KSP 1 & 2 Lore - Make Up Your Own!

[shdwlrd]

All KSP needs is a few loose threads here and there.  Nothing meaningful by itself, but enough to spur curiosity to move over the next ridge, planet, star system. Let the players connect the dots for the story in their heads.

Like the UFO or pyramids brings up different questions. It's the players to try to find the "answers."

[miklkit]

Can't make any suggestions, but KSP feels too empty and needs more backstory.

[mcwaffles2003]

I prefer there be no lore real stated. I like when the world exists and people are left to draw their own  conclusions or lore from it. Dark Souls did something this amazingly well giving little hints and tidbits through item descriptions to a greater story that I found more compelling than most any other story since learning it required investment and digging. That's not to say I want this exactly in KSP 2, Dark Souls is an RPG where you act as a character dropped in the middle of a greater overarching conflict where as KSP is a simulator with some cute characters. I like that they lack stories and lore as that leaves me room to project onto them with how I feel and look at the world as opposed to having that all given to me. Having little bits though like lore of Rocketdyne would be fun.

[Strawberry]

To me the only lore that would fit is like world building stuff instead of an explicit overarching story. I think the only backstory that would fit ksp is the kerbals just kinda stumbling into space and keep on falling out into this strange realm, think the hearthians from outer wilds, it really shouldnt be complex. I much prefer silly sidestories about Jebediahs junkyard getting increasingly frustrated about trying to design things that arent rockets and always accidentally managing to invent another one then stories about the Republic of Kerbal's tax policy over time.

Edited August 31, 2022 by Strawberry

[SciMan]

My personal bit of lore is... not about the Kerbals. Instead it's about Minmus. I think Minmus should still be an ice ball. To make this happen, I also think that Kerbol should be a red dwarf star.

Now that brings up an obvious problem. Why does Kerbol when viewed from Kerbin in KSP still look like the Sun when viewed from Earth IRL?

The answer is in the eyes of the Kerbals.

They're aliens after all. They have different eyes. To see in color, all that is needed is for the eyes to have sensitivity to multiple different wavelengths of light.

WHICH wavelengths of light tho? There's the key.

If Kerbals eyes are sensitive to three LONGER (redder) wavelengths of light than the three wavelengths of light that Human eyes are sensitive to, then their brains might just put the pieces together in a way that makes what a Kerbal calls "white" a combination of overall longer wavelengths than what Humans call "white".

And that little bit of "the brain's using the same name for something that's actually different" thinking is what allows the spectrum of Kerbol to be whatever the heck it needs to be (aka cool enough of a star) to allow Minmus to be a ball of ice at the distance from the star it is in the Kerbol solar system.

EDIT: Oh and I did all of that without having to break a single law of physics. That's pretty impressive, if you ask me!

Edited September 4, 2022 by SciMan

[t_v]

My question then becomes: how is Kerbin a watery, grassy planet? It isn’t tidally heated like Laythe, so if minmus was cold enough, then Kerbin would become a frozen ball. Laythe also loses the small percentage of its heating that comes from Kerbol and tidal heating might not be enough for it. 
 

Then, the matter arises that minmus still won’t work. The problem isn’t that space is too warm for that ball of ice, even on the sunny side. The problem is that a tiny amount of ice will evaporate from minmus, and it doesn’t have enough gravity to keep it from escaping. Reducing temperature enough might extend the lifespan of minmus into the billions of years, but it will evaporate suprisingly quickly even with a red dwarf. 

[intelliCom]

34 minutes ago, t_v said:

My question then becomes: how is Kerbin a watery, grassy planet? It isn’t tidally heated like Laythe, so if minmus was cold enough, then Kerbin would become a frozen ball. Laythe also loses the small percentage of its heating that comes from Kerbol and tidal heating might not be enough for it. 
 

Then, the matter arises that minmus still won’t work. The problem isn’t that space is too warm for that ball of ice, even on the sunny side. The problem is that a tiny amount of ice will evaporate from minmus, and it doesn’t have enough gravity to keep it from escaping. Reducing temperature enough might extend the lifespan of minmus into the billions of years, but it will evaporate suprisingly quickly even with a red dwarf. 

Hence why they had to make it ceramic. Though, I have a suspicion that ice would exist on the poles.

[BowlerHatGuy3]

A story for KSP 2 would be cool, but I would like it to be mostly environmental. This isn’t SkyRim.

On the other hand, randomly generated backstories for Kerbals and personalized stories for the big four would open a bunch of possibilities for new jokes and easter eggs. For example:

Bob Kerman: Masters degree in engineering, invented the microwave as well as the atomic bomb. Was fired from his previous job due to accidentally sublimating his workplace. Now works for the space program. Truly a role model for Kerbalkind.

Bill Kerman: Found lying on the side of the road.

Jeb Kerman: Nobody really knows who this guy is. He doesn’t speak, doesn’t write, doesn’t think. He just does. No records of him exist, though it is suspected that he was involved in the infamous “Jeb’s Junkyard” incident.

Of course these aren’t that good, but imagine what the official writer for Kerbal 2 could come up with!

 

[Pthigrivi]

I am legit curious how/if this will factor into ISRU in a semi-realistic way, if rather than randomizing deposits they localize frozen volatiles in polar craters, or allocate more minerals on the Mun rather than ceramic heavy Minmus, that kind of thing. 

[Strawberry]

1 hour ago, Pthigrivi said:

I am legit curious how/if this will factor into ISRU in a semi-realistic way, if rather than randomizing deposits they localize frozen volatiles in polar craters, or allocate more minerals on the Mun rather than ceramic heavy Minmus, that kind of thing. 

Im guessing that the minmus ceramics will be a useful resource in of itself and the primary draw of colonizing minmus is harvesting that specific ceramic (they dont look transparent so maybe silicon carbide? It does look like it and it is a common space material and very useful) and itll be used for something (If its a transparent ceramic probably something like beamed power and module windows, if its not that itll probably just be a generic structural resource and if its SiC probably will be used later on for cheaper graphene production).  It makes sense for minmus to be the introduction to unique resources as its a good place to introduce trade between colonies (this does make me wonder how theyre going to handle construction in ksc, Im guessing it wont have infinite amounts of all resources?)

Edited September 5, 2022 by Strawberry

[Davi SDF]

I think small things like the parts descriptions are more than satisfying bits of story for me.
Specially with how absurd and hilarious it can get (Kerbals literally DYING out of shock, Kerbals being sent to what's pratically death because they were smart once).

Planets and starts too have some beautifully funny pieces of the """story""" (Laythe being my favourite).

Now, a grand story with large scale consequences... i am more undecided on that one. Though, if we have the option to ignore it would be very welcome if one wants to just have fun in Sandbox.

Edited September 5, 2022 by Davi SDF

[SciMan]

Well if Minmus IS indeed made of ceramics, it would seem natural that materials found on minmus would be REFRACTORY ceramics, aka they're useful at very high temperatures as an insulating or shielding material (SiC is one of those).

So, extracting minerals from Minmus might be the key in the Kerbin SOI that lets you produce aerospace parts rated for both atmospheric reentry AND not based on using ablative heat shields, aka one of the key pillars for building a truly rapidly reusable SSTO.
As in a vessel capable of Airliner levels of "fast turnaround".
Land, unload anything you brought back, check over the craft quickly, go to the payload loading building, get refueled, and then launch again (maybe swap out the crew?).

Can't do that with an ablative heat shield, and lightweight, high temperature ceramics are one key to realizing a lightweight and indefinitely reusable heatshield for something like a spaceplane or rocket-powered VTOL SSTO.

[Strawberry]

2 hours ago, SciMan said:

So, extracting minerals from Minmus might be the key in the Kerbin SOI that lets you produce aerospace parts rated for both atmospheric reentry AND not based on using ablative heat shields, aka one of the key pillars for building a truly rapidly reusable SSTO.

I think I finally understand what was meant by "new vehicle architecture" 

[stephensmat]

Kerbals are small, require minimal life support, have an extensive space program, but no discernible cities, and are eagerly exploring the universe for a new system to live in.

KSP is the Three Body Problem. The Kerbals are Trisolarans!

Edited September 6, 2022 by stephensmat

[whatsEJstandfor]

On 8/31/2022 at 7:50 AM, shdwlrd said:

Like the UFO or pyramids brings up different questions. It's the players to try to find the "answers."

I was just re-watching episode 4 and paused here: https://youtu.be/wnQP5dhxlKU?t=827

I hadn't seen anyone mention the Pyramids or UFO subsections under Kerbin until just now, and then searched the forums for "pyramids" or "UFO"  and only found your post. Have we known about this already?

 

[shdwlrd]

5 minutes ago, whatsEJstandfor said:

I was just re-watching episode 4 and paused here: https://youtu.be/wnQP5dhxlKU?t=827

I hadn't seen anyone mention the Pyramids or UFO subsections under Kerbin until just now, and then searched the forums for "pyramids" or "UFO"  and only found your post. Have we known about this already?

 

Lol, they are Easter eggs in KSP1. If you lookup the Easter eggs in the wiki or the KSP1 section of the forum, you should see them. I can tell you that Angel-125 is using the crashed UFO on Kerbin to explain the reason for his Kerbin Flying Saucer (KFS) mod to exist. (Interesting mod if you want to try it.)

[whatsEJstandfor]

17 minutes ago, shdwlrd said:

Lol, they are Easter eggs in KSP1. If you lookup the Easter eggs in the wiki or the KSP1 section of the forum, you should see them. I can tell you that Angel-125 is using the crashed UFO on Kerbin to explain the reason for his Kerbin Flying Saucer (KFS) mod to exist. (Interesting mod if you want to try it.)

aw heck, I should have known this. Forgive me, Jebediah

[LHACK4142]

I just wanted to add my little bit of headcanon- the reason probes are unlocked after capsules is Kerbals really wanted to go to space, disregarding even the possibility of sending probes. IDK, it just seems very Kerbal to shoot yourself up on the very first rocket you get.