solashira

Actually I'm open to any and all possible colony management end game, terraforming is just the first thing that pops out of my mind, if KSP2 needs a ground breaking DLC in the future, terraforming might just fit into that role. I love this idea! Science != technology. In a manner of speaking, we were never able to do science in original KSP, it was like we were exchanging mun/duna/[insert planet/moon name] dust with some mysterious power for technologies. I too would love to see us piecing together the scope of Kerbal universe, gradually building a knowledge base and expanding the horizon of our science, it would be epic. I have several friends who work in the game industry, from what I learned from them, there're ample talents in the industry who could easily complete the balancing Whatever it turns out to be, it would still be more linear and smooth than what we have in KSP1. Remember that first mun mission you launched? The moment your return pod touched the ground, boom, technologies popped like, well, popcorns. It was fun by its own right, but really, someone should do something about this. Yes, I think the "Test Part" family of contracts we have in KSP1 was meant to address that, but it was tedious and unrewarding. It shouldn't have been like that. *Nodding in tears* Field experiences create need for engineering, which then translate into/from novel science, that's how it was supposed to work.

Let's restrict terraforming candidates to a few planets. Maybe terraforming is not the best word, let's call it planetary enginering. I think Duna is a great launch site for me, I'll stripe what's left of its thin atmosphere and make it easier my ships. Or I can just turn it into another Kerbin. City light should naturally emerge if we can build real cities, but I don't think we can, there is this problem of scale. Seeing cities from orbit, or seeing your fleet from planet surface would both be really cool though. A good LOD mechanism should do the trick. It would be tricky, and fun!

Just three wild ideas dropped on my head while I was drooling thinking about how the game would eventually be like. Terraforming: I've been playing a lot of Surviving Mars, that game focuses heavily on terraforming mars. Although rationally I agree with the mainstream view that terraforming Mars would not be as easy or as necessary as our modern day Sci-fi depicts. But gameplay-wise, I can hardly think of a better end game goal for colony management gameplay. I'm saying this because it's already pretty obvious that colony management would very likely become a vital part of KSP2 gameplay. If I chose to be a colony-minded player, after a hundred hours into the game, all the resources and technologies I pooled together on Duna would surely be rather sizeable. Eventually I'll need a rewarding sink hole to dump them into, terraforming would fit in just right as such a sinkhole. Dynamic career science: Now this is a heavy one, it's in some ways a revamp of the contract and milestone system. I can't honestly say that I'm satisfied with the "point buy" system the current science tree relies on, it's grindy, static, immersion breaking, and makes very little sense. I wish to see science point become more subtle. The player, instead of purchasing nodes in the tech tree with "blue points" earned by biting extraterrestrial dust, complete certain milestones to stimulate the development of the scientific progress in that particular area. For example, the "Basic Construction" tech has a progress bar which grows by 1 point each day, representing the day to day science development. It will unlock itself after some time, along with some other techs of the same tier even if you do absolutely nothing other than time warping forward. However, if you complete the mysterious goo and material bay related milestone, the achievement would give its progress bar a plain point boost as well as applying a modifier to the natural growth of the material related techs, for a certain period of time. I believe this is somewhat closer to how space programs impact our science progress in real history. And instead of grinding for contracts and repeating experiments, the player should be rewarded for planning their space programs strategically. The anomaly hunting would fit in well with this system, the player should receive some very unique boost should they detect and properly study an anomaly. This should also synergize well with the colony system, because a colony is inherently, time sensitive. Time becomes a vital resource with this system, a successful colony, be it a scientific outpost or a giant habitat, provides sustained boost to science progress, but it also requires maintenance and supply from time to time. This system should encourage the player to design and plan their colonies strategically so as to achieve net positive output with their investments. Cinematic Camera: This one is somewhat trivial in comparison with the overhauls above, but with KSP2 aspiring to be such a beautiful game about such a beautiful universe, it would be weird if the player is not granted the proper tools to capture such beauty. I wish to see more sophisticated camera tools implemented into the game, with lenses, apertures, focal lengths, even camera rails, tail-followings, etc. I can already see players taking pride in their own creations, why not let them film their own documentaries? I guess that's all for my daydreaming, I'm looking forward to seeing other players expanding upon these ideas in this thread. And thank you, team Squad, for such a fabulous game.

Ummm, now that's also a problem I'm trying to solve myself, I'm migrating from an old 1.30 build to newest 1.45, a lot of parts depend on outdated mods. However the main structure is quite simple, the cockpit and its base ring was from USI Exploration Pack and ProbesPlus! (A very decent yet often overlooked mod) The rear compartment was from Universal Storage, obviously. The capacitors are from Near Future Electrics. The round body was actually SD-02 Radial Engine Pod from Near Future Spacecraft The folding mechanism was from Inferno Robotics, heck I'm not sure if it still works on 1.45 The rest are either stock or replaceable. I'm working on compatible version of my old designs, once I finish updating Voltbug I'll be sure to send you the file.

OK, if you guys don't mind a "bit" modding, I do have a vessel or two to share. First off, my Gen. II Lunar Lander, Salamander: The idea was quite simple really, a reusable Exploration/Recon vessel carrying all the necessary equipment and at least 2 crew with 2500+ dV and >1.2 TWR on Mun surface. These stock (albeit slightly scale-upped) radioisotope engines delivered. Where is the Gen. I you asked? Well... let's say it had a tough landing and the design was proven to be flawed. Actually Salamander's first task was to resecue the stranded Gen I. crew. And this one is my new favorite, IPUL-01 call sign "Voltbug". Compact, ultra-light, durable, elegant, one of a kind. This little fairy is the pinacle of my KSP engineering. The bulk of its body consists of batteries and capacitor, which enable it to conduct long range "hops" with its four ion engines. The back-mounted Xeon gas tanks gave it a remarkable 4000 dV. Its revised little brother incoporated robotic parts to allow for larger solar panels and therefore extended propulsion time. Voltbug can be safely contained within a standard 3.75m hangar, you can easily carry it to the orbit of any Mun-like moons with low gravity and easily deploy. As with all successful design, Volt bug was based on a prototype: Which is actually a rover first designed for a more conventional lunar expedition. That will be all for my showcase, thank you XD