[WIP-PROTO] Dark Days - Eternal Black.

[daniel l.]

-Dark Days-

It is the year 2,000,000,000KE. After millions of millennia,the Universe has gone dark. Nothing the Kerbal's tried would be able to stop it. They confined their race into a single point on one lone ice planet, all that remains of their empire, in a single underground city, Keaspar. Infinite energy was sustained for all this time via 'Positron Pump' an energy exchange with some unknown race in a parallel universe, this source recently stopped the exchange without notice, the only thing we've detected through the rift has been nuclear radiation. Their source of energy has been disrupted, and they are now relying desperately on the scarce resources of their world.

But fear not! For as long as time, they have been comforted by a light in their ink-black sky, It has kept the Kerbal's happy with it's shininess. But with the recent discovery of ancient astronomical equipment buried among the honored dead, a study of the light was performed. This study revealed it to be a massive ball of gas which according to the Oksferd dictionary, is a 'Star'. Further studies have revealed a small planetary system. A new space program has begun with the intention of relocating Kerbalkind to this new home, a home that should last them Trillions of years.

'Dark Days - Eternal black', is a new mod which places Kerbalkind 2 Billion Kerbal years into the future, (The Kerbal Universe has a short lifespan by comparison to our own.) by this time the entire universe has gone dark and nothing can be wasted, you have an entire solar system at your fingertips, all immersed in total pitch darkness, all with stories to tell. In the distance your final goal is a star named "Haven" which has a small planetary system that offers sanctuary.

List of changes:

1. Replaces Stock system with a set of cold, dead, planets orbiting a cold dead cinder that once was a star similar to Kerbol.
2. Redesigns the Tech-Tree so only custom Dark Days - Eternal Black parts will be usable in career mode.
3. Provides a whole new collection of parts that will make gameplay unique, including:

Spoiler

Engines designed for maximum energy conservation.

Life support systems.

Lights that rapidly consume power, (I'm aiming for sort of a 'Horror' vibe where the player is forced to only use lights when necessary and thus has to tolerate the darkness and trust instrumentation.).

'Kannibalism' Yes I know this is quite gruesome, but hopefully through code adapted from Kethane (@taniwha can you help me?), player's will be able to sacrifice their 'less important' Kerbal's and turn them into food and water to feed the 'more important' ones. Starvation right?

4. Spooky music, using SoundtrackEditor, you will be shivering your pants off playing at night!

5. places a highly desirable star system withing potential reach of the player, this system will taunt you and dare you to reach it. Can you?

 

Work on this mod has only just began. however, I am confident that this will be completed in light of my experience that I have now which I did not use to.

 

Screenshots? Here!

Good luck finding the spaceship!

Download the Prototype

Spoiler

I fully understand anyone who is skeptical due to my failure to produce the prior two Dark Days mods, but this one is different. I have gained a lot of new experience since then. And this is not nearly as complex as the previous ones either.

Edited May 17, 2017 by daniel l.
Changed header to 'PROTO'

[Stone Blue]

'Koylent Green'

[daniel l.]

3 minutes ago, Stone Blue said:

'Koylent Green'

That's the idea I hope I can get that part to work, it's not entirely necessary but it would be awesome! In a... weird sort of way...

[daniel l.]

[Artyomka15]

Well... Just now we both started developing the mods which adds exactly the same thing into the game xD

(Actually I yesterday started developing the mod which places you into the future of Kerbol , but only now I noticed that another person is already doing the same thing...)

[daniel l.]

6 hours ago, Artyomka15 said:

Well... Just now we both started developing the mods which adds exactly the same thing into the game xD

(Actually I yesterday started developing the mod which places you into the future of Kerbol , but only now I noticed that another person is already doing the same thing...)

Well then... How about a collab? You're an expert at plugins so we might be able to make this awesome.

[DarknessHasLost]

could you also make a side mod with just the system, placed further out as a planet pack. navigating a dark system would be interesting

[daniel l.]

3 hours ago, DarknessHasLost said:

could you also make a side mod with just the system, placed further out as a planet pack. navigating a dark system would be interesting

Alright. I'll ship em separately. BTW:

Rather awesome actually. It's interesting because it's basically a big black expanse that will swallow anything into its depths.

[DarknessHasLost]

8 hours ago, daniel l. said:

Alright. I'll ship em separately. BTW:

 

Rather awesome actually. It's interesting because it's basically a big black expanse that will swallow anything into its depths.

I'd like more playability for KSP, my first real campaign playthru i started about a week back. a new system with new science, new worlds, and just the general difficulty of finding my way around would be interesting.

btw, do any of these planets has atmospheres, its something i have to watch out for when using my Probe Systems.

[steve_v]

Intriguing, most intriguing...

[daniel l.]

2 hours ago, DarknessHasLost said:

I'd like more playability for KSP, my first real campaign playthru i started about a week back. a new system with new science, new worlds, and just the general difficulty of finding my way around would be interesting.

btw, do any of these planets has atmospheres, its something i have to watch out for when using my Probe Systems.

It certainly would be interesting. I'm specifically designing the mod to make so much as lighting into a luxury that is difficult to afford, in my tests, I've had to land on worlds entirely using instrumentation, I have no idea what the local terrain is like or anything, everything is a total black!

And yes, a few will have atmospheres. But not many, You wouldn't expect many worlds warm enough to have them.

Also of interest is the blackness which I must note. There is no depth to it, nothing to register distance or indicate size. It would make no difference whether the entire universe was black, or merely your screen.

[DarknessHasLost]

4 minutes ago, daniel l. said:

It certainly would be interesting. I'm specifically designing the mod to make so much as lighting into a luxury that is difficult to afford, in my tests, I've had to land on worlds entirely using instrumentation, I have no idea what the local terrain is like or anything, everything is a total black!

And yes, a few will have atmospheres. But not many, You wouldn't expect many worlds warm enough to have them.

Also of interest is the blackness which I must note. There is no depth to it, nothing to register distance or indicate size. It would make no difference whether the entire universe was black, or merely your screen.

Having an Atmosphere is mainly relient on proximity to your big gravity source. The sun Sucked Mercurys right off, but the outermost planets are mostly atmosphere.

[daniel l.]

Just now, DarknessHasLost said:

Having an Atmosphere is mainly relient on proximity to your big gravity source. The sun Sucked Mercurys right off, but the outermost planets are mostly atmosphere.

Of course. But given time without any input of heat or light, the temperatures will drop and the atmosphere will become a thick layer of snow.

[MemeMarine]

This looks pretty cool and really unique! Looking forward to how this progresses.

I'd personally like to see flare dispensers for illuminating a large area on the ground, but with the caveat that flares are strictly limited.

Also, are you going to limit RTGs with a fissile material resource? I think that sort of thing would fit nicely with the theme of energy of all forms being in short supply. Just some Uranium resource carried with RTGs. And on that note, maybe some sort of reactor, too, consuming vast quantities of Uranium in exchange for massive power generation.

I'm also very interested in how tech progression will play out. Can you give a quick rundown?

[daniel l.]

11 minutes ago, MemeMarine said:

I'd personally like to see flare dispensers for illuminating a large area on the ground, but with the caveat that flares are strictly limited.

 

Definitely. I'll see what I can do to get those in there

12 minutes ago, MemeMarine said:

Also, are you going to limit RTGs with a fissile material resource? I think that sort of thing would fit nicely with the theme of energy of all forms being in short supply. Just some Uranium resource carried with RTGs. And on that note, maybe some sort of reactor, too, consuming vast quantities of Uranium in exchange for massive power generation.

 

Yes,  That's coming!

13 minutes ago, MemeMarine said:

I'm also very interested in how tech progression will play out. Can you give a quick rundown?

Well... How about this:

1. Orbital, (The local system around the KSC will be quite dense with accessible moons, but first you must find them. I hope you enjoy stumbling in the dark!  This stage will provide basic starter parts as well as highly inefficient lights that will suck your electricity away in a very short amount of time.)
2. Interplanetary, (The locations of each major planet will already be marked, the excuse for this will be that they were discovered from an ancient textbook. This stage will provide mining tools and flares, it will also provide numerous life support systems as well as the 'Kerbal Blender(Proper name chosen later.)' this will let you feed your kerbal's to your other kerbal's, Don't forget! Jeb prefer's the legs!)
3. Colonization, (You will receive a collection of parts for permanent in-habitation of worlds, you will also get the "Artificial Sun" a massive power hogging spotlight which you can position over your colony to light it's immediate vicinity, but you will need a well established power system in order to use it.
4. Interstellar, (You gain access to advanced propulsion technologies that will allow you to travel to 'Haven' a nearby red dwarf with planets, one of which is a habitable world named, 'Terminus'.)

What do you think?

[MemeMarine]

3 hours ago, daniel l. said:

Definitely. I'll see what I can do to get those in there

Yes,  That's coming!

Well... How about this:

1. Orbital, (The local system around the KSC will be quite dense with accessible moons, but first you must find them. I hope you enjoy stumbling in the dark!  This stage will provide basic starter parts as well as highly inefficient lights that will suck your electricity away in a very short amount of time.)
2. Interplanetary, (The locations of each major planet will already be marked, the excuse for this will be that they were discovered from an ancient textbook. This stage will provide mining tools and flares, it will also provide numerous life support systems as well as the 'Kerbal Blender(Proper name chosen later.)' this will let you feed your kerbal's to your other kerbal's, Don't forget! Jeb prefer's the legs!)
3. Colonization, (You will receive a collection of parts for permanent in-habitation of worlds, you will also get the "Artificial Sun" a massive power hogging spotlight which you can position over your colony to light it's immediate vicinity, but you will need a well established power system in order to use it.
4. Interstellar, (You gain access to advanced propulsion technologies that will allow you to travel to 'Haven' a nearby red dwarf with planets, one of which is a habitable world named, 'Terminus'.)

What do you think?

It's alright. If I were you (And I'm not, this is all personal preference) what I'd do, for flavor, is to get a bit of uniqueness by having "Primary" research nodes for sciences and smaller, cheaper nodes coming off of each for small selections of related parts. Sort of simulating "Science" and "Engineering". In general, "Science" nodes would have no parts or very few parts. This way, players would be able to skip parts they don't care about while still spending plenty of points to get good tech. They'll only save a few points, but you know how much of a difference that can make.

I do quite like the idea of later parts completely obsolescing older parts, simply being better - it adds a little extra flavor to the fact that ships you launch a long time ago will be much worse than newer ships. For instance, you might be able to get a flare projector early on with five flares, but later being replaced by a similarly sized but superior flare dispenser with twenty-five flares, lights becoming more efficient white LED lights, etc.

You could also make a bit of a unique tech tree type of thing by having tech radiate out rather than being in a straight tree. Maybe with Biology, Physics and Chemistry being your three branches (If you're going to split Research and Engineering like that). Certain parts or sciences would require you to get certain advances in all three fields.

I dunno, I'm just putting stuff out there. It might or might not conform to your vision, take whatever you like.

[daniel l.]

18 minutes ago, MemeMarine said:

It's alright. If I were you (And I'm not, this is all personal preference) what I'd do, for flavor, is to get a bit of uniqueness by having "Primary" research nodes for sciences and smaller, cheaper nodes coming off of each for small selections of related parts. Sort of simulating "Science" and "Engineering". In general, "Science" nodes would have no parts or very few parts. This way, players would be able to skip parts they don't care about while still spending plenty of points to get good tech. They'll only save a few points, but you know how much of a difference that can make.

I do quite like the idea of later parts completely obsolescing older parts, simply being better - it adds a little extra flavor to the fact that ships you launch a long time ago will be much worse than newer ships. For instance, you might be able to get a flare projector early on with five flares, but later being replaced by a similarly sized but superior flare dispenser with twenty-five flares, lights becoming more efficient white LED lights, etc.

You could also make a bit of a unique tech tree type of thing by having tech radiate out rather than being in a straight tree. Maybe with Biology, Physics and Chemistry being your three branches (If you're going to split Research and Engineering like that). Certain parts or sciences would require you to get certain advances in all three fields.

I dunno, I'm just putting stuff out there. It might or might not conform to your vision, take whatever you like.

I agree

What do you think of the "Kerbal Blender" is that too Evil or is it necessary?

[MemeMarine]

53 minutes ago, daniel l. said:

I agree

What do you think of the "Kerbal Blender" is that too Evil or is it necessary?

A... necessary evil >:)

As some "Food" for thought, you could also have improved versions, each with slightly greater efficiency. Blender > Microwave > Oven > Kannibalizer (Or something to that effect).

Do you think all parts should always be relevant, or should they become obsolete as better options come up?

[daniel l.]

35 minutes ago, MemeMarine said:

A... necessary evil >:)

As some "Food" for thought, you could also have improved versions, each with slightly greater efficiency. Blender > Microwave > Oven > Kannibalizer (Or something to that effect).

Do you think all parts should always be relevant, or should they become obsolete as better options come up?

I should say both. It would depend on how much power your ship has to spare.

Also, do you think probe cores would be a bit cheatsy? I would rather that the player be forced to use kerbals.

[electricpants]

On 4/6/2017 at 5:08 AM, daniel l. said:

Also, do you think probe cores would be a bit cheatsy? I would rather that the player be forced to use kerbals.

Meh, I wouldn't care otherwise, honestly.

Also,

 

I LOVE this idea!

It's just... so unique and interesting!

[daniel l.]

Just now, electricpants said:

Meh, I wouldn't care otherwise, honestly.

Also,

 

I LOVE this idea!

It's just... so unique and interesting!

Thanks  I always figured that the concept of fumbling about in the dark with limited resources and survival at stake would make a fun game

[electricpants]

2 hours ago, daniel l. said:

I always figured that the concept of fumbling about in the dark with limited resources and survival at stake would make a fun game

Maybe I'll make some sort of series on this on YouTube.

[daniel l.]

Just now, electricpants said:

Maybe I'll make some sort of series on this on YouTube.

You have a channel?!?!? 

Just be prepared to turn up the gamma here or there

[daniel l.]

I need some advice on release plans? How far should I go before releasing the first release? Should I wait to have all the planets and sciencedefs? should I wait until I've completed the new parts and Tech Tree?

[MemeMarine]

Have the game playable, so that we can at least go through with most of the "finished" experience. That is to say, at least have:

• Some parts at every section of the tech tree
• Core gameplay done

I would say that "Core" features would be stuff like darkness and another system far away. As for parts, just some tweaks to the existing tech tree and some part adjustments to make them fit the new gameplay paradigm more would do.