New Mod discussion and advice

[Kalidor]

Hi everybody, first time poster here.

I've been playing KSP for the past couple of months and have finally gotten a nice balance of mods that I like (MechJeb, Final Frontier, State Funding, KCT, ScanSat, OMSK to name a few) and it got me thinking about what else I would like to see in the game and ended up with quite an extensive list.

"Hey, I'll have a go at making my own mod...how hard can it be?" I thought to myself.

As it turns out...VERY damn hard. I take my hat off to all of you - but it is completely beyond me.

There are a couple of features I thought of that I would really like to see...I'm going to list some ideas below and I was wondering if you could point me in the direction of a mod that already does it, or in the perfect world help me create it (lots of hand holding and full credit goes to you of course)

So, my ideas. (Please feel free to add/critique as you see fit or ideally tell me if it is possible)

1) Pilot Progression System - Pilots and crew need to complete a sub-orbital flight and reach Level One to earn their "Kerbonaut Status" before they are allowed to pilot a rocket in orbit. (I've been roleplaying this with the OMSK Redstone :-) ). Pilots can be assigned to positions depending on their experience (Pilot, Command Pilot, Mission Commander)

2) Awards and Accolades. I know Final Frontier does this but I was reading the Wiki entry on John Glenn and followed the link to the NASA Awards page and realised there are quite a few medals available for Astronauts. Whilst Jeb was my "First Kerbal in Space" I don't think he should get a ribbon for it...rather a separate accolade and keep the ribbons for the really Epic stuff, like completing his tenth successful mission.

3) Perhaps linked to items 1&2 - a detailed Kerbonaut record that is viewable in game. I would love to know that Jeb served as "Pilot on Kerbal One" or that Bob served as "Mission Specialist on Kerbal Two" - again Final Frontier does this but I would prefer something more in-depth.

4)Meaningful Part Testing - getting contacts to "kerbal-rate" my new rocket design. So like "Test the Launch Escape System on Kerbal One" or "Complete unmanned Orbital Flight on Kerbal 2" before Gene will sign off on launching Jeb into space on top of a firework.

5) Programme Contacts - like "Project Mercury" Contract to complete X number of sub-orbital and orbital flights before contract is fulfilled.

Please excuse my wittering, but I have no idea where to begin building all this stuff.

Any help or advice would be appreciated.

[hab136]

For #4 check out TestFlight. There's no explicit "this rocket is man-rated" but it encourages you to test parts before launching them with Kerbals.

[Kalidor]

Cheers, I will look into it :-)