Planet Ideas And Names For The Future Of Kerbal Space Program

[kiwiak]

planet with moon that has its own oon, and this moon has its own moon, etc etc

[Iron4venger]

I did my homework, so here are my suggestions.

My intention is to make it as Kerbal - like as possible. And somewhat crazy but not out this world.

Vendela is the neighbor Star of Kerbol. Is a Star with a noticeable Cyan color. Much more energetic and hot than our home Star. With a diameter of three times Kerbol, is not that big, is just that Kerbol is by definition a Brown Dwarf Star. Vendela is an intermediate A-F type in the HR-Diagram, class I Orion subtype. With a surface temperature of 13.000k. By real life standards, is as big as our sun but 60 times less massive. Since Vendela is so big and brillant in comparison to Kerbin, solar panels and solar salis excels as propulsion method here.

Vendela presents somewhat unique challenges. Upon arrival to Vendela, the first planet closest to it is Orgol, who is quite far away from it, orbiting a distance similar to Dres (36.000.000kms). Of course a Star so big is VERY difficult to get close to, and a visit to a local gas giant is somewhat mandatory when fooling around here.

Orgol is an oceanic planet with somewhat unique feats. Similar in size to Eve and Kerbin, the gravity here is similar to Kerbin's as well. The most noticeable feature is that Orgol is deeply black. Is so dark and non-reflective that even under the incredible light of Vendela, is totally black. Orgol is the only known place in the universe where you can harvest the mystery goo.

In-depth stuff here

I will add more in the future so let me hear what you think.

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I must say NO to destroyed planets / moons. Seriously ppl this stuff is ugly.

Also, I kinda like how or Kerbol System is as today. Adding more and more planets to the System can lower the value of the indivual bodies in Kerbol. I tend to like more the idea of somewhat little Solar Systems, with a variety of features each. In fact, I would already save GP2 for other Star Sytem, while tweaking what is already present here. Since Kerbin and his moons serves as a tutorials. Then is fair to think the entire Kerbol System as a tutorial also for other Stars Exploration.

Where you would find somewhat unexpected stuff. If you put almost eveything in Kerbol System, there's little incentive to travel all the way there just to see another bunch of spheres. :/ BUT a ringed Gas Giant that it cannot be found in Kerbol... well that's something else!. I suppose the main reason to travel further and further, is because in some other planets there's exotique materials that need to be collected, or the placement offers unique chances to discover new Solar Systems, make science that cannot be made anywhere. etc. Idk you guys, but is pretty apparent to me that more planets is not equal to make KSP better. Adding variety and a buch of stuff to do and discover, forcing you to move here and there is the main factor that drives KSP (Imho at least).

Edited October 28, 2013 by Iron4venger

[Locopoop]

This should be the top priority now that career mode is (partially) implemented. We also need animals and NPC kerbals living in cities, and trilobites and sea scorpions on Laythe.

[Dead Pixel]

all these ideas, pictures, drawings are just outstanding, Amazing ideas Everyone!

[Escher]

Sorry to bump, but I think that something interesting would be the ability to name geological landmarks with...something (Flags?). Then you could have a good idea of where you could land things.

Also, I think the second gas planet (If it's still a thing.) should be called "Maelmon", because it reliably delivers maelstrom.

[TheGeoninja]

A planet that has one side facing Kerbol at all times and would be covered with craters making it difficult to land on and the other side of the planet would be completely in the dark but would have a much smoother surface. This planet would also lack an atmosphere.

[Dartonal]

Binary stars system strangely close to kerbol with a very high density small planet and low density large moon bigger than planet orbiting planet and the planet should have an extremely dense small layer of atmosphere. The moon should be a dead moon like with a huge crater a quarter the size of the moon and tons of debris of the moon orbiting it like extra moons. takes care of people begging for new atmosphere planets, binary stars and asteroids.

[mrj44hm]

Binary stars system strangely close to kerbol with a very high density small planet and low density large moon bigger than planet orbiting planet and the planet should have an extremely dense small layer of atmosphere. The moon should be a dead moon like with a huge crater a quarter the size of the moon and tons of debris of the moon orbiting it like extra moons. takes care of people begging for new atmosphere planets, binary stars and asteroids.

I have had the idea that if they are going to add more systems, it should be binary stars, I am glad someone thought of this as well

[mrj44hm]

they have the magic bolder round ike but I think you are talking about a proper moon, not a easter egg

[UberFuber]

I have had the idea that if they are going to add more systems, it should be binary stars, I am glad someone thought of this as well

Trying to figure out a proper SOI of a binary system could be hell.

[horndgmium]

What about a system of two planets rotating about an imaginary axis, due to being roped into each others gravity? One could be breathable, one could be uninhabitable, but full of resources. That might make mining missions/resource missions a must.

Also... getting into a stable orbit would be pleasingly difficult.

Maybe even throw in a moon or two?

[User Unrelated]

What about a system of two planets rotating about an imaginary axis, due to being roped into each others gravity? One could be breathable, one could be uninhabitable, but full of resources. That might make mining missions/resource missions a must.

Also... getting into a stable orbit would be pleasingly difficult.

Maybe even throw in a moon or two?

this would be fun.

it'd also be fun to try and orbit the center of mass really closely... sort of like "floating" in the middle... I wonder if that sort of mechanic would work out in-game?

[Tex_NL]

What about a system of two planets rotating about an imaginary axis, due to being roped into each others gravity? One could be breathable, one could be uninhabitable, but full of resources. That might make mining missions/resource missions a must.

Also... getting into a stable orbit would be pleasingly difficult.

Maybe even throw in a moon or two?

This would require N-body physics and can therefore currently not be done in KSP.

(NO, don't even think about making a N-body physics suggestion! Do a forum search for N-body physics or Lagrange points and you'll know why.)

In real life this would theoretically be possible but highly unlikely. Both planets would rotate around their own axis and to stop them crashing into each other they'd have to be rotating pretty fast around the barycenter. The tidal forces would be insane and probably rip them both to shreds.

[horndgmium]

I'm thinking that the barycenter could be geostationary to a surface point on both planets... as in linearly. That way we wouldn't need to account for N-body physics, the game could view it as two balls connected by a stick, which for us would be invisible.

Also, theres no need to think of it in normal orbit/rotation terms.. if they were locked into relative geostationary orbit, the days would be different due to eclipse by the other planet, and the whole thing would be a spinning ball and stick molecule (I'm too lazy to look attach a picture, but think the ball and stick molecule of CO2).

Edit: To make this essentially a 2-body problem than a 3-body problem, incredibly decreasing the complexity, the planets should lie in a distant orbit from the sun, so that the gravitational field does not affect each planet differently on its closest and furthest approaches to the sun. I suppose, however, orbit would be a 3-body calculation... So yeah a distant di-geostationary orbit could be doable I think.

Edited November 25, 2013 by horndgmium

[Felsmak]

Made a "screenshot" of a second gas giant, using a texture I originally made for Saturn. I just changed the colors to resemble the planet shown on a dev stream about a year ago and removed the dark streak near the equator to make that less obvious.

I really liked the name RogueMason used for his take on the same planet, Isus (on page 7), so that's what I'm calling this one as well. I hope he doesn't mind!

Isus

Isus is the largest of all planets, and its beautiful rings make it a planet like no other. None of its moons come close to being as massive as those of Jool, but what they lack in size they make up for in numbers, and Isus has more moons than any other planet in the solar system - some of them very colorful, as well.

-Radius: 9000 km

-Semi-major axis: 122 398 562 km (9 SU*)

-Surface gravity: 1.4 g

Rocko (moon)

Rocko is the reddest object in the solar system, even redder than Duna, and it's covered with high, sometimes nearly vertical cliffs that can rise several kilometers above the surface.

-Radius: 70 km

-Surface gravity: 0.02 g

Eeloo (moon)

Eeloo is a rocky moon covered with ice, and material from its frigid interior can frequently be seen erupting from geysers triggered by tidal stress caused by Isus' immense gravity.

-Radius: 210 km

-Surface gravity: 0.17 g

Sotus (moon)

Sotus is the darkest object in the solar system, and it can sometimes be difficult to spot unless you know it's there. Its leading hemisphere is peppered with craters while its trailing hemisphere has few to none, and the material scattered by these ancient impacts is among the few features that help breaking the monotony of its surface.

-Radius: 270 km

-Surface gravity: 0.2 g

That's all I have for now. Enjoy!

A solar unit (SU) is equal to the semi-major axis of Kerbin. Using "KU" would've been more fun, but not very creative at all.

Edited November 28, 2013 by Felsmak

[SuperWeegee4000]

I made a generator.

[brdavis]

This would require N-body physics and can therefore currently not be done in KSP. (NO, don't even think about making a N-body physics suggestion!)

I wouldn't, and I agree… but it would be interesting to have a way to patch in limited N-body code ("hard wired" binaries for example). Really interesting. Just… not possible, given the limitations. I'm frankly still in awe with how well you can approximate a patched-conic and get fun gameplay at the same time.

In real life this would theoretically be possible but highly unlikely. Both planets would rotate around their own axis and to stop them crashing into each other they'd have to be rotating pretty fast around the barycenter. The tidal forces would be insane and probably rip them both to shreds.

And I'll note that in fiction, it's been done, and done very very well - Rocheworld. The question isn't what wonderful settings you can come up with in this regard, but what wonderful settings you can come up with and still stay within a patched-conic approximation.

[Felsmak]

A space probe performing a low flyby over Rocko. It should be redder, but I just couldn't get it to look right.

Random fact: The name Rocko is a corruption of rojo, the Spanish word for red. It's also a reference to the fact that the moon that carries it is very rocky.

Edited December 10, 2013 by Felsmak

[RogueMason]

Made a "screenshot" of a second gas giant, using a texture I originally made for Saturn. I just changed the colors to resemble the planet shown on a dev stream about a year ago and removed the dark streak near the equator to make that less obvious.

I really liked the name RogueMason used for his/her take on the same planet, Isus (on page 7), so that's what I'm calling this one as well. I hope s/he doesn't mind!

Wow, really? Awesome, glad you like it (the name, anyway)! And yeah, I be a he, not a she

That is a stunning planet, by the way. I would absolutely love to see it in the game

[Felsmak]

Wow, really? Awesome, glad you like it (the name, anyway)! And yeah, I be a he, not a she

That is a stunning planet, by the way. I would absolutely love to see it in the game

Thanks! I'm glad you like it. Yeah, I assumed that you're a guy, but I tend to use both pronouns when I don't know for sure, just to avoid any embarrassing mistakes.

Edited November 28, 2013 by Felsmak

[Dooz]

Anyone for a Sedna analog?

NAME

Jensa

Orbit shape

Very elliptical

Orbit inclination

10.3

Orbital period

30 Kerbal years

Now for basic info

Radius 100Km smaller then the mün

Gravity

Minmus like gravity

SOI

20 million KM

Color

Purple tint

Description for when you click on it

Small mysterious little planetoid only discovered one year ago and on a scary 30 year ride

[quasarrgames]

Instead of gas giant 3, make a big, rocky planet called Gereis (Jer-ee-is)

It could be Kerbin-like with oceans of water, but an atmosphere so thick that it's red, like the late sunset on earth, only for the whole day. the atmosphere could tint the ground with a blood-red colour. it could even have a runaway greenhouse effect, but it would be so far away from the sun that the average temperature would be 60 degrees Celsius.

It could be about 1600km across (same size as our moon) but with about 4g of gravity and 20x kerbin atmospheric pressure. it could orbit the sun at a roughly circular orbit of about 180 million km. it could have moons, but i haven't given any thought to them.

ALSO the Kerbol system could be in a binary star system! There could be a blue giant star about 15 times the size of our own sun that orbits less than a light-year away. It could be affecting Kerbol's gravity which is what causes it's tiny gravitational pull.

Of course i don't know it if this is even possible but it would be cool.

[madsci64]

What? Right now, KSP is at 0.22. There is no new solar system.

Klarish, meet creative writing. Creative writing, meet klarish.

[WhiteWeasel]

A moon on a subsynchronous orbit. Maybe a new moon around Duna between the size of Pol and Gilly. Maybe 30-40 km across? I'd like to see that.

Edited December 5, 2013 by WhiteWeasel

[Camarada Anonimo]

An elaborated planet with animals or similar.