Level 4 KSC upgrades, upgradeable alternate launch sites

[Northstar1989]

Having been discussing this, and slowly fleshing out the idea further, I would like to suggest a set of level 4 upgrades for each of the KSC facilities should be available, as well as (as a reach-goal) some way to upgrade the alternative launch sites (the Desert Runway needs an upgrade to its length/width/surface, in particular).

Why:

- Gameplay progression and "reach" goals for longer-running campaigns by more advanced players (although, these should not be out of reach of any player, they should require even greater Funds cost than the lvl 3 upgrades).

- Rule of Cool.  Bigger and more impressive facilities are a worthwhile goal in themselves, if it doesn't harm immersion/fun.

- Realism.  Real space centers, like Kennedy Space, took DECADES to reach their current size/scale.

- Mods.  Some of the features these level 4 facilities would provide would make some of the harder mods- such as Real Solar System scale-up's, a bit more playable on Career without having to tweak the Difficulty settings yourself.

 

What the upgrades do/ look like:

- Lvl 4 Launchpad.  Somewhat bigger than the level 3 pad.  Located a bit (maybe 10-20 meters) further away from the other buildings for range-safety of colosssl rockets if this is possible- otherwise the default distances should be increased 10-20 m or more (they are too small for realism, and increasing the distances a bit would add more of a sense of scale/size to the space center...)  Maybe also adds a big, bare concrete pad nearby that still counts as Launchpad biome (100% recovery) for SpaceX-style recovery missions (the lvl 3 pad is an INCREDIBLY small taget to aim for landing on, and most players, except the truly crazy-skilled ones, just aim for anywhere near the KSC grounds for landing launch stages as a result...)

- Lvl 4 Runway.  Wider and longer than the KSC runway (currently 2.5 km long, the KSC runway in real life is 4.5 km, and quite a lot wider than the KSC one in game as well.  I suggest at least 3.5 km for the level 4 runway, preferably 4-5 km).  Maybe a bit thicker surface, for realism of handling heavier planes on it (could also justify then making the lvl 4 runway being a bit harder to destroy than the lvl 3 one).  Wider runways will allow players to safely launch wider planes.  The runway separation from the SPH should also be increased a bit (at least 10-15 m) for landing approaches of ultra-wide planes, range-safety of massive planes full if rocket fuel, and so wings of huge planes don't collide with SPH if players decide to taxi around near the SPH a bit.

- Lvl 4 VAB. Larger/taller inside than the lvl 3 VAB, so players can see more of their tallest rockets (and have less of planes overflow the VAB when they merge really long shuttles/flyback boosters built in SPH, before attachment) without re-rooting of parts and constant shifting of the rocket stack.  Larger exterior dimensions too, for immersion/coolness.

- Lvl 4 SPH.  Longer/wider internal dimensions than the lvl 3 SPH, for even longer/wider planes (having really wide planes that you can't see the wingtips of in the SPH is *particularly* annoying).  Larger external dimensions for immersion/awesomeness/impressiveness.

- Lvl 4 Tracking Center.  Provides higher-powered DSN (so players have a better way to increase this with more immersion/coolness than just pulling up the DSN slider under Difficulty settings.  I won't argue the necessityof the DSN upgrade beyond saying it'a both more realistic, and less obnoxiousfor players than building their own more powerful ground-stations on Kerbin and an enormous relay network just to provide stronger comms to Jool, or mods that expand the # of planets beyond Jool) and larger/more impressive-looking satellite dishes for the building.  Maybe give the Tracking Center a proper parking-lot too?

- Lvl 4 Astronaut Complex.  Should provide a discount to astronaut-hiring costs (maybec10-20% off the base cost.  30%?  40%?)  By the late-game, when you have a large crew roster, it becomes PROHIBITIVELY expensive to hire more Kerbalnauts (and forces players to just spam rescue-contracts to get more) or replace any lost crew members (w/o respawn).  An option to refresh the current list of available hires, for a cost in Funds, for the lvl 4 complex (if you're going to spend a fortune on hiring, maybe you want a Pilot with better Courage, or a low Stupidity scientist?  Helps with immersion/fun).

- Lvl 4 Science Center.  Purely a handout to modders.  Lvl 3 center could be given a tech node cost limit beyond anything in the stock tree- allowing modders to lock parts behind a lvl 4 science center (which would remove all limits) for Career Mode balance and realism for futuristic parts taking even longer to obtain...  Could possibly be disabled by default (but re-enabled under difficulty options, with a tooltip "just for looks in the stock gsme") if would annoy stock players.  Could be larger/ more impressive than the lvl 4 center, so even some Stock players might use it, for coolness.  Would of course also be default level in Sandbox/Science modes (so most players would still benefit from the cool model).

- Lvl 4 Admin Building.  Should come with a moderate (20-30%?) discount to buy-in costs for all strategies, or *maybe* add a few new, more powerful strategies (or allow existing strategiesto be set to 100%- with lvl 3 only going to 80%, and the strategies all being buffed a bit).  Would make the game a bit easier if players bought it- but at VERY low Return On Investment (as the upgrade would be very expensive).  Besides, most players don't use the Admin building much.  This might give players a *bit* more motive to do so.  Could also cone with a larger/cooler building model, maybe also a bigger parking lot? (To represent the increased staffing demands of a more mature apace program, and all the complex clerical work that makes modern space programs possible...)

 

 

These are just ideas for what each of the lvl 4 upgrades could do- amd I'm sure other players could come up with even better ideas!

This is a great game, and little improvements like this (or in the case of players who struggle with launching/landing enormous rockets on the puny lvl 3 pad/runway, BIG improvements...) would make the game even better.  I don't expect everyone will agree with me on thos, or all the details, but I would like people not to be closed-mindef about this, or respond "there's a mod for that!".

 

Thank you all for reading this!  I think some lvl 4 upgrades, as part of the base game, would be a nice way to show appreciation for the KSP community- and by showing players the game is continuing to grow/evolve in a VERY noticeable way to any playthrough, would keep them involved- and more likely to consider buying KSP 2 and any future expansions for KSP as well...

Edited May 26, 2020 by Northstar1989

[GluttonyReaper]

3 hours ago, Northstar1989 said:

Lvl 4 Runway

I wouldn't mind a perpendicular intersecting runway too - getting on target for polar landings is hard enough without having to make big sweeping 90 degree turns

[betaking]

part of me wonders why they didn't move Baikerbanur where Woomerang is now and have that be an alternative launch-site, (then again I'm not exactly sure of either's inclination exactly).. either way they should've had more buildings for the "Northern Kerbal Launch-site", or at least integrated them better into a campaign (though I guess that's a bit much to ask given they're DLC).

 

 

[Northstar1989]

On 6/5/2020 at 1:03 PM, betaking said:

part of me wonders why they didn't move Baikerbanur where Woomerang is now and have that be an alternative launch-site, (then again I'm not exactly sure of either's inclination exactly).. either way they should've had more buildings for the "Northern Kerbal Launch-site", or at least integrated them better into a campaign (though I guess that's a bit much to ask given they're DLC).

Ehh, I bet it woul've been doable.

[Fraktal]

Idea of a Level 4 Runway: in addition to the standard runway, it'd also have a mass driver-style secondary runway running parallel to the main runway but slightly curving upwards a few degrees away from the ground as it goes, specifically meant for SSTO takeoffs.

I mean, the side of the runway opposite of the rest of the KSC has plenty of empty space for something like this.

[wumpus]

On the level 4 runway, should it be "flat" like the level 1-3 runways?  My understanding is that current runway doesn't follow the curvature of Kerbol, but is essentially a straight line.  Presumably this is a Unity thing, but extending it might mean that things on the end of the runway will want to roll to the center (or you could even exaggerate this resulting with an effective ramp at the end.  It isn't like spaceplanes are going to land from the East).

[Bej Kerman]

While you're at it, might as well add 2 upgradable landing pads for reusable boosters to land on. Try landing 2 boosters on the one tiny launch pad we have.