Modelling for ksp

[Neil_Kerman]

Hello guys, for many days I have been wondering at those mod developers who are constantly releasing their mods and parts! I am just a beginner in ksp, and I want to develop my own mod. But, I don't know how to do! If anyone willing to help me learn how to make mods may please post here. I have blender to make my models and kerbtown or kerbal konstructs to place them.

*sorry for any grammatical mistakes I have done in my post as I am very bad in English and still learning it...

[Alshain]

There is huge collection of information in the Modelling and Texturing forum.  Good luck, I look forward to seeing what you come up with.

http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/index.php?/forum/15-modelling-and-texturing-discussion/

[maceemiller]

I have considered modelling for KSP but the last time I painted my face green and had an Arnie type haircut my wife was sure I had gone crazy......now, I just play the game

[James Kerman]

You can also watch the developers in action on twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/ksptv/profile

[Snark]

As Alshain said, there's a lot of good information and whole forum subsections devoted to the topic.

The executive summary, though:

• It's fairly difficult.  There's a steep learning curve, the software you need to use is very "prickly" and not super user-friendly, and it'll take you a fair investment of time to come up to speed.  That doesn't mean you can't do it-- I don't want to discourage you!  But it does mean you can't dabble in it just for fun; you have to be motivated, patient, and persistent.
• The three things you need to learn are:
  • Blender, for doing modeling
  • Unity, for taking the stuff from Blender and exporting it to a format that KSP can work with
  • The KSP config language, for making it into an actual part that the game can use.

If you want to get a feel for what the process is like, I strongly recommend taking a look at this video tutorial from @NecroBones, which walks through the process of modeling a simple fuel tank in Blender.  Note that, despite being excellently clear and well-explained and not wasting any time, it's still nearly an hour long-- and it doesn't cover things such as "how do I use a paint program to make a texture", or anything at all about Unity or the KSP config language.  It's just simply how to model a single, fairly simple part (with no animations) in Blender.

...If you watch this, it'll give you a feel for the general level of effort and complexity involved.

[martinezfg11]

I only dabbled in 3D modelling before starting modding in KSP. Even things like textures and UV unwrapping baffled me. 

Start with an idea, browse the Addon Development forums. Youtube/Google is your friend.

And if something absolutely baffles you then ask here http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/index.php?/forum/15-modelling-and-texturing-discussion/

Chances are you might even find an answer before you ask it, it's a pretty active subsection.

Edited May 18, 2016 by martinezfg11

[Kerbol Macrosystems]

@Snark The title of your video ("KSP Blender Fuel-Tank Example Demo") makes me wish there was a KSP version of "Will it blend?"  I would definitely watch somebody blow up various interesting ship configurations.  Though, I guess this is basically any Danny2426 video with a kraken drive.

[Curveball Anders]

18 minutes ago, Kerbol Macrosystems said:

makes me wish there was a KSP version of "Will it blend?"  I would definitely watch somebody blow up various interesting ship configurations. 

It's normal for most users, no need to watch someone else blow up strange combinations

[Kerbol Macrosystems]

23 hours ago, Curveball Anders said:

It's normal for most users, no need to watch someone else blow up strange combinations

My own explosive testing program occasionally reaches space too.  This would be more for the artful size of explosion.  Either collapsing the stack in such a way that there's beauty when the boosters fly off, or something modded to have exquisite detail.

[Neil_Kerman]

i was thinking of static models to place in ksc... because we do lack a real launchtwer in ksp, right? 

 

[Snark]

1 hour ago, Neil_Kerman said:

i was thinking of static models to place in ksc... because we do lack a real launchtwer in ksp, right? 

Check out this mod, it may help you do what you want (haven't used it myself, but from the description it sounds like it might be the right tool for the job):

FWIW, once upon a time, the very early versions of KSP did have a launch tower.  It looked cool, but I believe they got rid of it because it caused a lot of gameplay problems (stuff banging into it) and didn't really solve anything.

[Van Disaster]

1 hour ago, Snark said:

FWIW, once upon a time, the very early versions of KSP did have a launch tower.  It looked cool, but I believe they got rid of it because it caused a lot of gameplay problems (stuff banging into it) and didn't really solve anything.

Yeah, it just got in the way and most rockets dwarfed it anyway.

There's many existing mods using KK, plenty of inspiration. I think one is devoted just to expanding KSC.

[Neil_Kerman]

52 minutes ago, Van Disaster said:

Yeah, it just got in the way and most rockets dwarfed it anyway.

There's many existing mods using KK, plenty of inspiration. I think one is devoted just to expanding KSC.

 

2 hours ago, Snark said:

Check out this mod, it may help you do what you want (haven't used it myself, but from the description it sounds like it might be the right tool for the job):

FWIW, once upon a time, the very early versions of KSP did have a launch tower.  It looked cool, but I believe they got rid of it because it caused a lot of gameplay problems (stuff banging into it) and didn't really solve anything.

yes of course! but, i need to learn the modelling completely though! you know, i am living in a place where nobody knows game modelling, so what i need is help from you guys. i hope i will learn how to design a mod very soon!

On 5/18/2016 at 9:28 PM, Snark said:

As Alshain said, there's a lot of good information and whole forum subsections devoted to the topic.

The executive summary, though:

• It's fairly difficult.  There's a steep learning curve, the software you need to use is very "prickly" and not super user-friendly, and it'll take you a fair investment of time to come up to speed.  That doesn't mean you can't do it-- I don't want to discourage you!  But it does mean you can't dabble in it just for fun; you have to be motivated, patient, and persistent.
• The three things you need to learn are:
  • Blender, for doing modeling
  • Unity, for taking the stuff from Blender and exporting it to a format that KSP can work with
  • The KSP config language, for making it into an actual part that the game can use.

If you want to get a feel for what the process is like, I strongly recommend taking a look at this video tutorial from @NecroBones, which walks through the process of modeling a simple fuel tank in Blender.  Note that, despite being excellently clear and well-explained and not wasting any time, it's still nearly an hour long-- and it doesn't cover things such as "how do I use a paint program to make a texture", or anything at all about Unity or the KSP config language.  It's just simply how to model a single, fairly simple part (with no animations) in Blender.

...If you watch this, it'll give you a feel for the general level of effort and complexity involved.

wow, thanks for suggesting such a nice tutorial! i did learn something from it!

[Mad Rocket Scientist]

I suggest you read this, you may prefer the 3d modeling software used:

 

[Levelord]

And here I thought KSP modelling involved this...