'Rendezvous with Rama' style Alien Artifacts

[Zazwaz117]

I was recently pondering the question about alien life in the Kerbal universe. I know that the devs do not intend to add aliens to the game, and as far as I know there are no mods that add these. I have read a few things on the subject in the forums saying that adding actual aliens or ruins on planets would be tricky, but then I thought: what about a Rendezvous with Rama type scenario?

If you haven't read it, its a book by Arthur C. Clarke about an alien object entering our solar system and a team of human explorers are sent to investigate it. Its very hard sci-fi, with the explorers having a limited amount of time to study the artefact before it gets too close to the sun and they burn up or end up on an escape trajectory they cannot recover from. Its a really good book and I can definitely recommend it.

My question is would it be possible to add something like this to KSP? I know very little about the inner workings of the game itself or making mods, but would it be possible to maybe use the mechanic that spawns asteroids? Like a 1 in very large number chance that instead of an asteroid the game spawns an alien object. If you then rendezvous with this object and investigate it you get a huge science bonus from it or something. Might spice things up a little and add new objectives.

Maybe there could be contracts? Or maybe it could tie in with the interstellar mod, e.g. the secret to FTL travel can only be unlocked by researching alien tech?

I'm curious to see what you guys think of this idea and if it is at all possible.

[Superfluous J]

I don't think an actual Rama-type artifact would be practical (Though it'd be cool if someone added it to ContractConfigurator. I'm pretty sure all the tools are there) but I'd like some interloper asteroids to capture. Again, ContractConfigurator could do it but this sounds more like something that could happen in stock. Huge F-class asteroids that are on hyperbolic trajectories with respect to the Sun, and a contract to wrangle it into orbit around Kerbin.

[Zazwaz117]

Thanks for the reply! Indeed an actual Rama type artifact, i.e. the size of a small moon, would be impractical. I'm not sure if BDOs are at all possible in KSP, would be pretty sweet if they were. I was thinking more along the lines of like a derilict alien spaceship or a floating monolith, something along those lines, more Kerbal sized. Basically just an anomalous object that if you investigate it yields a lot of science etc. Maybe one of them could be a derelict alien ship with an OP engine that you could salvage, fix up and then fly around in? Like something that would appear once or maybe twice in your entire career play-through as an endgame thing.

[Zorbaq]

I was recently pondering the question about alien life in the Kerbal universe. I know that the devs do not intend to add aliens to the game, and as far as I know there are no mods that add these. I have read a few things on the subject in the forums saying that adding actual aliens or ruins on planets would be tricky, but then I thought: what about a Rendezvous with Rama type scenario?

If you haven't read it, its a book by Arthur C. Clarke about an alien object entering our solar system and a team of human explorers are sent to investigate it. Its very hard sci-fi, with the explorers having a limited amount of time to study the artefact before it gets too close to the sun and they burn up or end up on an escape trajectory they cannot recover from. Its a really good book and I can definitely recommend it.

My question is would it be possible to add something like this to KSP? I know very little about the inner workings of the game itself or making mods, but would it be possible to maybe use the mechanic that spawns asteroids? Like a 1 in very large number chance that instead of an asteroid the game spawns an alien object. If you then rendezvous with this object and investigate it you get a huge science bonus from it or something. Might spice things up a little and add new objectives.

Maybe there could be contracts? Or maybe it could tie in with the interstellar mod, e.g. the secret to FTL travel can only be unlocked by researching alien tech?

I'm curious to see what you guys think of this idea and if it is at all possible.

What a coincidence! This sounds exactly like the premise of my *very secret* WIP mod...

Most of the things you speak of are pretty much doable and I've managed to figure out a way to mod them. However, it's a WIP in an early stage, mostly conceptual, and progress is kinda slow.

Edited May 21, 2015 by Zorbaq

[keeper]

this is an epic idea