Any modders support from the devs?

[IgorZ]

I recall statements early in 2020 declaring that KSP2 will be "modders friendly". Well, we have an early access version came out, which is very unlikely can be named as "modders friendly".

1. No docs on the concept.
2. No API declaration.
3. No easy way to tackle things (everything is in Unity bundles and assets).
4. LUA mystery.

As far as I can tell, the current state is even worse than we had with KSP1. I wonder if there are any real plans to make the game moddable. And if the answer is "yes", what's the timeline?

[RayneCloud]

I think we're going to have to wait a bit on this one IgorZ,  

[GoldForest]

3 hours ago, IgorZ said:

I wonder if there are any real plans to make the game moddable. And if the answer is "yes", what's the timeline?

Yes, modding is coming. The first (official) modding support will be for parts only. No word on when, just "A little bit after launch of EA." No word on plugins. 

[Jasseji]

On 2/25/2023 at 9:12 AM, IgorZ said:

I recall statements early in 2020 declaring that KSP2 will be "modders friendly". Well, we have an early access version came out, which is very unlikely can be named as "modders friendly".

1. No docs on the concept.
2. No API declaration.
3. No easy way to tackle things (everything is in Unity bundles and assets).
4. LUA mystery.

As far as I can tell, the current state is even worse than we had with KSP1. I wonder if there are any real plans to make the game moddable. And if the answer is "yes", what's the timeline?

it very much seems that point 3. is the biggest hurdle and might kill a big part of the Modding community - as in, a lot of modders did rely in KSP1 on people testing their mods and tweaking the cfg's to try out different options - this would mean that now everyone who wants to contribute to mod testing or bug fixing will have to install Unity which a lot people wont do , so less testers, less incentivie for modders to actually do something because they dont have the time/assets to test everything out themselves.

Quick Example:

1. Part behaves strange on some trajectory
2. edit cfg to change drag/mass/whatever value
3. Rinse and repeat point 2. until 4. applies
4. Part behaves correctly
5. Issue found and adressed by the modder in next release (or if modder is unavailable, cfg tweak is posted on forum for everyone to implement if they wish)

Above could be done by anyone with access to Notepad, having the need to install Unity will kill a lot of such troubleshooting

Edit: i dont say that cfg's were good but they were easily accessible is what i mean

[IgorZ]

1 hour ago, Jasseji said:

it very much seems that point 3. is the biggest hurdle and might kill a big part of the Modding community

That's my point too. It's absolutely OK to keep parts (or whatever else resource in the game) in Unity bundles as long as there is an easy way to adjust them. If there is no such a way, then the game is not "modders friendly". Period. However, it doesn't mean the game cannot be modded at all.

[RayneCloud]

Those of us that have lookd around at things, ahve seen support for modding is in fact coming.

[Jasseji]

5 minutes ago, IgorZ said:

That's my point too. It's absolutely OK to keep parts (or whatever else resource in the game) in Unity bundles as long as there is an easy way to adjust them. If there is no such a way, then the game is not "modders friendly". Period. However, it doesn't mean the game cannot be modded at all.

Exactly this, i played around with Unity a bit but before i even thought about installing it, i did simple cfg tweaks, which was some kind of "modding" for myself.

So for me the "entry into modding" was to do some cfg tweaks, MM patches and then only installing Unity for trying to make parts (although i failed miserably )

If everyone has to install Unity to even consider getting into modding, then it's maybe "(pro) modder friendly" but not "start with modding - friendly"

[IgorZ]

57 minutes ago, Jasseji said:

If everyone has to install Unity to even consider getting into modding, then it's maybe "(pro) modder friendly" but not "start with modding - friendly"

Unity related work is certainly not a way to go. The Unity framework is great as it is, and I like it a lot. However, the entering level for it is a way too high. Most people would choose to give up. And those who left will unlikely be able to do the creative part of the work like models and parts.

[andrewson563]

Ksp 2 TweakScale ? Mods

Edited February 27, 2023 by andrewson563