CaptRobau

Sounds cool! I have an idea for a new part that would be very useful. I got the idea from my solution to a problem that I had with hitting buildings using missiles. Since you can't select buildings I needed to be able to drop something that I could select. So I put a parachute on a truss and the truss on a decoupler. Over the target I decoupled the thing and it would land on or near the building that I wanted to hit. It's big and doesn't look good though, so maybe you could make a BDArmory version? A single part that's both a small parachute, a decoupler.

These are noted.

I like the idea of tiered strategies and long term strategies. I'll definitely look into that.

Interesting. I've been working on a Strategy mod of my own (one that expands, rather than rebalances). I have noticed some stock weirdness, so I'll definitely take a look at what your doing and see how balanced my stuff really is (as sometimes I've used stock as an example).

I've been working on a mod that adds extra strategies this past day and a half and it's been both fun and a chore. Fun in that I was able to figure out what most of the things did and a chore in that at a certain point there was nothing more to figure out from the configs provided. I've collected all my information in this thread, but it's incomplete due to it being unofficial. If we could get an official primer on the moddable features introduced in 0.25 than that would really great. Personally I'm interested in learning more about valueIds and which AffectReasons there are. Those two really define what can be done with strategies, so it'd be great if this could be explained in detail. Previous updates often had such an overview of stuff and that really helped the mods made for those updates.

I've been coming up with some interesting (not yet implemented) strategies today. Time will tell if they're even possible (have tested a few things, but I've yet to find the correct terms to use as there's zero documentation): These are possible according to the stock strategies, except for the contract failure costs as those aren't in stock. I'd imagine they'd be in, but I haven't found a way to get that working. Need more documentation Squad! Payday Loan (Finances) Get increased contract advances, in exchange for lower rewards and higher failure costs Advance Waiver (Finances) Get increased contract rewards, in exchange for lower advances and higher failure costs Penalty Insurance (Finances) Get decreased failure costs, in exchange for lower advances and rewards These are only theoretical at this point Televised Missions Every launch, all of Kerbin's press is invited to watch. If it goes well, the papers, blogs and news shows will laud the space agency's accomplishments (lots of reputation added). If the launch fails it'll be a national tragedy (lots of reputation lost). Basically the US approach to the space race. Anyone can watch, but there's downsides to that if things go wrong. The implementation of this needs to be investigated. I might be able to do it on the deaths of Kerbals, or on a failed contract. Each has it's advantages and possible ways to exploit it, so if it's possible it'll need some extra thinking. Same goes for the next one. Propaganda Press Release Kerbin gets nothing but a propaganda press release with each missions. If something goes right, people will only get a limited view of the accomplishment (little reputation added). But if it goes wrong, at least few will know as one can cover it up (little reputation lost).

That's so awesome. Really adds to the scale and adds a bit of mystery. I feel that I want to explore it more than I did when it was unhazy.

Bug report: after firing cluster bombs and them exploding, my engines go silent. Only by turning them off and on again I start hearing the sound once more.

Yes and it never degrades. If you keep it totally realistic then it wouldn't be noticeable with real half-life, but if you divide the half-life by something like 10 (like the distances of the Kerbol System vs. the Solar System) then you'd have to plan ahead.

Awesome! I'm working on a electrical power mod and RTG half-lifes was a missing piece of the puzzle. Didn't want it to be complex, so that's why I asked for a simple version. Glad you're thinking about it. I have to say I'm amazed that no-one's made this mod sooner. RTGs are in stock and the generator module even has an efficiency rating. Why no-one fixed this before is anyone's guess.

I modded a pair of decouplers for the Mk2 and they work really work for a jury-rigged escape system. 300 units of Mono is indeed to much. With a 100 you can do pretty much everything, and it'd be a better size than what we have now.

Maybe I can explain: RTGs have nuclear fuel (often Plutonium-238). This radioactive substance gives off heat, which is used to provide electricity. But radioactive materials have a half-life. That means that the power/heat output halves itself within a certain timespan. With Plutonium-238 that's 87.7 years. So if you start with a 238 loaded RTG it'll produce 100% power at year 0 and will degrade to 50% during 87.7 years (the mod might differ). This keeps halving within each subsequent period. The next 87 years it goes down to 25%, then 12.5%, 6.25%, etc. After a while the power output will be insufficient enough to power any of the onboard systems. This is what's important with faraway probes like Pioneer 10/11 and Voyager 1/2. They have a limited lifespan in which they can produce enough electricity to power the systems. In stock KSP it's not as important, but if Eeloo was as far away as the real Pluto it'd be six times farther away from Kerbol as it is now. Then RTG life would really mean a lot (since solar panels would be useless at that distance). It could already be very important with mods that add planets further out than Jool/Eeloo.

Silverfox you're amazing. Even if it's a little rough around the edges, it does show off perfectly how awesome weather in KSP can become.

Released the first developmental version. Get it in the OP. Most of the strategies will have those issues when playing on Normal, Easy or a Custom Very Easy. Strategies aren't really needed on those levels (unless you're really bad). The game (and thus this mod) is geared more towards Moderate and above. The ideas of Reliable Technology and Cutting-Edge Research (and to an extent neither is stock Aggressive Negotiations ) are simply not compatible with finishing the tech tree. Can't do a lot about that at the moment. If your final suggestion is possible, it's not something that's apparent from the stock strategies (which I've used as an example of what can be done). I think I might have found a nice strategy for Public Relations, which will make all departments symmetrical again: Local Interests (placeholder name) The opposite of Aggressive Negotiation, it increases Launch Costs and R&D in exchange for Reputation. It simulates politicans bowing to local/lobbying interests and pushing through a deal that's not as cheap but will result in their popularity increasing.

Just wanted to say Bahamuto, the space missiles thrusting their way to the target in zero-G has to be one of the coolest things I've ever seen in KSP.

Would it be possible to release a version without the fuel loading, thermocouples, etc. Just the decay?

Release Thread Stratagem Overview This mod adds new strategies to the game using the existing strategy framework and in the future might also touch the existing strategies, if balancing is necessary. Below you can find the developmental releases. At the moment the game adds the following strategies: Reliable Technology (Finances) Reduces launch costs but raises the costs of purchasing parts in the tech tree (after unlocking a tech node you now have to individually purchase parts on moderate difficulty and above). This is basically the Soviet approach: instead of constantly striving for the latest technology, you just slowly build on existing designs. Cutting-Edge Research (Science) Reduces research costs but raises launch costs. The opposite of Reliable Technology. This is more akin to the American approach of building a wide array of different designs, each with a different purpose. Mass-Produced Parts (Operations) Instead of focusing on re-usability, money is saved by building simple rockets that just get something into space and get thrown away. The opposite of the stock strategy Recovery Transponders. Developmental Releases DISCLAIMER: Developmental releases are experimental and can be unbalanced, buggy and generally not perfect. So keep that into account. Constructive criticism is welcome though. Developmental Release 1 License All rights are reserved. If I haven't been to this thread for a month, the mod will revert to the public domain. Once I get out of developmental releases, I'll change the license to something more user-friendly.

Added explanations about Department and Strategy editing. Not complete, but it's a start. Have fun modding!

On the one hand you've lost a few small control surfaces. But you've also gained a whole range of intermediate wing parts that should make some previously impossible (stock) designs possible. You win some, you lose some. Personally I think Squad did the right thing. The C7 parts were just an afterthought, a selection of random plane parts added to a game about rockets. SP+ is far more suited to making spaceplane like spaceplanes, which is a much better expansions of the space game that is KSP. For the few that can't live without the old parts, they're easily available as a legacy mod download. For the majority it means a much better looking and in many ways more versatile set of spaceplane parts.

The penguin in the OP is so awesome!

Care to elaborate what the difference is? I'm not a coder so it just sounds like mumbo jumbo to me.

I took a look at some of the modding-related changes in 0.25 and thought I'd share what I found. 1. First off, here are some things mentioned in the changelog that might be of interest to modders: 2. Also: Some of the new wing parts have the Winglet part module names, so that's a bit weird. Either its an oversight or ModuleLiftingSurface is only designed for adding lift to lifting body shapes and not wings. Anyway this how the new ModularLiftingSurface works (comments are mine): MODULE { name = ModuleLiftingSurface deflectionLiftCoeff = 0.6 //How much lift the surface generates dragAtMaxAoA = 0.1 //The drag at maximum angle of attack (AoA is the climbing/descent angle) dragAtMinAoA = 0.03 //The drag at minimum angle of attack } 3. The improvements made to ModuleAnimateGeneric for the cargo bay seem to be all on the inside, so there doesn't seem to be a need to add anything to it to make it function àla the Firespitter animation that SpaceplanePlus used. 4. Departments are like the categories for strategies, symbolized by a certain Kerbal. This file is located in GameData/Squad/Strategies. This here's an example for Mortimer and the finances department (comments are mine): STRATEGY_DEPARTMENT { name = Finances desc = He's an accountant, called Mortimer. He doesn't have many friends, but he likes things to be under control and arranged in right angles. This job is pretty stressful for him. // Description of the department color = 254 250 135 // The color in RGB space for the text of the headName and the name avatar = Strategy_Mortimer // Maybe the background or the internal name of the animated Kerbal figure in the department picture. Not sure. headName = Mortimer Kerman // Name of the department's head Kerbal headImage = MORTIMER_KERMAN // Maybe the background or the internal name of the animated Kerbal figure in the department picture. Not sure. } 5. Within departments are strategies. They are located in the same folder as the departments. These are laid out as follows (comments are mine): STRATEGY { name = AppreciationCampaignCfg //Internal name title = Appreciation Campaign //In-game display title for this strategy desc = We could definitely improve our image by putting some effort into reminding Kerbals everywhere of just how great the Space Program is. Advertisement space isn't free, however. //Strategy description department = Public Relations //Department that this strategy belongs to icon = Squad/Strategies/Icons/AppreciationCampaign //Relative path to the strategies icon. File type is .png and dimensions are 50x50 groupTag = Basic,A // The first string (you can call it whatever you want) disables the other strategies after selecting two of them. So if you pick two 'Basic' strategy, the third (or more) Basic can't be used anymore (until you remove one of the enabled Basic strategies). The second string is similar, but disables the other strategies after selecting only one. So enabling one 'A' means the others can't be enabled until you disable the first one. minLeastDuration = 60 //Not sure. Needs to be researched. maxLeastDuration = 100 //Not sure. Needs to be researched. minLongestDuration = 1200 //Not sure. Needs to be researched. maxLongestDuration = 1600 //Not sure. Needs to be researched. requiredReputationMin = -500 //Lower limit on reputation needed to enable this strategy requiredReputationMax = 750 //Upper limit on reputation needed to enable this strategy initialCostFundsMin = 8000.0 //Lower limit on funds needed to enable this strategy. The upper and lower limits are there because you commit between 5-100% to the strategy. initialCostFundsMax = 160000.0 //Upper limit on funds needed to enable this strategy initialCostReputation = 0.0 //Initial reputation cost initialCostScience = 0.0 //Initial science cost hasFactorSlider = True //If true it uses the slider on the right of the strategy screen. If False, it's disabled. factorSliderDefault = 0.05 //The percentage where it starts. 0.05 means 5%. factorSliderSteps = 20 //How many steps you can move the slider. 100/20 means 5% per step. EFFECT { SEE BELOW } } The effects or the stuff that happens when you choose a strategy come in two types. The first is the Currency Converter: EFFECT { name = CurrencyConverter //The CurrencyConverter takes funds, science or reputation and converts it into another of those three input = Funds //The type of input. See section on currencies for more info output = Reputation //The type of output. Same possibilities as with the inputs. minShare = 0.0 //The minimum share of the input. If you have factorSliderDefault above 0, this means that the minShare starts there, so that percentages below it aren't selectable. maxShare = 1.0 //The maximum share of the input. 1.0 is 100%. minRate = 0.041667 //Not sure. Needs to be researched. maxRate = 0.0520 //Not sure. Needs to be researched. AffectReasons = ContractReward, ContractAdvance //At these points in the game the currency converter is activated effectDescription = Income //This is put after the effects numbers, to make it a sentence instead of just numbers } The second is the Currency Operation: EFFECT { name = CurrencyOperation currency = Funds //Same as above operation = Multiply //This can do a mathematical function on an input. See section on functions for more info effectDescription = to Launch Costs //Same as above minValue = 1.1 //The lower percentage for the value modification maxValue = 1.0//The upper percentage for the value modification. 1.15 translates to a 15% increase. AffectReasons = VesselRollout //Same as above } The third is the ValueModifier. EFFECT { name = ValueModifier valueId = VesselRecoveryFactor //The value that needs to be modified. See section on valueIds for more info. effectDescription = to Vessel Recovery Factor //Same as above minValue = 1.05 //Same as above maxValue = 1.15 //Same as above } 6. Values for use in strategies: Currencies *Funds *Science *Reputation ValueIds *VesselRecoveryFactor = How much overall money you get back from recovering a vessel. This is further influence by distance from KSC, which you can't change with this Functions *Multiply = Number above 1 multiply, numbers below 1 and above 0 divide *Add = A positive number adds and a negative number subtracts AffectReasons *ContractReward = On accomplishing a contract *ContractAdvance = On accepting a contract *ScienceTransmission = On transmission of science *VesselRecovery = On recovering a vessel *RnDPartPurchase = On purchasing a part in a tech node that you've unlocked with science *VesselRollout = On launching a rocket/spaceplane I'll edit as I discover more. If you have additions, critiques, etc. please comment below.

I haven't seen Mk2 decouplers. So far I've seen all the Spaceplane Plus parts, plus a swept wing and a swept wing that tapers into a point. These have replaced the stock wings and the two rectangular control surfaces (except for the swept wing and the various moving wings). The SP+ intakes have not replaced any of the old intakes. The old ram intake is still there (why is anyone's guess, it's supposed to fill the same role as the new pointy intake but it's less realistic and uglier).

LV-909 looks good. The T-45 could use a baseplate though. Having it just connect into empty air with some tanks would not look that good.

I can do a Module Manager config for stock, but I think mods can just maintain that on their own. They often do with other mods, like LifeSupport, FAR, etc.