Part Definition Standards?

[Malcymalc]

I'm fairly new to KSP so this may already be covered in another thread. One thing I've noticed as I add mod part pack upon mod part pack is that some Mod designers just dump everything in one category or scatter their parts across a number of places. Currently I seem to spend a lot of time looking for parts when I'm building a new rocket because the parts aren't where I'd expect them. Is there a set of standards that define where a part should go?

And one other thing - could Mod designers say where the parts appear in the tech tree when documenting their mods? I like to find a part in the tech tree just to see whether I've loaded the Mod correctly and saying where I can find the bits would help greatly in my search!

 

[hypervelocity]

Hey mate! On the top left corner of the screen while on the VAB/SPH you should see a button that enables Advanced Mode. 

Once you click it, several part filters/categories will be added. Try using the Filter by Manufacturer option (icon is a little factory in light and dark grey) where you will have all your parts segregated by creator - here your modded parts will be all together under the same manufacturer.

Regards,

[Malcymalc]

Hello

Thanks, I'm aware of that. That is what I've mostly been doing. The problem is that modders don't seem to consistently place their parts within the appropriate 'bucket' - so what one refers to as payload, another might define as something else. I'm playing in Career mode and am still early in my career - by the time I reach the end of the tech tree ....

I wondered if a set of definitions existed that might help solve the issue. Not that I'm ungrateful for the choice but right now it is a bit overwhelming. 

Malc

 

 

[Snark]

Another thing that can be handy:  KSP 1.1 added a really nifty feature that allows searching for parts by "keyword"-- and the parts can define their own keywords.  Lots of mod authors take advantage of this feature; since a part can have as many keywords as the author likes, it's common to give 'em a slew of synonyms, e.g. "what would someone probably type if they were searching for this part?"

So, hunting for parts got a lot easier with that feature.

To get to your earlier question,

11 hours ago, Malcymalc said:

Is there a set of standards that define where a part should go?

Nope.  Not even slightly, AFAIK.  It's basically down to the whim of the individual modder.  The problem is that every modder is an individual; it's not like we have regular guild meetings or anything.    There's no "there" there; it's just a whole bunch of individual people doing their thing.  Having a "standard" is just about impossible, because who would propose it?  And who would adopt it?  Any standard that one person proposes would meet with disagreement from other people.

Heck, even the stock parts aren't as consistent as they could be, and those are all under the aegis of a single controlling organization.

So, yeah, I'd say this is a fairly unsolvable problem.

That said:

There are cases of modders banding together on some shared projects, things like Community Resource Pack or Community Tech Tree.  Some such efforts have been fairly successful, others not so much.  However, it's worth noting that such cases have succeeded largely because they bring benefits to the modders themselves by helping the mods to interoperate.  If I make a "liquid hydrogen" tank in my mod, and you make a "liquid hydrogen" engine in your mod, we both win when a player can use the two together, i.e. if there's just one "liquid hydrogen" resource in the game, and not two.

Deciding "what category should this go in" might benefit the user... but it doesn't benefit the modder.  Modders generally do want to make things nicer for the users (why would they bother publishing their mods if they didn't?)... but this kind of thing is a hard decision.  "Categorizing" is a hard problem, because what's "right" can be highly subjective.  Should I put all my parts in the default categories where they clearly fit?  Or should I put them in a separate category that's specific to the mod?  Some users might prefer one, some would prefer the other... and it also depends on what kind of parts they are (e.g. how cleanly they fit in the stock categories or not).

 

[Malcymalc]

Thanks for your very comprehensive reply. That is pretty much what I thought was the case!