be different objectives that you can incorporate into your mission. After completion, a participant must list the following: Game version (Duh) Mods used (more on that in a sec...) Amount of Kerbals (If you used any) SCIENCE gathered Mission time Your destination These factors will determine your score. If someone were to do the easy comet and the easy objective, they would get little points, and vice-versa. They will also get a Badge of Completion (once I can make it). A participant is free to compete as many times as s/he wants to. It is allowed to try to beat your score from the same comet and/or difficulty level. The Comets! As said before, the KKCM will add in 5 comets. This is a list of those comets, in order of difficulty: Enecke: The Comet Encke analogue and the Level 1 comet. Its orbit does not vary much, going from a region slightly closer to the Sun than Eve to the orbit of Dres. Enecke has a radius of 55km and has 8.35% the gravity of Kerbin. Its surface is rather smooth, making landings slightly easier. Bordelly: The Comet Borelly analogue and the Level 2 comet. Its orbit is similar to Enecke's, stretching from Moho to Dres. However, this comet is smaller (radius of 31km), has lower gravity (6.2% Kerbin's gravity), and has a shape which makes landings more difficult. Hallali: The Comet Halley analogue and the Level 3 comet. Hallali's orbit is much more extreme; the periapsis is around Moho's orbit, while the apoapsis is 1.3x farther out than Jool. The advantage is that Hallali has a radius of 72km and 9.76% Kerbin's gravity, along with a relatively smooth surface. Luvoy: The Comet Lovejoy analogue and the Level 4 comet. Luvoy's orbit varies from 3.5 million km to 213.87 million km. It has a radius of 40 km and 4.91% the gravity of Kerbin. Encountering this thing is pretty challenging! KISON: The Comet ISON analogue and the Level 5 comet. KISON has the most extreme orbit, getting as close at 450,000 km to Kerbol, and as far away as 563 million km. This comet is rather large (88km radius) and has somewhat strong gravity (10.6% Kerbin's gravity), but the surface is covered in peaks and fissures. KISON is a comet for only the most confident and experienced players. Scoring The 5 comets are worth the same amount of points as their level. For example, going to KISON will immediately give you 5 points. As said earlier, their are different objectives that can give you certain amount of points. Here are the objectives and how many points they give: Probodobodyne Run: Take a probe to a comet and mine at least 20 units of ore (Adds 2 points). Science Fest 1: Send an unmanned vessel to a comet to collect at least 1500 Science (Adds 3.5 points). Science Fest 2: Send a manned vessel to a comet to collect at least 2500 Science (Adds 4 points). Kometary King: Using a manned vessel, collect every possible science situation (Ex: gravity scan in space low over midlands) with all the reproducable experiments. (Adds 6.5 points) System Jumper: Take a probe that will hop between at least 3 comets and collect more than 5000 science (Adds 7 points). Jeb's Challenge: Take a kerbal to more than 3 comets, collect science from every location on/around that body, and aquire more than 10000 science (Adds 10 points!). All of these objectives require the vessel returning to Kerbin one way or another. Depending on what mod you use, however, your score can drop. Mods listed in green will subtract just 0.5 points. Mods listed in blue will drop 1 point. Mods in orange drop 2 points, and red mods will delete 5 points. Kerbal Engineer/Kerbal Engineer Redux MechJeb Other calculative mods Tweak Scale Star Packs (IA-Revived, Other_Worlds, etc.) Kethane and other resource mods Extraplanetary launchpads Planet packs that add other bodies inside the Kerbol system Mods that change the KSC's location New Horizons HyperEdit Kerbodyne Plus Uncharted Lands Kerbalkind's Destiny (when it's released) Space Y and Space Y Expanded Near-Future Propulsion and Near-Future Electrics DMagic Orbital Science There will be different categories based off of score: Bob Level (1-3 points), Bill Level (4-7 points), Val Level (7-10 points), and Jeb Level (10+ points). The Best of the Best Bob Level: None Yet Bill Level: None Yet Val Level: None Yet Jeb Level: None Yet Planned Features Over 4 biomes per comet. Particle trails I dunno? Suggest something you guys want to see!

Congrats on your first release! Can't wait to try it out and make some Kerb-B-Qs!

@daniel l. How did yo get the planet and cacti ground scatter to work? Can you provide me an example for my mod Interstellar Adventure Revived?

If anyone wants to know the scale of this mod, these galaxies will be HUGE. I'm thinking that the Miluwy Pass will be 200 light-years wide, and the Megtellastic Storm will be 50-75 light years wide. Better get the Interstellar mod!

Just today, I found a gas giant very similar, if not identical, to Lomina from the mod "Extrasolar: Planets Beyond Kerbol". Both are blue, cool ice giants with rings divided into multiple gaps. Both have 5 moons. In fact, two of those moons are nearly identical. The middle moon of the SE Lomina is an oceania like Javine, and the second-to-last moon of SE Lomina is a purple desert like Deemo. I have never found more than 1 SE-KSP similarities from the same mod around the same planet, which is also similar to a KSP planet. I also found another purple desert that, despite being ocean-less, is a lot like Eve. I also found a ringed Duna-like moon, a cool gas giant like Jool, and an alien version of Laythe with green skies.

Banned for using 7 question marks instead of 198,098,331,782.

I have an idea for a moon of Mir: A moon 1/3 the size and 28% the mass of Mir, which forms a binary relationship with it. This moon would have a grey-red surface with several dark spots. It is based off of Charon. I don't have a name; Give it any name you want.

This mod is looking really nice! Also, I found a gas giant similar to Lomina in Space Engine that has two moons resembling Javine and Deemo! I haven't found anything like that anywhere else in the galaxy.

The major outer moons I would personally like to visit are Titan, Charon, and Iapetus. I also like Puck. I know that's a minor moon of Uranus, but its name is glorious, and that's why I like it. EDIT: Also Mimas.

@The White Guardian Is there a PQSMod that makes textures less cartoonish? Like Land Control? I'm trying to make textures with the quality of KillAshley's from Uncharted Lands.

I hope that thing is an ellipsoid like Haumea. Also, I really hope 2014 MU69 isn't geologically active, or else there will be no way to convince scientists that Pluto is still a planet!

Bespin doesn't have life, but I have found planets similar to it in color. One problem: They're Hot Jupiters, and they're gray. Planets like Bespin are possibly near impossible to find in Space Engine, as of version 0.973.

Hmm...that's stuff I've never tried to do with my craters. I'll test it out, thanks!

Time for a new body! To celebrate the discovery of the large Trans-Neptunian Object (and possible dwarf planet) 2015 KH162, I'm hosting a contest for people to suggest names for a recreation of the body in Outer Reaches. Remember: It must come from some ancient culture or mythology. The name should be a slightly edited version of that deity's name (like what I do with all the other bodies) It can only be a creation deity or an underworld deity. Provide a brief explanation of the name. Make sure everyone can pronounce it! The contest will end on March 1st. Like the post with the name you like best. The name whose post has gotten the most likes wins the contest and will be the name of the body for Outer Reaches. Feel free to suggest any terrain features that will make 2015 KH162's recreation unique from other bodies. Here's an article about the discovery, written by Phil Plait: http://www.slate.com/blogs/bad_astronomy/2016/02/25/_2015_kh162_a_distant_icy_world_past_pluto.html

Borag looks nice, a lot like a glacier-covered Triton. Although it seems a little blurry, I like it!

Those look really nice! Three questions: What's the resolution for Serc's maps? It looks a little...weird. I've had the same issue before, too. How did you get those craters so non-glitchy? What PQSMod did you use to give Glac its fissures?

I call dibs on Phoenix . But eventually, Artyomka15 will be back to making planet packs, so it's possible that he will fix up this mod sooner or later.

@Pkmniako Development update?

I agree with @Galacticvoyager that the concept is a little overused, but those poles are amazing! If you do edit Mios' texture, DON'T CHANGE THE POLES!! They're just too amazing to be destroyed. Also, maybe some islands?

@The White Guardian Great tutorial! There's just one thing I need to ask for: Tutorials on Vonoroi Craters. I just can't seem to get craters that aren't "sliced" or don't have polygons around them. They're seriously hampering my attempts to get the first version of Outer Reaches ready,

The main plans for Netools rings: There will be three major, inner rings. The innermost will be darker than the outermost, and they will all be purple. Each of the 3 main rings have a space in between where a moon can easily fit. The outermost is planned to be a dust ring caused by the collision with Rhev.

I've been working on the lighting for Poait. Because I was too lazy to make a new star, I just used Kittopia on Kerbol to produce purple lighting. The results could not have been better. I first thought it would turn out a dark purple, like this one rogue planet. However, the Poait-colored Sun shines a beautiful neon-purple/pink color. And surprisingly, it could be somewhat realistic for hyperactive O-Type supergiants. My only gripe about Poait 1.0 is how it makes the planets TOO purple. Here's a pic (Note: that white orbit is Erios, a dwarf planet from Outer Reaches):

@sdj64 Are participants allowed to complete flybys of other objects to get to the Jool system? And are mods with other planets allowed for gravity assists? I've known about this challenge since good ol' 0.90, and I'm finally going to give this a shot. May the Holy Mother of Jeb (oh, and the Kraken, too) watch over my easily killable kerbals.