[WIP - Concept] Contract Pack: The K Files

[severedsolo]

So I was thinking of what to do with my next contract pack, and I thought, "you know what KSP really needs? some kind of story line"

This is all very high level at the moment, but I'd like to do something very loosely based on the old "SSTV Aliens" idea here

Basically, my thinking is that the player would do a series of missions that would take them around the Kerbol system, until they finally come across an alien race (who, for technical reasons, will look surprisingly like Kerbals).

The actual "story" will be told through contract descriptions and completion messages, and I'd like to make it quite "Kerbal" - ie funny. (well, my wife tells me I'm not funny, but what does she know?)

Here is what I have so far:

Mission 0: If MM will recognise Contract Packs as a mod for the :NEEDS flag - you'd find the UFO using Anomaly Surveyor (completely optional, hence why this is Mission 0)

Mission 1: "Mulder Kerman" is investigating the crashed UFO near the North Pole - go and pick him up and bring him back to KSC for debriefing. Possibly take "Scully Kerman" to investigate the one on Mun.

Mission 2: The alien craft is emitting some kind of signal, it seems to be coming from Duna - go and investigate (would lead the player to the SSTV signal - or the Face of Duna if the SSTV signal can't be heard any more).

Missions 3 - ?: Bunch of stuff I haven't thought of yet.

Final Mission: You find a colony of "aliens" living on - well I haven't decided. I'm thinking it should be Laythe, but I also like the idea of making the player go all the way out to Eeloo.

Obviously there is the potential for a lot of overlap with Anomaly Surveyor here, so I'll have to work out how to keep it different to that pack.

As I said very high level, I might hash out the first couple of missions tonight, any input/suggestions/thoughts?

Edited June 10, 2015 by severedsolo

[Astrofox]

Looks interesting, however, I am not so sure that Duna's SSTV signal can be heard now.

However, I would like to rove/fly around collecting science for such missions on Duna, but it would probably be more of "you land at specific coordinates and you collect science" just to complete the mission.

Or, you could simply modify the recover module missions so that you have to go to land on Duna and collect science data within the radius of 40 meters of the part, or something like that.

[severedsolo]

Looks interesting, however, I am not so sure that Duna's SSTV signal can be heard now.

However, I would like to rove/fly around collecting science for such missions on Duna, but it would probably be more of "you land at specific coordinates and you collect science" just to complete the mission.

Or, you could simply modify the recover module missions so that you have to go to land on Duna and collect science data within the radius of 40 meters of the part, or something like that.

Thats a shame if SSTV isn't there any more. Well, I've managed to get the first four missions done, they are mainly "go here and do x" but the story line is coming along well. Hopefully I'll have a playable beta available soon.

I'm thinking of seeing if I can get the "alien homeworld" to be a Kopernicus custom planet (optional, I'll make an alternate ending for those who don't want the extra memory footprint).

[severedsolo]

Gave up on the planet idea. Too much effort.

The good news is, CC now has alot more functionality to support this kind of thing!

I have a working prototype of the first four missions if anyone is interested: https://github.com/severedsolo/ContractPackKFiles/archive/master.zip (remove the files that start with .git). Now with 100% more snappy dialogue, and pictures!

The first mission will unlock once you unlock the Turbojet engine. Others will follow in sequence. (Please note the story is not finished, so you'll only get the first 4 missions). I'm also not sure about sending the player all the way out to Duna/Laythe. I might keep it in the Kerbal system.

The storyline has also changed alot. The basic alien idea is still there, but they are going to be very... familiar.

Edited August 26, 2015 by severedsolo

[Nori]

The actual "story" will be told through contract descriptions and completion messages, and I'd like to make it quite "Kerbal" - ie funny. (well, my wife tells me I'm not funny, but what does she know?)

My wife says the same thing. Well actually, she says the opposite. Just very sarcastically..

Anyway, this looks pretty interesting!

[monstah]

I first read "Gave up on the planet idea" as "Gave up on that idea", as in, the whole contract pack. Glad I read it again!

Anyway, I like the idea of sending the player all the way to Eeloo eventually, if only because the system is ~tiny~. But, IMO, the very final mission should be somewhere around Jool. 2001 for the win!

My wife doesn't get my sense of humour too. She didn't like Babylon 5 either, but I smile anytime I see that Garibaldi avatar

[Nori]

My wife doesn't get my sense of humour too. She didn't like Babylon 5 either, but I smile anytime I see that Garibaldi avatar

What? She didn't like B5? Shun her! Strangely enough, my wife liked it. Or at least she said she did (and watched all 5 seasons at least once). And yes, I love Garibaldi. There are soo many great B5 characters but I think he is my favorite (or Vir, or Londo...).

On topic though. Have you thought about taking a planet pack as a requirement instead? Something that puts a few planets really far away so that you can stretch the story a bit.

[severedsolo]

We have a release! http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/138681-1-0-4-Contract-Pack-The-K-Files-1-0

Have I really been working on this for 6 months?!

Sorry guys I never saw your replies: Yes, I like the idea of going to Jool too, what I have is just a launching point.

Planet packs: Maybe when 1.1 comes out, I'm concerned with memory issues at the moment (for myself, as I like playing with my own packs)

Edited November 8, 2015 by severedsolo