Dewar

He gave up on MM? Or modding ksp altogether?

Stop being dramatic guys, look at Skyrim. Even after the last few patches signaled the "end" of updates (which isn't what's happening here), the mod community exploded because of the stability a "final" update offered them. I haven't played a completely vanilla career since version 0.23, so the modding side of things is much more important to me. I'm sure ksp is going to have a healthy modding community for the foreseeable future. Even after the proverbial "lights" go out on the devs side of things. If the creators of my favourite game say it's done, I'm not going to stop them from taking their skill/expertise and moving on to create something (dare I say it) better. In fact, someone like Sarbian leaving would be of much greater concern to me. Module Manager is king. Que mob with pitchforks.

The way I priced things, it shouldn't be possible to recover from launchpad without losing money. Best case you could make money from the secondary ore output, I may not have calculated that. But even then, it would be negligible.

Exactly my point. As the mod sits currently. Extracting gold from minmus or mun would be similar in profit to a vanilla base building contract or two. And thats presuming you launch a craft capable of a return mission with 40 tons of gold in tow (something intended to be a difficult task). I also think that starting with gold, and moving onto diamonds later allows the player to familiarize themselves with the mod mechanics before venturing outside the gravity well of kerbin. Daimonds on the other hand will be much lighter than gold. So I'm thinking that even having them on often transited planets (like Duna) or any planet's low-gravity moons (like ike) won't be an option. In fact, the only place I intend Diamonds to be found 100% of the time is Eve. Thoughts?

I think I've decided on another resource: Diamonds. I'll set the spawn chance on asteroids as extremely low, certain planetary bodies at around 40%, and the more distant ones (ie dres) a little higher. That way there is a reason to scout out mining locations, meaning more missions, vis a vi more interesting gameplay. Keep in mind I do want to maintain a kerbal feel to the mod, so more advanced metals are a no-go for me. Happy you like it! As for glitter, consider it on "the list".

@Eskandare Great idea, but I think if I was to go this route I would need to add fuel switch compatibility. 6 tank parts per resource seems excessive. As it stands now, I'm thinking of knocking back the availability of gold on minmus a bit. Any ore more valuable than gold wouldn't be available within the kerbin system. That way it could give a reason to go to eeloo, tylo, or any of the relatively seldom frequented locations.

Updated to Version 1.1 - The textures are drastically improved - Radial attachment points for canisters are now fixed - Added Flags

@Nick233 Thanks for the encouragement. As for my own models, I have always intended to make my own. But as I have no experience in model making, I can't really give you an eta. The purpose of making this mod for me was to learn about modding/game design in general terms. To that end, learning how to create models does seem like a good next step.

I will be uploading an updated version later today that includes some texture tweaks and radial connection improvements for the material containers (including a patch for the vanilla small ore tank texture). If there are any other bugs or fixes, please let me know.

@Identitools I don't use CKan personally, so I will need confirmation, but I think when I gave permission on spacedock the mod was added to their database.

Thanks for pointing this out. This is an issue with the stock texture (which I used as a base). I'll reposition the logo for the next update.

Thanks for all the replys guys. If you do try out the mod I would love to get some feedback on balance as well as any screenshots of missions/ship designs. Specifically, what you think of the part costs and ore wieghts. I tried to make it a significantly difficult accomplishement to bring back large amounts of gold, so please advise if it is too easy or difficult. Cheers!

The Gold Standard! Version 1.5.2 (2017/06/18) (Now with full SCANsat and Galileo's Planet Pack Compatibility!) This mod adds the pursuit of gold and an extremely rare resource called Unobtainium to the game! Gold Ore now appears on planets/moons Gold Ore can be mined and smelted into Pure Gold with the Smelter Return either Gold/Gold Ore back to Kerbin for profit Gold is heavier than Gold Ore, which is heavier than Ore Full integration with Vanilla drills and scanners Vanilla Drills and Surface Scanner available slightly earlier in the tech tree Only 8 parts (Under 10Mb download), low memory usage. Get over that mid-career fund grind in a fun and challenging way! What is Unobtainium? Unobtainium is an extremely valuable resource that generally spawns on high-G and extremely distant worlds. You can mine Unobtainium using the vanilla drills without needing a converter in-situ. Drills mining Unobtainium operate much more efficiently with both a scientist and engineer aboard. Unobtainium is a little more dense than gold, so ensure to bring adequate Dv! Finally a monetary reason to land on Eeloo, Eve, Moho/Icarus, or any of the other seldom visited worlds! This mod is not meant to be an easy cash cow; rather, a difficult alternative to contract spam. There is no gold on kerbin, and be careful when choosing a mining site as only deposits of >2% (mini drill) or >1.5% (large drill) will yield gold ore. The gold ore can be returned for an okish profit, but be aware that gold ore is basically 9/10s ore. So there are obvious benefits to smelting in-situ. The Smelter needs power, cooling, and an engineer to function at its full capacity. Pure Gold is, by design and irl, HEAVY! Feel free to post any working ship/base designs! Note on returning with your space booty: Land near or on the space center to avoid diminished returns. Supported mods: - Scansat - Galileo's Planet Pack Downloads Version 1.5.2 for KSP V3: SpaceDock Available on CKAN! *ModuleManager included and required Planned Features Will be adding one more resource beyond Kerbin's influence Community Tech Tree integration Further Weight/Cost Balancing (need feedback) Change Log Update 1.5.2 •Packaged the latest version of MM to bring the mod upto 1.3 Update 1.5.1 •Complete Compatibility with SCANsat and Galileo's Planet Pack •Changed the way resources spawn on planets (more small concentrated veins, less large low concentrated blobs). Update 1.5 •Improved Weight/Balance/Distribution of resources. It should now be a little easier to make money, and more worth it to make a trip out farther. •Fixed the Unobtainium texture •Cleaned up files •Improved compatibility with Scansat and Galileo's Planet Pack (Thanks go to Jadeofmaar for helping me here) Update 1.4.2 • Fixed stupid typo ftw. Update 1.4.1 • Fixed a value that was preventing unobtainium from spawning in large enough quantities to be mined. Update 1.4 • Finally got of my butt and updated the mod to 1.2.2 • Added Unobtainium • Added support for GPP and Scansat Update 1.3 • Updated to for KSP 1.2 • Fixed a potential problem with unlimited output for both gold smeltery and stock miniISRUVersion 1 Update 1.2 - Updated some part descriptions - Slightly reduced concentrations of gold on Minmus - Made orbital scanner unlock earlier (The satellite targeting gui is disabled until survey scan) - Adjusted Smeltery Output to prevent a very minor exploit Version 1.1 - Cleaned up textures - Fixed radial attachment points - Added Mission Flags Version 1.0 - Release License The Gold Standard is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. This license does not apply to the bundled plugin ModuleManager. This is my first mod so if you have any tips or suggestions don't hesitate to leave a comment below.

Thanks for the replys everyone. @DaleTheGoat I agree with the idea for sure. Anything that promotes more space-side infrastructure seems like a good idea to me. Here's a question, do you think I should have stand-alone parts? Or should I just incorporate the gold tech into current drills and scanners? I am interested in learning how to make my own textures anyway. This mod is basically a learning project for me. cheers

Edit: The mod is now released, you can check for it below: Old Post: Today I tried my hand at modding for the first time and was wondering if anyone was interested in my little creation. Basically I added gold to the game as a way to jump start your space program during the mid-game cash grind. Gold is much heavier than ore, and can be found in smaller amounts on most planets (5% chance of a tiny vein on kerbin). Gold has its own storage containers, scanners, and drills that unlock relatively early. If you can get to minmis and back with 20 tons of gold, grats you've made some cash! Note on returning: land near or on the space center for best returns. Is there any interest in this? And has it been done before!?

I was thinking exactly along the same lines and will attempt to design a part that will do just that. But as mentioned, I'm a newb to modding. As a side note, I've just dove into modding ksp tonight. The system squad designed is much more intuitive than I thought. I'm currently adding the resource gold, a highly valuable resource found on most planets in tiny amounts. Also editing some storage tanks and drills for a semi-early on way to make early game money. I figure if you can get 10 tons of it back from minmus you deserve the million it'll give you.

Believe it or not I've never played any of the mass effect games. I had the idea for this after reading the odyssey one novel series. Sounds like some interesting lore though.

My idea is for a single modded part that could significantly change endgame play: the Counter Mass Drive ( or CM Drive for short). Below is a mockup using my pathetic Microsoft paint skills: The basic parameters of the modded part involved would be: Be able to extend a counter mass field around the ship (via a UI pop-up with tweakables i.e. radius/length) Objects inside of the field need their mass reduced to .001 or equivalent/all engines affected by the field should have their thrust reduced to 0 (an engine uses mass to propel itself forward, if said mass is within the field it shouldn't have the ability to produce thrust) Power usage should be extremely high and variable to the size of the field or negative mass needed (I.e. heavier objects need more power to reduce the weight) The weight of the drive itself should be quite considerable, perhaps 14 tons or more Atmospheric Usage should not be allowed or cost ridiculously more power (perhaps 10x or equivalent to make for interesting gameplay) It should unlock under the last tech node of electrical (I always felt something other than the 2.5m battery was needed there) Imagine a ship with one of these installed orbiting kerbin; while turned off, mechjeb is telling you that you have a measly TWR of 0.13, 280 ∆v, and total vessel mass of 45 tons. You switch the drive on and your power supplies start to sap down as the field extends around your ship. You watch as the mechjeb numbers change, a TWR of 8, 12000 ∆v, and total vessel mass of 2.5 (the exact weight of the solar panels and engine that extend beyond the field. Obviously this would need a lot of tweaking for balance, as this could easily be a completely overpowered part. Edit: An afterthought I had was that perhaps the field could simply reduce the mass by whatever percentage (80% of total mass for example) is deaned acceptable for balanced gameplay. But I think this could make for some very interesting gameplay as, unlike an alcubierre drive, this still utilizes rocket motor engines. Alas, I'm not a modder. So for now I'll leave the concept here and hope that somebody, with more skills and knowhow than I, will pick this up. I'm more than happy to spitball ideas and lend whatever help I can to any modders interested in the project. Thanks for reading - Dewar

After seeing this thread, I started tinkering around with ssto's. i have found that the ideal twr for air-breathing/nuke craft to be around 1.5/.54 to make orbit. I have found these craft to be ideal as you can easily get to LKO with 2.5k ms remaining. Any one have any twr stats that you find ideal? I'd like to hear what others think.

I don't suppose there was a fix for the exploding ship bug? Every time I use any of the main features of this mod all of my ships explode. It has something to do with the launchpad. Right now it appears that all of the Time adjustment mods (the 3 I've tried) have the same bug.

Broughta class E asteroid to LKO and then discovered it was out of resources? It currently weighs 130 tons or so and I only refuelled once or twice. Quite curious. Perhaps it was of low yield (though I checked th scanner and it read 93%?).

Awesome, thank you so much. (Great use of spoilers btw haha) Question solved!!!

If that's the case,what happens to the mass of the asteroid? if I transfer the ore from the asteroid does the asteroid become lighter? Or does the mass essentially double? I'll try all of this out tomorrow, I'm playing normal mode and just unlocked the tech. Only 4k left to unlock of the tech tree! Woot

One day and no responses!? Wow, people must really be to busy playing the new release to reply. Haha BUMP

I think that roverdude is doing an amazing job. Its impossible to satisfy everyone, but for the new player without any experience of modded resource gathering, the new system allows for both ease and complexity through the two offered scanners. The heat issue will be solved in an update as mentioned in another post, and I'm sure that rover dude will at least take a look at the conversion rate issue as well. I have one question that is related to resource gathering which I have posted in another section that I'm curious about: what are the mining yields for each size of asteroid? http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/117920-What-are-the-mining-yields-for-each-size-of-asteroids?p=1883447#post1883447 Apologies for my sloppy linking, I'm writing this from a phone.