[WIP] GoingUnderground - Subterranean Habitats Mod

[steedcrugeon]

As a result of a seed planted by this thread:

I have started work on a new Mod, however there are issues. I am capable of building the various parts and making textures and animations but i fall short on the custom plugin side of things. Preamble:

This mod is planned to add a series of parts which enable kerbals to setup underground Habitats. The idea being that the (part name to be determined - see below) gets placed onto the surface of another celestial body. once activated it will drill through the regolith and hollow out a cavern suitable for accommodation and/or other functions [model/part dependent]. The 'drilling' element will spray the cavern walls with a coloured sealant and press it in, creating a nice and cosy airtight compartment using the surface of the planet/moon. Larger parts could be built upon to form the start of larger bases whilst smaller parts could be staging grounds or comms outposts.

Ideally the drilling and habitat formation would be a 'one-shot' deal, which, once successfully enacted, creates a firm foothold on the surface it's attached to.

Where i fall short and would like someone to come onboard and help me is with the custom partmodules. I suspect i can reuse a bit of existing ones (for instance the deployableHabitatRestrictor from porkjet's inflatable habs contains one of the pieces of the puzzle (changing crew occupancy limits in game).

Bits i think the mod would benefit from (but I am unable to do myself): 

Required before proper Release

• Stop the part from sliding across the planet surface once deployed (anchoring).
  • Testing is on going but this may also be resolved by re-using custom Part Modules from another Mod (TBC)
• Force a 'one-shot' animation linked to a deployableHabitatRestrictor-like part module
  • The planned present work around involves the use of a USI Tools PartModule and a custom resource which will only allow deployment once without 're-stocking' the resource.
• Smart Texture Switcher - detects the body upon which the part has landed and changes one specific texture on the model (models will have multiple textures) to match to the planet/moon surface.
  • Presently the texture switching will have to done by the player, investigation is still on-going.

Maybe one day (non essential):

• toggle IVA (switch from one IVA when not deployed to another IVA when it's been deployed - questionable viability)
• smart deploy-ability, the part won't deploy when 'splashed down', needs to be 'landed'.
  • This is now planned to be deatl with by using at USI Tools Part Module
• deployment restrictions; restrictive deployment to certain biomes which would lend themselves to being drilled through and having their regolith re-purposed.

This mod could be released without the plugins i guess but i feel that it need the player to be very willing to role play and I worry about parts toppling over (when things are attached on top when really there should be no chance of this as it has 'burrowed' beneath the surface forming a good anchor.

Also I need help in trying to think of a catchy name. I like simple things like 'HabCan' but also might try sticking to my garden tool nomenclature that I want for SHED mods.

Mod name ideas (input welcome):

Regolith Augmenting Konstructive Equipment (RAKE)

- RAKE will now be used to identify the Parts in this mod (primarily its for debugging, it has a secondary role as aesthetic)

HabCan (habitat in a can)

3-5-17 EDIT:

First post has had some of its details updated to reflect the current state of this project. Most of the key requirements before release have an response against them and some are resolved. At present there will be a reliance on @RoverDude's USI Tools, but not on anything else.

Support for CTT has been implemented (and is recommended) as the stock Tech tree is quite restrictive. Support for USI-LS, Snacks and Hopefully TAC-LS is planned (the latter may be a bit more fiddly and help would be appreciated as I don't use it myself). CLS is also planned to be supported, as is IndicatorLights

Edited May 3, 2017 by steedcrugeon
Update 3-5-17

[SpaceMouse]

I've considered doing something like this before but kinda avoided it because I've been avoiding plugins. I really simple way to do the 'drill' might just be to do a animated part with no propper collider so it just clips into the ground. Not sure how you'd animate a hole. It could possible be done in a standard fashion like normal bases just use above ground ' markers' so you can select whatever module you need to interact with so you can do in a normal fashion. I'm pretty sure IVA's render on top of everything else, so you could presumably make each module rather easily. Building them would probably want to use a similar system to many mods where you need the resource to seal your tunnel and remove drilled mass to a storage container.
Much of this sounds like what you said. I think i just wanted to contribute my $0.02.

Maybe Kant Farm for a name?

Edited April 18, 2017 by SpaceMouse

[Akira_R]

@steedcrugeon USI MKS has an anchor feature for their parts, they also handle deployable parts, you could make your mod an extension of MKS (basically just use the USI .dlls). You could then use the USI modules to essentially outfit the insides of your new underground part, just like the current USI inflatables and some of the other parts can be outfitted in different ways.

trying to make something that actually creates a whole in the ground/makes an underground structure isn't really necessary or practical, you basically only need the surface part and an IVA.

Edited April 18, 2017 by Akira_R

[steedcrugeon]

7 hours ago, Akira_R said:

@steedcrugeon USI MKS has an anchor feature for their parts, they also handle deployable parts, you could make your mod an extension of MKS (basically just use the USI .dlls). You could then use the USI modules to essentially outfit the insides of your new underground part, just like the current USI inflatables and some of the other parts can be outfitted in different ways.

Interesting, I hadn't seen these when looking through some of the more common in use .dlls ( I use a bit of USI stuff in my own games).

7 hours ago, Akira_R said:

Trying to make something that actually creates a whole in the ground/makes an underground structure isn't really necessary or practical, you basically only need the surface part and an IVA.

That's exactly the premise of the models I've made. They comprise about 5-20% surface part, the rest is an IVA (I'm guessing that doesn't come across clearly in the original post).

[dboi88]

51 minutes ago, steedcrugeon said:

Interesting, I hadn't seen these when looking through some of the more common in use .dlls ( I use a bit of USI stuff in my own games).

That's exactly the premise of the models I've made. They comprise about 5-20% surface part, the rest is an IVA (I'm guessing that doesn't come across clearly in the original post).

It's not even MKS that you need, it's just USI tools which is in USI Core (where i get my weight balancing feature from)

[steedcrugeon]

6 minutes ago, dboi88 said:

It's not even MKS that you need, it's just USI tools which is in USI Core (where i get my weight balancing feature from)

Funny you should say that I've just been browsing the USI Tools catalogue and spotted quite a few bits I'd like to integrate into some parts: distributed warehouse for bigger storage bunkers, power couplers and a few others (for the more advanced players, got to keep them bases running somehow!)

This is probably a good time to ask @RoverDude if I can use USI Tools in this Mod. It ticks off the list pretty well and would add some features that would make it play nice with USI_LS (and possibly MKS but I don't know too much about that). I have a few questions I might ask about how I can bend the USI Tools PartModules to my purposes (how would I go about making certain buttons not appear in game, for single use deployments, that sort of thing).

[steedcrugeon]

Early WIP of the first IVA:

 

[bdole92]

This definitely sounds like something that would be really, really cool with USI integration, i look forward to following its development

[dboi88]

10 hours ago, steedcrugeon said:

Early WIP of the first IVA:

-snip-

That's look amazing! One thing i wanted to make sure you'd investigated was that there wouldn't be an issue with placing the IVA under the surface of a planet? 

[steedcrugeon]

2 minutes ago, dboi88 said:

One thing i wanted to make sure you'd investigated was that there wouldn't be an issue with placing the IVA under the surface of a planet? 

 I've been a bit gung-ho in that regard. I was planning to fully complete one single part then build it in unity before testing. I do not perceive that there will be an issue as IVAs have no physics to interact in game as such so the 'projection' [as that's all the IVA really is] beneath the planet surface shouldn't be an issue. All the external model interactions will be kept above the surface.

These IVAs will be fully walled with no windows so there should be no issue with looking out from underneath the 'surface' (you know sometimes when the camera clips through the plane t and you can see through space).

Guess I'll have to rush a quick outer texture and throw it into Untiy to see how it behaves in game.

[dboi88]

1 minute ago, steedcrugeon said:

 I've been a bit gung-ho in that regard. I was planning to fully complete one single part then build it in unity before testing. I do not perceive that there will be an issue as IVAs have no physics to interact in game as such so the 'projection' [as that's all the IVA really is] beneath the planet surface shouldn't be an issue. All the external model interactions will be kept above the surface.

These IVAs will be fully walled with no windows so there should be no issue with looking out from underneath the 'surface' (you know sometimes when the camera clips through the plane t and you can see through space).

Guess I'll have to rush a quick outer texture and throw it into Untiy to see how it behaves in game.

Yeah i think you are right about the physics side of things, it's things like having the ground cut through the top of your IVA scene,, or the IVA camera being forced above ground, things like that. Hopefully it'll all work fine but it's best to run a proof of concept now just to avoid having an IVA that can't be used.

[steedcrugeon]

Just now, dboi88 said:

it's things like having the ground cut through the top of your IVA scene

This one I have already sorted by a bit of a cheaty method. the IVAs have an 'airlock hatch' (horizontal) at exactly the point at which the physics collider will sit with the planet surface (after it has been drilled). So that way where the planet clips through the IVA should not be be visible from either side.

3 minutes ago, dboi88 said:

 or the IVA camera being forced above ground, things like that.

This is a risk, but if needs be I plan to mitigate it by forcing the IVA camera to fixed points (can be done in the config I believe, using transforms).

[wasml]

Had a thought - I don't think it's practical but I'll throw it out there and maybe it'll trigger some ideas on your end.

Have some underground expansion parts that have a hatch or something in the IVA that would correspond to where the external attach nodes would be (were it a real object). You put together some of these parts in the VAB and save as an assembly. Then while in the IVA of the original anchor (the one you first set down to drill a hole) part you right click on the internal hatch and if the node isn't occupied/built on, you get a menu to attach a previously saved assembly. If it is occupied it takes you to the IVA of the part that (is supposedly) on the other side. Obviously you wouldn't actually attach the parts but would build a chain of IVA's (no idea how you would go about this) that you could navigate and extend. Would allow you to add capacity without increasing part count. Could have some decent sized bases without bringing the frame rate to a crawl!

Anyway - really like you REKT mod - interested to see where you go with this one. Thanks for sharing these!

[steedcrugeon]

5 hours ago, wasml said:

Had a thought - I don't think it's practical but I'll throw it out there and maybe it'll trigger some ideas on your end.

Have some underground expansion parts that have a hatch or something in the IVA that would correspond to where the external attach nodes would be (were it a real object). You put together some of these parts in the VAB and save as an assembly. Then while in the IVA of the original anchor (the one you first set down to drill a hole) part you right click on the internal hatch and if the node isn't occupied/built on, you get a menu to attach a previously saved assembly. If it is occupied it takes you to the IVA of the part that (is supposedly) on the other side. Obviously you wouldn't actually attach the parts but would build a chain of IVA's (no idea how you would go about this) that you could navigate and extend. Would allow you to add capacity without increasing part count. Could have some decent sized bases without bringing the frame rate to a crawl!

Anyway - really like you REKT mod - interested to see where you go with this one. Thanks for sharing these!

This is an interesting idea indeed. I think (model wise) implementing 'expansion' modules is doable. In fact, I like your suggestion to the point where I have now revised how this mod is being planned. 

The only bit I haven't the first clue about is how I could make the right mouse button In IVA perform the action. I will seek help form the more learned...

[Brent Kerman]

As for anchoring to ground, the only mod I have ever found to do that is KIS.

[theJesuit]

27 minutes ago, Brent Kerman said:

As for anchoring to ground, the only mod I have ever found to do that is KIS.

True.  You could add the launch clamp module to the part's cfg, but you would have to deploy from EPL or a GC DIY Kit. That would secure to the ground

Peace.

[steedcrugeon]

So this is a WIP above ground component of the model(shown here 'deployed'):

Each part takes a great deal longer due to the reliance on the IVA's. this mod is effectively pointless without them. I plan to reuse a many of textures between all the parts, this should make the subsequent parts take less time. 

 

[tater]

Nice work... here's a pic of something like what you are going for (sorry, tiny):

 

In a few threads I have suggested something that is above ground, then buried. It lands (and can be artificially massive to represent the logistical supplies necessary to construct it), then when deployed, it ends up with a buried look (perhaps with a pull-down for variant textures to match the different worlds).

 

 

 

The models for stuff like this would be as you have done, really just the IVAs, and the external model would be the "hill" of piled up regolith, with a visible airlock.

 

 

 

 

[steedcrugeon]

@tater That's some fine images there i can use to borrow ideas from. I have perceive this ever so slightly different (and I have crossed checked that the theory is based on something plausible) so the core part players can land (or build insitu) is effectively a drill, regolith processor and 3D printer all in one. I do especially like the ESA concept at the end though.

Here is a proof of concept shot, this was cheated to Mun orbit then landed by 'SkyCrane':

The IVA is still not fully finished yet but I had finally UV'd enough to get it through Unity and put it into the Game:

I'm not quite happy with the positioning yet but it's not a million miles out. here's some from inside, I've currently put a low light source per light source in the model. I think I will have to reduce this to a light source per level instead, but make them a bit stronger:

Spoiler

 

[DStaal]

From the Atomic Rockets site:

Note that the 'robot explodes' step assumes a nuclear bomb...

[SpaceMouse]

Looks awesome. I might suggest for others (If your plans aren't set in stone), to rotate the underground habitats by 90degrees A bit like how a tunnel boring machine makes tunnels here on earth. Sounds easier than poking a hole down repeatedly from the top, although that might be more practical how KSP works.

Edited April 24, 2017 by SpaceMouse

[steedcrugeon]

4 hours ago, SpaceMouse said:

Looks awesome. I might suggest for others (If your plans aren't set in stone), to rotate the underground habitats by 90degrees A bit like how a tunnel boring machine makes tunnels here on earth. Sounds easier than poking a hole down repeatedly from the top, although that might be more practical how KSP works.

I hear your comments (which echo some of the ideas tater displayed above) and say have patience, there is still more to come... 

[SpaceMouse]

Last bit of pickyness, Might also suggest some support beams, Particularly on Mars (*cough*Duna*cough) I'm not sure how load-bearing iron-oxide is.

[steedcrugeon]

remembered to add the front door collider, to make it actually work:

 

 

 

[RaendyLeBeau]

 

1 hour ago, steedcrugeon said:

remembered to add the front door collider, to make it actually work:

 

 

 

very nice idea ! go ahead. Unfortunately, I currently have no experience with plugins development, otherwise I would like to help out.

Edited April 25, 2017 by RaendyLeBeau