[KSP 1.4.5] How to create a Visual Mod for KSP as a Beginner?

[100%notUsingGotoIpromise]

I'm new around here so please use thin spoons instead of thick knifes ,k?.

As some might have noticed, there are quite a lot of mods out there and a lot of them can completely change Kerbal Space Programm into a whole new game.

Lets not do that, I want to start with something easy that will not kill my clock & circadian rhythm.

The goal is to create a skybox like this one :Good looking Skybox

But that would be a little bit too easy. On top of that I also want to put in an effect that will make stars fade in and out.

Where do I need to start?

I already have C++, C , Java and Web coding expierence but I need understand firstly how to communicate with ksp's api though I think the issue lays somewhere else since we're trying to modify visuals but what do I know.

 

TL;DR:

I want to create a skybox with stars fading in and out.

Of course I could download Texture Replacer and an Andromeda 8k Skybox but what's the point of learning then? <-- Plus I want to add other visual things that are not present in any visual mods ;)

[sumghai]

[MOD - Moved to General Mod Development Help and Support subforums, as this is a question regarding modmaking that does not (yet) fall under one of the specific mod dev help subforums]

[100%notUsingGotoIpromise]

3 hours ago, sumghai said:

[MOD - Moved to General Mod Development Help and Support subforums, as this is a question regarding modmaking that does not (yet) fall under one of the specific mod dev help subforums]

Judging by how many replies occur on this subforum, I highly doubt any replies will be coming in over the span of a month so could you redirect this post back to the original forum categ?

[sumghai]

@100%notUsingGotoIpromise, threads are moved to subforums based on relevancy, not popularity or exposure.

Your thread was moved here because there would be a greater proportion of users with actual modding skills that frequent this subforum and would see your thread, as opposed to its original location.

[MOARdV]

12 hours ago, 100%notUsingGotoIpromise said:

I want to create a skybox with stars fading in and out.

Of course I could download Texture Replacer and an Andromeda 8k Skybox but what's the point of learning then? <-- Plus I want to add other visual things that are not present in any visual mods

There is at least one mod that replaces the skybox texture.  If you want to figure out how to replace skyboxes, you should download the source to one of those mods and figure out how they did it.  As for stars fading in and out, assuming you mean something like "the skybox disappears in bright light", then the DarkenSky class in Distant Object Enhancement should show you how to cause the skybox to dim.  There's a single global value that controls the skybox brightness.  Unfortunately, it appears that there's no real discipline or control to accessing it, so stock KSP and mods merrily stomp on the value.

[100%notUsingGotoIpromise]

10 hours ago, MOARdV said:

There is at least one mod that replaces the skybox texture.  If you want to figure out how to replace skyboxes, you should download the source to one of those mods and figure out how they did it.  As for stars fading in and out, assuming you mean something like "the skybox disappears in bright light", then the DarkenSky class in Distant Object Enhancement should show you how to cause the skybox to dim.  There's a single global value that controls the skybox brightness.  Unfortunately, it appears that there's no real discipline or control to accessing it, so stock KSP and mods merrily stomp on the value.

is version 1.9.1 of DOE compatible with KSP 1.4.5? The github release says 1.4.2 but I'm not sure....

But thanks for the answer, will definitely try that out.

[MOARdV]

On 9/30/2018 at 4:51 AM, 100%notUsingGotoIpromise said:

is version 1.9.1 of DOE compatible with KSP 1.4.5? The github release says 1.4.2 but I'm not sure....

But thanks for the answer, will definitely try that out.

Yes, it's compatible.

[Tyko]

That skybox is awesome!

Could you use one of the existing texture replacer mods? You'd have to make sure your images, formats and naming schema matched what the mods were looking for, but you could save having to write new code and creating yet another texture replacement mod