Debris generator

[lajoswinkler]

Have you ever wanted to make a debris field around Kerbin and you had to make a cumbersome "Kessler bomb" craft which didn't work as planned? Or it was just a collection of separators that didn't present enough challenge or hazard? Too much hassle building a serious debris layer? Grinding with Hyper Edit?

 

 

Imagine having a mod that would allow you to put a wanted number of random debris at a defined orbital height and inclination?

Plates, girders, tanks, separators, etc., all floating around, making a mess?

Tell me what you think about this idea.

 

Edited November 18, 2016 by lajoswinkler

[wasml]

I haven't seen this idea before. Could be an interesting challenge but I'm wondering what the performance impact would be - not only all the colliders but the constant going on/off rails. Would certainly try it if you make it - first off out of curiosity.

[Benji13]

I would use this if you could choose how much debris, what sort and where. Sounds great!

[wasml]

Second thought: This could be used (maybe with a custom small rock part) to make a debris field for a meteor shower (what do you call them before the enter atmosphere?).

[sarbian]

Space is big. To have your debris field to actually present a meaningful danger they would have to big really big or you would need so much that the orbit computing would crush your CPU.

[Li0n]

Excellent idea, I recently blow up (intentionally) my Kerbin space station with a demolition charge from MKS (not sure of how it is called, nor if it is from MKS, lots of mods...) and the result was quite disappointing, just the regular explosion effect and no more station.

It would have been way more fun if the station explode in a multitude of small pieces

 

Well I realized after re-reading your OP that it's not what you have in mind, but still a related idea

[lajoswinkler]

10 hours ago, wasml said:

I haven't seen this idea before. Could be an interesting challenge but I'm wondering what the performance impact would be - not only all the colliders but the constant going on/off rails. Would certainly try it if you make it - first off out of curiosity.

Currently, I have almost 500 debris particles orbiting Kerbin at 170 km equatorial orbit and I still haven't had a single piece come closer than 2.5 km. With Distant Object Enhancement I can see them as a ring of tiny specs. In order to make them go on and off rails you'd need an enormous number of debris.

My idea was to make it tweakable. You could define the number of debris, orbital layer...

 

10 hours ago, Benji13 said:

I would use this if you could choose how much debris, what sort and where. Sounds great!

Yes, that was the idea. You could lever know what you'd find if you go on a mission to visit one. You might grab something useful like a battery (hardly worth any mission, but still a cool idea) or just rendezvous with a silly girder. 

With Persistent Rotation in synergy, the debris could be tumbling as you approach it. Good luck managing that.

 

10 hours ago, wasml said:

Second thought: This could be used (maybe with a custom small rock part) to make a debris field for a meteor shower (what do you call them before the enter atmosphere?).

Maybe, but you'd have a hard time positioning yourself to actually see it. But it could work with Reentry Particle Effect mod.

(meteroids - particles, meteors - light streaks, meteorites - rocks that fell down)

 

2 hours ago, sarbian said:

Space is big. To have your debris field to actually present a meaningful danger they would have to big really big or you would need so much that the orbit computing would crush your CPU.

The general idea is to add something you could discover, as I've explained to Benji13. Actual danger would be difficult to recreate, but that's hardly what this mod would perform.

 

Edited November 18, 2016 by lajoswinkler

[kunok]

Sure, probably not in my principal save but yeah.

If the performance is reasonable, of course.

Also: what about if any impact, broken parts, make the debris density in that orbit bigger? So this makes an impact really significative.

Unattended spend stages should break and make more debris with the time, if they still have fuel or batteries.

Edited November 18, 2016 by kunok

[lajoswinkler]

1 hour ago, kunok said:

Unattended spend stages should break and make more debris with the time, if they still have fuel or batteries.

That would go out of control quickly so I would advise against it. My idea was simply "I want 400 debris pieces at 200 km, 15°, CLICK" and there they are, random bits of structural parts, tanks, etc.

[pellinor]

For a significant amount of danger you'd probably need to generate them on the fly like asteroids. So most of the pieces only pop into existence when they are near the active vessel.

Makes me think of a game mode where there is no KSC and your only source of parts is debris around kerbin, and ships are built with the help of KIS.

[Shadowmage]

40 minutes ago, pellinor said:

For a significant amount of danger you'd probably need to generate them on the fly like asteroids. So most of the pieces only pop into existence when they are near the active vessel.

Makes me think of a game mode where there is no KSC and your only source of parts is debris around kerbin, and ships are built with the help of KIS.

Kerbal Scavenging(Salvaging) Program?  I'de play it, at least once...

[lajoswinkler]

2 hours ago, pellinor said:

For a significant amount of danger you'd probably need to generate them on the fly like asteroids. So most of the pieces only pop into existence when they are near the active vessel.

Makes me think of a game mode where there is no KSC and your only source of parts is debris around kerbin, and ships are built with the help of KIS.

This is the kind of creativity I was pointing towards. It would be troublesome, but fun.

 

(I'd keep KSC )

[Ketaz]

Don't like this idea BUT maybe space weather would be a more simple way to go? 

[lajoswinkler]

22 hours ago, Ketaz said:

Don't like this idea BUT maybe space weather would be a more simple way to go? 

Why don't you like it? It's fully customizable. It's not like there would be one button that clogs the CPU with thousands of parts.

Space weather is about solar wind... I don't see the connection.

[kerbiloid]

They could be randomly generated and then disappear. So, not a constant ring of debris, but "a collision of two unknown artificial objects caused a cloud of technical debris, estimated time of existence 3 days".

Logically, then there can appear techno-volcanoes throwing useful debris into space. Say, "unknown player failed an experiment in his secret lab", or just because.

[diegojsrw]

On 18/11/2016 at 2:56 PM, pellinor said:

For a significant amount of danger you'd probably need to generate them on the fly like asteroids. So most of the pieces only pop into existence when they are near the active vessel.

Makes me think of a game mode where there is no KSC and your only source of parts is debris around kerbin, and ships are built with the help of KIS.

Kerbal Space Program mode "Kall-e". Nice! I'd play it! 

[Hay]

I would use this if it's capable of making asteroid belts around Kerbin

[James Kerman]

I would love a mod like this to simulate Kessler syndrome after 200-300 years of launches.

[7499275]

The idea sounds great, execution would be a fine line. As it was mentioned the performance impact. Yes it would only go off the rails once you were within 2km of the debris but if you have 500+ pieces of debris floating around the active vessel of 300+ parts... The computer is sure as hell gonna feel it. Other than that being my only concern I love the idea of it  and would give it a try to see what happens. I actually did a science presentation my freshman year of high school on Kessler syndrome which is still floating on a flash drive somewhere.