totm may 2024 [1.12.x] - Modular Kolonization System (MKS)

[ExavierMacbeth]

Hmm wonder what I am doing wrong then because the timers don't change when I turn it on or off. If I turn off one of my spare Hab-Quarters the timers update and change within a minute or so. When I do the same thing with Hab-Commons the values don't change, just continues to report the same values that were previously there.

 

EDIT: I am using the 2.5m version of the module if it helps.

Edited February 22, 2017 by ExavierMacbeth

[WuphonsReach]

AFAIK hab-multipliers are still buggy if there are other vessels within 150m that also have hab-time.

But I've gone back to the Jan 2017 constellation release (prior to GC integration).

[Gilph]

I made 113Y Hab orbital station.  All kerbals register as indefinite.

A general question: has anyone had issues with using disassemble part?  Much of the weirdness in the past month or so started when I changed my landing method.  I use a Dart in the center of the base, land on it, and use an Engineer to disassemble so it drops flat. I also disassemble the fuel tanks and landing legs.  Is there anything wrong with doing that?

18 hours ago, ExavierMacbeth said:

The Colonization Module information just states that it consumes Colony Supplies to slowly raise the timers until they max out & then holds them there

@RoverDude, would it make sense to make some visual indication when a Kerbal is restored to their max values?  I put a few kerbals in the Colonization module and it raised them from about 370 days to 1Y27 days.  But, I don't remember what there max values are.  The easiest will be some indicators that the Kerbal is at max value, or a way to see what their value is, so we can rotate them.

[PolecatEZ]

TBH I haven't found a use at all for "Colonization Modules", and only rare edge cases where medical modules are useful in any way.  If you're moving in the extra parts needed for a Colony Supplies chain, you might as well just bring in more habs (inflatable or not) to bump the hab times to outrageous amounts...with or without the 50 year bonus...then its just a matter of waiting a few years for the 500% colony research where it all becomes irrelevant.  3 to 5 basic chains are all that are needed to max out the base - "Supplies" recycling (Agroponics), "Fertilizer/Supplies" fresh production, and Machinery, with some excess Material Kit, Uranium, and Specialized parts production for tweaking once in a while.

All of that to support about 30 colonists can be easily landed in a single go.  In most cases, you will need at least one other mining outpost on the planet that can support 2-3 colonists (Quartermaster and 1 or 2 Miners), but that part is easy as well.  Given that, I haven't found a real use for Scouts and Medics as a profession.

From a game design perspective, the "end game" is easily reached.

----

Your reply came in while I was typing this...and that was going to be the first suggestion - more/different functionality for those two things.

The other is some kind of end-game challenge, such as eventual depletion of resources in an area that forces you to move on or found/move your miners around.  Maybe a targeted asteroid strike would shake thing up a bit

Then again, I play too much Rimworld also...

Edited February 22, 2017 by PolecatEZ

[RoverDude]

Colonization modules are good when you don't want to spam other parts, or for ark ships.  Med modules are specifically there for the cases of 'oops! I starved everyone!'

That being said... Colonization Modules will also be where you can spawn new Kerbals in-situ   Med-bays will also have some additional uses down the road.

 

Edited February 22, 2017 by RoverDude

[KerbalMaster2016]

On 1/6/2017 at 9:05 AM, RoverDude said:

 

Introduction

Interplanetary Colonization represents one of the largest technological and logistical challenges on the horizon for manned spaceflight. 

USI's Modular Kolonization System (MKS) provides a huge array of new gameplay systems and supporting parts to support the experience of designing, building, and maintaining interplanetary colonies in Kerbal Space Progam.

For over three years, MKS has been the definitive Colonization mod for KSP, with continued refinement of the parts and core systems (including the resource system now integrated in the stock game) based on extensive community feedback and continued development and design.

MKS is not a parts pack.  It is a gameplay mod that adds a massive amount of end-game content for KSP, and can serve as the perfect capstone for your career save.  It can be soul crushingly hard, and as unforgiving as gravity.  But it can also be an incredibly rewarding gameplay experience, bringing back that sense of wonder and accomplishment that many of us remember from our first Mun landing.

If you want a parts pack where your idea of a colony is landing a single ship and call it a day, this is probably not the mod for you.  If you want something that transforms your gameplay, and gives you unapologetically difficult goals where you have to juggle planning, logistics, and the harsh constraints imposed by space, then you will likely get as much enjoyment playing MKS as I have received building and designing it.

Features

MKS adds a rich array of new features to support the challenge of building interplanetary colonies, including:

• A huge assortment of parts suitable for surface and orbital bases and stations, drawing inspiration from real-world parts and concepts from Bigelow, NASA, and others.
• A clear progression of parts, from simple outposts and mobile bases to larger manufacturing complexes and permanent colonies.
• Extended ISRU operations with more resources and more complex harvesting, refining, manufacturing chains, and new mechanics.
• Discoverable resource lodes for more interactive resource harvesting and exploitation
• Customizable and field-configurable converters and harvesters to allow post-launch customization of your colony.  
• Tools for handling large bases, such as ground tethering and automated resource transfers for disconnected bases
• Tools for building out your base In-Situ with harvested resources, whether it's by expanding and kitting out modules, or through in-situ construction via the bundled Ground Construction mod by @allista
• Parts and tools for contructing bases including weldable ports, magnetic couplers, and heavy construction equipment via the bundled Konstruction mod.
• Parts for mobile bases via the bundled Karibou Expedition Rover
• Expanded Kerbal traits and effects in support of Kolonization
• Comprehensive and seamless integration with USI Life Support, including life support, habitation, and homesickness.
• Kolony rewards, providing ever increasing efficiencies as well as tangible bonuses in career mode, as your Kerbals gain experience colonizing other planets and moons.
• The ability to support permanent colonies as well as ark-ships as your Kerbals expand their knowledge and become more experienced with off-world colonies.
• Part disassembly and recycling
• Wireless power transmission and Geothermal wells
• Equipment wear and tear along with manual and automated maintenance tools
• And much more!

FAQ

I hear MKS is really complicated - is that true?
MKS has significant depth and breadth, but provided you don't try to do everything at once, you will find the learning curve can be pretty reasonable.  Start with life support, and don't get fixated on trying to build everything at once.  The patterns learned with a small base quickly scale for larger ones.

What about documentation?
Thanks to @dboi88, MKS enjoys full KSPedia documentation.
There's also an excellent community maintained wiki available here.
MKS Documentation even has its own development thread here.

I can't seem to fit a 100% self sufficient base in a single launch - what am I doing wrong?
Building a self sufficient colony is hard.  Like... REALLY hard.  It's going to take a lot of launches and a lot of work.  The idea of MKS is that it is not about plunking down a base and being done.  Rather, it's the journey to get to that point that is the fun bit.  So yeah... you are going to need a few more rockets.

I can't find a place to create my base that has all of the resources!  
Good.  Now you get to enjoy some of the challenges that result from resource constraints.  Do you ship things in?  Do you set up multiple bases?  Or use low-efficiency harvesting to get trace materials and salvage the rest from scrapped components?

I feel overwhelmed... I try to make a base, and it seems I just need so many different parts!
Start small.  Start with just a habitation module or two and ship in supplies.  Then add some agroponics and ship in fertilizer.  Once you get those down pat, you are ready for more complex systems.

I am still lost - where can I get help?
Ask in this thread.  A lot of the folks here have been using MKS in their games for years, and are a pretty friendly lot.

This looks amazing, and I didn't have any plans for my weekend anyway - where do I get this stuff?
Great question!  Links are below

 

Download Links

Use any of the links below to download this mod, or pick it up via CKAN.

      

Source Code and Change Log

   

Donation Info!

If you like what you see, and want to help out (or just buy me a beer!), please consider donating, either via PayPal or Patreon.  

   

License Information

• Configuration files and code are licensed under the GPL v3 license (see attached).
• Assets, including Models (*.mu) and Textures *.png/*.dds) are All Rights Reserved. If you wish to use any of these assets in your project, just ask nicely
• This mod redistributes Firespitter, which is covered under its own license.
• This mod redistributes ModuleManager, which is covered under its own license.
• This mod redistributes Ground Construction, which is covered under its own license.

NOTICE:  This mod includes version checking using MiniAVC. If you opt-in, it will use the internet to check whether there is a new version available. Data is only read from the internet and no personal information is sent. For a more comprehensive version checking experience, please download the KSP-AVC Plugin.

 

 

 

The parts won't load

[RoverDude]

@KerbalMaster2016 - no need to quote the entire OP

Can you show us a screenshot of your GameData folder, and let us know how you installed this, since it sounds like an installation issue.

[KerbalMaster2016]

I use WinRAR to extract it

then I put it in the game data of ksp

[RoverDude]

Point of advice.  We're going to expend as much effort in helping you out as you expand in providing more detail (given that it's an issue on your end as we have thousands of people happily using this mod).

Include a screenshot of your GameData folder.

Where did you download your copy of the mod from.

[KerbalMaster2016]

Just now, RoverDude said:

Point of advice.  We're going to expend as much effort in helping you out as you expand in providing more detail (given that it's an issue on your end as we have thousands of people happily using this mod).

Include a screenshot of your GameData folder.

Where did you download your copy of the mod from.

 

I will give you the screenshot im waiting for my pc to charge up a little

 

I downloaded it from your github

[jd284]

1 hour ago, PolecatEZ said:

3 to 5 basic chains are all that are needed to max out the base - "Supplies" recycling (Agroponics), "Fertilizer/Supplies" fresh production, and Machinery, with some excess Material Kit, Uranium, and Specialized parts production for tweaking once in a while.

I realized that I don't even need what you call "fresh production" unless I need a large surplus of supplies to resupply other bases^[1]. So I have no need for the ASM or Cultivators/Agriculture on most bases.

Basically, your supplies pool will keep increasing with just Agroponics on its own, by exactly the amount of fertilizer that you use up.

10 supplies -> 10 mulch; add 1 fertilizer -> 11 supplies

So for each cycle you get 10% more supplies, as long as the Agroponics and fertilizer production can keep up. The downside is that you can't get more supplies without having more Kerbals to produce mulch.

^[1] And even then I nowadays just ship the mulch back.

[RoverDude]

Yup.  Just because there are a wide array of modules does not mean you need to play pokemon with them.

A use case for cultivation would be if you were building out the initial supplies for a larger mission, or were (as of the next patch) building up your supply base in anticipation of some serious population growth.  Or if you were resupplying vessels that only had recyclers and no greenhouses, etc.

[KerbalMaster2016]

 

46 minutes ago, RoverDude said:

Point of advice.  We're going to expend as much effort in helping you out as you expand in providing more detail (given that it's an issue on your end as we have thousands of people happily using this mod).

Include a screenshot of your GameData folder.

Where did you download your copy of the mod from.

 

 

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B9McDzRWG6O0TGh2RXlVZ0dhQXM

there it go

Edited February 22, 2017 by KerbalMaster2016

[Gilph]

14 minutes ago, jd284 said:

I realized that I don't even need what you call "fresh production" unless I need a large surplus of supplies to resupply other bases^[1]. So I have no need for the ASM or Cultivators/Agriculture on most bases.

Basically, your supplies pool will keep increasing with just Agroponics on its own, by exactly the amount of fertilizer that you use up.

10 supplies -> 10 mulch; add 1 fertilizer -> 11 supplies

So for each cycle you get 10% more supplies, as long as the Agroponics and fertilizer production can keep up. The downside is that you can't get more supplies without having more Kerbals to produce mulch.

^[1] And even then I nowadays just ship the mulch back.

 

11 minutes ago, RoverDude said:

Yup.  Just because there are a wide array of modules does not mean you need to play pokemon with them.

A use case for cultivation would be if you were building out the initial supplies for a larger mission, or were (as of the next patch) building up your supply base in anticipation of some serious population growth.  Or if you were resupplying vessels that only had recyclers and no greenhouses, etc.

in mulch management, as in life, it's never good to lose your s#$t

As mentioned, depending on population and recyclers, greenhouses are a fine option, as long as you have warehouse enabled tanks for mulch, to allow for auto transfer to the greenhouses. I can get by with no Agroponics and only one cultivate bay on the ASM.  Converted all the others to Organics.

 

[RoverDude]

20 minutes ago, KerbalMaster2016 said:

 

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B9McDzRWG6O0TGh2RXlVZ0dhQXM

there it go

Do not put the ZIP in GameData.  Unzip the contents - specifically, put everything in the GameData folder of the ZIP into the GameData folder of KSP (this will be several directories).

[Merkov]

23 minutes ago, KerbalMaster2016 said:

 

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B9McDzRWG6O0TGh2RXlVZ0dhQXM

there it go

I think I see your problem: You see your USI_MKS folder? Inside that, there should be a GameData folder, and inside that should be many other folders. You want to put the contents of the MKS's GameData folder inside your GameData folder. 

Edit: ninja'd

Edited February 22, 2017 by Merkov
I don't know why I thought I'd manage to answer first...

[Merkov]

@RoverDude, where would you like questions relating to your MKS balancing spreadsheet to go? Specifically, I ran into an issue trying to use it to balance KPBS parts for MKS, happening here: 

The issue I ran into is that I don't think I quite understand the Admin Modules field correctly. What I assumed is that you put in a value that corresponds to the value listed in the notes on the right hand side of the spreadsheet. For example, on the right it says "MPL = 5" so if the part has MPL functionality, you would put the number 5 in the Admin Module spot. This works pretty well when I try to re-create the stock MPL; by creating a part with a crew capacity of 2, Admin Module rating of 5, plus a 50% recycler for 4 kerbals, I get a suggested mass of 3.65 tonnes (just over the actual 3.5) and a suggested volume of 20 m³ (a 2.5 m Tundra is listed as having 18, so again, close enough).

Where I run into problems is when I try to balance for PL. Specifically, I wanted to see if I could make KPBS's Central Hub have access to PL. The notes on the right say "PL = 10" so I put a value of 10 into the Admin Module area and got some pretty high mass and volume numbers. I then tried re-creating the Duna Logististics Centre (which has access to PL) by putting just a crew capacity of 2 and an Admin Module value of 10. Those numbers gave me a suggested volume of 35.5 m³ and a suggested mass of 6.7 t, which is much higher than the Duna's 12.89 m³ and 2.2 t.

Am I just not understanding how to calculate Planetary Logistics properly? 

Edited February 22, 2017 by Merkov
Forum decided my "enter" key shouldn't make line breaks...

[ExavierMacbeth]

Ok well whatever is going on with my Tundra Hab-Commons I can ignore now. Looks like the Colonization modules I installed kicked in. Was right I had to rotate the kerbals out after I finished KIS/KAs modifications to reset all their timers and now they are maxed at 4 years and staying there.

Will have to remember that when I do then ext base expansion and already planning to have return transport waiting for when that time comes. Waiting for my lab to finish processing all the science data so I can unlock the manufacturing modules and think i will need to install more labs before my EVE flyby ship gets back.

Thanks for all the help and info, I have to say that comparing the current version to the 0.23 version I played last is one heck of a change. And totally for the better

[RoverDude]

7 minutes ago, Merkov said:

@RoverDude, where would you like questions relating to your MKS balancing spreadsheet to go? Specifically, I ran into an issue trying to use it to balance KPBS parts for MKS, happening here: 

The issue I ran into is that I don't think I quite understand the Admin Modules field correctly. What I assumed is that you put in a value that corresponds to the value listed in the notes on the right hand side of the spreadsheet. For example, on the right it says "MPL = 5" so if the part has MPL functionality, you would put the number 5 in the Admin Module spot. This works pretty well when I try to re-create the stock MPL; by creating a part with a crew capacity of 2, Admin Module rating of 5, plus a 50% recycler for 4 kerbals, I get a suggested mass of 3.65 tonnes (just over the actual 3.5) and a suggested volume of 20 m³ (a 2.5 m Tundra is listed as having 18, so again, close enough).

Where I run into problems is when I try to balance for PL. Specifically, I wanted to see if I could make KPBS's Central Hub have access to PL. The notes on the right say "PL = 10" so I put a value of 10 into the Admin Module area and got some pretty high mass and volume numbers. I then tried re-creating the Duna Logististics Centre (which has access to PL) by putting just a crew capacity of 2 and an Admin Module value of 10. Those numbers gave me a suggested volume of 35.5 m³ and a suggested mass of 6.7 t, which is much higher than the Duna's 12.89 m³ and 2.2 t.

Am I just not understanding how to calculate Planetary Logistics properly? 

I'll double check those stats for the PL Admin module - it may be out of date.

(Tho I would add... generally something that does PL rarely has space to do anything else, hence why the Duna one had to be dedicated).

[Merkov]

Just now, RoverDude said:

I'll double check those stats for the PL Admin module - it may be out of date.

(Tho I would add... generally something that does PL rarely has space to do anything else, hence why the Duna one had to be dedicated).

Oh, okay. Out of curiosity, how do you envision PL "working"? That is, what is it supposed to represent on the ground? When a part has access to PL, what does that part actually do, and what happens in the background, abstracted?

[RoverDude]

It emulates stockpiling piles of stuff, so figure it's mostly a packaging and distribution center, forklifts, and rovers.  i.e. it's something where there will be replacement models at some point

Tho to add, in reality, planetary and orbital logistics will both be getting an overhaul both from a code standpoint and a model standpoint.  What we have now is more of an interim step.

[Merkov]

5 minutes ago, RoverDude said:

It emulates stockpiling piles of stuff, so figure it's mostly a packaging and distribution center, forklifts, and rovers.  i.e. it's something where there will be replacement models at some point

Tho to add, in reality, planetary and orbital logistics will both be getting an overhaul both from a code standpoint and a model standpoint.  What we have now is more of an interim step.

Oh, okay! That makes sense. Hmm... that actually makes me think that for KPBS' purposes, maybe the larger garage part should actually handle PL... (warehouses should be voluminous, after all). Thanks a lot, you've given me a bunch to think about! 

[Murdabenne]

Just an FYI: Don't know why, but at this moment, Spacedock is showing MKS as linked to be only compatible with 1.1, yet the DL file is up to date.

[DStaal]

1 hour ago, Murdabenne said:

Just an FYI: Don't know why, but at this moment, Spacedock is showing MKS as linked to be only compatible with 1.1, yet the DL file is up to date.

It's because RoverDude hasn't bothered to change it yet...    (I believe there's even a GitHub issue on the subject.)

[ss8913]

starting today, I'm seeing an error starting CKAN/updating CKAN that says, "Skipping installation of UKS due to relationship error" - I've never seen this before... is this a problem with MKS/UKS metadata or is this something I should ask about on the CKAN thread?