Hollow asteroids

[WaRi]

This mod aims to give lots of functionality to asteroids.

This is the concept art of the mod

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The mod is already on development. If you want to know the details or download an alpha version for testing please go to this thread.

[WIP] Hollow Asteroids

Developers:

WaRi : Modeling, textures, animation

RoverDude: Plugin, configs (and any other hard work that I cant do)

Edited May 20, 2014 by WaRi

[Guest]

That's a great idea. You say you're a modeler... Can you rig in Unity? If you can, and if you're interested in a little side-project (unrelated to this), PM me. I really like your clamp, BTW.

[Mekan1k]

That looks amazing!

[sidfu]

sounds interesting but make sure to have where it takes time. basicly u start the lazer and it gives a a estimated time to completion. then u go do other stuff and come back when time is up and poof its finish.

[Itsdavyjones]

great concept, but what happens to the vaporized rock?

[The Lone Wolfling]

The hard sci-fi way of doing this would be to do the following:

1. Drill out the long axis of the asteroid

2. Inject water (ice?)

3. Slowly spin asteroid

4. Heat up until asteroid melts and expands into a balloon-like shape

5. Wait for asteroid to cool

6. Spin up asteroid and plug any holes.

Bonus points if you use the same solar sail you used to heat up the asteroid to move it later.

[Helix935]

The hard sci-fi way of doing this would be to do the following:

1. Drill out the long axis of the asteroid

2. Inject water (ice?)

3. Slowly spin asteroid

4. Heat up until asteroid melts and expands into a balloon-like shape

5. Wait for asteroid to cool

6. Spin up asteroid and plug any holes.

Bonus points if you use the same solar sail you used to heat up the asteroid to move it later.

hmm so he would be building an O'Neil cylinder then? Also yes i do read lots of sci-fi (my dad is also a hard sci-fi fan so i have access to all his sci-fi books)

Edit: also i can see how this would be done (in terms of KSP) as you can use a module manager to change configs(if there will be configs of the asteroids) so that it would contain a resource that can be depleted by activating the laser drill and then just cross feed whatever into the asteroid from there. Just saying because i don't know what your going to do exactly.

Edited March 29, 2014 by Helix935

[Krevsin]

How about hollowing out the asteroid to make a nice little asteroid base with kerbals inside?

[ThermalShark]

I don't know how asteroids were implemented, but probably it's just a regular part with a procedural model (which is also the collider). If that's the case, the hard part would be replacing the asteroid part with a custom "hollowed asteroid" part. It's hard not because you need to keep the same model as before, but because there will be stuff attached to it (the player's ship). Still, i think it is very likely that someone with decent modding skills will do this after the ARM update, as it's not as complex as mods like KAS, Kethane, FAR, etc.

[RuBisCO]

SOMEONE GET THIS GUY A PROGRAMMER STAT!

[Legendary Emu]

I totally would want a base form of this where you can hollow it out and build a base inside of it.

[Banana Hat]

Hey if finally got here from Reddit. Those models and animations look awesome! I'm researching how to make ksp mods right now.

great concept, but what happens to the vaporized rock?

I'd probably turn it into thrust we might need a drill exhaust port part.

[Itsdavyjones]

Hey if finally got here from Reddit. Those models and animations look awesome! I'm researching how to make ksp mods right now.

I'd probably turn it into thrust we might need a drill exhaust port part.

I'd say have two parts, one that can act as a mass driver, and one part that expels the rock in a cloud in a circular pattern, so the thrust comes out balanced without causing a change in velocity, because it will be coming out multiple points, that counter each other out.

[tjitte]

I love this idea! To be honest, I think this is one of te most interesting idea i saw on this forum since KASjoint here back in 2012, im sure im going te folow this thread araud for awhile

[Alskari]

All you people wanting hollow asteroids for bases...

I also have an interest in this, however I quickly decided I didn't care to sort through all the collision mesh sub pieces required. If one of you would be interested in learning, or at least helping, let me know.

[Dr. Spacetime]

I could take a look at this, I just need to figure out how KSP handles asteroids. If they are treated as parts, this is shouldn't take too much work.

[Headhunter09]

If someone ends up making this, the mined rock should definitely be available as a resource at some point (even if it is later expelled by a mass driver). That way someone could make a metal-refining and space-factory addon if they wanted.

[Dr. Spacetime]

Well, Asteroids can now have fuel! No actual coding required: the game treats them like parts, so all it takes is a few edits to a .cfg file

Proof:http://imgur.com/q1n1P9r

Now up: adding mined rock and a way of processing it. WaRi, if I could get the model, I might be able to finish this very soon.

Edit: Added mined rock and raw minerals as resources. You can actually mine asteroids, turning the raw minerals into mined rock, which in turn is stored in tanks. Does this need its own thread?

Edited April 3, 2014 by Dr. Spacetime

[CaptRobau]

The Raw Minerals would need another part to convert it to for example LiquidFuel+Oxidizer or Monopropellant. For simplicity's sake it might be easier to have this part also be the tank that stores the Raw Minerals resource.

Also Raw Materials is a more accurate name for what you'll get from the asteroid, as it encompasses ice, rock, ores, etc. Minerals refers to a subset of materials you can get from asteroids.

[Mecripp]

If you haven't seen you guys might look at http://kerbalspaceprogram.com/20-asteroids-from-fasa-2/ it may help with somethings.

[Dr. Spacetime]

Spawning asteroids is easy, its just a .cfg file change that allows you to build them in the VAB. Yeah, I still need to figure out naming conventions, but making a part that converts mined rock + electric charge -> fuel + oxidizer is easy. The hard parts are modeling (which I cant do for the life of me) and making it so you can empty out an asteroid, and use that (variable) amount of empty space for storage.

[Nuke]

http://i.imgur.com/HbXwSbQ.gif?1

SOMEONE GET THIS GUY A PROGRAMMER STAT!

if you can animate it in unity then its just a cut and paste job to make a cfg for it.

Edited April 4, 2014 by Nuke

[WaRi]

I changed the first post.

Sorry for not updating this earlier. I was trying to make the mod by myself only using module manager to change the config file. As a personal project.

I was trying to make at least "The Jaw", to release a simple first version of the mod. But then I realise that I need a plugin even for that, because I need to change the asteroid in the game. (You should not be able to fill the asteroid with fuel if you dont get rid of the mass first)

So I'm asking for help again. If you are a programer and can make this mod a reality please send me a PM with your mail.

I can provide models, animations and textures.

Thank

[CaptRobau]

Maybe add something like 'Plugin Programmer Wanted' to the thread title might help a programmer find you. I can't imagine everyone following every mod thread ever.

[WaRi]

Maybe add something like 'Plugin Programmer Wanted' to the thread title might help a programmer find you. I can't imagine everyone following every mod thread ever.

Done.

Thanks