Original Life Support Mod Concept: ReStock

[Rock3tman_]

I have tried out many life support mods in the past, but none of them were just right for me. Even USI-LS, with all its configurability, is a bit too unfriendly in Career mode, where often it ends up that probes are much more viable than crewed missions. I have no experience modding or coding in C#, but with interest, help, and a little more time on my hands I would love to try. My concept aims to encourage resupply missions without mandating them, as well as encouraging big, multi crew motherships without pesky hab requirements. My concept is here if anyone has feedback on it.

[Blaarkies]

3 hours ago, Rock3tman_ said:

, where often it ends up that probes are much more viable than crewed missions. 

That's kind off why IRL humans have not been further than the Mun, but probes have been all over the solar system, and probes are already handling most resupply missions. Humans are slow, fragile and cause a much worse reputation hit to the agency when things go wrong.

Should crewed missions in game be vastly superior to probes then? Need some useful things for kerbals to do

Edited February 23, 2017 by Blaarkies

[Rock3tman_]

5 hours ago, Blaarkies said:

That's kind off why IRL humans have not been further than the Mun, but probes have been all over the solar system, and probes are already handling most resupply missions. Humans are slow, fragile and cause a much worse reputation hit to the agency when things go wrong.

Should crewed missions in game be vastly superior to probes then? Need some useful things for kerbals to do

 

Notice that in my post I prioritized gameplay over realism. Often sending crew missions is more fun and more challenging. It makes sense not to penalize that.

[DStaal]

What you want is the wear mechanic that was recently depreciated from USI-LS - except applied to every part, instead of just to some, as it was in USI-LS.  Interesting concept - it's not really 'life support' mod per-se, as you aren't really talking about Kerbal life - you're talking about equipment life.

[Rock3tman_]

Yeah, essentially. I was looking for a different angle to approach the problem from and I think I'm happy with it. If there's enough interest I would love to dive in and make it.

[Blaarkies]

49 minutes ago, Rock3tman_ said:

Notice that in my post I prioritized gameplay over realism. Often sending crew missions is more fun and more challenging. It makes sense not to penalize that.

I absolutely agree, but "realism" adds a lot to immersion ...thats why KSP didn't end up being a 2D game with linear gravity(relating to real life physics certainly made me lose my mind over this game). I mean don't make stuff silly just for the lols, rather make it have a grounded reason(arbitrary even) which leads to wanting to use crewed missions.

Thats why i say kerbals need better abilities(to have an advantage over probes), or probes need disadvantages(stuff breaks down over time and no one's there to fix it)

[Rock3tman_]

 @Blaarkies I get where you're coming from. Maybe additional science experiments that can only be performed by Kerbals? Long term station or base science? And I'm actually quite proud of the fact that my idea would make probes break down over time. 

Edited February 23, 2017 by Rock3tman_

[DStaal]

21 minutes ago, Rock3tman_ said:

Yeah, essentially. I was looking for a different angle to approach the problem from and I think I'm happy with it. If there's enough interest I would love to dive in and make it.

I say go for it.    You may even be able to grab some of RoverDude's code to help you start, if you go digging.

If people want additional science experiments that can only be run by Kerbals, there are several options.  (SEP, MOLE, Station Science, off the top of my head.)  But this would be something different.

[Rock3tman_]

Sounds good. I should probably learn some C# too, I'm not sure Module-manager patches alone will suffice